scholarly journals Does restoring native forest restore ecosystem functioning? Evidence from a large‐scale reforestation project in the Scottish Highlands

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Warner ◽  
Owen T. Lewis ◽  
Nick Brown ◽  
Rowan Green ◽  
Alan McDonnell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Native Forest ◽  
Scottish Highlands

scholarly journals Optimizing smartphone-based canopy hemispherical photography

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gastón Mauro Díaz
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Accuracy Assessment ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
R Package ◽  
Coefficient Of Determination ◽  
Native Forest ◽  
Hemispherical Photography ◽  
Area Index ◽  
Plant Area Index

1) Hemispherical photography (HP) is a long-standing tool for forest canopy characterization. Currently, there are low-cost fisheye lenses to convert smartphones into high-portable HP equipment; however, they cannot be used whenever since HP is sensitive to illumination conditions. To obtain sound results outside diffuse light conditions, a deep-learning-based system needs to be developed. A ready-to-use alternative is the multiscale color-based binarization algorithm, but it can provide moderate-quality results only for open forests. To overcome this limitation, I propose coupling it with the model-based local thresholding algorithm. I call this coupling the MBCB approach. 2) Methods presented here are part of the R package CAnopy IMage ANalysis (caiman), which I am developing. The accuracy assessment of the new MBCB approach was done with data from a pine plantation and a broadleaf native forest. 3) The coefficient of determination (R^2) was greater than 0.7, and the root mean square error (RMSE) lower than 20 %, both for plant area index calculation. 4) Results suggest that the new MBCB approach allows the calculation of unbiased canopy metrics from smartphone-based HP acquired in sunlight conditions, even for closed canopies. This facilitates large-scale and opportunistic sampling with hemispherical photography.

scholarly journals Contrasting the suitability of shade coffee agriculture and native forest as overwinter habitat for Canada Warbler (Cardellina canadensis) in the Colombian Andes

The Condor ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana M González ◽  
Scott Wilson ◽  
Nicholas J Bayly ◽  
Keith A Hobson
Keyword(s):  
Body Condition ◽  
El Niño ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Native Forest ◽  
Coffee Production ◽  
Winter Habitat ◽  
Term Survival ◽  
Shade Coffee ◽  
Annual Survival

Abstract In the Neotropics, coffee production occurs on a large scale in some of the planet’s most biodiverse regions: tropical mountains. Coffee production systems involving shade trees are considered to have a lower impact on biodiversity than alternative sun coffee. To date, the majority of evidence for the value of shade coffee plantations has not taken into account the relative quality of this habitat compared to the native forests they replaced. We determined the suitability of shade coffee and forest as winter habitat for Canada Warbler (Cardellina canadensis) by comparing variation in the likelihood of capturing individuals, seasonal changes in body condition, and estimates of annual survival between the 2 habitats. We also determined the effect of the strong 2015–2016 El Niño event on survival. Males were relatively more likely to be captured in forest than females and this likelihood increased during drier years. Body condition change over the winter and apparent annual survival were similar for individuals that used forest and coffee. However, condition and survival decreased in both habitats during the El Niño year. Apparent survival was also lower for individuals carrying a radiotag or geolocator. Our findings suggest that shade coffee with high canopy cover and height offers similar benefits to forest in terms of body condition and survival. Landscape conservation approaches, promoting diverse matrices of structurally complex shade coffee and forest might best ensure long-term survival in Neotropical migrants like Canada Warbler.

Understanding Turning Points in Dryland Ecosystem Functioning (U-TURN)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Horion ◽  
Paulo Bernardino ◽  
Wanda De Keersmaecker ◽  
Rasmus Fensholt ◽  
Stef Lhermitte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Extreme Events ◽  
Land Degradation ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Turning Points ◽  
Ecosystem Change ◽  
Ecosystem Development ◽  
Ecosystem Research

