scholarly journals effects of extensive grazing on the vegetation of a landscape-scale restoration site

2022 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Stroh ◽  
John Bragg ◽  
Peter Carey ◽  
Carol Laidlaw ◽  
Martin Lester ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Vegetation Structure ◽  
Habitat Restoration ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Landscape Scale ◽  
N Fertility

The Wicken Fen Vision (Cambridgeshire, UK) is a landscape-scale habitat restoration project that uses process-driven, open-ended approaches to develop habitats on highly degraded and drained peat soils of former intensive arable land. The project land is extensively grazed with herds of free-roaming, minimally managed herds of Highland cattle and Konik horses. In one 119 ha area, seven 25m x 25 m grazing exclosures were erected and vascular plant species were recorded from 2007 to 2017. Plant species data were analysed to (1) compare changes in plant species composition and diversity in grazed and ungrazed areas; (2) use plant species traits and plant-environment associations to explore the nature of changes in plant composition; (3) use remote sensing to explore changes in vegetation structure; (4) examine the influence of land use histories on grazing outcomes in different parts of the site.There was a clear divergence through time between grazed and ungrazed areas, attributed to significantly greater canopy height, Ellenberg L (Light) and Ellenberg N (fertility) values within the exclosures. Species richness was significantly higher in grazed compared with ungrazed areas and species assemblages separated through the study period. After ten years, extensive free-roaming grazing has had significant impacts on vegetation structure and species richness but effects varied across the study site because of differing historical land use.

Plant species richness mediates the effects of vegetation structure, but not soil fertility, on insect gall richness in a savanna in Brazil

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 197-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Santos de Araújo
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Plant Height ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Vegetation Structure ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
Plant Abundance ◽  
Insect Galls ◽  
Insect Gall

Abstract:The present study aims to investigate the effects of vegetation structure (plant abundance and height) and soil characteristics (soil organic matter and macronutrients) on insect gall richness, and determine the extent to which these effects are mediated by the indirect effects of plant species richness. The study was performed in forty-nine 100-m2 savanna plots in Parque Nacional das Emas (Brazil) and sampled a total of 985 individual plants of 71 plant species and 97 insect gall morphotypes. Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) induced the most insect galls (38.1%), and the plant family Myrtaceae had the greatest richness of insect gall morphotypes (16). Path analysis of plant abundance, plant height, soil macronutrients, soil organic matter and plant species richness explained 73% of insect gall richness. The results show that soil macronutrient quantity has a direct positive effect on insect gall richness, whereas plant abundance and plant height had only indirect positive effects on insect gall richness via the increase in plant species richness. These findings showed that both plant-related and environment-related factors are important to induce insect gall richness in Neotropical savannas, and that plant species richness should be taken into account to determine the richness of insect galls.

Species Richness of Sclerophyll (Heathy) Plant Communities in Australia ̵2 the Influence of Overstorey Cover

1989 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 337 ◽  
Author(s):  
RL Specht ◽  
A Specht
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Unit Area ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Biotic Factor ◽  
Rate Of Development ◽  
South West ◽  
Open Forest ◽  
Simultaneous Decrease

The species richness (number of vascular-plant species per unit area) of sclerophyll (heathy) plant communities is examined from south-east Queensland to south-west Western Australia. The species richness of communities of heathy open forest, heathy open scrub, dry heathland and wet heathland is consist- ently similar throughout southern Australia and decreases from dry heathland (on laterite, coastal and inland localities) to heathy open forest, heathy open scrub and wet heathland. Investigation of related microcommunities at Cooloola, Stradbroke Island, Ku-ring-gai Chase and Wilsons Promontory indicates that species richness decreases linearly as overstorey cover increases. In post-fire succession on Stradbroke Island heathy woodland and Dark Island heathland, species richness declines linearly as overstorey cover increases during the regeneration of the community. The appli- cation of limiting fertiliser to Stradbroke Island heathy woodland and Dark Island heathland increases the rate of development of overstorey cover, with a simultaneous decrease in species richness. Species richness of the understorey strata of plant communities appears to be inversely related to the rate of development of foliage projective cover in the overstorey. If an environmental or biotic factor inhibits or retards the development of overstorey cover, the understorey increases in species richness. Conversely, if any environmental or biotic factor accelerates the development of overstorey cover, the understorey species show a reduction in species richness.

scholarly journals Land use intensity, rather than plant species richness, affects the leaching risk of multiple nutrients from permanent grasslands

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 2828-2840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentin H. Klaus ◽  
Till Kleinebecker ◽  
Verena Busch ◽  
Markus Fischer ◽  
Norbert Hölzel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
Land Use Intensity ◽  
Leaching Risk

scholarly journals Landscape-scale drivers of mammalian species richness and functional diversity in forest patches within a mixed land-use mosaic

2020 ◽  
Vol 113 ◽  
pp. 106176
Author(s):  
Yvette C. Ehlers Smith ◽  
David A. Ehlers Smith ◽  
Tharmalingam Ramesh ◽  
Colleen T. Downs
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Mammalian Species ◽  
Landscape Scale ◽  
Forest Patches ◽  
Mixed Land Use

Farmed landscapes, trees and forest conservation in Saint Lucia (West Indies)

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
BRADLEY B. WALTERS ◽  
LISA HANSEN
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Vegetation Structure ◽  
West Indies ◽  
Collaborative Management ◽  
Secondary Forests ◽  
Marginal Lands ◽  
Watershed Protection ◽  
Crop Farming ◽  
Saint Lucia

SUMMARYIslands of the West Indies are among the most historically impacted by agriculture, yet agricultural influences on forests there have been little studied. This research compared tree species richness and vegetation structure between farmed lands, post-agriculture secondary forests and mature remnant forests in two watersheds in Saint Lucia, and sought to understand the current distribution of these habitats in terms of land use and watershed topography. Farms devoted to annual crops had few trees and much exposed soil. By contrast, agroforests had abundant (mostly planted) trees and vegetation structure comparable to secondary forests. Secondary forests had highest overall species richness, but mature forests had the most developed vegetation structure. Variations in habitat distribution reflected different land use histories, with the more rugged west coast long dominated by tree crop farming and the east coast experiencing a recent boom-bust cycle in bananas. Mature and secondary forests were more likely found at higher altitude, further from roads and at sites more difficult to access, the combined result of government protection of key forest and watershed reserves and farmers’ preferential abandonment of marginal lands. For conservationists, this return of forests is reason for optimism and it presents strategic opportunities for public land acquisition or collaborative management to further forest and watershed protection objectives.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document