scholarly journals Family graveyards form underappreciated local plant diversity hotspots in China's agricultural landscapes

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheng Gong ◽  
Liangtao Li ◽  
Jan C. Axmarcher ◽  
Zhenrong Yu ◽  
Yunhui Liu
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Landscape Features ◽  
Habitat Islands ◽  
Local Plant ◽  
Ecological Functioning

AbstractIn the intensively farmed, homogenous agricultural landscape of the North China Plain, family graveyards form distinct cultural landscape features. In addition to their cultural value, these graveyards represent semi-natural habitat islands whose potential roles in biodiversity conservation and ecological functioning has remained poorly understood. In this study, we investigated plant species richness on 199 family graveyards of different ages and sizes. In accordance with biogeography theory, both overall and insect-pollinated plant species richness increased with area and age of graveyards. Even small graveyards show a strong potential for conserving local plant richness, and a mosaic of both large and small family graveyards could play an important role in the conservation of farmland biodiversity and related ecosystem functions. The launch of agri-environmental measures that conserve and create semi-natural habitats, in turn benefitting agricultural biodiversity and ecological functioning, has proven difficult in China due to the shortage of dispensable arable land. Given the great value of family graveyards as semi-natural habitats reflected in our study, we propose to focus preliminary efforts on conserving these landscape features as existing, widespread and culturally important semi-natural habitat islands. This would represent an effective, complementary policy to a subsequent re-establishment of other semi-natural habitats for the conservation of biodiversity and ecological functioning in agricultural landscapes.

Effects of natural habitat fragmentation on the species richness, diversity, and composition of cliff vegetation

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (6) ◽  
pp. 786-797 ◽  
Author(s):  
A R Haig ◽  
U Matthes ◽  
D W Larson
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Habitat Fragmentation ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Vascular Plants ◽  
Multivariate Analyses ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
Cliff Vegetation

Plant species richness, diversity, and some aspects of species composition were measured on natural limestone cliff fragments of varying size within the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve, Canada. This information was collected because knowledge about how different components of community structure change in response to natural fragmentation may permit the prediction of the effects of future anthropogenic fragmentation. The number and relative abundance of vascular plant, bryophyte, and lichen species were determined on cliff fragments that varied in area from 185 to 126 000 m2. Latitude, aspect, percent available photosynthetically active radiation on the cliff face, distance from the nearest neighbouring cliff, and length of the nearest neighbouring cliff were also measured. Regression analysis was used to test for a significant relationship between fragment area and diversity of vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens both separately and combined. Multiple regression with all subsets selection was used to find the best predictors of species richness from among all variables measured for the 21 cliff fragments. Multivariate analyses were used to study the effect of fragmentation on the structure of the vegetation as a whole. The results showed no significant relationship between cliff fragment area and richness or diversity for vascular plants and bryophytes, and only a marginally significant increase in richness with area for lichens. The multivariate analyses also showed that only one community type exists, and that its structure mainly varies as a function of latitude. These results indicate that very small fragments of cliff face can support a similar plant biodiversity as do large continuous portions of the Niagara Escarpment.Key words: habitat fragmentation, plant species richness, lichens, bryophytes, cliff vegetation.

scholarly journals Importance of Soil Organic Matter and the Species Pool for Local Species Richness in Montane Ecosystems

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 10634
Author(s):  
Xiang Li ◽  
Wenhao Hu ◽  
Zhenrong Yu
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
Species Pool ◽  
Multi Scale ◽  
Local Species Richness ◽  
Local Plant ◽  
Regional Species Pool ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
Local Species

Understanding the response of plant species richness to environmental filters is critical for conservation management as there is an increasing emphasis on plant restoration in urban/rural planning. However, empirical studies on the effects that the regional species pool has on plant species richness often overlook small spatial scales, therefore requiring more comprehensive approaches. As mountains can act as barriers to plant dispersal, the impact on the species pool, particularly, should be a priority. This study aimed to investigate how the regional species pool affects the local plant species richness in a multivariate context. We sampled vascular plant communities along three transects located in three valleys across the Chongli District, China, where four common habitat types were selected for sampling: grassland, shrubbery, pure forest, and mixed forest. We compared the differences in the multi-scale species richness and species composition between habitats and regions and used piecewise structural equation modeling to analyze the relative importance of the regional species pool, habitat species pool, soil resource availability, and exposure for local plant richness. The β-diversity had the highest contribution to the total species richness between valleys and habitats. The species composition between regions and habitats showed a significant difference and the local species richness was most strongly affected by the soil characteristics, but effects from the regional species pool still played an important role. Conservation efforts and urban/rural planning should use a multi-level and multi-scale approach based on a detailed structural investigation.

Effects of increasing landscape heterogeneity on local plant species richness: how much is enough?

2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 773-787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathilde Redon ◽  
Laurent Bergès ◽  
Thomas Cordonnier ◽  
Sandra Luque
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Landscape Heterogeneity ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
Local Plant

scholarly journals Drivers of vascular plant species area relationships in British broadleaved woodlands and their effects on the species area curve

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petra Guy ◽  
Simon Smart ◽  
Colin Prentice
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Habitat Heterogeneity ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
Riparian Zones ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Species Area

