The effect of the surrounding landscape matrix on mangrove bird community assembly in north Australia

AbstractStrong declines of grassland species diversity in small and isolated grassland patches have been observed at local and landscape scales. Here, we study how plant–herbivore interaction webs and habitat specialisation of leafhopper communities change with the size of calcareous grassland fragments and landscape connectivity. We surveyed leafhoppers and plants on 14 small (0.1–0.6 ha) and 14 large (1.2–8.8 ha) semi-natural calcareous grassland fragments in Central Germany, differing in isolation from other calcareous grasslands and in the percentage of arable land in the surrounding landscape (from simple to complex landscapes). We quantified weighted trophic links between plants and their phytophagous leafhoppers for each grassland fragment. We found that large and well-connected grassland fragments harboured a high portion of specialist leafhopper species, which in turn yielded low interaction diversity and simple plant-leafhopper food webs. In contrast, small and well-connected fragments exhibited high levels of generalism, leading to higher interaction diversity. In conclusion, food web complexity appeared to be a poor indicator for the management of insect diversity, as it is driven by specialist species, which require high connectivity of large fragments in complex landscapes. We conclude that habitat specialists should be prioritized since generalist species associated with small fragments are also widespread in the surrounding landscape matrix.

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Consistency in bird community assembly over medium-term along rural-urban gradients in Argentina

Ecological Processes ◽

10.1186/s13717-021-00302-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Lucas M. Leveau

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Community Assembly ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Environmental Filtering ◽

Bird Species ◽

Bird Community ◽

Bird Communities ◽

Assembly Rules ◽

Urban Habitats

Abstract Background The analysis of bird community assembly rules is fundamental to understand which mechanisms determine the composition of bird species in urban areas. However, the long-term variation of community assembly rules has not been analyzed yet. The objectives of this study are (1) to analyze the variation of community assembly rules along rural-urban gradients of three cities in central Argentina and (2) to compare the patterns of community assembly between two periods separated by 6 years. Bird surveys were performed along transects in urban, suburban, and rural habitats during 2011 and 2017. Departures from null models that took into account differences in species richness (standardized effect size, SES) were calculated for functional and phylogenetic diversities. Results A total of 57 species were recorded. Bird species richness was higher in suburban than in urban and rural habitats. SES of functional diversity increased over the years and was significantly lower in urban habitats than in rural habitats, showing a pattern of functional clustering in the most urbanized areas and functional randomness in rural ones. Phylogenetic diversity was higher in both suburban and urban habitats than rural ones, and the phylogenetic clustering in rural bird assemblages changed to randomness in suburban and urban habitats. Conclusions Bird communities in urban habitats were phylogenetically random and functionally clustered, evidencing environmental filtering by urbanization. In contrast, bird communities in rural areas tended to be phylogenetically clustered, evidencing that certain clades are adapted to rural areas. The processes structuring bird communities along rural-urban gradients were consistent between the 2 years compared.

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Beyond Climatic Variation: Human Disturbances Alter the Effectiveness of a Protected Area to Reduce Fires in Tropical Peatlands of Sumatra, Indonesia

10.1101/351817 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Muhammad Ali Imron ◽

Kirana Widyastuti ◽

Ryan Adi Satria ◽

Wiwid Prayoga ◽

Subyantoro Tri Pradopo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Protected Areas ◽

Protected Area ◽

Climatic Factors ◽

Global Scale ◽

Landscape Matrix ◽

Human Disturbances ◽

Tropical Peatlands ◽

Fire Patterns ◽

Surrounding Landscape ◽

Wildlife Reserve

AbstractThe occurrence of fires has frequently been used to highlight environmental hazards at regional and global scale, and as a proxy for the effectiveness of protected areas. In contrast, the mechanism behind wildfire dynamics in tropical peat land protected areas had been poorly addressed thus far. Our study provides a novel application of assessing fire patterns from a tropical peatland protected area and surrounding landscape. We investigated the importance of both climatic factors (top-down mechanism) and human interventions (bottom-up mechanism) on fire occurrences through analyzing 15-year (2001 - 2015) LANDSAT and MODIS images of the Padang Sugihan Wildlife Reserve (PSWR). Fire density along side road and canal construction were analyzed jointly together with the monthly and annual precipitation, and evidences of climatic anomalies. The reserve was effective in limiting fire occurrences from surrounding landscapes only in wet years. We revealed that peat fire patterns in the protected area and the landscape matrix emerged beyond climatic factors, and the distance from canal system could explain the fire occurrences. Our results show that it is essential to address processes at a landscape level, particularly at the surroundings of the reserve, in order to increase the effectiveness of fire protection, including the development of fire-prone classes maps.

