The Ecology and Management of Wood in World Rivers

2003 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Land Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Riparian Forests ◽  
Floodplain Forests ◽  
Large Wood ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Rivers And Streams ◽  
World Rivers ◽  
Continuous Source

<em>Abstract.</em>—Riparian and floodplain forests are vital components of landscapes. They are transitional zones (ecotones) between river and upland ecosystems where ecological processes occurring in riparian areas and floodplains connect and interact with those of rivers and streams. These forests are the major source of large wood for streams and rivers. Extensive loss of riparian and floodplain forests around the globe is evident from the dramatically reduced supply of large wood in rivers. Clearly, it is necessary to conserve and restore riparian forests to sustain a supply of wood for rivers. This chapter discusses river and land management practices that are designed to provide a continuous source of large wood for rivers and retain wood once it has entered the channel or floodplain. These management practices include conservation of intact riparian and floodplain forests, restoration of ecological processes necessary to sustain riparian forests in the long term, and management of riparian forests specifically to accelerate recruitment of large wood to rivers and streams.

scholarly journals The phytosociology of the Vermaaks, Marnewicks and Buffelsklip valleys of the Kammanassie Nature Reserve, Western Cape

Koedoe ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Cleaver ◽  
L.R. Brown ◽  
G.J. Bredenkamp
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Nature Reserve ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Groundwater Abstraction ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Vegetation Surveys ◽  
Baseline Information

Long-term conservation ecosystems require a broader understanding of the ecological processes involved. Because ecosystems react differently to different management practices, it is important that a description and classification of the vegetation of an area are completed. A vegetation survey of the valley areas of the Kammanassie Nature Reserve was undertaken as part of a larger research project to assess the environmental impacts of large-scale groundwater abstraction from Table Mountain Group aquifers on ecosystems in the reserve. From a TWFNSPAN classification, refined by Braun-Blanquet procedures, 21 plant communities, which can be grouped into 13 major groups, were identified. A classification and description of these communities, as well as a vegetation map of the different areas are presented. Associated gradients in habitat w ere identified by using an ordination algorithm (DECORANA). The diagnostic species as well as the prominent and less conspicuous species of the tree, shrub, forb and grass strata are outlined. The study also resulted in a total number of 481 species being identified and the discovery of a new Erica species. These vegetation surveys and descriptions provide baseline information for management purposes and that allows monitoring as well as similar surveys to be conducted in future.

scholarly journals SPATIAL ECOLOGY AND HABITAT USE OF THE WESTERN MASSASAUGA (SISTRURUS TERGEMINUS) IN NEBRASKA

2016 ◽  
pp. 31-38
Author(s):  
Tracy J. Patten ◽  
Daniel D. Fogell ◽  
James D. Fawcett
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Land Management ◽  
Spatial Ecology ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Management Planning ◽  
Seasonal Movements ◽  
Active Season ◽  
Daily Movement ◽  
Spring Emergence

We used radiotelemetry during 2004 and 2005 to investigate seasonal movements and habitat use and to improve our understanding of how land management practices were affecting Western Massasauga (Sistrurus tergeminus) populations in Nebraska. We found Western Massasaugas to brumate in crayfish burrows 100% of the time, and spring emergence occurred during March - April. The longest movements occurred during May when snakes were moving away from brumation sites to summer habitat, after which movements decreased until a second peak in August. We did not find significant differences between male and female activity area, range length, total distance moved, daily movement, or distance from spring and fall brumation sites. However the core activity range of females was significantly less than that of males. During the active season, grassland habitat was used 75.6% of the time compared to habitats of grassland-shrubs (10.7%), hydrophilic vegetation (9.1%), woodlands (3.1%), and shrublands (1.5%). Identifying variations in a species spatial ecology is important for achieving long-term conservation goals because life history events, resource availability, and land management practices may have an effect on seasonal movements and habitat use. The results of our study demonstrate the need for, and some of the necessary data for, improved land management planning in order to meet conservation needs of the Western Massasauga in Nebraska.

The Ecology and Management of Wood in World Rivers

2003 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Life Histories ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Aquatic Organisms ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Large Wood ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
History Of ◽  
Warmwater Fish ◽  
Nest Materials ◽  
World Rivers

<em>Abstract.</em>—Many ecological processes are associated with large wood in streams, such as forming habitat critical for fish and a host of other organisms. Wood loading in streams varies with age and species of riparian vegetation, stream size, time since last disturbance, and history of land use. Changes in the landscape resulting from homesteading, agriculture, and logging have altered forest environments, which, in turn, changed the physical and biological characteristics of many streams worldwide. Wood is also important in creating refugia for fish and other aquatic species. Removing wood from streams typically results in loss of pool habitat and overall complexity as well as fewer and smaller individuals of both coldwater and warmwater fish species. The life histories of more than 85 species of fish have some association with large wood for cover, spawning (egg attachment, nest materials), and feeding. Many other aquatic organisms, such as crayfish, certain species of freshwater mussels, and turtles, also depend on large wood during at least part of their life cycles.

An Alternative Understanding of the Relationship Between the Ecosystem and the Social System - Implications for Land Management in Semi-Arid Australia.

1994 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 254 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Fitzhardinge
Keyword(s):  
Land Management ◽  
Social System ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Local Community ◽  
The Social ◽  
Basic Relationship ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Semi Arid

The growing concerns of the wider community for bio-diversity, ecological maintenance and sustainable long term productivity of Australia's rangelands has focussed attention on land management practices in the semi-arid and arid areas. Where conventional farming paradigms concentrated on farming practices and methods, the paradigms of sustainability rest heavily on changes to farming philosophy for their success. The basic challenges have been well understood for years, and almost all the research has gone into the process of understanding the resource. There is little understanding of the relationship between the ecosystem and either society in general, or the local community. The basic relationship, that between society and the ecosystem, is being overlooked. The social system determines human objectives and the ecosystem presents a range of possibilities through which these objectives are to be realised. Using the work of Ingold, it is argued that technology, ideology and structure are the products of the relationship between society and the ecosystem. The interaction between the ecosystem and the social system then presents a set of possible outcomes that culture atteinpts to solve. There is a need to shift attention from technology and ideology to examining and understanding the relationship between the social system and the ecosystem if the desired changes, such as the maintenance of biodiversity or sustainability, are to be more than superficial.

