scholarly journals Fallows and permanent grasslands conserve the species composition and functional diversity of carabid beetles and linyphiid spiders in agricultural landscapes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lanya Feng ◽  
Fredrik Arvidsson ◽  
Henrik G. Smith ◽  
Klaus Birkhofer
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Carabid Beetles

scholarly journals Dimensions of Phyllostomid Bat Diversity and Assemblage Composition in a Tropical Forest-Agricultural Landscape

Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 238
Author(s):  
Farah Carrasco-Rueda ◽  
Bette A. Loiselle
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Model Organisms ◽  
Considerable Proportion ◽  
Land Type ◽  
Forest Interior ◽  
Bat Diversity

Tropical rainforests are suffering rapid habitat loss with large extensions of land transformed into agriculture. We wanted to know whether the type of agricultural activity in forest-agricultural landscapes affects how species composition as well as taxonomic and functional dimensions of diversity respond. We worked in the Amazon forests of southeast Peru and used bats as model organisms. We sampled mosaics characterized by forest adjacent to papaya plantations or cattle pastures. At each sampling site we established a transect in each of the three different vegetation types: forest interior, forest edge and agricultural land. We found that vegetation type was a better predictor of species composition than the type of agricultural land present. Vegetation structure characteristics explained differences in bat species composition between forest interior and edge. Agricultural land type chosen was not irrelevant as we found higher estimated species richness in papaya than in pasture sites. Agricultural land type present in a site and vegetation type affected functional diversity, with both agricultural land types showing a lower number of functionally distinct species than forests. We found papaya plantation sites showed species more evenly dispersed in trait space, suggesting they do better at conserving functional diversity when compared to cattle pasture sites. We demonstrate that sites that harbor agricultural activities can maintain a considerable proportion of the expected bat diversity. We note that this region still has large tracts of intact forest adjacent to agricultural lands, which may explain their ability to maintain relatively high levels bat diversity.

scholarly journals Repeated surveying over 6 years reveals that fine-scale habitat variables are key to tropical mountain ant assemblage composition and functional diversity

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mulalo M. Muluvhahothe ◽  
Grant S. Joseph ◽  
Colleen L. Seymour ◽  
Thinandavha C. Munyai ◽  
Stefan H. Foord
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
High Altitude ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Composition Analysis ◽  
Fine Scale

AbstractHigh-altitude-adapted ectotherms can escape competition from dominant species by tolerating low temperatures at cooler elevations, but climate change is eroding such advantages. Studies evaluating broad-scale impacts of global change for high-altitude organisms often overlook the mitigating role of biotic factors. Yet, at fine spatial-scales, vegetation-associated microclimates provide refuges from climatic extremes. Using one of the largest standardised data sets collected to date, we tested how ant species composition and functional diversity (i.e., the range and value of species traits found within assemblages) respond to large-scale abiotic factors (altitude, aspect), and fine-scale factors (vegetation, soil structure) along an elevational gradient in tropical Africa. Altitude emerged as the principal factor explaining species composition. Analysis of nestedness and turnover components of beta diversity indicated that ant assemblages are specific to each elevation, so species are not filtered out but replaced with new species as elevation increases. Similarity of assemblages over time (assessed using beta decay) did not change significantly at low and mid elevations but declined at the highest elevations. Assemblages also differed between northern and southern mountain aspects, although at highest elevations, composition was restricted to a set of species found on both aspects. Functional diversity was not explained by large scale variables like elevation, but by factors associated with elevation that operate at fine scales (i.e., temperature and habitat structure). Our findings highlight the significance of fine-scale variables in predicting organisms’ responses to changing temperature, offering management possibilities that might dilute climate change impacts, and caution when predicting assemblage responses using climate models, alone.

scholarly journals INVERTEBRATE SPECIES COMPOSITION (Invertebrata) PESTS OF AGROCENOSES OF WHITE CLOVER (Trifolium repens L.) AND THE RELEVANCE OF PROTECTIVE MEASURES

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-80
Author(s):  
Vladimir Zolotarev
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
White Clover ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Monitoring And Control ◽  
Protective Measures ◽  
Invertebrate Animal ◽  
Seed Crops ◽  
And Control

The area of natural growth and the scale of economic use of white clover among perennial legumes are spatially one of the most global. Due to the constant presence of wild white clover in many natural phyto-cenoses of most agricultural landscapes of different geographical zones, a certain complex of phytophages has evolved from various classes of invertebrate animal organisms that feed on various parts of this plant and reproduce on it. With the introduction of white clover into the culture and the spread of production crops of this plant over large areas, more favorable conditions are created for uncontrolled mass re-production of pests, which can cause already economically and economically significant crop losses. White clover is affected by multi-eating and specialized pests, the damage from which is determined by their biological characteristics and climatic conditions. The high population of white clover crops with a complex of herbivorous invertebrates implies constant monitoring and control of the species composition of the harmful fauna of white clover crops in order to organize, if necessary, protective measures against them. This issue is especially relevant for seed crops. The main pests of seed stands are considered to be weevils of the genera Apion Herbs., Phytonomus Herbs., Sitona Germar., Hypera Germar., which can re-duce seed yield by 50% or more. To reduce the economic losses of the crop on white clover, an integrated protection system should be implemented using chemical, biological and agrotechnical pest control meas-ures based on taking into account their economic harmfulness thresholds. One of the important directions of increasing the efficiency of the production use of white clover is the development of varieties of this crop that are resistant to damage by pathogenic organisms and pests.

