Prairie and Savanna Vegetation of Braidwood Dunes and Savanna Nature Preserve, Will County, Illinois

Castanea ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loy R. Phillippe ◽  
Daniel T. Busemeyer ◽  
Paul B. Marcum ◽  
Mary Ann Feist ◽  
John E. Ebinger
Keyword(s):  
Savanna Vegetation ◽  
Nature Preserve

scholarly journals Leveraging TLS as a Calibration and Validation Tool for MLS and ULS Mapping of Savanna Structure and Biomass at Landscape-Scales

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaun R. Levick ◽  
Tim Whiteside ◽  
David A. Loewensteiner ◽  
Mitchel Rudge ◽  
Renee Bartolo
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Vegetation Structure ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Structural Diversity ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Calibration And Validation ◽  
Savanna Vegetation ◽  
Landscape Scales

Savanna ecosystems are challenging to map and monitor as their vegetation is highly dynamic in space and time. Understanding the structural diversity and biomass distribution of savanna vegetation requires high-resolution measurements over large areas and at regular time intervals. These requirements cannot currently be met through field-based inventories nor spaceborne satellite remote sensing alone. UAV-based remote sensing offers potential as an intermediate scaling tool, providing acquisition flexibility and cost-effectiveness. Yet despite the increased availability of lightweight LiDAR payloads, the suitability of UAV-based LiDAR for mapping and monitoring savanna 3D vegetation structure is not well established. We mapped a 1 ha savanna plot with terrestrial-, mobile- and UAV-based laser scanning (TLS, MLS, and ULS), in conjunction with a traditional field-based inventory (n = 572 stems > 0.03 m). We treated the TLS dataset as the gold standard against which we evaluated the degree of complementarity and divergence of structural metrics from MLS and ULS. Sensitivity analysis showed that MLS and ULS canopy height models (CHMs) did not differ significantly from TLS-derived models at spatial resolutions greater than 2 m and 4 m respectively. Statistical comparison of the resulting point clouds showed minor over- and under-estimation of woody canopy cover by MLS and ULS, respectively. Individual stem locations and DBH measurements from the field inventory were well replicated by the TLS survey (R2 = 0.89, RMSE = 0.024 m), which estimated above-ground woody biomass to be 7% greater than field-inventory estimates (44.21 Mg ha−1 vs 41.08 Mg ha−1). Stem DBH could not be reliably estimated directly from the MLS or ULS, nor indirectly through allometric scaling with crown attributes (R2 = 0.36, RMSE = 0.075 m). MLS and ULS show strong potential for providing rapid and larger area capture of savanna vegetation structure at resolutions suitable for many ecological investigations; however, our results underscore the necessity of nesting TLS sampling within these surveys to quantify uncertainty. Complementing large area MLS and ULS surveys with TLS sampling will expand our options for the calibration and validation of multiple spaceborne LiDAR, SAR, and optical missions.

scholarly journals Using an Outdoor Activity on Local Plant Biodiversity to Teach Conservation Ecology and Promote Environmentally Responsible Behaviors

2018 ◽  
Vol 80 (5) ◽  
pp. 359-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
McKenzie L. Doup
Keyword(s):  
Plant Biodiversity ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Field Methods ◽  
Environmental Behaviors ◽  
Simplified Approach ◽  
Connectedness To Nature ◽  
Nature Preserve ◽  
Local Plant ◽  
Environmentally Responsible Behaviors ◽  
The Stability

Children today do not spend as much time outside as they did in previous generations; consequently, they are not building connectedness to nature and are less likely to engage in pro-environmental behaviors. Environmental education is one way to ameliorate this problem. However, teachers are limited by their access to natural habitats, time, and field expertise. To address both of these issues, I present an inquiry-based activity for both Advanced Placement and general high school biology that requires students to spend time in nature, use authentic field methods for collecting data, and apply their findings to pertinent conservation issues. This four-day activity uses a simplified approach, called the meter stick random sampling method, to measure plant biodiversity of different local habitats. Time-efficient and not reliant on species identification, this method is designed so students can repeat this procedure in their backyards or at a local nature preserve. The data can be used to discuss how human disturbance of habitat affects biodiversity, the importance of biodiversity for the stability of ecosystems, and how to restore biodiversity locally.

