Perspectives on biotic responses to repeated wildfires from decades of long-term empirical studies

ABSTRACT Fire can have marked impacts on biodiversity and on ecosystem condition. However, it is the sequence of multiple fires over a prolonged period of time which can have the most marked effects on biodiversity and on ecosystem condition. A good understanding of these effects comes from long-term studies. In this article we outline some of the key perspectives on the effects of fire on ecosystems and biodiversity from two large-scale, long-term monitoring studies in south-eastern Australia. These are studies in the montane ash forests of the Central Highlands of Victoria and at Booderee National Park in the Jervis Bay Territory. These studies have shown that the effects of fires are strongly influenced by: (1) The condition of an ecosystem before a fire (e.g. the age of a forest at the time it is burnt). (2) Conditions after the fire such as the extent of herbivory in regenerating vegetation and whether the ecosystem is subject to post-fire (salvage) logging. (3) Fire history (e.g. the number of past fires and the time since the previous fire). And, (4) Interactions between fire and other ecosystem drivers such as logging. We discuss some of the key implications for conservation and resource management that arise from these studies including the need to: (a) Reduce the number of stressors in some ecosystems to facilitate post-fire recovery. (b) Recognize that pre-fire human disturbances can elevate fire severity in some forest ecosystems, with corresponding negative effects on elements of the biota, and, (c) Acknowledge the inherent patchiness of wildfires and the value of unburnt areas and places burnt at low severity as critical refugia for some species; it is critical that these locations are managed accordingly (e.g. by limited additional disturbances within them). Finally, many of the insights discussed in this article have emerged only through long-term studies. More long-term monitoring and research is needed to truly understand and better manage fire in Australian ecosystems.

Assessing Ecosystem Condition: Use and Customization of the Vegetation Departure Metric

Assessment of ecosystem change often focuses on the degree of conversion and representation in networks of protected areas. While essential, these factors alone do not provide a holistic index of ecosystem conditions. Metrics that compare the current state of ecosystems to a meaningful reference condition can help identify “hidden” risks, lost functions, and provide conservation and management-relevant insights. Here we review a departure metric that can be used to measure ecosystem conditions and its implementation for all lands in the United States by the LANDFIRE Program. We then use two case studies to demonstrate how manually calculating the departure metric is used to explore under- and over-representation of structural stages. Finally, we document the assumptions, interpretation, and limitations of the departure metric, and discuss its current and possible future applications.

Developing peatland ecosystem accounts to guide targets for restoration

The United Nations System of Environmental and Economic Accounting - Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA) is a geospatial approach, whereby existing data on ecosystem stocks and flows are collated to show changes over time. The framework has been proposed as a means to track and monitor ecosystem restoration targets across the EU. Condition is a key consideration in the conservation assessment of habitats protected under the EU Habitats Directive and ecosystem condition accounts are also integral to the SEEA EA. While SEEA EA accounts have been developed at EU level for an array for ecosystem types, condition accounts remain the least developed. Collating available datasets under the SEEA EA framework, we developed extent and rudimentary condition accounts for peatland ecosystems at catchment scale in Ireland. Information relating to peatland ecosystem sub-types or habitat types was collated for peatland habitats listed under Annex I of the EU Habitats Directive, as well as degraded peatlands not included in EU nature conservation networks. While data relating to peatland condition were limited, understanding changes in ecosystem extent and incorporating knowledge of habitat types and degradation served as a proxy for ecosystem condition in the absence of more comprehensive data. This highlighted the importance of the ecosystem extent account, which underpins all other accounts in the SEEA EA framework. Reflecting findings at EU level, drainage, disturbance and land conversion were identified as the main pressures affecting peatland condition. We highlighted a number of options to gather data to build more robust, time-series extent and condition accounts for peatlands at varying accounting scales. Overall, despite the absence of comprehensive data, bringing information under the SEEA EA framework is considered a good starting point, with the integration of expert ecological opinion considered essential to ensure development of reliable accounts, particularly when working at ecosystem sub-type (habitat type) and catchment scale.

MAES_GR: A Web-Based, Spatially Enabled Field Survey Platform for the MAES Implementation in Greece

This study presents a standardized approach to collecting, registering, and reporting field-survey data for baseline MAES (Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services) information in Greece. This is accomplished through a web-based platform (MAES_GR) exclusively developed under the relevant, nation-wide LIFE-IP 4 NATURA project. Based on the European Commission’s guidance for ecosystem condition (EC) and ecosystem services (ES) MAES studies, we conceptualized and structured an online platform to support EC and ES assessments, integrating all relevant fields of information needed for registering EC and ES parameters. A novel algorithm calculating EC was also developed and it is available as an integral part of the platform. The use of the MAES_GR platform was evaluated during nationwide field surveys efforts, increasing time efficiency and reducing costs. Field recording of EC and ES pinpoint spatial priorities for ecosystem restoration, conservation and sustainable development. This work highlights that MAES implementation can be favored by the use of technology tools such as mobile survey platforms, developed according to scientific needs and policy guidelines. Such tools, apart from the data inventory phase, can be used for data analysis, synthesis and extraction, providing timely, standardized information suitable for reporting at the local, regional, national and European Union scale.

An Overview of DNA-Based Applications for the Assessment of Benthic Macroinvertebrates Biodiversity in Mediterranean Aquatic Ecosystems

The loss of aquatic biodiversity is increasing at a rapid rate globally. There is a worldwide effort to protect, preserve and restore aquatic ecosystems. For efficient biodiversity monitoring and reliable management tools, comprehensive biodiversity data are required. The abundance and species diversity of benthic macroinvertebrates are commonly used as indicators of the aquatic ecosystem condition. Currently, macroinvertebrate species biodiversity assessment is based on morpho-taxonomy, which could be enhanced by recent advances in DNA-based tools for species identification. In particular, DNA metabarcoding has the potential to identify simultaneously many different taxa in a pool of species and to improve aquatic biomonitoring significantly, especially for indicator species. This review is focused on the current state of DNA-based aquatic biomonitoring using benthic macroinvertebrates in the Mediterranean region.

Analisis pencemaran antropogenik dan struktur komunitas diatom planktonik sebagai indikator pencemaran perairan di Selat Air Hitam

The present study aimed at identify population characters pollution source which affect water fertily nitrate, phospate, abundance as well as community structure of planctonic diatomae were measured. Nine sampling station of three location were established a long the Selat Air Hitam water. Appearently domestic activity, marine traffic, sago processing plant and community economic had affected on water fertility due to effluent water that entered the water. Nitrate analysis showed a range of 187,5 to 262,5 µg/L mean while phospate consentration appear 28,8- 241,2 µg/L, silicate consentration appear 30,4-32,9 µg/L. Plactonic diatomae abundance came up 2400 to 3800 cell/L of nine genera. Biodiversity index of range (1≤H’≤3), while smiliarity index (0,5≤E≤1) and dominancy index (0,5≤E≤1). Those index indicate nthe Selat Air Hitam waters in a medium pressure, however ecosystem condition is stable. Nitrate, phospate and silicate positively and significantly correlated with diatomae abundance ( p0,05). TSS level appeared 18,33 – 45,00 mg/l and BOD berkisar 3,73 – 5,07 mg/l. Regression analysis showed that nitrate and phospate had a mayor affect to diatomae abundance.