Impoverishment of vegetation in a coniferous forest polluted by copper and zinc

1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lennart Folkeson ◽  
Ewa Andersson-Bringmark
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Ground Layer ◽  
Hypogymnia Physodes ◽  
Deschampsia Flexuosa ◽  
Hylocomium Splendens ◽  
Remote Sites ◽  
Cu And Zn ◽  
Successional Communities

Copper and Zn concentrations in raw humus were elevated > 400 and > 80 times, respectively, near an old and a new foundry emitting Cu and Zn but virtually no SO2. Effects on the vegetation were most evident in the ground layer. Four response stages were recognized. (i) Common mosses of mature coniferous forest (Pleurozium schreberi, Hylocomium splendens, Ptilium crista-castrensis, Dicranum polysetum) began to decrease in cover where the Cu and Zn levels in the tissues were 3–5 and 2 times those measured at remote sites, respectively, (ii) Lichens typical of mature dry forest communities (Cladonia subgen. Cladina and C. uncialis) were reduced in cover. (iii) Pioneers typical of successional communities (especially Cladonia subgen. Cladonia) increased slightly in cover, while tolerant mosses retained their cover, (iv) Even the tolerant mosses and lichens disappeared, except for Pohlia nutans. The occurrence of epiphytic lichens decreased. Hypogymnia physodes suffered a reduction in cover and thallus size. The grass Deschampsia flexuosa tended to increase somewhat towards the foundries, but the other field-layer species were unaffected. However, much dead Deschampsia flexuosa has been observed recently close to the new foundry. Environmental variables modified the response of the vegetation to the pollution. Deterioration of the ground layer makes the polluted, thin soil prone to erosion.

scholarly journals Effect of conventional and whole-tree clear-cutting on concentrations of some micronutrients in coniferous forest soil and plants

2008 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Grønflaten ◽  
Eiliv Steinnes ◽  
Göran Örlander
Keyword(s):  
Forest Soil ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Deschampsia Flexuosa ◽  
Southern Sweden ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Opposite Trend ◽  
Humus Layer ◽  
Whole Tree ◽  
Cu And Zn

Effect of conventional and whole-tree clear-cutting on concentrations of some micronutrients in coniferous forest soil and plants Increasingly intensive and mechanized clear-cutting may deplete the forest ecosystem of essential nutrients. A clear-cut area near Växjö, southern Sweden, was investigated for changes in Mn, Cu and Zn in soil (NH4NO3 extractable and HNO3 soluble) and wavy hair grass (Deschampsia flexuosa) after conventional (CC) and whole-tree clear-cutting (WTC). The soil samples were mostly iron podzols. The area consisted of four clear-cut sites, respectively 2, 4, 6 and 8 years old, and an uncut forest reference stand. Each of the clear-cuts was split in two parts representing WTC and CC sites. Manganese showed the most definite trends after clear-cutting, exhibiting higher extractable concentrations in Oe, Oa and E horizons (4-8 years after clear-cutting) and B horizons (6-8 years after clear-cutting). The increase of exchangeable Mn in the E (2-8 years) and B (4-8 years) horizons was particularly strong. Zn concentrations tended to fluctuate with time. There was a tendency to higher Mn and Zn concentrations in the humus layer especially 2 years after CC-treatment compared with WTC, whereas the opposite trend was apparent for Cu. Mn, Cu and Zn concentrations decreased in Deschampsia flexuosa 2 years after clear-cutting, possibly due to increased soil pH.

scholarly journals Face DetectNet: face detection via fully-convolutional network

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 238-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.V. Lapko ◽  
V.A. Lapko
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Pattern Recognition ◽  
Spectral Data ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Random Variable ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Convolutional Network ◽  
Dark Coniferous Forest ◽  
Forest Condition

The paper deals with a new method of testing hypotheses for the distribution of multidimensional remote sensing spectral data. The proposed technique is based on the use of nonparametric algorithms for pattern recognition. Testing the hypothesis of the identity of two laws of distributions of multidimensional random variables is replaced by testing a hypothesis stating that the pattern recognition error equals 0.5. The application of this technique allows doing without the decomposition of the random variable domain into multidimensional intervals, which is typical for the Pearson criterion. Its effectiveness is confirmed by the results of testing the hypotheses of the distribution of spectral data of remote sensing in forestry. The analysis of the distribution laws for the following types of forestry is carried out: dark coniferous forest, damaged and dry forest stands. The initial information was obtained from the southern Siberia remote sensing data using six spectral channels of Landsat. The results of the research form a basis for a set of significant spectral features when dealing with forest condition monitoring.

scholarly journals Short-Term Effects of Forest Therapy on Mood States: A Pilot Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (18) ◽  
pp. 9509
Author(s):  
Francesco Meneguzzo ◽  
Lorenzo Albanese ◽  
Michele Antonelli ◽  
Rita Baraldi ◽  
Francesco Riccardo Becheri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Mood States ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Remote Sites ◽  
Anxiety Depression ◽  
Therapy Sessions