After the fence: vegetation and topsoil condition in grazed, fenced and benchmark eucalypt woodlands of fragmented agricultural landscapes

2011 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne M. Prober ◽  
Rachel J. Standish ◽  
Georg Wiehl
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Plant Cover ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Livestock Grazing ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Plant Species Composition ◽  
Exotic Plant ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Plant Richness

Emerging ecological theory predicts that vegetation changes caused by introduction of livestock grazing may be irreversible after livestock are removed, especially in regions such as Australia that have a short evolutionary exposure to ungulate grazing. Despite this, fencing to exclude livestock grazing is the major tool used to restore vegetation in Australian agricultural landscapes. To characterise site-scale benefits and limitations of livestock exclusion for enhancing biodiversity in forb-rich York gum (Eucalyptus loxophleba Benth. subsp. loxophleba)–jam (Acacia acuminata Benth.) woodlands, we compared 29 fenced woodlands with 29 adjacent grazed woodlands and 11 little-grazed ‘benchmark’ woodlands in the Western Australian wheatbelt. We explored the following two hypotheses: (1) fencing to exclude livestock facilitates recovery of grazed woodlands towards benchmark conditions, and (2) without additional interventions after fencing, complete recovery of grazed woodlands to benchmark conditions is constrained by ecological or other limits. Our first hypothesis was supported for vegetation parameters, with fenced woodlands being more similar to benchmark woodlands in tree recruitment, exotic plant cover, native plant cover, native plant richness and plant species composition than were grazed woodlands. Further, exotic cover decreased and frequency of jam increased with time-since-fencing (2–22 years). However, we found no evidence that fencing led to decline in topsoil nutrient concentrations towards concentrations at benchmark sites. Our second hypothesis was also supported, with higher topsoil nutrient concentrations and exotic plant cover, and lower native plant richness in fenced than in benchmark woodlands, and different plant species composition between fenced and benchmark woodlands. Regression analyses suggested that recovery of native species richness is constrained by exotic species that persist after fencing, which in turn are more persistent at higher topsoil nutrient concentrations. We conclude that fencing to exclude livestock grazing can be valuable for biodiversity conservation. However, consistent with ecological theory, additional interventions are likely to be necessary to achieve some conservation goals or to promote recovery at nutrient-enriched sites.

scholarly journals Functional Diversity Effects of Vegetation on Runoff to Design Herbaceous Hedges for Sediment Retention

Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 131
Author(s):  
Léa Kervroëdan ◽  
Romain Armand ◽  
Mathieu Saunier ◽  
Michel-Pierre Faucon
Keyword(s):  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Herbaceous Plant ◽  
Sediment Retention ◽  
Erosion Processes ◽  
Diversity Effects

Background: Functional diversity effects on ecosystem processes, like on soil erosion, are not fully understood. Runoff and soil erosion in agricultural landscapes are reduced by the hydraulic roughness (HR) of vegetation patches, which furthers sediment retention. Vegetation with important stem density, diameters, leaf areas, and density impact the HR. A functional structure composed of these negatively correlated traits involved in the increase of the HR would constitute a positive effect of the functional diversity. Methods: Runoff simulations were undertaken on four mono-specific and two multi-specific communities, using herbaceous plant species from North-West Europe, presenting six contrasting aboveground functional traits involved in the HR increase. Results: An effect of dominant traits in the community was found on the HR, identified as the community-weighted leaf density. The non-additive effect of functional diversity on the HR could be explained by the presence of species presenting large stems in the communities with high functional diversity. Conclusion: We argued that functional diversity effect on the HR could change due to idiosyncratic effects of the plant traits, which would be influenced by soil properties, phylogeny diversity, and plant species interactions. These findings constitute an advancement in the understanding of plant trait assemblage on runoff and soil erosion processes.

Seasonal Occurrence of Adult Carabid Beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in West-Central Illinois

2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-343
Author(s):  
Kenneth W. McCravy ◽  
Jason E. Willand
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Tallgrass Prairie ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Abundant Species ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Carabid Beetles ◽  
West Central ◽  
Central Illinois

Abstract The Carabidae is a diverse family of beetles with many species of interest in conservation and biological control. Carabid beetle adult seasonal activity patterns were studied in a west-central Illinois forest/reconstructed tallgrass prairie matrix over a 2-yr period using pitfall traps. We found a threefold or greater difference in carabid abundance between years. Despite lower abundance, a second year of sampling yielded seven previously undetected species. Abundance and species richness were greatest in May–July and lower in August–October. Relative abundance and species richness were consistent among months between years. Shannon diversity and effective number of species were lowest in June and July. Cyclotrachelus sodalis (LeConte) and Chlaenius platyderus Chaudoir were the two most abundant species, comprising 54.3% of total captures. These species were most abundant in July and June, respectively. Most species showed greatest abundance in spring or early summer, and declined thereafter. Collections of several species were suggestive of bimodal seasonal patterns. Carabid species composition differed significantly among months, but not between years. Our results document seasonal variation in carabid abundance and species composition, and show that sampling throughout the growing season, and multiple sampling years, provide substantial benefits for assessments of carabid diversity in this region.

Links between ammonia oxidizer species composition, functional diversity and nitrification kinetics in grassland soils

2005 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 676-684 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon Webster ◽  
T. Martin Embley ◽  
Thomas E. Freitag ◽  
Zena Smith ◽  
James I. Prosser
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Ammonia Oxidizer ◽  
Grassland Soils ◽  
Nitrification Kinetics
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