Landscape-scale simulation experiments test Romanian and Swiss management guidelines for mountain pasture-woodland habitat diversity

Disturbance-grazer-vegetation interactions maintain habitat diversity in mountain pasture-woodlands

Ecological Modelling ◽

10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2017.06.012 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 359 ◽

pp. 301-310 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Alexander Peringer ◽

Alexandre Buttler ◽

François Gillet ◽

Ileana Pătru-Stupariu ◽

Kiowa A. Schulze ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Habitat Diversity ◽

Mountain Pasture

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Assessing terrestrial lichen biomass using ecoforest maps: a suitable approach to plan conservation areas for forest-dwelling caribou

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x10-229 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 41 (3) ◽

pp. 632-642 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Rémi Lesmerises ◽

Jean-Pierre Ouellet ◽

Martin-Hugues St-Laurent

Keyword(s):

Rangifer Tarandus ◽

Population Level ◽

Landscape Scale ◽

Stand Age ◽

Conservation Areas ◽

Management Guidelines ◽

Winter Diet ◽

Population Maintenance ◽

Saguenay River ◽

Terrestrial Lichen

Terrestrial lichens are an important part of the winter diet of forest-dwelling caribou ( Rangifer tarandus caribou (Gmelin, 1788)), and developing forest management guidelines to support high lichen biomass could enhance both individual- and population-level health of this threatened species. Our objective was to develop an index to assess terrestrial lichen biomass available to caribou at the landscape scale using ecoforest maps based on forest characteristics (age, density, and height) and geographical variables (slope, altitude, and latitude). We sampled 439 sites within 8340 km2 of the spruce–moss domain located >100 km north of the Saguenay River (Quebec, Canada). Since they are known to support terrestrial lichen, we sampled only spruce-dominated stands older than 50 years, representing 41.8% of the study area. Using a two-step approach, we first modeled lichen occurrence and thereafter lichen biomass in sites where lichens were found. Lichen occurrence was positively correlated with latitude but negatively with stand age, height, and density. Lichen biomass was primarily a function of altitude and tree density. Using this index could prioritize conservation of areas that are most likely to contain high lichen biomass, thus favoring caribou population maintenance in logged landscapes.

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Differential effects of soil-based agricultural diversification on arthropods and crop yield

10.1101/2021.12.06.471474 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Elinor M. Lichtenberg ◽

Ivan Milosavljević ◽

Alistair J. Campbell ◽

David Crowder

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Functional Groups ◽

Crop Yield ◽

Crop Yields ◽

Service Providers ◽

Habitat Diversity ◽

Landscape Scale ◽

Policy Implications ◽

No Tillage ◽

Agricultural Diversification

Agricultural diversification often promotes biodiversity and ecosystem services by increasing habitat diversity. However, responses to agricultural diversification are context dependent, differentially impacting functional groups of service-providing organisms and crop yields. Conservation and no tillage are promoted as agricultural diversification practices that increase soil heterogeneity and habitat diversity. Here we investigated whether soil tillage practices in canola crop fields altered arthropod biodiversity or yield, and how effects of field-scale diversification compared to landscape-scale habitat context. We focused on effects of high, medium, or no tillage on five functional groups with unique diets and reproductive strategies: (i) herbivores, (ii) kleptoparasites, (iii) parasitoids, (iv) pollinators, and (v) predators. Effects of agricultural diversification on arthropod abundance and diversity varied across functional groups. Pollinators responded to on-farm soil diversification, benefiting from medium tillage. Predators and herbivores responded most strongly to landscape-scale habitat composition and were more abundant in landscapes with more semi-natural habitat. However, variation in arthropod communities had little effect on canola crop yield, which was lowest in fields with no tillage. Policy implications: Our results indicate that natural history differences among arthropod functional groups mediate how habitat availability affects biodiversity. Crop yields, however, showed no response to biodiversity of ecosystem service providers. Our research highlights the need to determine the contexts in which soil diversification practices meet a multi-faceted goal of simultaneously supporting natural biodiversity, ecosystem services, and crop yield.