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Bird community assembly in Bornean industrial tree plantations: Effects of forest age and structure

Forest Ecology and Management ◽

10.1016/j.foreco.2010.11.003 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 261 (3) ◽

pp. 531-544 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Alison R. Styring ◽

Roslina Ragai ◽

Joanes Unggang ◽

Robert Stuebing ◽

Peter A. Hosner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Community Assembly ◽

Bird Community ◽

Tree Plantations ◽

Forest Age

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On the relative importance of space and environment in farmland bird community assembly

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0213360 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (3) ◽

pp. e0213360 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Laura Henckel ◽

Christine N. Meynard ◽

Vincent Devictor ◽

Nicolas Mouquet ◽

Vincent Bretagnolle

Keyword(s):

Community Assembly ◽

Bird Community ◽

Relative Importance ◽

Farmland Bird

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Bird community in an Araucaria forest fragment in relation to changes in the surrounding landscape in Southern Brazil

Iheringia Série Zoologia ◽

10.1590/s0073-47212012000400007 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 102 (4) ◽

pp. 412-422 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Pedro Scherer-Neto ◽

Maria Cecília B. Toledo

Keyword(s):

Bird Community ◽

Sampling Period ◽

Native Forest ◽

Landscape Changes ◽

Southern Brazil ◽

Forest Fragment ◽

Open Area ◽

Araucaria Forest ◽

Exotic Tree ◽

Surrounding Landscape

The dynamics of the bird community in a small forest fragment was evaluated along seven years in relation to changes in the surrounding landscape. The study area is an Araucaria forest fragment in Southern Brazil (state of Paraná). The sampling period covered the years 1988 through 1994 and the mark-release-recapture method was utilized. The landscape analysis was based on Landsat TM images, and changes in exotic tree plantations, native forest, open areas (agriculture, pasture, bare soil, and abandoned field), and "capoeira"(native vegetation < 2 m) were quantified. The relationship between landscape changes and changes in abundance diversity of forest birds, open-area birds, forest-edge birds, and bamboo specialists was evaluated. Richness estimates were run for each year studied. The richness recorded in the study area comprised 96 species. The richness estimates were 114, 118 and 110 species for Chao 1, Jackknife 1 and Bootstrap, respectively. The bird community varied in species richness, abundance and diversity from year to year. As for species diversity, 1991, 1993 and 1994 were significantly different from the other years. Changes in the landscape contributed to the increase in abundance and richness for the groups of forest, open-area and bamboo-specialist species. An important factor discussed was the effect of the flowering of "taquara" (Poaceae), which contributed significantly to increasing richness of bamboo seed eaters, mainly in 1992 and 1993. In general, the results showed that landscape changes affected the dynamics and structure of the bird community of this forest fragment over time, and proved to have an important role in conservation of the avian community in areas of intensive forestry and agricultural activities.

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Species-Area Relationships of Specialist Versus Opportunistic Pampas Grassland Birds Depend on the Surrounding Landscape Matrix

Ardeola ◽

10.13157/arla.65.1.2018.ra1 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 65 (1) ◽

pp. 3-23 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Matías Guillermo Pretelli ◽

Juan Pablo Isacch ◽

Daniel Augusto Cardoni

Keyword(s):

Grassland Birds ◽

Landscape Matrix ◽

Species Area ◽

Surrounding Landscape

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Experimentally altered rainfall regimes and host root traits affect grassland arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities

10.32942/osf.io/cu4jh ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Coline Deveautour ◽

Suzanne Donn ◽

Sally Power ◽

Kirk Barnett ◽

Jeff Powell

Keyword(s):

Fungal Community ◽

Community Assembly ◽

Root Length ◽

Specific Root Length ◽

Root Traits ◽

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal ◽

Fungal Communities ◽

Rainfall Regime ◽

Precipitation Regimes ◽

Rainfall Regimes

Future climate scenarios predict changes in rainfall regimes. These changes are expected to affect plants via effects on the expression of root traits associated with water and nutrient uptake. Associated microorganisms may also respond to these new precipitation regimes, either directly in response to changes in the soil environment or indirectly in response to altered root trait expression. We characterised arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal communities in an Australian grassland exposed to experimentally altered rainfall regimes. We used Illumina sequencing to assess the responses of AM fungal communities associated with four plant species sampled in different watering treatments and evaluated the extent to which shifts were associated with changes in root traits. We observed that altered rainfall regimes affected the composition but not the richness of the AM fungal communities, and we found distinctive communities in the increased rainfall treatment. We found no evidence of altered rainfall regime effects via changes in host physiology because none of the studied traits were affected by changes in rainfall. However, specific root length was observed to correlate with AM fungal richness, while concentrations of phosphorus and calcium in root tissue and the proportion of root length allocated to fine roots were correlated to community composition. Our study provides evidence that climate change and its effects on rainfall may influence AM fungal community assembly, as do plant traits related to plant nutrition and water uptake. We did not find evidence that host responses to altered rainfall drive AM fungal community assembly in this grassland ecosystem.

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