Regionalisation is key to establishing reference conditions for neotropical savanna streams

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabela Martins ◽  
Raphael Ligeiro ◽  
Robert M. Hughes ◽  
Diego R. Macedo ◽  
Marcos Callisto
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Landscape Heterogeneity ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Reference Conditions ◽  
Physical Habitat ◽  
Reference Sites ◽  
Macroinvertebrate Assemblages ◽  
Landscape Unit ◽  
Composition And Structure ◽  
Landscape Units

Areas with minimal anthropogenic influences are frequently used as reference sites and represent the best ecological state available in a region. Streams in such conditions are necessary for evaluating the conservation status of aquatic ecosystems of a region and to monitor them, taking natural environmental variability into consideration. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to analyse whether hydrological units are reliable regional units for aggregating reference sites. To this end, reference sites were studied in three different landscape units of the same hydrological unit. The study tested the hypothesis that water quality, physical habitat structure and the composition and structure of macroinvertebrate assemblages will be more similar for sites in the same landscape unit than for sites located in different landscape units in the same hydrological unit. The study showed that taxonomic richness and composition of the macroinvertebrate assemblages were negatively affected by site slope and positively affected by the presence of leaf packs on the streambed. The three landscape units supported significantly different macroinvertebrate assemblages and indicator taxa. Therefore, a hydrological unit does not constitute a homogeneous entity in terms of environmental variables and biological composition if it incorporates high landscape heterogeneity. These results should improve and facilitate the selection of reference sites for biomonitoring programs and for managing tropical headwater streams.

scholarly journals Wildlife Response to Wildfire in a Northern New York Jack Pine Barrens

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 676
Author(s):  
Hannah Cave ◽  
Matthew Adams ◽  
Tristan Jaeger ◽  
Taylor Peet ◽  
Lloyd Staats ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Prey Availability ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Reference Conditions ◽  
Pine Barrens ◽  
Reference Sites ◽  
Disturbed Condition ◽  
Composition And Structure ◽  
Management Guidance ◽  
Forested Ecosystem

Natural disturbances are an integral part of forested ecosystem function and successional pathways. In many forested ecosystems, wildfires are critical to shaping composition and structure, which, in turn, has major implications for wildlife usage and behavior. In July 2018, a wildfire burned 225 ha of the Altona Flat Rock pine barrens in northern New York. This event presented the opportunity to study how wildlife respond to the immediate effects of disturbance in this unique habitat but also how that response would change through time as regeneration progressed. Game cameras were deployed from September 2018 to September 2020 at two reference (unburned) and two disturbed (burned) sites within the pine barrens. We analyzed total and seasonal occurrences, to determine how usage differed between disturbed and reference conditions, and with time since disturbance. Additionally, for coyote (Canis latrans, Say), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus, Zimmermann), and snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus, Erxleben), we evaluated daily activity patterns and overlap to determine how predator–prey relationships differed between conditions, and with time since disturbance. Over 730 days, a total of 1048 wildlife occurrences were captured across 23 wildlife species. Fifty-seven percent of all occurrences were at reference sites with over 100 more occurrences than at disturbed sites; however, differences were most pronounced immediately following the fire and overall occurrences have grown more similar between the sites over time. Specifically, deer and hare were found more often at reference sites immediately following the fire, but shifted to using both conditions equally by the first growing season. Habitat overlap among sympatric prey (deer, hare) can be explained by understory regeneration increasing foraging opportunities and concealment cover in the disturbed condition, while predators (coyotes) tracked prey availability regardless of the habitat condition. This study provides wildlife management guidance on habitat use and response to disturbance for these unique sandstone pavement barrens.

Standardized approaches in effectiveness monitoring programs and regional relevance: lessons from the Bowron River Watershed Riparian Evaluation Project

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (12) ◽  
pp. 3139-3150 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. J. Nordin ◽  
J. F. Rex ◽  
D. A. Maloney ◽  
P. J. Tschaplinski
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Landscape Heterogeneity ◽  
Bare Soil ◽  
Threshold Values ◽  
Reference Sites ◽  
Watershed Characteristics ◽  
Riparian Management ◽  
Salvage Logging ◽  
River Watershed ◽  
Effectiveness Monitoring

