The effects of wildfire on Spheciformes wasp community structure: the importance of local habitat conditions

Fragmentation of natural vegetation is one of the most pervasive changes in terrestrial ecosystems across the Earth. Developing a general understanding of how fragmentation affects plant and animal populations is essential to meet the pressing need for guidelines for the management of fragmented systems. Nevertheless, this general understanding has to take account of differences in ecosystem types and different biogeographic, evolutionary and ecological backgrounds against which fragmentation impacts are played out in different parts of the world. Here, we examine fragmentation impacts on plant populations by considering the processes underlying fragmentation. We suggest that it is critical to focus on the key processes that are important in particular situations, rather than assuming that the same factors are likely to be important everywhere. In other words, there are inevitable limits to generalisation because of the idiosyncratic nature of the geography, history and biota of different regions. Studies on the effects of fragmentation on plant populations have focused on a limited subset of plant types and have concentrated heavily on reproductive output rather than actual regeneration success. These studies have indicated a clear impact of fragmentation on fecundity, but there is no clear signal in terms of the actual importance of this in relation to population viability. Other factors including local habitat conditions, disturbance and competition from weeds may be just as important as the classical biogeographical impacts of fragmentation. Generalisations based on a clear assessment of key life-history processes may be valuable tools in developing management responses to ecosystem fragmentation, but this requires considerably more emphasis on factors affecting successful recruitment as well as factors affecting fecundity.

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Local habitat conditions explain the variation in the strength of self‐thinning in a stream salmonid

Ecology and Evolution ◽

10.1002/ece3.1591 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 5 (16) ◽

pp. 3231-3242 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Knut Marius Myrvold ◽

Brian P. Kennedy

Keyword(s):

Habitat Conditions ◽

Local Habitat ◽

Stream Salmonid

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The Effect of Habitat Structural Complexity on Gastropods in Anarid Mangrove Wetland

10.21203/rs.3.rs-768072/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Haniyeh Ebadzadeh ◽

Mehdi Ghodrati Shojaei ◽

Jafar Seyfabadi

Keyword(s):

Community Structure ◽

Habitat Complexity ◽

Organic Nitrogen ◽

Linear Models ◽

Structural Complexity ◽

Mangrove Ecosystem ◽

Mangrove Forests ◽

Total Organic Nitrogen ◽

The Persian Gulf ◽

Local Habitat

Abstract Structural complexity of mangrove forests are thought to provide critical habitats for a variety of invertebrates. We studied the influence of mangrove structure and seasonality on the gastropod diversity in the extreme mangrove ecosystem of the Persian Gulf. Sampling was conducted in two successive years (February and June 2018, February and June 2019) at two mangrove habitats i.e., pneumatophore zone and mudflats. The communities were characterized by the dominance of specific taxa and the comparably low species richness. In total, 18 taxa were identified, including 14 species occurring in the mangrove forest and 16 species in the mudflats. Assimineidae dominated the community in both mangrove habitats. Mean density of gastropods was 1.5-fold higher in the pneumatophore zone (86.12±135.21 ind.m-2) than in the mudflats (54.33±108.69 ind.m-2). Species such as Haminoea vitrea, Peronia verruculata, Assiminea mesopotamica and Platevindex tigrinus were found to benefit from the presence of pneumatophores, which highlights the importance of local habitat complexity. Gastropod communities varied significantly between the habitats, but there was little difference in the community structure between seasons. Distance-based linear models revealed that total organic carbon and total organic nitrogen best explained the variation in gastropods community structure.

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What do we learn from cultures in the omics age? High-throughput sequencing and cultivation of leaf-inhabiting endophytes from beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) revealed complementary community composition but similar correlations with local habitat conditions

MycoKeys ◽

10.3897/mycokeys.20.11265 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 20 ◽

pp. 1-16 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Abu Bakar Siddique ◽

Anis Mahmud Khokon ◽

Martin Unterseher

Keyword(s):

Community Composition ◽

Fagus Sylvatica ◽

High Throughput ◽

High Throughput Sequencing ◽

Habitat Conditions ◽

Fagus Sylvatica L ◽

Local Habitat

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Effect of mowing on the structure of sedge communities in the Chwiszczej river valley (Białowieża forest)

Quaestiones Geographicae ◽

10.2478/v10117-012-0009-5 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 31 (3) ◽

pp. 33-39 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Aleksander Kołos

Keyword(s):

