The Structure of Saproxylic Beetle Assemblages in View of Coarse Woody Debris Resources in Pine Stands of Western Poland

Background: Resources of dying and dead trees, decaying fragments of stems, stumps and branches, i.e., coarse woody debris (CWD), are an important structural element of biocenoses and are drivers of biodiversity. The aim of this study was to describe assemblages of saproxylic beetles in pine stands of western Poland in view of dead wood resources. We present faunistic (species identity) and quantitative (species and individual counts) data from two types of stands: 1. unmanaged pine stands, in which no trees have been extracted for over 30 years, with processes connected with tree dying and self-thinning of stands being undisturbed, 2. managed pine stands, in which routine tending operations extracting trees are performed in accordance with forest management plans and naturally dying trees are removed in the course of tending and sanitary logging; Methods: Beetles were captured in the years 2013–2014 using window flight traps. Assemblages of saproxylic beetles were assessed based on the indices of dominance, diversity (the Shannon–Weiner index), and species richness (Margalef’s index) as well as the estimated habitat fidelity index, feeding habits, and zoogeographical distribution. Similarity between the assemblages was evaluated applying cluster analysis. Dependence between dead wood resources and the diversity and species richness indices were analysed; Results: A total of 2006 individuals classified to 216 species were captured. Assemblages show considerable similarity on the local scale. Higher values of species diversity indicators were observed in unmanaged stands, in which no sanitation cuttings are performed; Conclusions: The decision to refrain from sanitation logging in pine monocultures results in increased CWD resources, which nevertheless does not lead to a marked increase in the values of biodiversity indicators. Unmanaged stands were characterised by a high share of zoophagous, mycetophagous, and saproxylic species. In contrast, managed stands were characterised by a high share of xylophagous beetles.

Annual changes in the Biodiversity Intactness Index in tropical and subtropical forest biomes, 2001–2012

Few biodiversity indicators are available that reflect the state of broad-sense biodiversity—rather than of particular taxa—at fine spatial and temporal resolution. One such indicator, the Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII), estimates how the average abundance of the native terrestrial species in a region compares with their abundances in the absence of pronounced human impacts. We produced annual maps of modelled BII at 30-arc-second resolution (roughly 1 km at the equator) across tropical and subtropical forested biomes, by combining annual data on land use, human population density and road networks, and statistical models of how these variables affect overall abundance and compositional similarity of plants, fungi, invertebrates and vertebrates. Across tropical and subtropical biomes, BII fell by an average of 1.9 percentage points between 2001 and 2012, with 81 countries seeing an average reduction and 43 an average increase; the extent of primary forest fell by 3.9% over the same period. We did not find strong relationships between changes in BII and countries’ rates of economic growth over the same period; however, limitations in mapping BII in plantation forests may hinder our ability to identify these relationships. This is the first time temporal change in BII has been estimated across such a large region.

Biodiversity of Pathogenic and Toxigenic Seed-Borne Mycoflora of Wheat in Egypt and Their Correlations with Weather Variables

Surveillance investigations for pathogenic and toxigenic fungi are important to refine our understanding of their epidemiology and help in predicting their outbreaks. During 2019, 198 samples of wheat grains were collected from 25 wheat-growing governorates in Egypt to detect and identify seed-borne mycoflora in vitro. Forty-four fungal species belonging to 20 genera were identified. Molecular data for these fungi were analyzed to construct a phylogenetic tree. Occurrence and biodiversity indicators were calculated. Two prevalent pathogens (average incidence > 40%) were Alternaria alternata and Cladosporium spp. Ustilago tritici was present in only seven of the 25 governorates, and less abundant than Tilletia tritici, the causal agent of stinking smut. Sinai governorate recorded the greatest species diversity, while the greatest species richness was in Qena and Sohag governorates. Canonical correspondence analysis of data for 20 fungal genera with temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, wind speed or solar radiation revealed that relative humidity was the most influential weather variable. It showed that occurrence and distribution of the 20 genera corresponded well with three out of four Egyptian climatic regions: Mediterranean, semi-arid, and arid. Knowing pathogen occurrence and distribution in Egypt is the first step to developing future disease management strategies to limit yield losses and improve food security. Despite this study being conducted on the wheat-growing areas in Egypt, our findings are useful for other wheat-growing countries that share the same climatic conditions. The correlation between a given fungus and the climatic variables can be useful in other ecosystems.