Spatial relationship between elephant and sodium concentration of water disappears as density increases in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 725-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Chamaillé-Jammes ◽  
Hervé Fritz ◽  
Ricardo M. Holdo
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Spatial Relationship ◽  
Sodium Concentration ◽  
African Elephants ◽  
Mineral Concentration ◽  
Savanna Vegetation ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
Elephant Population ◽  
Hwange National Park ◽  
Nutrient Selection

African elephants Loxodonta africana (Blumenbach) may profoundly affect vegetation and associated animal bio-diversity in savannas (Conybeare 2004, Skarpe et al. 2004). Understanding the patterns of habitat use by elephants is crucial to predict their impacts on ecosystems (Ben-Shahar 1993, Nelleman et al. 2002), particularly now that many populations are recovering from past culling events or poaching outbreaks (Blanc et al. 2007). Surface water is one of the major constraints on elephant distribution (Chamaillé-Jammes et al. 2007, Stokke & du Toit 2002), and accordingly, elephant impacts are higher in the vicinity of water (Ben-Shahar 1993, de Beer et al. 2006). However, waterhole selection by elephant remains poorly understood. Weir (1972) showed in Hwange National Park (hereafter Hwange NP), Zimbabwe, that elephant numbers at waterholes over 24 h increased with the sodium concentration of water on nutrient-poor Kalahari sands. His work has become widely cited in elephant studies as it remains the only one, to the best of our knowledge, to have studied elephant use of waterholes in relation to the mineral concentration of water. Weir's work, however, took place when elephant densities in Hwange NP were low, likely below 0.5 elephants km−2 as estimated by aerial censuses (Williamson 1975). Since then, the elephant population has increased dramatically, particularly since the halt to culling operations in 1986 (Chamaillé-Jammes 2006, Cumming 1981). The present elephant density is much higher, estimated to be over 2 elephants km−2 (Chamaillé-Jammes et al. 2007, in press), and is one of the highest in the world (Blanc et al. 2007). Increased density may modify ecological constraints and affect the hierarchy of habitat selection processes (Morris 2003), and the extent to which water-nutrient selection still constrains elephant distribution at high population density – when their impact on savanna vegetation is the highest – remains unknown.

The role of environmental filters in Brazilian savanna vegetation dynamics

2021 ◽  
Vol 500 ◽  
pp. 119645
Author(s):  
Natielle Gomes Cordeiro ◽  
Kelly Marianne Guimarães Pereira ◽  
Marcela de Castro Nunes Santos Terra ◽  
Eduarda Martiniano de Oliveira Silveira ◽  
Ivy Mayara Sanches de Oliveira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Dynamics ◽  
Brazilian Savanna ◽  
Environmental Filters ◽  
Savanna Vegetation

Soil Aggregates Stability of Forest Islands and Adjacent Ecosystems in West Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 283
Author(s):  
Amelie Baomalgré Bougma ◽  
Korodjouma Ouattara ◽  
Halidou Compaore ◽  
Hassan Bismarck Nacro ◽  
Caleb Melenya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Direct Action ◽  
Soil Aggregates ◽  
Aggregate Stability ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Savanna Vegetation ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
Forest Islands

In the more mesic savanna areas of West Africa, many areas of relatively tall and dense vegetation with a species composition more characteristic of forest than savanna are often found around villages areas. These ‘forest islands’ may be the direct action of human activity. To better understand these patches with relatively luxuriant vegetation, our study focused on how they influence soil aggregation in comparison with nearby areas and natural savanna vegetation across a precipitation transect in West Africa for which mean annual precipitation at the study sites ranges from 0.80 to 1.27 m a-1. Soil samples were taken from 0 to 5 cm and 5 to 10 cm depths and aggregate groups with diameters: > 500 μm, 500-250 μm and 250-53 μm (viz. “macroaggregates”, “mesoaggregates” and “microaggregates”) determined using the wet sieving method. The results showed significantly higher proportion of stable meso and macroaggregates in forest islands and natural savanna compared to agricultural soils (p <0.05). On the other hand, although there was no effect of land-use type on microaggregates stability, there was a strong tendency for the microaggregate fraction across all land use types to increase with increasing precipitation. Soil organic carbon and iron oxides contents are the most important factors influencing aggregate stability in West African ecosystems. By increasing soil structural stability, forest islands contribute to soil erosion reduction and the control of land degradation.