Immersion in forest environments was shown to produce beneficial effects to human health, in particular psychophysical relaxation, leading to its growing recognition as a form of integrative medicine. However, limited evidence exists about the statistical significance of the effects and their association with external and environmental variables and personal characteristics. This experimental study aimed to substantiate the very concept of forest therapy by means of the analysis of the significance of its effects on the mood states of anxiety, depression, anger and confusion. Seven forest therapy sessions were performed in remote areas and a control one in an urban park, with participants allowed to attend only one session, resulting in 162 psychological self-assessment questionnaires administered before and after each session. Meteorological comfort, the concentration of volatile organic compounds in the forest atmosphere and environmental coherence were identified as likely important external and environmental variables. Under certain conditions, forest therapy sessions performed in remote sites were shown to outperform the control session, at least for anxiety, anger and confusion. A quantitative analysis of the association of the outcomes with personal sociodemographic characteristics revealed that only sporting habits and age were significantly associated with the outcomes for certain psychological domains.

Soil seed banks in a mature coniferous forest landscape: dominance of native perennials and low spatial variability

2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott R. Abella ◽  
Judith D. Springer
Keyword(s):  
Seed Bank ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Seed Banks ◽  
Forest Community ◽  
Forest Landscape ◽  
Soil Seed Banks ◽  
Community Types

AbstractSoil seed banks are important to vegetation recruitment, ecosystem functioning and land management. We evaluated composition of 0–5 cm soil seed banks and relationships of seed banks with forest community types (ranging from low-elevation pinyon–juniper to high-elevation bristlecone pine), vegetation cover and environmental variables within a 40,000-ha relatively undisturbed coniferous forest landscape in Nevada, USA. We collected samples from 36 sites and used the emergence method to assay seed banks. Seed density averaged 479 seeds m− 2across sites and a total of 39 taxa were detected. Most (79%) of these taxa were perennials and 35 of 39 (90%) were native. Moreover, 62% of seed-bank taxa were in the vegetation of mature forests, an uncommon finding in studies of forest soil seed banks. Seed-bank density, species richness and composition did not display strong relationships with forest community types, vegetation cover or environmental variables. Weak relationships likely arose from the relatively uniform seed-bank density among sites, where 50% of sites had seed densities in the range of 106–282 m− 2. Results suggest that while seed banks on this landscape are not large, they provide recruitment potential for some native perennial species of mature, relatively undisturbed communities.

scholarly journals La flora arbórea de Michoacán, México

2017 ◽  
pp. 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva M. Cué-Bär ◽  
José Luis Villaseñor ◽  
Libertad Arredondo-Amezcua ◽  
Guadalupe Cornejo-Tenorio ◽  
Guillermo Ibarra-Manríquez
Keyword(s):  
Tree Species ◽  
Deciduous Forest ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
The State ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Tropical Deciduous Forest ◽  
Oak Forest ◽  
Vegetation Types ◽  
Geologic History

Based on the review of floristic and taxonomic literature, as well as on the examination of specimens housed at the herbaria of the Centro Regional del Bajío (IEB) and the Instituto de Biología (MEXU), we recorded 845 species, 352 genera and 100 families of trees for the state of Michoacán, Mexico. The largest numbers of species per family were recorded for Asteraceae (82), Fabaceae (74), Mimosaceae (67), Caesalpiniaceae (39) and Burseraceae (38), while at the genus level Bursera (37), Quercus (35), Lonchocarpus (19), Senna (18), and Acacia (16) are the most speciose. The genus Beiselia (Burseraceae) and 14 species (1.8 %) are strict endemics to the state. A total of 28 families (28%) and 210 genera (60%) are represented in the state only by one tree species each. The most important vegetation types according to their species richness are tropical deciduous forest (593, 70.2%), coniferous forest (336, 39.8%) and oak forest (332, 39.3%). A high proportion (69.9%) of Michoacán’s tree species is located in 2-4 vegetation types; 173 species (21.5%) have been found just in one type, mainly in the tropical dry forest (87 species, 10.3%). The floristic richness of Michoacán is largely explained by its complex geologic history, its rugged physiography, its diverse climate, and its multiple vegetation types, as well as by its location at the confluence of the Holartic and Neotropical floristic kingdoms. Counties and species on which to focus conservation efforts for trees in the state are pinponted.

scholarly journals Population responses of the Endangered White-breasted Thrasher Ramphocinclus brachyurus to a tourist development in Saint Lucia – conservation implications from a spatial modelling approach

2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 468-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
RACHEL L. WHITE ◽  
TIMOTHEUS JN. BAPTISTE ◽  
ALWIN DORNELLY ◽  
MATTHEW N. MORTON ◽  
MARK J. O’CONNELL ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Landscape Scale ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Golf Course ◽  
Encounter Rate ◽  
Suitable Habitat ◽  
Development Site ◽  
Tourist Development ◽  
Saint Lucia

