scholarly journals Bee responses to landscape composition on coupled and decoupled multiscale approaches

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lazaro Carneiro ◽  
Milton Cezar Ribeiro ◽  
Willian Moura de Aguiar ◽  
Camila de Fátima Priante ◽  
Wilson Frantine-Silva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Cover ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Landscape Heterogeneity ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Landscape Composition ◽  
Landscape Context ◽  
Multiscale Approach ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Scale Of Effect

Abstract ContextMultiscale approaches are essential for understanding ecological processes and detecting the scale of effect. However, nested multiscale approaches retain the effect of the landscape attributes from the smaller spatial scales into the larger ones. Thus, decoupling local vs. regional scales can reveal detailed ecological responses to landscape context, but this multiscale approach is poorly explored. ObjectivesWe evaluated the scale of effect of the forest cover (%) and landscape heterogeneity on Euglossini bees combining coupled and decoupled multiscale approaches. MethodsThe Euglossini males were sampled in forest patches from 15 landscapes within the Atlantic Forest, southeast Brazil. For simplicity, we defined that the coupled approaches represented the local scales and decoupled approaches the regional scales. We decoupled the scales by cutting out the smaller scales inserted into larger ones. We estimated the relationship of the bee community attributes with forest cover (%) and landscape heterogeneity in local and regional scales using Generalized Linear Models. ResultsWe found positive effects of landscape heterogeneity on species richness for regional scales. Forest cover and landscape heterogeneity in local scales showed positive effects on the euglossine abundances. The scale of effect for euglossine richness was higher than species abundances. ConclusionsCombining coupled and decoupled multiscale approaches showed adequate capture of the scale of effect of the landscape composition on bee communities. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to measure the influence of the landscape context on biodiversity. Maintaining landscapes with larger forest cover and spatial heterogeneity is essential to keep euglossine species requirements.

scholarly journals Suburban frog ponds: mapping local land cover yields different estimates of landscape composition than the National Land Cover Database

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Lambert
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Landscape Composition ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Simple Method ◽  
Fine Grain ◽  
Land Cover Data ◽  
Ecological Patterns

Suburban neighborhoods are rapidly spreading globally. As such, there is an increasing need to study the environmental and ecological effects of suburbanization. At large spatial extents, from county-level to global, remote sensing-derived land cover data, such as the National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD), have yielded insight into patterns of urbanization and concomitant large-scale ecological patterns in response. However, the components of suburban land cover (houses, yards, etc.) are dispersed throughout the landscape at a finer scale than the relatively coarse grain size (30m pixels) of NLCD may be able to detect. Our understanding of ecological processes in heterogeneous landscapes is reliant upon the accuracy and resolution of our measurements as well as the scale at which we measure the landscape. Analyses of ecological processes along suburban gradients are restricted by the currently available data. As ecologists are becoming increasingly interested in describing phenomena at spatial extents as small as individual households, we need higher-resolution landscape measurements. Here, I describe a simple method of translating the components of suburban landscapes into finer-grain, local land cover (LLC) data in GIS. Using both LLC and NLCD, I compare the suburban matrix surrounding ponds occupied by two different frog species. I illustrate large discrepancies in Forest, Yard, and Developed land cover estimates between LLC and NLCD, leading to markedly different interpretations of suburban landscape composition. NLCD, relative to LLC, estimates lower proportions of forest cover and higher proportions of anthropogenic land covers in general. These two land cover datasets provide surprisingly different descriptions of the suburban landscapes, potentially affecting our understanding of how organisms respond to an increasingly suburban world. LLC provides a free and detailed fine-grain depiction of the components of suburban neighborhoods and will allow ecologists to better explore heterogeneous suburban landscapes at multiple spatial scales.

scholarly journals Suburban frog ponds: mapping local land cover yields different estimates of landscape composition than the National Land Cover Database

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Lambert
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Landscape Composition ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Simple Method ◽  
Fine Grain ◽  
Land Cover Data ◽  
Ecological Patterns

Suburban neighborhoods are rapidly spreading globally. As such, there is an increasing need to study the environmental and ecological effects of suburbanization. At large spatial extents, from county-level to global, remote sensing-derived land cover data, such as the National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD), have yielded insight into patterns of urbanization and concomitant large-scale ecological patterns in response. However, the components of suburban land cover (houses, yards, etc.) are dispersed throughout the landscape at a finer scale than the relatively coarse grain size (30m pixels) of NLCD may be able to detect. Our understanding of ecological processes in heterogeneous landscapes is reliant upon the accuracy and resolution of our measurements as well as the scale at which we measure the landscape. Analyses of ecological processes along suburban gradients are restricted by the currently available data. As ecologists are becoming increasingly interested in describing phenomena at spatial extents as small as individual households, we need higher-resolution landscape measurements. Here, I describe a simple method of translating the components of suburban landscapes into finer-grain, local land cover (LLC) data in GIS. Using both LLC and NLCD, I compare the suburban matrix surrounding ponds occupied by two different frog species. I illustrate large discrepancies in Forest, Yard, and Developed land cover estimates between LLC and NLCD, leading to markedly different interpretations of suburban landscape composition. NLCD, relative to LLC, estimates lower proportions of forest cover and higher proportions of anthropogenic land covers in general. These two land cover datasets provide surprisingly different descriptions of the suburban landscapes, potentially affecting our understanding of how organisms respond to an increasingly suburban world. LLC provides a free and detailed fine-grain depiction of the components of suburban neighborhoods and will allow ecologists to better explore heterogeneous suburban landscapes at multiple spatial scales.

