scholarly journals Is There an Equivalence between Measures of Landscape Structural and Functional Connectivity for Plants in Conservation Assessments of the Cerrado?

Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 459
Author(s):  
Thais Martins Issii ◽  
Erico Fernando Lopes Pereira-Silva ◽  
Carlos Tomás López de Pablo ◽  
Rozely Ferreira dos Santos ◽  
Elisa Hardt
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Landscape Connectivity ◽  
Structural Connectivity ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Dispersal Capacity ◽  
Plant Dispersal ◽  
Optimal Resource ◽  
History Of ◽  
Conservation Assessments

Landscape connectivity can be assessed based on the physical connection (structural connectivity) or the maintenance of flow among habitats depending on the species (functional connectivity). The lack of empirical data on the dispersal capacity of species can lead to the use of simple structural measures. Comparisons between these approaches can improve decision-making processes for the conservation or restoration of habitats in fragmented landscapes, such as the Cerrado biome. This study aimed to understand the correspondence between the measures of landscape structural and functional connectivity for Cerrado plants. Three landscapes with cerradão patches in a pasture matrix were selected for the application of these metrics based on the functional connectivity of four profiles of plant dispersal capacity. The results showed divergent interpretations between the measures of landscape structural and functional connectivity, indicating that the assessment of biodiversity conservation and landscape connectivity is dependent on the set of metrics chosen. Structurally, the studied landscapes had the same number of cerradão patches but varied in optimal resource availability, isolation, heterogeneity, and aggregation. Functional connectivity was low for all profiles (based on the integral index of connectivity—IIC) and null for species with a low dispersal capacity (based on the connectance index—CONNECT), indicating that species with a medium- to long-distance dispersal capacity may be less affected by the history of losses and fragmentation of the Cerrado in the pasture matrix. The functional connectivity metrics used allowed a more robust analysis and, apparently, better reflected reality, but the lack of empirical data on dispersal capacity and the difficulty in choosing an indicator organism can limit their use in the management and planning of conservation and restoration areas.

scholarly journals Functional rather than structural connectivity explains grassland plant diversity patterns following landscape scale habitat loss

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Kimberley ◽  
Danny Hooftman ◽  
James M. Bullock ◽  
Olivier Honnay ◽  
Patricia Krickl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Habitat Loss ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Spatial Configuration ◽  
Landscape Connectivity ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Structural Connectivity ◽  
Species Dispersal ◽  
Generalist Species

Abstract Context Functional connectivity is vital for plant species dispersal, but little is known about how habitat loss and the presence of green infrastructure interact to affect both functional and structural connectivity, and the impacts of each on species groups. Objectives We investigate how changes in the spatial configuration of species-rich grasslands and related green infrastructure such as road verges, hedgerows and forest borders in three European countries have influenced landscape connectivity, and the effects on grassland plant biodiversity. Methods We mapped past and present land use for 36 landscapes in Belgium, Germany and Sweden, to estimate connectivity based on simple habitat spatial configuration (structural connectivity) and accounting for effective dispersal and establishment (functional connectivity) around focal grasslands. We used the resulting measures of landscape change to interpret patterns in plant communities. Results Increased presence of landscape connecting elements could not compensate for large scale losses of grassland area resulting in substantial declines in structural and functional connectivity. Generalist species were negatively affected by connectivity, and responded most strongly to structural connectivity, while functional connectivity determined the occurrence of grassland specialists in focal grasslands. Restored patches had more generalist species, and a lower density of grassland specialist species than ancient patches. Conclusions Protecting both species rich grasslands and dispersal pathways within landscapes is essential for maintaining grassland biodiversity. Our results show that increases in green infrastructure have not been sufficient to offset loss of semi-natural habitat, and that landscape links must be functionally effective in order to contribute to grassland diversity.

scholarly journals Diving Beetle (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae) Community Dissimilarity Reveals How Low Landscape Connectivity Restricts the Ecological Value of Urban Ponds

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenfei Liao ◽  
Stephen Venn ◽  
Jari Niemelä
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Landscape Connectivity ◽  
Structural Connectivity ◽  
Aquatic Organisms ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Community Similarity ◽  
Ecological Value ◽  
Wetland Biodiversity

