Effects of landscape structure on vegetation and some animal groups after agriculture abandonment

Abstract There is a large body of research on conflict in nonhuman animal groups that measures the costs and benefits of intergroup conflict, and we suggest that much of this evidence is missing from De Dreu and Gross's interesting article. It is a shame this work has been missed, because it provides evidence for interesting ideas put forward in the article.

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Does landscape structure influence cereal leaf beetle populations through enhancing the abundance of its specific parasitoidTetrastichus julisin wheat fields?

10.1603/ice.2016.115056 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Arash Kheirodin

Keyword(s):

Landscape Structure ◽

Leaf Beetle ◽

Cereal Leaf Beetle

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Spatial and temporal analysis of land cover and landscape structure change in Zagros Forests

10.37099/mtu.dc.etd-restricted/94 ◽

2012 ◽

Author(s):

Azad Henareh Khalyani

Keyword(s):

Land Cover ◽

Landscape Structure ◽

Temporal Analysis ◽

Structure Change ◽

Zagros Forests ◽

Spatial And Temporal Analysis

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Nidicolous beetle species richness is driven by Barn Owl’s nests occupancy and landscape structure

Journal of Ornithology ◽

10.1007/s10336-021-01875-z ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Vivien Cosandey ◽

Robin Séchaud ◽

Paul Béziers ◽

Yannick Chittaro ◽

Andreas Sanchez ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Landscape Structure ◽

Barn Owl ◽

Arthropod Community ◽

Tyto Alba ◽

Nest Material ◽

Crop Fields ◽

Nest Boxes ◽

Bird Droppings ◽

Barn Owls

AbstractBird nests are specialized habitats because of their particular composition including nest detritus and bird droppings. In consequence, they attract a specialized arthropod community considered as nidicolous, which includes species only found in bird nests (strictly nidicolous) or sometimes found in bird nests (facultatively nidicolous). Because the factors influencing the entomofauna in bird nests are poorly understood, in autumn 2019, we collected nest material in 86 Barn Owl (Tyto alba) nest boxes. We investigated whether the invertebrate species richness was related to Barn Owl nest box occupancy, the density of available nest boxes and the landscape structure. We found 3,321 nidicolous beetle specimens belonging to 24 species. Species richness of strictly nidicolous beetles was 2.7 times higher in nest boxes occupied by a family of Barn Owls the previous spring compared to unoccupied nest boxes. It was also higher in sites that were more often occupied by Barn Owls in the five previous years and in areas surrounded by a higher proportion of crop fields. For facultatively nidicolous beetles, the density of Barn Owl nest boxes enhanced the species richness. In conclusion, our study suggests that the strictly nidicolous beetles benefit from occupied nest boxes of Barn Owls, whereas facultatively nidicolous beetles look for nest boxes independently of whether Barn Owls occupy them. Our study highlights the importance of bird nests for a suite of invertebrates.

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Environment and Local Substrate Availability Effects on Harem Formation in a Polygynous Bark Beetle

Insects ◽

10.3390/insects12020098 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 98 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Melissa J. Griffin ◽

Matthew R. E. Symonds

Keyword(s):

Population Density ◽

Bark Beetle ◽

Substrate Availability ◽

Pine Plantation ◽

Single Male ◽

Animal Groups ◽

Ips Grandicollis ◽

Surrounding Environment ◽

External Conditions ◽

Species Groups

Many forms of polygyny are observed across different animal groups. In some species, groups of females may remain with a single male for breeding, often referred to as “harem polygyny”. The environment and the amount of habitat available for feeding, mating and oviposition may have an effect on the formation of harems. We aimed to determine how the surrounding environment (a harvested or unharvested pine plantation) and availability of local substrate affect the harems of the bark beetle, Ips grandicollis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae). In a harvested pine plantation with large amounts of available habitat, the population density of these beetles is much higher than in unharvested plantations. We found the number of females per male to be significantly greater in the harvested plantation than the unharvested one. Additionally, the amount of substrate available in the immediate local vicinity (the number of logs in replicate piles) also influences the number of beetles attracted to a log and size of individual harems. We also examined how females were distributing themselves in their galleries around the males’ nuptial chamber, as previous work has demonstrated the potential for competition between neighbouring females and their offspring. Females do not perform clumping, suggesting some avoidance when females make their galleries, but they also do not distribute themselves evenly. Female distribution around the male’s nuptial chamber appears to be random, and not influenced by other females or external conditions.