Streams and riparian areas in the Bowron River watershed were assessed using the riparian management routine effectiveness evaluation, a protocol developed for postharvest operational monitoring in British Columbia. Located in the British Columbia interior, the study watershed has had several decades to recover since a period of intensive salvage logging from 1977 to 1987 in response to a spruce beetle ( Dendroctonus rufipennis ) outbreak. Correlations were found with site-specific watershed characteristics and attributes that are used to answer the protocol indicator questions. Channel width was the strongest covariate, exhibiting the most significant relationships with the stream and riparian attributes. Suggestions on how to adjust standard protocols for stream size and landscape heterogeneity are discussed and include the use of appropriate reference sites for baseline data. We used correlations with watershed characteristics and multiple regressions based on regional reference sites to predict upper and lower threshold values by which attribute measurements could be compared. Sites that were assessed above or below threshold values for an attribute were considered to be outside the range of natural variation and were given a failing score. Attributes with the most failures 20–30 years postharvest were disturbed ground, bare soil, undercut banks, and shade.

scholarly journals Sistema para el Seguimiento del funcionamiento de ecosistemas en la Red de Parques Nacionales de España mediante Teledetección

2016 ◽  
pp. 119 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Cabello ◽  
D. Alcaraz-Segura ◽  
A. Reyes ◽  
P. Lourenço ◽  
J. M. Requena ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
National Parks ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Net Primary Production ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Vegetation Indices ◽  
Reference Conditions ◽  
Management Actions

<p>Management of protected areas in the current context of global change requires approaches to characterize and to monitor ecosystem functioning. Remote sensing provides adequate tools for that because it provides índices that inform repeatedly and for large areas of land, about matter and energy exchanges between the biota and land surface. Considering this principle, and the continuous improvements in the availability of satellite data of higher quality and friendly use, we have developed with the Autonomous Organization of National Parks of Spain (OAPN), a monitoring system that complements other monitoring initiatives from this agency to inform about the conservation status of national parks. The system, called REMOTE, is based on the most used spectral vegetation indices on scientific literature, EVI (Enhanced Vegetation Index) and NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), derived from the time series of satellite images of the MODIS-Terra sensor. The systems allows to progress in identification of reference conditions to understand and predict ecosystems response against environmental perturbations or management actions, and their directional changes (trends) they are experiencing. Likewise, establishment of reference conditions helps to identify anomalies that warn of sudden changes in ecosystem functioning. The system uses as ecosystem functioning indicators three attributes related to the annual carbon gains (net primary production) by the canopy, their seasonality and phenology. In addittion, Remote has been designed and programmed on open and free software allowing future modifications and improvements in an easy way. The implementation of this system aims to inform decision-makers and managers of the Network of National Parks of Spain about the health and conservation status of ecosystems.</p>

scholarly journals Influence of environmental variability on harbour porpoise movement

2020 ◽  
Vol 648 ◽  
pp. 207-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Stalder ◽  
FM van Beest ◽  
S Sveegaard ◽  
R Dietz ◽  
J Teilmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
Linear Mixed Model ◽  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Movement Patterns ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Harbour Porpoise

The harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena is a small marine predator with a high conservation status in Europe and the USA. To protect the species effectively, it is crucial to understand its movement patterns and how the distribution of intensively used foraging areas can be predicted from environmental conditions. Here, we investigated the influence of both static and dynamic environmental conditions on large-scale harbour porpoise movements in the North Sea. We used long-term movement data from 57 individuals tracked during 1999-2017 in a state-space model to estimate the underlying behavioural states, i.e. whether animals used area-restricted or directed movements. Subsequently, we assessed whether the probability of using area-restricted movements was related to environmental conditions using a generalized linear mixed model. Harbour porpoises were more likely to use area-restricted movements in areas with low salinity levels, relatively high chlorophyll a concentrations and low current velocity, and in areas with steep bottom slopes, suggesting that such areas are important foraging grounds for porpoises. Our study identifies environmental parameters of relevance for predicting harbour porpoise foraging hot spots over space and time in a dynamic system. The study illustrates how movement patterns and data on environmental conditions can be combined, which is valuable to the conservation of marine mammals.

scholarly journals Populasi dan Karakteristik Habitat Tarsius (Cephalopachus bancanus borneanus) di Punggualas, Taman Nasional Sebangau

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-11
Author(s):  
Robby Octavianus
Keyword(s):  
Population Density ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
National Park ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Suitable Habitat ◽  
International Union ◽  
Sleeping Site ◽  
Total Length ◽  
Composition And Structure