Practical Considerations for Implementing Species Distribution Essential Biodiversity Variables

Species Distribution Essential Biodiversity Variables (SD EBVs; Pereira et al. 2013, Kissling et al. 2017, Jetz et al. 2019) are defined as measurements or estimates of species’ occupancy along the axes of space, time and taxonomy. In the “ideal” case, additional stipulations have been proposed: occupancy should be characterized contiguously along each axis at grain sizes relevant to policy and process (i.e., fine scale); and the SD EBV should be global in extent, or at least span the entirety of the focal taxa’s geographical range (Jetz et al. 2019). These stipulations set the bar very high and, unsurprisingly, most operational SD EBVs fall short of these ideal criteria. In this presentation, I will discuss the major challenges associated with developing the idealized SD EBV. I will demonstrate these challenges using an operational SD EBV spanning ~6000 species in the United Kingdom (UK) over the period 1970 to 2019 as a case study (Outhwaite et al. 2019). In short, this data product comprises annual estimates of occupancy for each species in all sampled 1 km cells across the UK; these are derived from opportunistically-collected species occurrence data using occupancy-detection models (Kéry et al. 2010). Having discussed which of the “ideal” criteria the case study satisfies, I will then touch on what are, in my view, two underappreciated challenges when constructing SD EBVs: dealing with sampling biases in the underlying data and the difficulty in evaluating the extent to which they bias the final product. These challenges should be addressed as a matter of urgency, as SD EBVs are increasingly applied in important settings such as underpinning national and international biodiversity indicators (see e.g., https://geobon.org/ebvs/indicators/).

Diversity, structure and composition of vegetation in post-coal mining reclamation area in Sumatra, Indonesia

Yuningsih L, Hearmansyah, Ibrahim E, Marsi. 2021. Diversity, structure and composition of vegetation in post-coal mining reclamation area in Sumatra, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 22: 3392-3400. The majority of coal mines are operated through an open-pit system which has a significant impact on the environment. Therefore, reclamation and revegetation activities are required to recover ecological sustainability. This study aimed to analyze the diversity, structure, and composition of vegetation resulting from the post-mining revegetation process in a mining concession in Sumatra, Indonesia at various intervals of post-reclamation periods, namely 11 years, 10 years, 8 years, and 5 years. Data collection was conducted by sampling with a 2.5 percent intensity. The study discovered 23 species of naturally grow understory plants and 25 species of woody plants. The stand structure at the eleventh, tenth, and eighth years of revegetation resembled an inverted J curve. The Species Richness Index (R) was determined to be low, the Shannon diversity index (H’) was is low to moderate, whereas the evenness index was moderate to high. We concluded that the structure of vegetation in the post-mining reclamation region resembled that of a natural forest ecosystem, yet the biodiversity indicators remain low and below those of natural forest. We expected the result of this study can enrich the limited knowledge of the ecology of post-mining reclamation in the tropics.

Vegetation diversity and its interspecies association with merbau (Intsia bijuga) at three habitats of tropical rain forest in West Papua, Indonesia