<p>Pressures on dryland ecosystems are ever growing. Large-scale vegetation die-offs, biodiversity loss and loss in ecosystem services are reported as a result of unsustainable land use, climate change and extreme events. Yet major uncertainties remain regarding our capability to accurately assess on-going land changes, as well as to comprehensively attribute drivers to these changes. Indeed ecosystem response to external pressures is often complex (e.g. non-linear) and non-unique (i.e. same response, different drivers). Besides critical knowledge on ecosystem stability and coping capacities to extreme events has still to be consolidated.</p><p>Recent advances in time series analysis and in the assessment of breakpoint open a new door in ecosystem research as they allow for the detection of turning points and tipping points in ecosystem development (Horion et al., 2016 and 2019). Identifying ecosystems that have significantly changed their way of functioning, i.e. that have tipped to a new functioning state, is of crucial importance for Ecology studies. These extremes cases of vegetation instability are golden mines for researches that try to understand how resilient are ecosystems to climate change and to non-sustainable use of land.</p><p>This is precisely what the U-TURN project is about:</p><ul><li><strong>Developing methods for detecting turning points in dryland ecosystem functioning</strong>; Here we defined <em>turning point</em> in ecosystem functioning as a key moment in the ecosystem development where its functioning is significantly changed or altered without implying the irreversibility of the process (Horion et al. (2016)), by opposition to the term ‘<em>tipping point</em>’ that implies irreversibility (Lenton et al. 2008).</li> <li><strong>Studying the contribution of climate and human pressure</strong> (e.g. land-use intensification, human induced land soil degradation) in pushing the ecosystem outside its safe operating space ; Here we used Earth Observation techniques coupled with Dynamic Vegetation Models to get process-based insights on the drivers of the observed changes in ecosystem functioning.</li> <li>Exploring whether <strong>early warning signal of turning points</strong> can be identified.</li> </ul><p>During our talk, we will present key methodological advances being achieved within the U-TURN project, and showcase some of our major findings in relation to abrupt changes in dryland ecosystem functioning.</p><p><strong>References:</strong></p><p>Horion, S., Ivits, E., De Keersmaecker, W., Tagesson, T., Vogt, J., & Fensholt, R. (2019). Mapping European ecosystem change types in response to land‐use change, extreme climate events, and land degradation. Land Degradation & Development, 30(8), 951-963. doi:10.1002/ldr.3282</p><p>Horion, S., Prishchepov, A. V., Verbesselt, J., de Beurs, K., Tagesson, T., & Fensholt, R. (2016). Revealing turning points in ecosystem functioning over the Northern Eurasian agricultural frontier. Global Change Biology, 22(8), 2801-2817. doi:10.1111/gcb.13267</p><p>Lenton, T. M., Held, H., Kriegler, E., Hall, J. W., Lucht, W., Rahmstorf, S., & Schellnhuber, H. J. (2008). Tipping elements in the Earth's climate system. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 105(6), 1786-1793. doi:10.1073/pnas.0705414105</p><p> </p><p><strong>Project website: http://uturndryland.wixsite.com/uturn</strong></p><p>This research is funded by the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (Grant/Award Number:SR/00/339)</p>

The ecological roles of logs in Australian forests and the potential impacts of harvesting intensification on log-using biota

2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 121 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. B. Lindenmayer ◽  
A. W. Claridge ◽  
A. M. Gilmore ◽  
D. Michael ◽  
B. D. Lindenmayer
Keyword(s):  
Power Plants ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Animal Movement ◽  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Native Forest ◽  
Functional Roles ◽  
Standing Trees ◽  
Velvet Worms ◽  
Eucalypt Forests

A review is presented of the ecological values of logs in Australian eucalypt forests. Logs are a key component of stand structural complexity and have critical functional roles for forest biodiversity including:- (1) providing nesting and sheltering sites for biota, (2) providing foraging substrates for predators like snakes and predatory invertebrates such as velvet worms, (3) providing basking and hibernation sites for reptiles, (4) facilitating animal movement, (5) providing places for key social behaviours, (6) acting as plant germination sites, (7) providing substrates to promote the growth of fungi, (8) providing mesic refugia for organisms during drought and/or fire, and (9) contributing to heterogeneity in the litter layer and patterns of ground cover. Logs also play significant roles in nutrient cycling in forests. The role of logs is often ignored in forestry operations, including those where harvesting intensification will occur through the removal of dead and/or "defective" standing trees and logs under the guise of removing so-called waste or logging "residues". Recently proposed intensive large-scale forestry operations in the Australian native forest estate (e.g., biomass burning power plants and charcoal plants) have the potential to reduce stand structural complexity, alter forest ecosystem function and negatively impact upon log-dependent species in those part of the landscape where harvesting takes place. The risks of such impacts have not been adequately measured in Australia, but they need to be addressed urgently. Prescriptions for the retention and future recruitment of logs must be developed to avert possible losses of biodiversity.

scholarly journals The up-scaling of ecosystem functions in a heterogeneous world