River Valley ◽

Habitat Conditions ◽

Edge Zone ◽

Floristic Richness ◽

Białowieża Forest ◽

Habitat Factors ◽

Meadow Species ◽

Different Parts ◽

Local Habitat

Abstract. The paper presents the results of the 4-year studies on the influence of mowing on sedge communities structure in the near-edge zone and in the riverbed-adjacent zone of the Chwiszczej River valley (Białowieża Forest). It was assumed that various habitat conditions in different parts of the valley could modify effects of mowing. The floristic richness of sedge dominated patches increases under the influence of mowing in both zones of the valley, mainly as a result of growing number of meadow species. These changes are determined by habitat factors only in the central part of the valley, where ground water’s dynamics is the biggest. Effects of mowing are almost completely canceled by long-lasting flooding. Such flooding may affect on sedge communities’ structure stronger than mowing. Irrespective of local habitat conditions, mowing is favorable to spread of Calamagrostis stricta, which is species of high competitiveness. Its domination could lead to decrease of floristic richness in rush communities.

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Community Composition of Bacteria Isolated from Swiss Banknotes Varies Depending on Collection Environment

10.1101/2021.12.01.470750 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Anna M. Bischofberger ◽

Alex R. Hall

Keyword(s):

Microbial Communities ◽

Community Composition ◽

Taxonomic Diversity ◽

Habitat Conditions ◽

Geographic Structure ◽

Structure Similarity ◽

Associated Surfaces ◽

Microbial Community Assembly ◽

Butcher Shops ◽

Local Habitat

AbstractHumans interact constantly with surfaces and associated microbial communities in the environment. The factors shaping the composition of these communities are poorly understood: some proposed explanations emphasize the influence of local habitat conditions (niche-based explanations), while others point to geographic structure and the distance among sampled locations (dispersal-based explanations). However, the relative roles of these different drivers for microbial community assembly on human-associated surfaces are not clear. Here, we used a combination of sampling, sequencing (16S rRNA) and culturing to show that the composition of banknote-associated bacterial communities varies depending on the local collection environment. Using banknotes collected from various locations and types of shops across Switzerland, we found taxonomic diversity dominated by families such as Pseudomonadaceae, Staphylococcaceae and Streptococcaceae, but with banknote samples from particular types of shops (especially butcher shops) having distinct community structure. By contrast, we found no evidence of geographic structure: similarity of community composition did not decrease with increasing distance among sampled locations. These results show that microbial communities associated with banknotes, one of the most commonly encountered and exchanged human-associated surfaces, can reflect the local environmental conditions (in this case, the type of shop), and the signal for this type of variation was stronger than that for geographic structure among the locations sampled here.

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Carabid community structure in northern China grassland ecosystems: Effects of local habitat on species richness, species composition and functional diversity

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.6197 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. e6197 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Noelline Tsafack ◽

François Rebaudo ◽

Hui Wang ◽

Dávid D. Nagy ◽

Yingzhong Xie ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Community Structure ◽

Species Composition ◽

Functional Diversity ◽

Climatic Factors ◽

Northern China ◽

Regional Level ◽

Habitat Characteristics ◽

Environmental Characteristics ◽

Local Habitat

Background Most carabid beetles are particularly sensitive to local habitat characteristics. Although in China grasslands account for more than 40% of the national land, their biodiversity is still poorly known. The aim of this paper is to identify the main environmental characteristics influencing carabid diversity in different types of grassland in northern China. Methods We investigated the influence of vegetation (plant biomass, cover, density, height and species richness), soil (bulk density, above ground litter, moisture and temperature) and climate (humidity, precipitation and temperature) on carabid community structure (species richness, species composition and functional diversity—measured as body size, movement and total diversity) in three types of grasslands: desert, typical and meadow steppes. We used Canonical correspondence analysis to investigate the role of habitat characteristics on species composition and eigenvector spatial filtering to investigate the responses of species richness and functional diversities. Results We found that carabid community structure was strongly influenced by local habitat characteristics and particularly by climatic factors. Carabids in the desert steppe showed the lowest richness and functional diversities. Climate predictors (temperature, precipitation and humidity) had positive effects on carabid species richness at both regional and ecosystem levels, with difference among ecosystems. Plant diversity had a positive influence on carabid richness at the regional level. Soil compaction and temperature were negatively related to species richness at regional level. Climatic factors positively influenced functional diversities, whereas soil temperature had negative effects. Soil moisture and temperature were the most important drivers of species composition at regional level, whereas the relative importance of the various environmental parameters varied among ecosystems. Discussion Carabid responses to environmental characteristics varied among grassland types, which warns against generalizations and indicates that management programs should be considered at grassland scale. Carabid community structure is strongly influenced by climatic factors, and can therefore be particularly sensitive to ongoing climate change.

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