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Landscape structure affects the sunflower visiting frequency of insect pollinators

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-87650-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Károly Lajos ◽

Ferenc Samu ◽

Áron Domonkos Bihaly ◽

Dávid Fülöp ◽

Miklós Sárospataki

Keyword(s):

Landscape Structure ◽

Honey Bees ◽

Agricultural Landscape ◽

Edge Density ◽

Wild Bees ◽

Natural Habitats ◽

Mass Flowering ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Pollinator Community ◽

Foraging Ranges

AbstractMass-flowering crop monocultures, like sunflower, cannot harbour a permanent pollinator community. Their pollination is best secured if both managed honey bees and wild pollinators are present in the agricultural landscape. Semi-natural habitats are known to be the main foraging and nesting areas of wild pollinators, thus benefiting their populations, whereas crops flowering simultaneously may competitively dilute pollinator densities. In our study we asked how landscape structure affects major pollinator groups’ visiting frequency on 36 focal sunflower fields, hypothesising that herbaceous semi-natural (hSNH) and sunflower patches in the landscape neighbourhood will have a scale-dependent effect. We found that an increasing area and/or dispersion of hSNH areas enhanced the visitation of all pollinator groups. These positive effects were scale-dependent and corresponded well with the foraging ranges of the observed bee pollinators. In contrast, an increasing edge density of neighbouring sunflower fields resulted in considerably lower visiting frequencies of wild bees. Our results clearly indicate that the pollination of sunflower is dependent on the composition and configuration of the agricultural landscape. We conclude that an optimization of the pollination can be achieved if sufficient amount of hSNH areas with good dispersion are provided and mass flowering crops do not over-dominate the agricultural landscape.

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Changes in Landscape Structure in the Municipalities of the Nitra District (Slovak Republic) Due to Expanding Suburbanization

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13031205 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 1205

Author(s):

Zuzana Pucherová ◽

Regina Mišovičová ◽

Gabriel Bugár ◽

Henrich Grežo

Keyword(s):

Landscape Structure ◽

Slovak Republic ◽

Satellite Image ◽

Analytical Data ◽

European Space Agency ◽

Rural Landscape ◽

Landscape Features ◽

Main Research ◽

Spatial Changes ◽

The Impact

Suburbanization, as a set of several factors, influences and changes the landscape structure of smaller municipalities in the hinterland of larger cities. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the built-up areas related to suburbanization within three time horizons—in 2002, 2005, and 2020—in 62 municipalities of the district (including two cities, Nitra and Vráble). This study examines the process of spatial changes in landscape features (residential, industrial, agricultural, transport) related to suburbanization between 2002 and 2005 and between 2002 and 2020. The input analytical data were digital orthophotomaps from 2002 and 2005 and the current orthophotomosaics of the Slovak Republic from 2017 (GKÚ, Bratislava), updated for the year 2020 using Sentinel 2 satellite image data (European Space Agency). The impact of suburbanization processes between 2002 and 2005 did not reach the dimensions of the changes that occurred due to suburbanization processes between 2002 and 2020 or 2005 and 2020. The main research objective of the article is the identification and assessment of these changes. We determined which landscape features related to suburbanization affected spatial changes in municipalities of the district Nitra. The total area affected by one of the suburbanization processes monitored by us reached 92.52 ha in the period between 2002 and 2005. Between the years 2002 and 2020, the area reached a total of 2272.82 ha, which is an increase of 2180.30 ha in 2020 compared to 2002. This included mainly the expansion of settlements or housing (60.15%), industrial areas (29.31%), transport facilities (4.35%), agricultural areas (0.73%), and other areas (5.46%). These results show expanding suburbanization for the period from 2002 to 2020 and that this process has been gaining momentum in the municipalities of the Nitra district, especially in recent years, which changes the look of rural municipalities and the character of a typical rural landscape.

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