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Lohrer ◽  
Simon F. Thrush ◽  
Judi E. Hewitt ◽  
Casper Kraan
Keyword(s):  
Primary Productivity ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Net Primary Productivity ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Biodiversity Crisis ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Marine Habitats

Abstract Earth is in the midst of a biodiversity crisis that is impacting the functioning of ecosystems and the delivery of valued goods and services. However, the implications of large scale species losses are often inferred from small scale ecosystem functioning experiments with little knowledge of how the dominant drivers of functioning shift across scales. Here, by integrating observational and manipulative experimental field data, we reveal scale-dependent influences on primary productivity in shallow marine habitats, thus demonstrating the scalability of complex ecological relationships contributing to coastal marine ecosystem functioning. Positive effects of key consumers (burrowing urchins, Echinocardium cordatum) on seafloor net primary productivity (NPP) elucidated by short-term, single-site experiments persisted across multiple sites and years. Additional experimentation illustrated how these effects amplified over time, resulting in greater primary producer biomass (sediment chlorophyll a content) in the longer term, depending on climatic context and habitat factors affecting the strengths of mutually reinforcing feedbacks. The remarkable coherence of results from small and large scales is evidence of real-world ecosystem function scalability and ecological self-organisation. This discovery provides greater insights into the range of responses to broad-scale anthropogenic stressors in naturally heterogeneous environmental settings.

scholarly journals Spatial Pattern and Competitive Relationships of Moso Bamboo in a Native Subtropical Rainforest Community

Forests ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 774 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haonan Zhang ◽  
Jianhui Xue
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Pattern ◽  
Correlation Functions ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Pair Correlation ◽  
Moso Bamboo ◽  
Guizhou Province ◽  
Forest Community ◽  
Native Forest ◽  
Mature Trees ◽  
Native Forests

Bamboo has invaded native forests worldwide, and its aggressive spread by rhizomes facilitates patch expansion and the eventual replacement of adjacent forests. However, fine-scale studies of the spatial pattern and competitive relationships of bamboo in native forests are still lacking. We obtained data from nine plots in a native south subtropical rainforest in Guizhou Province, northwest China. Pair-correlation functions indicated that competition caused by bamboo expansion has not led to large-scale regular spatial distributions in bamboo forest and negative density-related dependence mechanisms regulating the spatial pattern of the native forest community. Marked correlation functions indicated small bamboo in clusters form colony patches that grow around the larger mature trees, resulting in patch expansion in the native forest community. Mark variogram functions identified significant positive spatial autocorrelation of moso bamboo caused by interactions with similar-sized trees within colony patches. This study showed that moso bamboo has colonized and expanded within the native forest community. Compared to the native forest species, the strategy of patch expansion and equal tree sizes in colony patches of moso bamboo could prevent regular distribution trend and size-asymmetric competition between nearby bamboo for the asymmetric and limited sources (i.e., light) in the forest, enhancing the persistence of moso bamboo in the native forest in our study stand located in a south subtropical rainforest in a river valley.

scholarly journals The Impact of Anthropogenic Land-Use Change on Soil Organic Carbon, Oporae Valley, Lake Tutira, New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Roderick Charles James Boys
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Sedimentation Rate ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Slope Angle ◽  
Carbon Accounting ◽  
Native Forest ◽  
The Impact

<p>During the anthropocene land use change has exacerbated erosion of the Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) rich topsoil in the Oporae Valley. As well as reducing the SOC content of the contemporary topsoil, the large scale redistribution of sediment has created a quantifiable long-term SOC sink in paleosols. Using contemporary native forest soils as a proxy, pasture covered topsoils contain ~40% less SOC (a loss of 5,338 T/[square kilometer] SOC). The pre-human paleosol at ~200 cm, an average 32 cm thickness, contains 9180 T/[square kilometer]. Significantly more SOC buried at depth than what currently exists in the contemporary topsoil indicates the relative importance of paleosols as C stores and the role of land use change on SOC. The preservation characteristics of a paleosol in the Oporae Valley are determined by slope angle and the relative position they hold in relation to the inter-fingering of the alluvial toeslope with the colluvial footslope. Groupings of [radioisotope carbon-14] ages in and above the pre-human paleosol allow for calculation of terrestrial sedimentation rates. At ~0.9 mm yr^-1 the terrestrial pre-human sedimentation rate averaged over the valley floor is approximately half (0.53) of the corresponding pre-human lake rate of ~1.7 mm yr^-1. As a proportion of the lake's anthropogenic sedimentation rate at ~4.8 mm yr^-1, the terrestrial anthropogenic sedimentation rate has slightly increased to ~2.8 mm yr^-1 (0.58 of the lake sedimentation rate). These initial findings demonstrate the potential for further research in this area, so that ongoing land-use change can be accurately incorporated into terrestrial carbon accounting.</p>

