Forest species in an agricultural landscape in the Netherlands: Effects of habitat fragmentation

1997 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Grashof-Bokdam
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Fragmentation ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Forest Species

scholarly journals Heathland restoration in the Netherlands

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rikjan Vermeulen ◽  
Hans Turin
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
National Park ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Ground Beetle ◽  
Control Treatment ◽  
Entire Study ◽  
Bare Sand ◽  
Nature Restoration ◽  
Topsoil Layer

Lowland heathlands dominated by Calluna vulgaris are a characteristic ecosystem of the sandy soils of Northwestern Europe. Many of these heathlands have been converted to agricultural lands in the 20th century, but because increasing recognition of their nature conservation value has led to an increase in restoration efforts. Since about 2005, several experiments were carried out in a number of former agricultural areas in the Netherlands with the aim of accelerating the succession in vegetation and surface-dwelling fauna towards heathland. We discuss two projects in which the monitoring of the beetle fauna using pitfall traps was carried out. In the new reserve “Reijerscamp”, situated in the Central Netherlands, a 10-year monitoring project was carried out in an abandoned sandy field area of ca 200 ha from 2006-2015. The area consisted of a former grain field and a grass seed nursery, with small wooded areas here and there and the aim is to enlarge the area of dry heathland. In 2006, at four 5-10 ha locations, a few hundred meters apart, the nutrient-rich topsoil layer was removed, and the Pleistocene sand exposed. On a part of each of these sites, heather cuttings were deposited to accelerate the formation of dry heathland. The study consisted of five sampling years spread over the entire study period. In each sampling year, 15-25 series of 5 pitfalls were used to sample the reserve during the period April – October, on the untreated, former agricultural parts and on the four parts with removed top soil, both on the bare sand and on the parts with heather deposition. The results for ground beetles, did not support the hypothesis in all respects. From the results, it became clear that creating environmental heterogeneity, generally contributes to the ground beetle diversity in the reserve. However, the period of ten years was too short to show a clear indication that the faunal succession is moving towards a heathland fauna. The first years showed an interesting fauna with a lot of stenotopic, rare and unexpected species and the local diversity was very high. Halfway through the investigation period, the number of species as well as the numbers of individuals declined. After ten years, in general the character of the fauna was significantly more eurytopic and many of the rare species occurring in the first years vanished. On the four sites with removed topsoil, the carabid fauna differed significantly from the former agricultural land, but there was only a minor difference in the fauna of the parts with only bare sand and those with deposit of heath cuttings, although a clear heathland vegetation was visible in the parts with deposits. Because the area is surrounded by agricultural land and a large forested area, there is hardly direct connection to heathland that can serve as a source for immigration of characteristic heathland species with low dispersal power.. The succession to a typical heathland fauna in this reserve will therefore probably take probably several decades. Immediately adjacent to the National park “Dwingelderveld” (in the north of the Netherlands) the “Noorderveld”, consisting of 200 ha of arable field was acquired for nature restoration. Also here, the aim was to convert this area into heathland by removing the nutrient-rich topsoil layer in 2012-2013, to a depth of more than 60 cm, thus creating a seedless sterile substrate, poor in nutrients. After the topsoil removal, a full factorial experiment of pH manipulation and biotic additions at wet and dry sites was set up to accelerate the process of heathland restoration. Each of 27 plots (9 x 9 meters), received either a liming treatment, acidification or neither, in combination with either heathland sods, heath cuttings, or neither, totaling 9 treatment combinations. From 2013 till 2018 the carabid fauna was monitored frequently by pitfall catches in the plot’s centers. In the first years the highest diversity was observed in the plots with lime and sod cuttings and also the most characteristic heathland ground beetle species were found at these plots. Later on, these differences became less significant, which may be due to the relatively small size of the plots, which hardly can be regarded independent of each other. Conclusion is still that adding lime and sods is the best way for heathland restoration, but the differences with the control treatment were small. The striking result of the present comparison is that the Noorderveld was rather quickly inhabited by characteristic heathland species. This may be due to the fact that latter is directly connected to the vast heathland complex of the national park Dwingelderveld, in contrast to the Reijerscamp, which is isolated from the closest heathlands by a railroad, a highway, large forests and a highly agricultural landscape. connectivity therefore seems to be a crucial condition for characteristic species to colonize new territory, especially for species with low dispersal powers.

The influence of habitat fragmentation on helminth communities in rodent populations from a Brazilian Mountain Atlantic Forest

2015 ◽  
Vol 90 (4) ◽  
pp. 460-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.S. Cardoso ◽  
R.O. Simões ◽  
J.L.F. Luque ◽  
A. Maldonado ◽  
R. Gentile
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Fragmentation ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Rodent Species ◽  
Trematode Species ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Helminth Communities ◽  
Open Canopy ◽  
Eastern Brazil ◽  
Cysticercus Fasciolaris