Landscape Heterogeneity and Dynamics

2019 ◽  
pp. 42-126
Author(s):  
Kimberly A. With
Keyword(s):  
Landscape Ecology ◽  
Spatial Heterogeneity ◽  
Landscape Structure ◽  
Landscape Heterogeneity ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Anthropogenic Disturbances ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Disturbance Dynamics ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Over Time

Heterogeneity is a defining characteristic of landscapes and therefore central to the study of landscape ecology. Landscape ecology investigates what factors give rise to heterogeneity, how that heterogeneity is maintained or altered by natural and anthropogenic disturbances, and how heterogeneity ultimately influences ecological processes and flows across the landscape. Because heterogeneity is expressed across a wide range of spatial scales, the landscape perspective can be applied to address these sorts of questions at any level of ecological organization, and in aquatic and marine systems as well as terrestrial ones. Disturbances—both natural and anthropogenic—are a ubiquitous feature of any landscape, contributing to its structure and dynamics. Although the focus in landscape ecology is typically on spatial heterogeneity, disturbance dynamics produce changes in landscape structure over time as well as in space. Heterogeneity and disturbance dynamics are thus inextricably linked and are therefore covered together in this chapter.

Negative or positive effects of plantation and intensive forestry on biodiversity: A matter of scale and perspective

2010 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
pp. 354-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik Hartmann ◽  
Gaëtan Daoust ◽  
Brigitte Bigué
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
High Yield ◽  
Ecosystem Integrity ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Management Paradigms ◽  
Carry Over ◽  
Terrestrial Biodiversity

Terrestrial biodiversity is closely linked to forest ecosystems but anthropogenic reductions in forest cover and changes in forest structure and composition jeopardize their biodiversity. Several forest species are threatened because of reduced habitat quality and fragmentation or even habitat loss as a result of forest management activities. In response to this threat, integrated forest management (IFM) was developed in the early 1990s and has been applied over large spatial scales ever since. While IFM seeks to satisfy both human resource demands and ecosystem integrity, the whole forest matrix is affected and this may also have negative impacts on biodiversity. The concept of forest zoning (e.g., Triad) avoids these issues by physically separating land uses from each other. The zoning approach has been developed in the same period as IFM, but there are still very few examples of large-scale applications. This may be because its distinctiveness from IFM may not always seem clear and because forest zoning is not easily implemented. Here we explain these differences and show that IFM and the zoning approach are indeed different management paradigms. We advocate the use of high-yield plantations within the zoning paradigm as a means for biodiversity conservation and review the literature (with an emphasis on the northern hemisphere and on plantation forestry within a land-zoning approach) on impacts of forest management activities on biodiversity. Furthermore, we give advice on issues that require consideration when implementing forest zoning at both the stand and the landscape levels. We recommend several small changes in design and management of forest plantations as a means to significantly increase their biodiversity value. We conclude that while forest zoning seems an adequate strategy for the Canadian forestry sector, a shift in paradigm must carry over to policy-makers and legislation if this approach is to succeed. Key words: biodiversity, landbase zoning, forest management, intensive silviculture, plantation forests

scholarly journals Landscape epidemiology of plant diseases

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (16) ◽  
pp. 963-972 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Plantegenest ◽  
Christophe Le May ◽  
Frédéric Fabre
Keyword(s):  
Landscape Ecology ◽  
Landscape Heterogeneity ◽  
Landscape Composition ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Plant Diseases ◽  
Landscape Epidemiology ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Pathogen Dynamics ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Inoculum Pressure

Many agricultural landscapes are characterized by a high degree of heterogeneity and fragmentation. Landscape ecology focuses on the influence of habitat heterogeneity in space and time on ecological processes. Landscape epidemiology aims at applying concepts and approaches originating from landscape ecology to the study of pathogen dynamics at the landscape scale. However, despite the strong influence that the landscape properties may have on the spread of plant diseases, landscape epidemiology has still received little attention from plant pathologists. Some recent methodological and technological progress provides new and powerful tools to describe and analyse the spatial patterns of host–pathogen interactions. Here, we review some important topics in plant pathology that may benefit from a landscape perspective. These include the influence of: landscape composition on the global inoculum pressure; landscape heterogeneity on pathogen dynamics; landscape structure on pathogen dispersal; and landscape properties on the emergence of pathogens and on their evolution.