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Landscape-scale Remote Sensing and Classification of Pond and Lake Habitat Diversity in a Tropical City

10.21203/rs.3.rs-468321/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Hoong Chen Teo ◽

Matthew J. Hill ◽

Alex M. Lechner ◽

Fang Yenn Teo ◽

Christopher N. Gibbins

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Remotely Sensed ◽

Habitat Diversity ◽

Landscape Scale ◽

Urban Landscapes ◽

Kuala Lumpur ◽

Freshwater Habitats ◽

Physicochemical Data ◽

Multivariate Cluster

Abstract Ponds and lakes are common freshwater habitats in urban landscapes, and often have a high biodiversity and conservation value. The importance of landscape-scale conservation of pond networks has recently been recognised, yet the categorisation and classification of pond network spatial structures is missing. Developing spatial methods and tools to characterise and understand pond networks is a critical first step to accurately conserve pond habitats and inhabiting species. This paper presents an inventory of ponds and lakes in Greater Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, characterising their distribution, abundance and type. Remote sensing was first employed to map and characterise these habitats, followed by multivariate cluster analysis to classify and develop a typology of the ponds identified. Physicochemical data was collected from a sample (n=60) of ponds to compare with the remotely sensed pond classification. Results demonstrated that multi-source remote sensing can be highly accurate and effective in inventorying ponds and lakes of varying sizes. A total of 1013 ponds and lakes were identified within the Greater Kuala Lumpur region and were found to be highly environmentally heterogeneous. Typology clusters were driven by land cover rather than local physicochemical variables demonstrating that specific remotely-sensed variables may be sufficient proxies for certain chemical variables. Landscape-scale conservation and management of pond networks should utilise remote sensing tools, to establish pond network structure, and to maintain wide environmental heterogeneity among pond habitats. Incorporating remote sensing tools into pond conservation will ensure that effective pond conservation can be achieved and biodiversity protection can be maximised.

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Garden and Landscape-Scale Correlates of Moths of Differing Conservation Status: Significant Effects of Urbanization and Habitat Diversity

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0086925 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. e86925 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Adam J. Bates ◽

Jon P. Sadler ◽

Dave Grundy ◽

Norman Lowe ◽

George Davis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Conservation Status ◽

Habitat Diversity ◽

Landscape Scale

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A large-scale perspective for managing prairie avifauna assemblages across the western US: influences of habitat, land ownership and latitude

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.2879 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

pp. e2879 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Victoria J. Dreitz ◽

Lani T. Stinson ◽

Beth A. Hahn ◽

Jason D. Tack ◽

Paul M. Lukacs

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Bird Species ◽

The United States ◽

Habitat Diversity ◽

Land Ownership ◽

Landscape Scale ◽

Individual Species ◽

Small Scale ◽

Population Declines ◽

Avian Assemblages

Future demands for increased food production are expected to have severe impacts on prairie biodiversity and ecosystem integrity. Prairie avifauna of North America have experienced drastic population declines, prompting numerous conservation efforts, which have been informed primarily by small-scale studies. We applied a large-scale perspective that integrates scale dependency in avian responses by analyzing observations of 20 prairie bird species (17 grassland obligates and three sagebrush obligate species) from 2009–2012 in the western prairie region of the United States. We employed a multi-species model approach to examine the relationship of land ownership, habitat, and latitude to landscape-scale species richness. Our findings suggest that patterns and processes influencing avian assemblages at the focal-scale (e.g., inference at the sampling unit) may not function at the landscape-scale (e.g., inference amongst sampling units). Individual species responses to land ownership, habitat and latitude were highly variable. The broad spatial extent of our study demonstrates the need to include lands in private ownership to assess biodiversity and the importance of maintaining habitat diversity to support avian assemblages. Lastly, focal-scale information can document species presence within a study area, but landscape-scale information provides an essential complement to inform conservation actions and policies by placing local biodiversity in the context of an entire region, landscape or ecosystem.

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