Tarsier (Cephalopachus bancanus borneanus) is one of the endemic primates in Kalimantan. IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) has established the conservation status of Cephalopachus bancanus borneanus as a vulnerable primate. This research was conducted in the Punggualas area, Sebangau National Park, from June to August 2019. The data collected was the number and distribution of tarsier population along with the composition and structure of vegetation. This study revealed that tarsiers in Punggualas have a tendency to live solitary. A total of 6 tarsier individuals were found in an area of ??4 km2, with a total length of 22 km of transects. The population in the scope of the study area is 23 individuals who occupy an area of ??4 km2 with a population density of 5,682 individuals / km2. The density of vegetation in Punggualas reaches 1179 individuals per hectare at the sapling level, where this area is a suitable habitat for shelter, locomoting, and as sleeping site for Tarsiers.

Infection levels of the cestode Hymenolepis diminuta in rat populations from Buenos Aires, Argentina

2015 ◽  
Vol 90 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Hancke ◽  
O.V. Suárez
Keyword(s):  
Body Length ◽  
Buenos Aires ◽  
Negative Binomial ◽  
Hymenolepis Diminuta ◽  
Intermediate Hosts ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Landscape Unit ◽  
Large Populations ◽  
Landscape Units ◽  
Zoonotic Parasites

AbstractEcological studies on zoonotic parasites are crucial for the design and implementation of effective measures to prevent parasite transmission. The aim of this study was to evaluate factors such as season, landscape unit, rat sex and rat body length, affecting the abundance of the cestode Hymenolepis diminuta, a parasite of synanthropic rats, within an urban environment. A parasitological survey was undertaken on 169 rats from landscape units such as shantytowns, parklands, industrial–residential areas and scrap-metal yards in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The overall prevalence of H. diminuta was 21.3%, although the occurrence of this species in rats was not homogeneous. The abundance of H. diminuta, using a zero-inflated negative binomial model, was correlated with rat body length. In shantytowns, abundance levels were higher than other landscape units, largely due to differences in individual environmental characteristics and rat assemblages. The populations of arthropod intermediate hosts could be subjected to seasonal fluctuations and the degree of urbanization. Shantytowns are overcrowded urban marginal settlements with most inhabitants living in precarious conditions and supporting large populations of rats, thereby increasing the risk of zoonotic infection.

Association of vascular epiphytes with landscape units and phorophytes in humid lowland forests of Colombian Amazonia

2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (03) ◽  
pp. 223-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Benavides ◽  
A. Vasco ◽  
A. J. Duque ◽  
J. F. Duivenvoorden
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Detrended Correspondence Analysis ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Randomization Tests ◽  
Host Preferences ◽  
Vascular Epiphytes ◽  
Landscape Unit ◽  
Lowland Forests ◽  
Landscape Units ◽  
Epiphyte Species

Abstract:The species composition of vascular epiphytes and phorophytes (trees and lianas) was studied in ten 0.1-ha forest plots distributed over three landscape units (floodplains, swamps and well-drained uplands) in Colombian Amazonia. The aim was to analyse how host-preferences contributed to the patterns in epiphyte assemblages among the landscape units. In the plots 82 species (3310 plants) were holo-epiphytes, 11 species were primary hemi-epiphytes (179 plants) and 61 were secondary hemi-epiphytes (2337 plants). A total of 411 species of tree and liana were recorded as phorophytes. Detrended Correspondence Analysis and Mantel tests showed that the species composition of holo-epiphytes and secondary hemi-epiphytes differed among the landscape units. For both groups the effect of landscape unit on species composition strongly decreased after controlling for the phorophyte composition in the plots. The phorophyte composition significantly explained epiphyte composition and this effect was not removed after accounting for the effect of landscape unit. At the level of individual species, randomization tests yielded only few significant epiphyte–phorophyte associations. For 84% of the epiphyte species the average indicator of patchiness was below 1.5 demonstrating that most epiphyte individuals occurred scattered over different phorophytes. This probably hampered the analyses of host preferences for individual epiphyte species.

scholarly journals Representative boreal forest habitats in northern Europe, and a revised model for ecosystem management and biodiversity conservation

AMBIO ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Håkan Berglund ◽  
Timo Kuuluvainen
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Ecosystem Management ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Reference Conditions ◽  
Ecosystem Dynamics ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
Favourable Conservation Status ◽  
Natural Range ◽  
Range Of Variation