AbstractThe influence of habitat structure on helminth communities of three sigomdontinae rodent species (Akodon cursor, A. montensisandOligoryzomys nigripes) was investigated in forest fragments within an agricultural landscape in south-eastern Brazil. This is a pionner study correlating the occurrence of helminth species of rodent hosts with microhabitat characteristics. Rodents were collected from 12 fragments and in a continuous conserved area. Up to 13 nematode, three cestode and two trematode species were identified, and habitat fragmentation was found to have more influence on the helminth composition ofO. nigripescompared to the other two rodent species. Fragmentation appeared to limit the development of some helminths’ life cycles, e.g. with some species such asTrichofreitasia lenti, Protospirura numidica, Cysticercus fasciolarisandAvellariasp., occurring mostly in areas with less anthropic impact. However, fragmentation did not seem to affect the life cycles of other dominant helminths, such as the trematodeCanaania obesa,the nematodesStilestrongylus lanfrediae,S. etaandS. aculeata,and the cestodeRodentolepis akodontis.The helminth community structure followed a nested pattern of distribution inA. montensisandO. nigripes.Stilestrongylus lanfrediaeseemed to be more associated with dense understorey,C. obesawith open canopy and dense understorey, andGuerrerostrongylus zettawith organic matter on the ground. Their presence in each area may be explained by aspects of their life cycles that take place in the external environment outside the host.

scholarly journals Factors Affecting Songbird Nest Survival in Riparian Forests in a Midwestern Agricultural Landscape

The Auk ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 726-737
Author(s):  
Rebecca G. Peak ◽  
Frank R. Thompson ◽  
Terry L. Shaffer
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Nest Success ◽  
Riparian Forests ◽  
Breeding Habitat ◽  
Habitat Patch ◽  
Buffer Strips ◽  
Forest Species ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Northern Cardinal ◽  
Gray Catbird

Abstract We investigated factors affecting nest success of songbirds in riparian forest and buffers in northeastern Missouri. We used an information-theoretic approach to determine support for hypotheses concerning effects of nest-site, habitat-patch, edge, and temporal factors on nest success of songbirds in three narrow (55–95 m) and three wide (400–530 m) riparian forests with adjacent grassland-shrub buffer strips and in three narrow and three wide riparian forests without adjacent grassland-shrub buffer strips. We predicted that temporal effects would have the most support and that habitat-patch and edge effects would have little support, because nest predation would be great across all sites in the highly fragmented, predominantly agricultural landscape. Interval nest success was 0.404, 0.227, 0.070, and 0.186, respectively, for Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis), Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea), and forest interior species pooled (Acadian Flycatcher [Empidonax virescens], Wood Thrush [Hylocichla mustelina], Ovenbird [Seiurus aurocapillus], and Kentucky Warbler [Oporornis formosus]). The effect of nest stage on nest success had the most support; daily nest success for Gray Catbird and Indigo Bunting were lowest in the laying stage. We found strong support for greater nest success of Gray Catbird in riparian forests with adjacent buffer strips than in riparian forests without adjacent buffer strips. Patch width also occurred in the most-supported model for Gray Catbird, but with very limited support. The null model received the most support for Northern Cardinal. Riparian forests provided breeding habitat for area-sensitive forest species and grassland-shrub nesting species. Buffer strips provided additional breeding habitat for grassland-shrub nesting species. Interval nest success for Indigo Bunting and area-sensitive forest species pooled, however, fell well below the level that is likely necessary to balance juvenile and adult mortality, which suggests that when riparian forests are located within agricultural landscapes, the potential even for wide riparian forests with adjacent buffer strips to provide high-quality breeding habitat is severely diminished for some species.

Effects of Habitat Fragmentation on the Bank Vole, Clethrionomys glareolus, in an Agricultural Landscape

Oikos ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 265 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. van Apeldoorn ◽  
W. T. Oostenbrink ◽  
A. van Winden ◽  
F. F. van der Zee
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Fragmentation ◽  
Bank Vole ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Clethrionomys Glareolus

scholarly journals Do Adjacent Forests Affect the Regeneration of Oak-Hornbeam and Ancient Forest Plant Species in Manor Parks in Poland?

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 538
Author(s):  
Beata Fornal-Pieniak ◽  
Marcin Ollik ◽  
Axel Schwerk
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Detrended Correspondence Analysis ◽  
Species Number ◽  
Natural Forests ◽  
Forest Species ◽  
Ancient Forest Species ◽  
Ancient Forest ◽  
Characteristic Species

Manor parks are characteristic objects in the agricultural landscape of Poland. Lack of proper management after World War II, however, led to their devastation from a cultural point of view, but may allow the regeneration of rare and endangered species. The aim of our study was to determine if the presence of forests in the vicinity of manor parks will work as an accelerator of the regeneration process of oak-hornbeam and ancient forest species. Phytosociological analyses were conducted in manor parks adjacent to forests and not adjacent to the forest as well as natural forests. The total number of plant species, number and percentage share of ancient forest species, and plant species consistent with oak-hornbeam habitat were analyzed using a GLM model. Characteristic species were identified using detrended correspondence analysis. Parks adjacent to forests and natural forests showed higher numbers of total species, ancient forest species, and oak-hornbeam species compared with parks not adjacent to forests, but there were no differences in percentage shares of ancient forest species and oak-hornbeam species. For all three types of studied objects, characteristic species could be identified. We conclude that adjacent forests allow greater regeneration of ancient forest species and oak-hornbeam forest species in manor parks.

Resisting habitat fragmentation: High genetic connectivity among populations of the frugivorous bat Carollia castanea in an agricultural landscape

2014 ◽  
Vol 185 ◽  
pp. 9-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon P. Ripperger ◽  
Marco Tschapka ◽  
Elisabeth K.V. Kalko ◽  
Bernal Rodríguez-Herrera ◽  
Frieder Mayer
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Fragmentation ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Genetic Connectivity
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