scholarly journals An Assessment of Leporid Research and Landscape Ecology Metrics in a European Landscape

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelsey Gilcrease
Keyword(s):  
Landscape Ecology ◽  
Landscape Metrics ◽  
Vegetation Structure ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
European Rabbit ◽  
European Hare ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
And Function

Abstract Leporids play a dynamic role in the ecosystem and assessments must be undertaken in order to improve research efforts and methods. Landscape ecology metrics are used to quantify components of leporid habitat such as vegetation structure, vegetation cover, habitat type, and fragmentation; however, the degree to which the metrics are utilized in leporid research is relatively unknown. This paper assessed fifty-three published, peer reviewed papers on leporids from various European countries on where the study was done, the species of leporid that was studied, the content of the study (i.e. what the paper focused on), the length of the study, the size of the study area, and the method of study. The quantified landscape metrics within these papers were assessed. This study found that most of the studies occurred in Spain, the European rabbit and European hare were the most studied leporids, many papers were concerned with habitat relationships, many of the studies were conducted in a year or less, many papers utilized pellet surveys and trapping, and the most common landscape metric utilized was habitat type. This survey of research on leporids highlights that there is a lack of utilizing landscape structure and function metrics such as slope, fragmentation, and edge effect. These are important variables to help connect structure and function of ecological processes in the context of leporid habitat and landscapes. It is recommended that leporid researchers and landscape planners exchange research findings so that the best planning practices can occur on the ground for the leporids

Limited variation in proportional contributions of auto- and heterotrophic soil respiration, despite large differences in vegetation structure and function in the Low Arctic

2016 ◽  
Vol 127 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 339-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean M. P. Cahoon ◽  
Patrick F. Sullivan ◽  
Cassandra Gamm ◽  
Jeffrey M. Welker ◽  
David Eissenstat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Respiration ◽  
Vegetation Structure ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Heterotrophic Soil Respiration ◽  
Limited Variation ◽  
Low Arctic ◽  
And Function

scholarly journals New methods of spatial analysis in urban gardens inform future vegetation surveying

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 761-778
Author(s):  
Monika H. Egerer ◽  
Benjamin Wagner ◽  
Brenda B. Lin ◽  
Dave Kendal ◽  
Kai Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Scale ◽  
Vegetation Structure ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Community Gardens ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Future Application ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Traditional Methods ◽  
And Function

Abstract Context Land use change requires measuring shifting patterns in biodiversity at various spatial scales to inform landscape management. Assessing vegetation change at different scales is challenging in urban ecosystems managed by many individuals. Thus, we do not know much about the structure and function of green spaces that support biodiversity. Objective We aim to understand how vegetation structure and function indicators in urban community gardens vary with spatial scale, applying new and traditional methods in landscape ecology to inform future research and application. Methods We performed two methods to assess garden vegetation structure (height) and function (species diversity, cover) at the garden- and garden plot scale. First, we used traditional field sampling to estimate garden vegetation at the garden scale (1 m2 quadrats along transects) and at the plot scale (estimated within entire plot) to measure height, diversity and cover. Second, we used UAV aerial imagery to derive measures of garden and plot vegetation using canopy height models (CHMs). We evaluated differences in CHMs at each scale across the gardens, and compared field and UAV-derived measures. Results Garden vegetation characteristics vary with spatial scale. Plant species richness and vegetation cover, but not height, related to UAV-derived imagery. Conclusions New technologies paired with traditional field methods can together inform how vegetation structure and function vary with spatial scale in urban landscapes. Spatial scale is key to accurate and meaningful urban vegetation analyses. New and traditional methods in urban ecology research should develop together to improve and streamline their future application.

Early-life nutritional programming of longevity

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 325-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Vaiserman
Keyword(s):  
Early Life ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Sufficient Evidence ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Nutritional Programming ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Regulation Mechanisms ◽  
And Function

Available data from both experimental and epidemiological studies suggest that inadequate diet in early life can permanently change the structure and function of specific organs or homoeostatic pathways, thereby ‘programming’ the individual’s health status and longevity. Sufficient evidence has accumulated showing significant impact of epigenetic regulation mechanisms in nutritional programming phenomenon. The essential role of early-life diet in the development of aging-related chronic diseases is well established and described in many scientific publications. However, the programming effects on lifespan have not been extensively reviewed systematically. The aim of the review is to provide a summary of research findings and theoretical explanations that indicate that longevity can be influenced by early nutrition.

scholarly journals Edaphic, structural and physiological contrasts across Amazon Basin forest-savanna ecotones suggest a role for potassium as a key modulator of tropical woody vegetation structure and function

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 7879-7977 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Lloyd ◽  
T. F. Domingues ◽  
F. Schrodt ◽  
F. Y. Ishida ◽  
T. R. Feldpausch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Structure ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Leaf Traits ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Exchangeable Cation ◽  
Canopy Area ◽  
And Function

Abstract. Sampling along a precipitation gradient in tropical America extending from ca. 0.8 to 2.0 m a−1, savanna soils had consistently lower exchangeable cation concentrations and higher C/N ratios than nearby forest plots. These soil differences were also reflected in canopy averaged leaf traits with savanna trees typically having higher leaf mass per unit area but lower mass-based nitrogen (Nm) and potassium (Km). Both Nm and Km also increased with declining mean annual precipitation (PA), but most area-based leaf traits such as leaf photosynthetic capacity showed no systematic variation with PA or vegetation type. Despite this invariance, when taken in conjunction with other measures such mean canopy height, area-based soil exchangeable potassium content, [K]sa, proved to be an excellent predictor of several photosynthetic properties (including 13C isotope discrimination). Moreover, when considered in a multivariate context with PA and soil plant available water storage capacity (θP) as covariates, [K]sa also proved to be an excellent predictor of stand-level canopy area, providing drastically improved fits as compared to models considering just PA and/or θP. Neither calcium, magnesium nor soil pH could substitute for potassium when tested as alternative model predictors (ΔAIC > 10). Nor for any model could simple soil texture metrics such as sand or clay content substitute for either [K]sa or θP. Taken in conjunction with recent work in Africa and the forests of the Amazon Basin this suggests – in combination with some newly conceptualised interacting effects of PA and θP also presented here – a critical role for potassium as a modulator of tropical vegetation structure and function.

Essentials of Landscape Ecology

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly A. With
Keyword(s):  
Landscape Ecology ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Biological Communities ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Human Land Use ◽  
Resource Distributions ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Individual ◽  
And Function

Essentials of Landscape Ecology is a new, comprehensive text that presents the principles, theory, methods, and applications of landscape ecology in an engaging and accessible format, supplemented by numerous examples and case studies from a variety of systems, including freshwater and marine “scapes.” Human activity has transformed landscapes worldwide on a scale that rivals or exceeds even the largest of natural forces, giving rise to a new geological age, the Anthropocene. As humans alter the structure and function of landscapes, the biological diversity and ecological relationships within those landscapes are also inevitably altered, to the extent that this may interfere with humanity’s efforts to sustain the productivity and multifunctional use of these landscapes. Landscape ecology has thus emerged as a new, multidisciplinary science to investigate the effects of human land use and environmental heterogeneity on ecological processes across a wide range of scales and systems: from the effects of habitat or resource distributions on the individual movements, gene flow, and population dynamics of plants and animals; to the human alteration of landscapes affecting the structure of biological communities and the functioning of entire ecosystems; to the sustainable management of natural resources and the ecosystem goods and services upon which society depends.

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