Abstract Context: Structural and functional connectivity, as subconcepts of landscape connectivity, are key factors in biodiversity conservation and management. Previous studies have focused on the consequences of connectivity for populations of terrestrial organisms, which may not be appropriate for aquatic organisms. Objectives: As landscape connectivity critically affects the potential value of ponds for biodiversity, here we used diving beetles (Dytiscidae), an indicator taxon of wetland biodiversity, to investigate how structural connectivity affects functional connectivity to aquatic invertebrates in an urban landscape. Methods: We assessed pairwise similarities of dytiscid community, i.e. the variation of species composition between clustered and isolated ponds in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Finland. We investigated how dytiscid community similarity is affected by Euclidean distances between ponds, as an indicator of structural connectivity. Results: We found that clustered ponds shared more species than isolated ponds. Dytiscid species community similarity responded negatively to increasing Euclidean distance between ponds. Effectively dispersing species were widely distributed across the landscape, while poor dispersers were scarcely distributed in the same landscape. Conclusions: Structural connectivity determines which species are able to disperse successfully, with poor dispersers restricted to well-connected ponds. The different responses of effective dispersers and poor dispersers to the same structural connectivity indicates that functional connectivity determines species composition. We recommend providing well-connected aquatic habitats in urban landscapes and the implementation of measures to reduce isolation of wetland assemblages. Even clustered ponds need dispersal from other habitats to ensure their contribution to urban biodiversity.

The Anterior-posterior Functional Connectivity Disconnection in the Elderly with Subjective Memory Impairment and Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 373-381
Author(s):  
Wuhai Tao ◽  
Jinping Sun ◽  
Xin Li ◽  
Wen Shao ◽  
Jing Pei ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Memory Impairment ◽  
Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scan ◽  
Subjective Memory ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Whole Brain ◽  
Subjective Memory Impairment

Background: Subjective Memory Impairment (SMI) may tremendously increase the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). The full understanding of the neuromechanism of SMI will shed light on the early intervention of AD. Methods: In the current study, 23 Healthy Controls (HC), 22 SMI subjects and 24 amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) subjects underwent the comprehensive neuropsychological assessment and the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. The difference in the connectivity of the Default Mode Network (DMN) and Functional Connectivity (FC) from the Region of Interest (ROI) to the whole brain were compared, respectively. Results: The results showed that HC and SMI subjects had significantly higher connectivity in the region of the precuneus area compared to aMCI subjects. However, from this region to the whole brain, SMI and aMCI subjects had significant FC decrease in the right anterior cingulum, left superior frontal and left medial superior frontal gyrus compared to HC. In addition, this FC change was significantly correlated with the cognitive function decline in participants. Conclusion: Our study indicated that SMI subjects had relatively intact DMN connectivity but impaired FC between the anterior and posterior brain. The findings suggest that long-distance FC is more vulnerable than the short ones in the people with SMI.

Religious Norms, Human Capital, and Money Lending in Jewish European History

2011 ◽  
pp. 56-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maristella Botticini ◽  
Zvi Eckstein
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Jewish History ◽  
Southern Italy ◽  
European History ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Common View ◽  
Jewish Diaspora ◽  
Medieval Europe ◽  
History Of ◽  
Muslim Spain

Circa 1000, the main occupations of the large Jewish community in Muslim Spain and of the small Jewish communities in southern Italy, France, and Germany were local trade and long-distance commerce, as well as handicrafts. A common view states that the usury ban on Christians segregated European Jews into money lending. A similar view contends that the Jews were forced to become money lenders because they were not permitted to own land, and therefore, they were banned from farming. This article offers an alternative argument which is consistent with the main features that mark the history of the Jews: the Jews in medieval Europe voluntarily selected themselves into money lending because they had the key assets for being successful players in credit markets. After providing an overview of Jewish history during 70–1492, it discusses religious norms and human capital in Jewish European history, Jews in the Talmud era, the massive transition of the Jews from farming to crafts and trade, the golden age of the Jewish diaspora (ca. 800–ca. 1250), and the legacy of Judaism.

scholarly journals Using Bayesian Belief Networks to assess the influence of landscape connectivity on ecosystem service trade-offs and synergies in urban landscapes in the UK

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. Karimi ◽  
Jim A. Harris ◽  
Ron Corstanje
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Landscape Connectivity ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Bayesian Belief Networks ◽  
Belief Networks ◽  
Patch Area ◽  
Trade Offs

