Landscape-level determinants of the spread and impact of invasive grasses in protected areas

Introduced grasses can aggressively expand their range and invade native habitats, including protected areas. Miscanthus sinensis is an introduced ornamental grass with 100+ cultivars of various invasive potential. Previous studies have demonstrated that the invasive potential of M. sinensis cultivars may be linked to seed viability, and some of the physiological traits, such as growth rate. Little is known, however, about whether these traits are associated with response of M. sinensis to insect herbivory, and whether plant tolerance and resistance to herbivory vary among its cultivars; which, in turn, can contribute to the invasive potential of some of M. sinensis cultivars. To address this issue, in our study we explored the response of five cultivars of M. sinensis to herbivory by Melanoplus grasshoppers. We demonstrated that plant responses varied among the cultivars during a season; all the cultivars, but “Zebrinus”, demonstrated a significant increase in plant tolerance by the end of the growing season regardless of the amount of sustained leaf damage. Different patterns in plant responses from “solid green” and “striped/spotted” varieties were recorded, with the lowest plant resistance detected for “Autumn Anthem” in the cage experiment. Our results have important applications for monitoring low-risk invaders in protected areas, as well as for biotic resistance of native communities to invasive grasses.

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Modification of forests by people means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity

10.1101/2020.03.05.978858 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

H.S. Grantham ◽

A. Duncan ◽

T. D. Evans ◽

K. Jones ◽

H. Beyer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Protected Areas ◽

Ecological Integrity ◽

Central Africa ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Ecosystem Integrity ◽

Forest Condition ◽

Global Environmental ◽

Continuous Index ◽

Landscape Level

AbstractMany global environmental agendas, including halting biodiversity loss, reversing land degradation, and limiting climate change, depend upon retaining forests with high ecological integrity, yet the scale and degree of forest modification remains poorly quantified and mapped. By integrating data on observed and inferred human pressures and an index of lost connectivity, we generate the first globally-consistent, continuous index of forest condition as determined by degree of anthropogenic modification. Globally, only 17.4 million km2 of forest (40.5%) have high landscape level integrity (mostly found in Canada, Russia, the Amazon, Central Africa and New Guinea) and only 27% of this area is found in nationally-designated protected areas. Of the forest in protected areas, only 56% has high landscape level integrity. Ambitious policies that prioritize the retention of forest integrity, especially in the most intact areas, are now urgently needed alongside current efforts aimed at halting deforestation and restoring the integrity of forests globally.

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Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

H. S. Grantham ◽

A. Duncan ◽

T. D. Evans ◽

K. R. Jones ◽

H. L. Beyer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Protected Areas ◽

Ecological Integrity ◽

Central Africa ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Ecosystem Integrity ◽

Forest Condition ◽

Global Environmental ◽

Continuous Index ◽

Landscape Level

AbstractMany global environmental agendas, including halting biodiversity loss, reversing land degradation, and limiting climate change, depend upon retaining forests with high ecological integrity, yet the scale and degree of forest modification remain poorly quantified and mapped. By integrating data on observed and inferred human pressures and an index of lost connectivity, we generate a globally consistent, continuous index of forest condition as determined by the degree of anthropogenic modification. Globally, only 17.4 million km2 of forest (40.5%) has high landscape-level integrity (mostly found in Canada, Russia, the Amazon, Central Africa, and New Guinea) and only 27% of this area is found in nationally designated protected areas. Of the forest inside protected areas, only 56% has high landscape-level integrity. Ambitious policies that prioritize the retention of forest integrity, especially in the most intact areas, are now urgently needed alongside current efforts aimed at halting deforestation and restoring the integrity of forests globally.

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Land-Use Threats and Protected Areas: A Scenario-Based, Landscape Level Approach

Land ◽

10.3390/land3020362 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 362-389 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Tamara Wilson ◽

Benjamin Sleeter ◽

Rachel Sleeter ◽

Christopher Soulard

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Protected Areas ◽

Landscape Level

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Biodiversity and Human Livelihoods in Protected Areas

10.1017/cbo9780511542169 ◽

2007 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Keyword(s):

Protected Areas

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Crossing Divides: Conducting Mixed Methods Research in Protected Areas

The Indian Journal of Social Work ◽

10.32444/ijsw.2018.79.3.291-308 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 79 (3) ◽

pp. 291

Author(s):

BIJAYASHREE SATPATHY

Keyword(s):

Mixed Methods ◽

Protected Areas ◽

Mixed Methods Research

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ESTIMATION OF ABOVE GROUND BIOMASS OF THE THREE SITES (GRAZED SITE, PROTECTED SITE AND SEED SOWN SITE) FOR COMPARING THEIR PRODUCTIVITY IN KASHMIR VALLEY

FLORA AND FAUNA ◽

10.33451/florafauna.v23i2pp259-262 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

Author(s):

AFSHAN ANJUM BABA ◽

SYED NASEEM UL-ZAFAR GEELANI ◽

ISHRAT SALEEM ◽

MOHIT HUSAIN ◽

PERVEZ AHMAD KHAN ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Protected Areas ◽

Aboveground Biomass ◽

Plant Biomass ◽

Summer Season ◽

Above Ground Biomass ◽

Spring Season ◽

Kashmir Valley ◽

Ground Biomass ◽

Maximum Value ◽

Protected Site

The plant biomass for protected areas was maximum in summer (1221.56 g/m2) and minimum in winter (290.62 g/m2) as against grazed areas having maximum value 590.81 g/m2 in autumn and minimum 183.75 g/m2 in winter. Study revealed that at Protected site (Kanidajan) the above ground biomass ranged was from a minimum (1.11 t ha-1) in the spring season to a maximum (4.58 t ha-1) in the summer season while at Grazed site (Yousmarag), the aboveground biomass varied from a minimum (0.54 t ha-1) in the spring season to a maximum of 1.48 t ha-1 in summer seasonandat Seed sown site (Badipora), the lowest value of aboveground biomass obtained was 4.46 t ha-1 in spring while as the highest (7.98 t ha-1) was obtained in summer.

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