scholarly journals The importance of non-forest tree stand features for protection of the Syrian Woodpecker Dendrocopos syriacus in agricultural landscape: a case study from South-Eastern Poland

2020 ◽  
Vol 94 (5) ◽  
pp. 1825-1835
Author(s):  
Jerzy Michalczuk
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Fruit Trees ◽  
Forest Tree ◽  
Health Condition ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Dendrocopos Syriacus

Abstract Non-forest tree stands are important habitats for many species of birds in the agricultural landscape. They are also the main habitat of the Syrian Woodpecker Dendrocopos syriacus, whose numbers have been decreasing in recent years in some parts of Europe. Recognition of the habitat requirements of this species may help better planning of its protection in the context of the treed agricultural landscapes. During this study, the habitat preferences of the Syrian Woodpecker were determined in the agricultural landscape of South-Eastern Poland. A set of 12 habitat parameters of tree stands located in the breeding territories of the Syrian Woodpecker (n = 122) and in randomly chosen control areas (n = 122) located outside the range of the breeding territories of this species were characterized. The number and species diversity of trees was significantly higher in stands located in Syrian Woodpecker territories than in the random control areas. Stands occupied by breeding pairs also had trees of worse health condition and a larger proportion of fruit trees. The model best explaining the probability of the occurrence of the species indicates that the Syrian Woodpecker requires mainly the presence of tree stands with a greater species diversity of trees, as well as tree stands in worse health condition. When planning the protection of this species’ habitats in the agricultural landscape, the characteristics of non-forest tree stands noted above should be taken into account.

Non-agricultural landscape structure and the effect on plant species diversity in agricultural landscapes: a case study in Fengqiu County

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
冯舒 FENG Shu ◽  
汤茜 TANG Qian ◽  
卢训令 LU Xunling ◽  
丁圣彦 DING Shengyan ◽  
贾振宇 JIA Zhenyu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Landscape Structure ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Plant Species Diversity

scholarly journals Relevance of Intermittent Rivers and Streams in Agricultural Landscape and Their Impact on Provided Ecosystem Services—A Mediterranean Case Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (15) ◽  
pp. 2693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana Kaletová ◽  
Luis Loures ◽  
Rui Alexandre Castanho ◽  
Elena Aydin ◽  
José Telo da Gama ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Intermittent Rivers ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Classification Tool ◽  
The Impact

Ecosystem services (ES), as an interconnection of the landscape mosaic pieces, along with temporal rivers (IRES) are an object of research for environmental planners and ecological economists, among other specialists. This study presents (i) a review on the importance of IRES and the services they can provide to agricultural landscapes; (ii) a classification tool to assess the impact of IRES to provide ES by agricultural landscapes; (iii) the application of the proposed classification to the Caia River in order to identify the importance of this intermittent river for its surrounding agricultural landscape. The classification of the ES follows the Common International Classification of Ecosystem (CICES) classification that was adapted for the purposes of this study. Firstly, the list of ES provided by agricultural landscape was elaborated. In the next step, we assessed the potential of IRES to provide ES. Next, IRES impacts to ES within the agricultural landscape were evaluated according to observations from the conducted field monitoring in the study area. This study focuses on the relevance of the intermittent Caia River—a transboundary river in Spain and Portugal—and its ephemeral tributaries in the agricultural landscape. Our study estimates that each hydrological phase of IRES increases the ES provided by the agricultural landscape. However, the dry phase can potentially have negative impacts on several services. The intensification of the agricultural sector is the main provision of the water resource within the Caia River basin, but we were able to identify several other ES that were positively impacted. The present study is in line with the conclusions of other authors who state that IRES constitute a valuable resource which should not be underestimated by society.

Links between riparian characteristics and the abundance of common wombat (Vombatus ursinus) burrows in an agricultural landscape

2008 ◽  
Vol 35 (8) ◽  
pp. 760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Borchard ◽  
John McIlroy ◽  
Clare McArthur
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Riparian Zone ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Weed Invasion ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Common Wombat ◽  
Restoration Strategies ◽  
Native Shrubs