The Ecology and Management of Wood in World Rivers

2003 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Development ◽  
Residential Development ◽  
Large Wood ◽  
Retention Capacity ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Streams And Rivers ◽  
Rivers And Streams ◽  
Complex Landscape ◽  
World Rivers

<em>Abstract.</em>—Many catchments across the world have been highly modified by human activities, including agriculture, urban development, and other land uses, that often result in a complex landscape mosaic. We define developed catchments as those dominated by activities such as agriculture or urban development, irrespective of the extent and type of riparian zone present. Far fewer papers address large wood in rivers and streams within developed catchments compared with those in more natural situations, despite the fact that residential development and agricultural activities are so pervasive worldwide. The literature highlights a clear reduction of the abundance of large wood in agricultural and urban streams and rivers, although standing stocks are highly variable depending on local conditions. As a result of its scarcity, large wood seems to play a less important physical role than in forested ones. Nevertheless, large wood still plays an important role in developed streams and rivers by providing critical habitats for invertebrates and serving as the only retention structure remaining in some channels. A lower diversity of invertebrates and/or fishes and the loss of important functions, such as retention capacity, are reported for developed rivers, compared to those in forested regions. The geomorphic role of the wood remaining in these developed systems appears to be mixed— some studies report no such role, while others report an association of wood with pools. Gaps are evident in two areas: (1) many papers fail to adequately describe the landscape in which study streams and rivers are embedded, making it impossible to discern the dominant land use or, in some cases, even the nature and extent of the riparian vegetation; and (2) studies of ecosystem properties of streams and rivers in developed landscapes are rare. We suggest that more research should be undertaken in developed systems and that addressing the role of large wood is an important component of such studies.

scholarly journals Soil Structural Shifts Caused by Land Management Practices

Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 57
Author(s):  
Ioanna Panagea ◽  
Jan Diels ◽  
Guido Wyseure
Keyword(s):  
Bulk Density ◽  
Land Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Soil Aggregates ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Organic Input ◽  
Soil Cultivation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Initial Results

Long-term agricultural practices have been shown to affect soil hydro-physical properties in multiple ways. They affect the stability and distribution of soil aggregates leading to changes in water retention, bulk density, hydraulic conductivity, and porosity. Aggregate stability is an indicator of the resilience of aggregates to external forces. Unstable aggregates can change rapidly under different land management practices and meteorological conditions. Μacro-aggregates (>250 μm) are formed more rapidly and are often more sensitive to management changes. Here, four different long-term experiments, run by the SoilCare Horizon 2020 Project partners, were sampled and analyzed, in order to evaluate the impact of different agricultural management practices in the water stability of soil aggregates and the fractions distribution. Different experiments selected, include control-conventional treatment and different treatments, which are considered soil improving. The treatments are about soil cultivation (conventional ploughing-control, zero tillage, minimum tillage, strip tillage, shallow tillage) and organic input (mineral fertilization-control, residue incorporation, farmyard manure) and are selected in areas with different climatic and soil conditions. Initial results indicate that treatments with less soil disturbance present more water stable aggregates (WSA) >250 μm and higher mean weight diameters (MWD), as well as the same trend following the treatments with increased organic input. According to Tukey’s Honest Significance test (p < 0.05), management practices are shown to have a significant impact on the WSA and MWD in most cases, but not all similar treatments in the different areas present the same results. The large macro-aggregates (>2 mm) seem to be greatly sensitive to soil cultivation, whereas the results for the small macro-aggregates (250 μm–2 mm) are controversial among the different tillage experiments. The different organic inputs seems to affect more the small macro-aggregates than the larger. The initial results indicate that the shifts in the soil structure cannot only be justified by the different management practices. The interrelationships and potential links with other soil properties like texture, bulk density, particulate organic matter and climate will be taken into account in further steps in order to understand the mechanisms behind the aggregation shifts.

scholarly journals Plant communities of the Ebenhaezer section of the Mountain Zebra National Park

Koedoe ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. De Klerk ◽  
L.R. Brown ◽  
H. Bezuidenhout
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
National Park ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Vegetation Survey ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Vegetation Map ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Habitat Factors

The long-term conservation of viable ecosystems requires a broader understanding of the ecological processes involved. Because ecosystems react differently to different management practices, it is important to have a description and classification of the vegetation of an area available. As part of a vegetation survey programme for the newly acquired farms to be incorporated into the Mountain Zebra National Park, the vegetation of the Ebenhaezer section was investigated. Ahierarchical classification, vegetation map, description and ecological interpretation of the plant communities of the study area are presented. ATWINSPAN classification, refined by Braun-Blanquet procedures revealed eight distinct plant communities. Habitat factors associated with differences in vegetation include topography, soil form and grazing. Descriptions of the plant communities include diagnostic species as well as prominent and less conspicuous species of the tree, shrub and herbaceous layers.

Restoring Timbisha Shoshone Land Management Practices in Death Valley National Park

2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 302-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. S. Fowler ◽  
P. Esteves ◽  
G. Goad ◽  
B. Helmer ◽  
K. Watterson
Keyword(s):  
Land Management ◽  
National Park ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Death Valley ◽  
Death Valley National Park
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