scholarly journals Relating productivity patterns to functional diversity of North Sea macrofauna – knowledge increase by functional focus?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrike Andresen ◽  
Jennifer Dannheim ◽  
Thomas Brey
Keyword(s):  
Functional Diversity ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Secondary Production ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Quantitative Measure ◽  
The North ◽  
Production Models ◽  
Ecological Relationship ◽  
Species Specific

The benthic compartment is central to ecosystem services in shelf seas. Assemblages with a higher diversity have been suggested to operate more effectively. However, there is no general ecological relationship between diversity and ecosystem functioning due to species-specific effects and environmental influences. We are taking a trait-based and large-scale observational approach to link patterns in macrofaunal functional diversity with ecosystem functioning in the southern North Sea, a marginal sea of the North Atlantic. Secondary production serves as a quantitative measure of ecosystem functioning. It is calculated with taxon-specific empirical production models, while functional diversity is expressed in indices based on trait dissimilarities. Using spatially implicit regressions, we analyze how secondary production is related to functional diversity and environmental factors. Further, we explore whether models are improved by substituting functional diversity with specific key traits potentially related to secondary production. The North Sea has a long history of cumulating local and global human influences. Knowledge on the predictive value of trait diversity for maintaining productivity in our system is needed for succeeding research on consequences of changes in biodiversity for ecosystem functioning.

The Economics of Tropical Rainforest Preservation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Eduardo Frickmann Young
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Economic Incentives ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Native Forest ◽  
Economic Activities

Tropical forests are among the most biodiverse areas on Earth. They contribute to ecosystem functions, including regulating water flow and maintaining one of the most important carbon sinks on the planet, and provide resources for important economic activities, such as timber and nontimber products and fish and other food. Rainforests are not empty of human population and are sites of ethnically and culturally diverse cultures that are responsible for many human languages and dialects. They also provide resources for important economic activities, such as timber and nontimber products. However, tropical deforestation caused by the expansion of agricultural activities and unsustainable logging continues at very high levels. The causes of forest loss vary by region. Livestock is the main driver in the Amazon, but commercial plantations (soybeans, sugar cane, and other tradable crops) also have an impact on deforestation, in many cases associated with violent conflicts over land tenure. In Southeast Asia, logging motivated by the tropical timber trade plays an important role, although palm oil plantations are an increasing cause of deforestation. In Africa, large-scale agricultural and industrial activities are less important, and the most critical factor is the expansion of subsistence and small-scale agriculture. However, trade-oriented activities, such as cocoa and coffee plantations in West Africa and logging in Central Africa, are becoming increasingly important. Public policies have a strong influence on these changes in land use, from traditional community-based livelihood practices to for-profit livestock, cultivation, and timber extraction. Investments in infrastructure, tax and credit incentives, and institutional structures to stimulate migration and deforestation represent economic incentives that lead to deforestation. Poor governance and a lack of resources and political will to protect the traditional rights of the population and environmental resources are another cause of the continuous reduction of tropical forests. Consequently, deforestation prevents the expansion of economic activities that could be established without threats to the remnants of native forest. There are also negative social consequences for the local population, which suffers from the degradation of the natural resources on which their production is based, and is hampered by air pollution caused by forest fires. In some situations, a vicious cycle is created between poverty and deforestation, since the expansion of the agricultural frontier reduces the forest areas where traditional communities once operated, but without generating job opportunities. New approaches are required to reverse this paradigm and to lay the foundation for a sustainable economy based on the provision of ecosystem services provided by tropical forests. These include (a) better governance and public management capacity, (b) incentives for economic activities compatible with the preservation of the tropical forest, and (c) large-scale adoption of economic instruments to support biodiversity and ecosystem services. Public policies are necessary to correct market failures and incorporate the values of ecosystem services in the land use decision process. In addition to penalties for predatory actions, incentives are needed for activities that support forest preservation, so the forest is worth retaining rather than clearing. Improving governance capacity, combining advanced science and technology with traditional knowledge, and improving the management of existing activities can also help to ensure sustainable development in tropical forest regions.

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