SummaryTourism development is one of the main contemporary drivers of habitat loss and fragmentation within the Caribbean Islands biodiversity hotspot. In Saint Lucia, construction of a hotel and golf course within coastal dry forest is directly threatening the largest known subpopulation of the Endangered White-breasted Thrasher Ramphocinclus brachyurus. Understanding how the species is responding to ongoing landscape change and identifying priority sites for conservation are imperative for planning its long-term conservation. In this study, a four year White-breasted Thrasher monitoring dataset (2006–2009) and landscape-scale environmental variables were used to: a) identify, characterise and map spatio-temporal patterns of White-breasted Thrasher encounter rate (an abundance proxy) within and outside the tourist development site; b) determine landscape-scale environmental variables that influence such patterns, and c) produce an island-wide predictive map of potentially suitable habitat. Observed patterns in encounter rates within and outside the development site were consistent with thrashers being displaced from cleared areas of forest and crowding into intact forest patches to the north and west of the golf course. A year after the period of the most extensive habitat clearance, White-breasted Thrasher numbers declined markedly leading to a 55% reduction in encounter rate within the development site over the four years of the study. The habitat suitability model predicted that a range of sites outside of the known geographic range of the thrasher are potentially suitable, some of which merit further surveys for potentially undetected populations. Given these findings, it is vital that patches of suitable dry forest adjacent to the tourist development are protected and contiguous natural habitat inside the tourist development is preserved.

scholarly journals Copgraph beetles in the conservation of the dry forest of the Enrique Quintero Arenas Botanical Garden, UFPS-Ocaña

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-69
Author(s):  
Wendy Rocío Soto-Castro ◽  
José Julián Cadena-Morales
Keyword(s):  
Land Tenure ◽  
Random Sampling ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
In Situ Conservation ◽  
Botanical Garden ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Pig Manure ◽  
Pitfall Traps ◽  
Natural Areas

The coprophages are a group of individuals of great importance in the ecological dynamism of natural areas given their specific adaptability of the species and their relationship to their distribution since it influences the quality and quantity of the resources they need for their development. In this sense, a study of mangrove coprophages in the dry inter-Andean forest on the grounds of the Universidad Francisco de Paula Santander Ocaña, as a fundamental basis for the in situ conservation of natural areas. For the taxa collection, it was carried out by random sampling within the area, using Pitfall traps made with 16-ounce vessels; inside they contained alcohol and soapy water for the capture and preservation of the species, where the attractant used was decomposing meat and pig manure. The traps were arranged in four sites (M1, M2, M3, and M4), with 15 traps in each of them. In total 824 individuals were registered, distributed in thirteen species, where the abundant corresponds to Canthidium aurifex, Eurysternus scarabaeus and Canthidium sp with 799 (96.96%) toral individuals; while 3.4% (25) of the species with six and one individual correspond to Oryctes nasicornis, Odontotaenius disjunctus, Monochamus sp, Hololepta quadridentata, Calathus fuscipes, Neoathyreus exacavatus, Onthophagus striatulus, Dichotomous sp, Copris lunares, Eurysternus marmoreusIn this way, the differences of two zones are documented, one with acidic to slightly acidic soils and another abundant in phosphates and little organic matter, given that the greater information of coprophages is influenced by environmental variables, in addition this abundance is related to abrupt edges adjacent to agricultural farms, where land tenure has changed the structure and functioning of the landscape typical of anthropic areas.

scholarly journals Biodiversity of Algae and Cyanobacteria in Biological Soil Crusts Collected Along a Climatic Gradient in Chile Using an Integrative Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 1047 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Samolov ◽  
Karen Baumann ◽  
Burkhard Büdel ◽  
Patrick Jung ◽  
Peter Leinweber ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Its Region ◽  
Small Subunit ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Temperate Climate ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Small Subunit Rrna ◽  
Forest Region ◽  
Eukaryotic Microorganisms

Biocrusts are associations of various prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms in the top millimeters of soil, which can be found in every climate zone on Earth. They stabilize soils and introduce carbon and nitrogen into this compartment. The worldwide occurrence of biocrusts was proven by numerous studies in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America, leaving South America understudied. Using an integrative approach, which combines morphological and molecular characters (small subunit rRNA and ITS region), we examined the diversity of key biocrust photosynthetic organisms at four sites along the latitudinal climate gradient in Chile. The most northern study site was located in the Atacama Desert (arid climate), followed by open shrubland (semiarid climate), a dry forest region (Mediterranean climate) and a mixed broad leaved-coniferous forest (temperate climate) in the south. The lowest species richness was recorded in the desert (18 species), whereas the highest species richness was observed in the Mediterranean zone (40 species). Desert biocrusts were composed exclusively of single-celled Chlorophyta algae, followed by cyanobacteria. Chlorophyta, Streptophyta and cyanobacteria dominated semiarid biocrusts, whereas Mediterranean and temperate Chilean biocrusts were composed mostly of Chlorophyta, Streptophyta and Ochrophyta. Our investigation of Chilean biocrust suggests high biodiversity of South American biocrust phototrophs.

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