scholarly journals When rare species are not important: linking plot-based vegetation classifications and landscape-scale mapping in Australian savanna vegetation

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Addicott ◽  
S. Laurance ◽  
M. Lyons ◽  
D. Butler ◽  
J. Neldner
Keyword(s):  
Rare Species ◽  
Landscape Scale ◽  
Savanna Vegetation

scholarly journals Effects of an accidental dry-season fire on the reproductive phenology of two Neotropical savanna shrubs

2017 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 564-573 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Dodonov ◽  
C. B. Zanelli ◽  
D. M. Silva-Matos
Keyword(s):  
Seed Bank ◽  
Woody Plant ◽  
Fire Effects ◽  
Plant Ecology ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Reproductive Phenology ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Floral Buds ◽  
Savanna Vegetation ◽  
Eastern Brazil

Abstract Fire is a recurrent disturbance in savanna vegetation and savanna species are adapted to it. Even so, fire may affect various aspects of plant ecology, including phenology. We studied the effects of a spatially heterogeneous fire on the reproductive phenology of two dominant woody plant species, Miconia albicans (Melastomataceae) and Schefflera vinosa (Araliaceae), in a savanna area in South-eastern Brazil. The study site was partially burnt by a dry-season accidental fire in August 2006, and we monitored the phenolology of 30 burnt and 30 unburnt individuals of each species between September 2007 and September 2008. We used restricted randomizations to assess phenological differences between the burnt and unburnt individuals. Fire had negative effects on the phenology of M. albicans, with a smaller production of reproductive structures in general and of floral buds, total fruits, and ripe fruits in burnt plants. All unburnt but only 16% of the burnt M. albicans plants produced ripe fruits during the study. Fire effects on S. vinosa were smaller, but there was a greater production of floral buds and fruits (but not ripe fruits) by burnt plants; approximately 90% of the individuals of S. vinosa produced ripe fruits during the study, regardless of having been burnt or not. The differences between the two species may be related to S. vinosa’s faster growth and absence from the seed bank at the study site, whereas M. albicans grows more slowly and is dominant in the seed bank.

scholarly journals Distribution of insect galls in xeric and mesic habitats of Floresta Nacional de Silvânia, Brazil

2017 ◽  
Vol 107 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bárbara Araújo Ribeiro Bergamini ◽  
Leonardo Lima Bergamini ◽  
Benedito Baptista dos Santos ◽  
Walter Santos de Araújo
Keyword(s):  
Plant Architecture ◽  
Vegetation Type ◽  
The Other ◽  
Higher Plant ◽  
Insect Galls ◽  
Plant Family ◽  
Savanna Vegetation ◽  
Insect Gall ◽  
Hygrothermal Stress ◽  
Forest Habitats

ABSTRACT We investigated the insect gall distribution along savanna (xeric) and forest (mesic) vegetation in the Floresta Nacional de Silvânia, Goiás, Brazil. We tested if the insect gall diversity is higher in the xeric vegetation than in the mesic vegetation, as predicted by the hygrothermal stress hypothesis. The insect gall fauna was surveyed between December 2009 and June 2010 in two transects established each vegetation type. In total we found 186 insect gall morphotypes, distributed on 35 botanical families and 61 plant species. Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) induced the most insect galls (34.1%), and the plant family Fabaceae had the greatest richness of insect gall morphotypes (18). We recorded 99 insect gall morphotypes in the forest and 87 morphotypes in the savanna vegetation, being that none insect gall morphotype occurred in both habitats. We found that the insect gall richness and abundance did not differ between forest and savanna transects. On the other hand, the estimated insect gall richness was higher in the forest than in the savanna. Our findings contrary the hygrothermal stress hypothesis possibly because forest habitats have higher plant architecture complexity and occurrence of super-host taxa than the savanna habitats.

Herbaceous Plant Succession at Sand Prairie-scrub Oak Nature Preserve, Mason County, Illinois

Rhodora ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 110 (942) ◽  
pp. 171-177
Author(s):  
William E. McClain ◽  
John E. Ebinger
Keyword(s):  
Plant Succession ◽  
Herbaceous Plant ◽  
Scrub Oak ◽  
Nature Preserve ◽  
Mason County
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