scholarly journals Hydrogeomorphic and biotic drivers of instream wood differ across sub-basins of the Columbia River Basin, USA

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nate Hough-Snee ◽  
Alan Kasprak ◽  
Rebecca K Rossi ◽  
Nicolaas Bouwes ◽  
Brett B Roper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Columbia River ◽  
Tree Cover ◽  
Columbia River Basin ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Wood Volume ◽  
Instream Wood

Instream wood promotes habitat heterogeneity through its influence on flow hydraulics and channel geomorphology. Within the Columbia River Basin, USA, wood is vital for the creation and maintenance of habitat for threatened salmonids. However, our understanding of the relative roles of the climatic, geomorphic, and ecological processes that source wood to streams is limited, and making it difficult to identify baseline predictions of instream wood and create targets for stream restoration. Here we investigate how instream wood frequency and volume differ between seven sub-basins of the Columbia River Basin and what processes shape these differences within these sub-basins. We collected data on wood volume and frequency, discharge and stream power, and riparian and watershed forest structure for use in modeling wood volume and frequency. Using random forest models, we found that mean annual precipitation, riparian tree cover, and the individual watershed were the most important predictors of wood volume and frequency. Within sub-basins, we used linear models, finding that some basins had unique predictors of wood. Discharge, watershed area or precipitation often combined with forest cover, riparian conifer and/or large tree cover in models of instream large wood volume and frequency. In many sub-basins, models showed at least one hydrologic variable, indicative of transport capacity and one ecological variable, indicative of the reach or upstream watershed’s ability to grow measurable instream wood. We conclude that basin-specific models yield important insights into the hydrologic and ecological processes that influence wood loads, creating tractable hypotheses for building predictive models of instream wood.

Evaluating landscape characteristics of predicted hotspots for plant invasions

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 163-175
Author(s):  
Adrián Lázaro-Lobo ◽  
Kristine O. Evans ◽  
Gary N. Ervin
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Invasive Species ◽  
Propagule Pressure ◽  
Landscape Heterogeneity ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Plant Invasions ◽  
Landscape Composition ◽  
Environmental Predictors ◽  
Distribution Models ◽  
Landscape Characteristics

AbstractInvasive species are widely recognized as a major threat to global diversity and an important factor associated with global change. Species distribution models (SDMs) have been widely applied to determine the range that invasive species could potentially occupy, but most examples focus on predictive variables at a single spatial scale. In this study, we simultaneously considered a broad range of variables related to climate, topography, land cover, land use, and propagule pressure to predict what areas in the southeastern United States are more susceptible to invasion by 45 invasive terrestrial plant species. Using expert-verified occurrence points from EDDMapS, we modeled invasion susceptibility at 30-m resolution for each species using a maximum entropy (MaxEnt) modeling approach. We then analyzed how environmental predictors affected susceptibility to invasion at different spatial scales. Climatic and land-use variables, especially minimum temperature of coldest month and distance to developed areas, were good predictors of landscape susceptibility to invasion. For most of the species tested, human-disturbed systems such as developed areas and barren lands were more prone to be invaded than areas that experienced minimal human interference. As expected, we found that landscape heterogeneity and the presence of corridors for propagule dispersal significantly increased landscape susceptibility to invasion for most species. However, we also found a number of species for which the susceptibility to invasion increased in landscapes with large core areas and/or less-aggregated patches. These exceptions suggest that even though we found the expected general patterns for susceptibility to invasion among most species, the influence of landscape composition and configuration on invasion risk is species specific.

scholarly journals The Interplay Between Thematic Resolution, Forest Cover, and Heterogeneity for Explaining Euglossini Bees Community in an Agricultural Landscape

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lázaro da Silva Carneiro ◽  
Willian Moura de Aguiar ◽  
Camila de Fátima Priante ◽  
Milton Cezar Ribeiro ◽  
Wilson Frantine-Silva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Landscape Structure ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Landscape Heterogeneity ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Landscape Composition ◽  
Biological Responses ◽  
Thematic Resolution ◽  
Bee Community