AbstractThe natural range of variation of ecosystems provides reference conditions for sustainable management and biodiversity conservation. We review how the understanding of natural reference conditions of boreal forests in northern Europe has changed from earlier perceptions of even-aged dynamics driven by stand-replacing disturbances towards current understanding highlighting the role of non-stand-replacing disturbances and the resultant complex forest dynamics and structures. We show how earlier views and conceptual models of forest disturbance dynamics, including the influential ASIO model, provide estimates of reference conditions that are outside the natural range of variation. Based on a research synthesis, we present a revised forest reference model incorporating the observed complexity of ecosystem dynamics and the prevalence of old forests. Finally, we outline a management model and demonstrate its use in forest ecosystem management and show how regional conservation area needs can be estimated. We conclude that attaining favourable conservation status in northern Europe’s boreal forests requires increasing emphasis on ecosystem management and conservation for old forest characteristics.

scholarly journals Surface flow types, near-bed hydraulics and the distribution of stream macroinvertebrates

2008 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 1043-1055 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Reid ◽  
M. C. Thoms
Keyword(s):  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Surface Flow ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Physical Habitat ◽  
Taxon Richness ◽  
Macroinvertebrate Assemblages ◽  
Flow Type ◽  
Hydraulic Conditions ◽  
Surface Patterns ◽  
Macrophyte Cover

Abstract. Spatial variation in hydraulic conditions in streams often results in distinct water surface patterns, or surface flow types. Visual assessments of the distribution of surface flow types have been used to provide rapid assessment of the habitat heterogeneity. The efficacy of this approach is predicated on the notion that surface flow types consistently represent a distinct suite of hydraulic conditions with biological relevance. This study tested this notion, asking three specific questions. First, do surface flow types provide a characterisation of physical habitat that is relevant to macroinvertebrates? Second, how well do near-bed hydraulic conditions explain macroinvertebrate distributions? Third, what components of near-bed hydraulic conditions exert the strongest influence on macroinvertebrate distributions? Results show that hydraulic conditions (incorporating direct measurements of near-bed velocity and turbulence in three dimensions) and substratum character (incorporating estimates of particle size distribution, and biofilm and macrophyte cover) within each surface flow type were largely distinct and that macroinvertebrate assemblages differed across flow types in taxon richness and assemblage composition, thus supporting the notion that rapid assessments of surface flow type distributions provide biologically relevant information. Macroinvertebrate assemblages were most strongly correlated with water depth, size of a flow type patch, near-bed velocity in the downstream direction, turbulence in the transverse direction, % pebble, % sand, % silt and clay and macrophyte cover. This study suggests that surface flow type mapping provides an assessment of physical habitat that is relevant to macroinvertebrates. The strong relationship detected between macroinvertebrate assemblages and transverse turbulence also highlights the value of directly measuring near-bed hydraulics. Further investigations are required to test the mechanisms underlying this relationship.

Fish assemblages in agricultural drains are resilient to habitat change caused by drain maintenance

2017 ◽  
Vol 74 (10) ◽  
pp. 1538-1548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belinda Ward-Campbell ◽  
Karl Cottenie ◽  
Nicholas E. Mandrak ◽  
Robert McLaughlin
Keyword(s):  
Human Activities ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Physical Habitat ◽  
Total Abundance ◽  
Reference Sites ◽  
Assemblage Composition ◽  
Consistent Change ◽  
Fisheries Act ◽  
Fish Protection

A better understanding of how human activities affect biodiversity can be important for effective resource management. We tested how excavation (maintenance) of agricultural drains (ditches) altered fish assemblages. Uncertainty regarding the effects of drain maintenance on fish assemblages has been a source of tension between landowners, drain superintendents, and fishery managers. Fish assemblages in eight southwestern Ontario drains were sampled repeatedly from before to 2 years after drain maintenance using a replicated before–after, control–impact (BACI) design. Relative to reference sites, we found no evidence for short- or long-term decreases in the number of species and total abundance of fishes following drain maintenance, nor any consistent change in assemblage composition, despite clear changes in physical habitat. The fish assemblages in drains were resilient to drain maintenance and did not show changes expected to concern fishery managers. Our findings provide fishery managers with the information needed to manage drain maintenance more effectively under the Fish Protection Program of the Fisheries Act and to develop drain maintenance practices that balance the needs of agriculture with the protection of fish biodiversity.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document