Tasik S, Widyastuti SM, Musyafa, Suryanto P. 2021. Vegetation diversity and its interspecies association with merbau (Intsia bijuga) at three habitats of tropical rain forest in West Papua, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 22: 3383-3391. The stability of vegetation community indicated by species diversity, structure and composition affects the relationship between species. The understanding of interspecies association in their natural habitat is important especially for management and conservation strategies of species with particular interest, including merbau (Intsia bijuga O. Colebr Kuntze), a timber tree species with high commercial value. This study aims to investigate the diversity and composition of vegetation coexisting with merbau, and to see whether there is pattern of interspecies association with merbau. Vegetation analyses of species richness, diversity index, evenness index and interspecies relationship were conducted at three research locations in West Papua, Indonesia, namely Mount Meja Natural Tourism Park (Hutan Taman Wisata Alam Gunung Meja/HTWAGM), Bembab Beach Forest of South Manokwari (Hutan Bembab Pantai Manokwari Selatan/HBPMS) and Bembab Mountain Forest of South Manokwari (Hutan Bembab Gunung Manokwari Selatan/HBGMS). The results showed that the species Caryota rumphiana, Licuala sp 1, Calophyllum inophyllum, Garcinia pichoriza, Pometia coreacea and Pometia pinnata always grew side by side with Intsia bijuga in three locations. Furthermore, the association analysis indicated a positive and strong relationship between Intsia bijuga and Pometia coreacea, Licuala sp1, Licuala sp 2, Caryota rumphiana at all three research sites. In addition, Pometia coracea had the highest Chi-square value (X2 = 20.00) with the value of the three association indexes reached maximum value. We also found that the vegetation communities in the habitat of merbau had varying vegetation structure and composition as well as biodiversity indicators, yet they were all at stable state. The finding on vegetation analyses was confirmed with the result of soil analyses in which the physical and chemical properties had optimal conditions for vegetation to grow, including for merbau.

Evaluating Hierarchical Diversity and Sustainability of Public Transport: From Metropolis to a Weak Transport Demand Area in Western Japan

A variety of transport options must be utilized to enhance public transportation sustainability. Previous studies have rarely developed quantitative methods for evaluating the performance of transport diversity. Thus, this study proposes measurement indicators to evaluate transport diversity on the basis of biodiversity indicators. For the hierarchy of public transport networks, we considered that the public transport system is analogous to ecosystems with a taxonomic hierarchy. The number of operation stations, route length, and operating frequency were used to evaluate the spatial and temporal coverage of the transport services. We analyzed the latent correlation between transport diversity and sustainable transport indicators and then examined the spatial distribution of transport diversity. By visualizing the spatial distribution of transport diversity, we found that high-speed railway stations are instrumental in the hierarchy of public transport networks. Furthermore, improving diversity would increase the modal share of public transport, which is considered crucial for developing sustainable transport, especially in the period of depopulation. Finally, this paper presents a demonstration experiment conducted in a regional city that introduced a variety of transport services integrated on a MaaS platform, attempting to provide a multimodal and seamless mobility service in a weak transport demand area.

Ecological Guidelines and Recommendations for Mula-Mutha Riverfront Development

This paper is a case of urban river Mutha for ecological management.Over the past few decades, condition of river Mutha has deteriorated considerably. The present situation shows less of fresh water flow and lot of sewage water addition,waste dumping and foul smelling water flow. The fresh water contribution by base flow to the main stream is very negligible. The only source of fresh water is sporadic water release from Khadakwasala dam. It is irregular and in small proportion to support ecosystem functioning of the river Mutha.There is a of public debate regarding improvement in the river's condition and to correct its root cause. The disruption in the river's ecosystem is basically by human interventions. The study appeals for interdisciplinary approach with a view of environmental governance and management to solve river related problems. The focus of this study is to assess environmental impact when the river related projects being planned by Municipal authorities. The study included survey of physical changes by human interventions, in the river Mutha channel ,banks and modification of habitats hampering aquatic as well as land biodiversity. The study indicated crucial biodiversity indicators for the health of the river ecosystem. By giving grades based on both the physical conditions and biodiversity of various stretches of the river plan to improve conditions is suggested.The study created guidelines for restoration and management of Mutha river ecosystem, which may be useful for rivers especially in the urban area. This paper is based on the research project .Ecological Guidelines and Recommendations for Mula-Mutha Riverfront Development. conducted by Ecological Society.