Human activities have modified the landscape composition. The changes in the landscape structure can be evaluated by metrics, which are influenced, among other factors, by the number of cover classes used for the landscape classification (thematic resolution). In high thematic resolutions, landscape covers that can influence biological responses are identified and detailed. In low thematic resolutions, this detail level is lower because it aggregates different landscape covers in a few classes. However, how the thematic resolution influences our ability to understand landscape structure on biodiversity is poorly explored, particularly for pollinators. Here we asked how thematic resolution affects the explanatory power of landscape composition on explaining Euglossini bees (richness and abundance) within 15 landscapes composed mainly of coffee and pasture. To address this issue, we quantified the association between five attributes of the euglossine bee community and landscape composition: landscape cover classes (%) and landscape heterogeneity. Moreover, we also evaluated how the thematic resolution influences bee responses to landscape structure. We found a strong and positive influence of landscape heterogeneity in low thematic resolutions (i.e., few cover classes on maps) over the richness and rare species abundance. We also observed that- in addition to the forest cover in the landscape- the pasture cover (%) quantified in high thematic resolution positively influenced the total abundance and abundance of common and intermediate species. Our study highlights the importance of maintaining compositional heterogeneity for the orchid bee community in agroecosystems, and forest cover for the biological requirements and conservation of these pollinators. Moreover, the use of different thematic resolutions showed how specific types of landscape covers influence the euglossine community attributes. This can highlight the species preferences for habitats and landscape covers. Thus, we call the attention of landscape ecologists to the importance of the definition of thematic resolution, as our ability to quantify the association between biological responses and landscape structure may be influenced by the number of classes used when building thematic maps.

scholarly journals Multiscale patterns of isolation by ecology and fine-scale population structure in Texas bobcats

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e11498
Author(s):  
Imogene A. Cancellare ◽  
Elizabeth M. Kierepka ◽  
Jan Janecka ◽  
Byron Weckworth ◽  
Richard T. Kazmaier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Structure ◽  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Gene Flow ◽  
Spatial Scale ◽  
Behavioral Plasticity ◽  
Spatial Genetic Structure ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Lynx Rufus ◽  
Multiscale Approach ◽  
Ecological Processes

Patterns of spatial genetic variation can be generated by a variety of ecological processes, including individual preferences based on habitat. These ecological processes act at multiple spatial and temporal scales, generating scale-dependent effects on gene flow. In this study, we focused on bobcats (Lynx rufus), a highly mobile, generalist felid that exhibits ecological and behavioral plasticity, high abundance, and broad connectivity across much of their range. However, bobcats also show genetic differentiation along habitat breaks, a pattern typically observed in cases of isolation-by-ecology (IBE). The IBE observed in bobcats is hypothesized to occur due to habitat-biased dispersal, but it is unknown if this occurs at other habitat breaks across their range or at what spatial scale IBE becomes most apparent. Thus, we used a multiscale approach to examine isolation by ecology (IBE) patterns in bobcats (Lynx rufus) at both fine and broad spatial scales in western Texas. We genotyped 102 individuals at nine microsatellite loci and used partial redundancy analysis (pRDA) to test if a suite of landscape variables influenced genetic variation in bobcats. Bobcats exhibited a latitudinal cline in population structure with a spatial signature of male-biased dispersal, and no clear barriers to gene flow. Our pRDA tests revealed high genetic similarity in similar habitats, and results differed by spatial scale. At the fine spatial scale, herbaceous rangeland was an important influence on gene flow whereas mixed rangeland and agriculture were significant at the broad spatial scale. Taken together, our results suggests that complex interactions between spatial-use behavior and landscape heterogeneity can create non-random gene flow in highly mobile species like bobcats. Furthermore, our results add to the growing body of data highlighting the importance of multiscale study designs when assessing spatial genetic structure.

scholarly journals Riparian forest structure and stream geomorphic condition: implications for flood resilience

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 476-487 ◽  
Author(s):  
William S. Keeton ◽  
Erin M. Copeland ◽  
S. Mažeika P. Sullivan ◽  
Mary C. Watzin
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Forest Structure ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Riparian Forest ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Riparian Corridors ◽  
Stream Condition ◽  
Stream Geomorphology

Managing riparian corridors for flood resilience requires understanding of linkages between vegetation condition and stream geomorphology. Stream assessment approaches increasingly use channel morphology as an indicator of stream condition, with only cursory examination of riparian vegetation. Our research (i) examines relationships between stream geomorphic condition, as assessed by Rapid Geomorphic Assessment (RGA) scores, and riparian forest structure, and (ii) investigates scale dependencies in the linkages between land cover and stream geomorphology. We sampled vegetation structure and composition and assessed geomorphic condition at 32 stream reaches within the Lake Champlain Basin, USA. RGA scores were modeled as a function of structural attributes using classification and regression trees. Landsat coverages were used to delineate land uses within five nested spatial scales. Generalized linear models (GLM) evaluated relationships between land cover and RGA scores. Standard deviation of basal area partitioned the greatest variability in RGA scores, but dead tree density and basal area (positively) and shrub density (negatively) were also significant predictors. RGA was related to forest and agricultural cover at the two finest scales. Riparian forest structure is highly dynamic in relation to stand development and disturbance history; simple forest cover information does not capture these differences or their influences on stream geomorphic condition.

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