Agricultural riparian zones are often vulnerable to weed invasion and degradation of the physical streambank character through the trampling of livestock. Riparian zone restoration seeks to improve habitat biodiversity, minimise streambank erosion and improve water quality. In order for this to be effective land managers need to broadly understand the connections between riparian systems and adjoining agricultural ecosystems and to understand the habitat requirements of wildlife species adapted to the evolving riparian landscape. Common wombats (Vombatus ursinus) are abundant in the riparian agricultural landscapes of south-eastern Australia, but there is concern about their persistence in other landscapes. To understand the importance of riparian characteristics for wombats, we examined five physical and five vegetative characteristics associated with abundance of wombat burrows in the riparian zone of an agricultural landscape in south-eastern New South Wales, using two independent datasets. The abundance of wombat burrows increased substantially with increasing shrub cover in both datasets. There was weaker but consistent support for an association between wombat burrows and stream order and vegetation width. There were more burrows per metre by high than low order streams and burrows were most abundant at an intermediate vegetation width. In one of the two datasets, burrow abundance declined as the proportion of native shrubs in the shrub layer increased. As wombats are generally limited to riparian buffers in agricultural landscapes, these results are important as a first step toward managing and restoring the riparian zone. Restoration strategies, for example, may need to consider retaining patches of shrubs, even if they are weeds, whereas native shrubs are established in interspersed patches along larger rivers, in order to maintain suitable wombat habitat.

scholarly journals The effect of Agricultural Landscape Type on Field Margin Flora in South Eastern Poland

2016 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Wrzesień ◽  
Bożena Denisow
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Species Diversity ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Detrended Correspondence Analysis ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Plant Species Diversity ◽  
Field Margins ◽  
Landscape Type

Abstract Plant species diversity is threatened in many agricultural landscapes due to the changes it has to undergo. Although the modification of the agricultural landscape pattern is observed across Europe, both extensive and intensive agricultural landscapes still co-exist in Poland. The objective of the study was to examine the flora in field margins in intensively and extensively managed agricultural landscapes, located across three regions in SE Poland. The flora was compared with respect to species richness, diversity, and evenness indices. Detrended correspondence analysis was employed to characterise variation in species composition. Agricultural landscape type made a higher contribution than the topography or geology to species richness and composition in field margins. Field margins function as important habitats for general vascular plant species diversity and are useful for the conservation of rare, threatened, endangered or bee plants. A significant decline in species diversity was observed over a distance of 1000 m from the habitat elements. Plants growing on field margins are mainly perennials; however participation of annuals clearly increases in intensive landscapes. The participation of wind-dispersed species decreased in an open-spaced intensive landscape. Animal-dispersed plants predominated in an extensive landscape with forest islands. Irrespective of landscape type, native species predominated. However, these habitats create the biota and corridors for alien-invasive species as well.

Agricultural Landscapes

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurt Anschuetz ◽  
Eileen L. Camilli ◽  
Christopher D. Banet
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
Canal Irrigation ◽  
Farming Communities ◽  
Large Scale Field ◽  
Northern Rio Grande

The discussion in this chapter is based on the premise that agricultural landscapes are the foundations of the economies, social organizations, and cultural identities of farming communities. It reviews selected archaeological districts between Sonora and the northern Rio Grande in which technologically diverse agricultural features, including trincheras, terraces, rock-bordered grids, gravel mulches, and canals, are well documented. This examination shows that large-scale field complexes, including those dependent on canal irrigation, are widespread throughout the pre-colonial North American Southwest, with some dating to the Late Archaic. Consideration of the Tewa Basin of north-central New Mexico as a case study introduces the idea that shrines are other essential agricultural landscape features, which possess the potential to contribute toward fuller understandings of farming settlement dynamics.

Colonisation of native tree and shrub plantings by woodland birds in an agricultural landscape

2008 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. W. Barrett ◽  
D. Freudenberger ◽  
A. Drew ◽  
J. Stol ◽  
A. O. Nicholls ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resource Management ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
New South ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Tree Planting ◽  
Woodland Birds ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Trees And Shrubs

Tree planting has become a cornerstone strategy for natural resource management in agricultural landscapes, yet its contribution as habitat for woodland birds has not been fully investigated. A case study from the Holbrook region in southern New South Wales was used to assess woodland birds in young plantings of native trees and shrubs. Ground-foraging insectivorous woodland birds were under-represented in the plantings, partly due to a lack of native forb diversity (wildflowers) and leaf litter. Of 69 woodland bird species recorded over a three-year period, 48 species (70%) occurred in planted sites, 59 species (86%) occurred in remnant woodland, and 34 species (49%) occurred in adjacent paddock sites. The greater diversity of birds in planted sites relative to paddock sites was mostly due to understorey birds. The proportion of mist-netted birds recaptured was similar in both planted (15%) and remnant woodland (16%) sites, suggesting that individual birds were staying in planted sites. The proportion of woodland birds showing breeding activity (as measured by the presence of a brood patch) was slightly lower in planted sites (24% of all woodland species) than in remnant woodland (29%). Birds such as the superb fairy-wren, red-browed finch and southern whiteface were more likely to occur in planted sites, suggesting that plantings provide unique, transitional-stage habitat within agricultural landscapes. Restoring native forbs, as part of a broader strategy of woodland management, will help to reverse the decline of ground-foraging insectivorous woodland birds in agricultural landscapes.

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