Abstract Context Landscape connectivity is assumed to influence ecosystem service (ES) trade-offs and synergies. However, empirical studies of the effect of landscape connectivity on ES trade-offs and synergies are limited, especially in urban areas where the interactions between patterns and processes are complex. Objectives The objectives of this study were to use a Bayesian Belief Network approach to (1) assess whether functional connectivity drives ES trade-offs and synergies in urban areas and (2) assess the influence of connectivity on the supply of ESs. Methods We used circuit theory to model urban bird flow of P. major and C. caeruleus at a 2 m spatial resolution in Bedford, Luton and Milton Keynes, UK, and Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs) to assess the sensitivity of ES trade-offs and synergies model outputs to landscape and patch structural characteristics (patch area, connectivity and bird species abundance). Results We found that functional connectivity was the most influential variable in determining two of three ES trade-offs and synergies. Patch area and connectivity exerted a strong influence on ES trade-offs and synergies. Low patch area and low to moderately low connectivity were associated with high levels of ES trade-offs and synergies. Conclusions This study demonstrates that landscape connectivity is an influential determinant of ES trade-offs and synergies and supports the conviction that larger and better-connected habitat patches increase ES provision. A BBN approach is proposed as a feasible method of ES trade-off and synergy prediction in complex landscapes. Our findings can prove to be informative for urban ES management.

COMBINING ORAL TRADITIONS AND BAYESIAN CHRONOLOGICAL MODELING TO UNDERSTAND VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT IN THE GULF OF PAPUA (PAPUA NEW GUINEA)

Radiocarbon ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Chris Urwin ◽  
Quan Hua ◽  
Henry Arifeae
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Spatial History ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Gulf Of Papua ◽  
The Village

ABSTRACT When European colonists arrived in the late 19th century, large villages dotted the coastline of the Gulf of Papua (southern Papua New Guinea). These central places sustained long-distance exchange and decade-spanning ceremonial cycles. Besides ethnohistoric records, little is known of the villages’ antiquity, spatiality, or development. Here we combine oral traditional and 14C chronological evidence to investigate the spatial history of two ancestral village sites in Orokolo Bay: Popo and Mirimua Mapoe. A Bayesian model composed of 35 14C assays from seven excavations, alongside the oral traditional accounts, demonstrates that people lived at Popo from 765–575 cal BP until 220–40 cal BP, at which time they moved southwards to Mirimua Mapoe. The village of Popo spanned ca. 34 ha and was composed of various estates, each occupied by a different tribe. Through time, the inhabitants of Popo transformed (e.g., expanded, contracted, and shifted) the village to manage social and ceremonial priorities, long-distance exchange opportunities and changing marine environments. Ours is a crucial case study of how oral traditional ways of understanding the past interrelate with the information generated by Bayesian 14C analyses. We conclude by reflecting on the limitations, strengths, and uncertainties inherent to these forms of chronological knowledge.

scholarly journals White matter integrity and functional connectivity in adolescents with a parental history of substance use disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 100037
Author(s):  
Xiaofu He ◽  
Diana V. Rodriguez-Moreno ◽  
Yael M. Cycowicz ◽  
Keely Cheslack-Postava ◽  
Huilan Tang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Substance Use Disorder ◽  
White Matter Integrity ◽  
Parental History ◽  
History Of

scholarly journals Systematic placement of an enigmatic Southeast Asian taxon Eupetes macrocerus and implications for the biogeography of a main songbird radiation, the Passerida

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Knud A Jønsson ◽  
Jon Fjeldså ◽  
Per G.P Ericson ◽  
Martin Irestedt
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Plate Tectonics ◽  
Molecular Data ◽  
Sister Taxon ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Biogeographic History ◽  
Basal Group ◽  
History Of ◽  
Biogeographic Regions ◽  
Wallace’S Line

Biogeographic connections between Australia and other continents are still poorly understood although the plate tectonics of the Indo-Pacific region is now well described. Eupetes macrocerus is an enigmatic taxon distributed in a small area on the Malay Peninsula and on Sumatra and Borneo. It has generally been associated with Ptilorrhoa in New Guinea on the other side of Wallace's Line, but a relationship with the West African Picathartes has also been suggested. Using three nuclear markers, we demonstrate that Eupetes is the sister taxon of the South African genus Chaetops , and their sister taxon in turn being Picathartes , with a divergence in the Eocene. Thus, this clade is distributed in remote corners of Africa and Asia, which makes the biogeographic history of these birds very intriguing. The most parsimonious explanation would be that they represent a relictual basal group in the Passerida clade established after a long-distance dispersal from the Australo-Papuan region to Africa. Many earlier taxonomic arrangements may have been based on assumptions about relationships with similar-looking forms in the same, or adjacent, biogeographic regions, and revisions with molecular data may uncover such cases of neglect of ancient relictual patterns reflecting past connections between the continents.

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