SummaryThe loss of plant biodiversity in Great Britain is a major concern, with a fifth of species endangered or vulnerable according to the latest IUCN Red List. The Government’s 25 Year Plan for the environment aims to halt this loss and build new habitats, including new woodlands. To ensure that biodiversity loss is halted in existing woodlands and gain is maximised in new ones, we need to better understand which drivers have been most influential in controlling biodiversity. Here we focus on vascular plant species’ richness.Previous attempts to explain plant species richness have mainly focussed on alpha diversity in a consistent, fixed unit area. Here, we additionally undertake a novel analysis of the effects of environmental heterogeneity and abiotic factors on species-area relationships derived from 16 randomly placed quadrats in each of 103 semi-natural, broad-leaved woodlands across Britain. Species-area relationships were examined at two scales (4m2 to 200m2 and 200m2 to 3200m2) to explore the relationship between the drivers of species richness and the exponent z, of the canonical species-area curve, S = cAz. We also explore the use of a new metric ζr, based on zeta diversity to quantify heterogeneity. Zeta diversity quantifies the number of species shared between multiple combinations of plots.Habitat heterogeneity increased species richness, as did the proximity of the woodlands to surrounding natural habitats. Higher levels of soil organic matter and the progression of woodlands to later successional stages, decreased species richness. Richness was also seen to have a unimodal response to soil acidity with a peak around pH 6. At the smaller scale, heterogeneity elements in the woodland such as riparian zones or coppicing led to an increase in the value of the exponent of the species area curve. At the larger scale, species turnover led to an increase in the exponent of the curves while succession led to a decrease. At both scales, soil organic matter content had a negative effect. ζr was found to be a significant and important variable and to affect both species richness and the slope of the species accumulation curves at larger scales.SynthesisHabitat heterogeneity measures included the presence of coppicing, open areas such as rides and riparian zones and the difference between species assemblages in different plots in the woodland. Results suggest that to maximize vascular plant diversity, woodlands should be managed for heterogeneity. In addition, the increase in richness with exposure to surrounding natural habitats suggests that woodlands benefit from being embedded in more benign habitats and further, that land management surrounding woodlands has a clear role to play in supporting biodiversity within woodlands. This is an area were Agri-environment schemes have an important role.

scholarly journals Determinants of Termite Assemblages’ Characteristics within Natural Habitats of a Sudano-Guinean Savanna (Comoe National Park, Côte d’Ivoire)

Insects ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 189
Author(s):  
N’golo Koné ◽  
Kolotchèlèma Silué ◽  
Souleymane Konaté ◽  
Karl Linsenmair
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
National Park ◽  
Woody Plant ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Termite Species ◽  
Woody Plant Species

Termites are one of the major components of tropical ecosystems. However, the ecological and biological variables determining the structure of their communities within natural habitats are less documented in general and especially in the Comoe National Park, a Sudano-Guinean savanna zone located in the north-eastern part of Côte d’Ivoire (West Africa). Using a standardized method of belt transects, the structure of termite’s communities was estimated within habitats differing in the structure of their vegetation, soil characteristics, and the disturbance level caused by annual occurrences of bushfires. The effect of a set of environmental variables (habitat type, occurrence of annual bushfire, woody plant density, woody plant species richness, and soil physicochemical parameters) was tested on the habitat-specific recorded termite species. Sixty species of termites belonging to 19 genera, seven subfamilies and two families, namely Rhinotermitidae (Coptotermitinae and Rhinotermitinae) and Termitidae (Apicotermitinae, Cubitermitinae, Macrotermitinae, Nasutitermitinae, and Termitinae) were sampled. These species were assigned to the four feeding groups of termites: fungus growers (18 species), wood feeders (17 species), soil feeders (19 species) and the grass feeders (6 species). The highest diversity of termites was encountered in forest habitats, with 37 and 34, respectively, for the gallery forest and the forest island. Among savanna habitats, the woodland savanna was identified as the most diversified habitat with 32 recorded species, followed by the tree savanna (28 species) and the grassy savanna (17 species). The distribution of termite species and their respective feedings groups was determined by the habitat type and a set of environmental variables such as Woody Plant Diversity (WPD), Woody plant Families Diversity (WPFD), and Organic Carbon (OC). The annual Fire Occurrence (FO) was found to indirectly impact the characteristics of termite assemblages within natural habitats via their respective Herbaceous Species Richness (HSR) and Woody Plant Species Richness (WPSR). In summary, the spatial heterogeneity of the Comoe National Park, modeled by the uncontrolled annual bushfire, offers a diversified natural habitat with an important variety of termite-habitat-specific species, probably due to the food preference of these organisms and its relatively good conservation status.

Predicting vascular plant species richness of fragmented forests in agricultural landscapes in central Belgium

2002 ◽  
Vol 158 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 85-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myriam Dumortier ◽  
Jan Butaye ◽  
Hans Jacquemyn ◽  
Nancy Van Camp ◽  
Noël Lust ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Vascular Plant Species ◽  
Fragmented Forests

scholarly journals Habitat Islands on the Aegean Islands (Greece): Elevational Gradient of Chasmophytic Diversity, Endemism, Phytogeographical Patterns and need for Monitoring and Conservation

Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Kontopanou ◽  
Maria Panitsa
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Elevational Gradient ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Variable Intensity ◽  
Aegean Islands ◽  
Habitat Islands ◽  
Elevational Range ◽  
Natural Laboratory

The Aegean archipelago, characterized as a natural laboratory for research concerning plant species diversity and phytogeography has a complex geological and paleogeographical history that varies among its phytogeographical areas. A different combination of factors of variable intensity and duration time drives patterns of its impressive plant species richness and endemism. Cliffs, a conspicuous feature of the Aegean landscape, consist of biologically closed communities that serve as refugia for obligate chasmophytes, the majority of which are Greek or Aegean endemics, and for this reason, they are also considered as habitat islands on the Aegean islands. A synoptic analysis is presented concerning chasmophytic plant diversity focusing on endemic obligate chasmophytes. Phytogeographical patterns of obligate chasmophytes, and especially the endemic ones as well as their elevational range and distribution and zeta diversity, are analyzed and discussed in the frame of climatic change, mentioning that the most threatened endemic obligate chasmophytes are those specialized in high elevation areas, and focusing on the need for monitoring and conservation.

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