Biodiversity Conservation Potential of Forests and Trees On Farms In the Agricultural–Forest Mosaic Landscape of Catacamas, Honduras

Biodiversity decline in the tropics requires the implementation of comprehensive landscape management where agricultural systems are necessarily an integral element of biodiversity conservation. This study evaluates the potential for biodiversity conservation within an intensive livestock-agricultural-forest mosaic landscape in Catacamas, Honduras. Tree sampling was performed in 448 plots set up within different forest and agricultural land uses: secondary forests, agroforestry coffee plantations, agriculture, pastures, live fences and riparian forest. All trees with a minimum diameter at breast height of 10 cm were identified and measured. We characterized their tree structure and diversity, and compared tree diversity between the different uses. The results indicate a high degree of tree species diversity: 375 species identified, belonging to 74 families among the 15,096 trees inventoried across 84.2 hectares, including many rare species (40% of the species registered three individuals or fewer). Biodiversity indices for agroforestry coffee were found equivalent to those for natural secondary forests in the Catacamas landscape. Combining biodiversity conservation and agricultural production is possible in human-pressured tropical landscapes through tree cover maintenance. Enrichment practices combining local producers and technical knowledge may improve tree diversity in agricultural landscapes by prioritizing a mix of forest and introduced tree species (rare and with multiple uses).

Features of formation of parks-monuments of lanscape art of the second half of the XX century of Ukrainian Polissia

The formation of park-monuments of landscape art was analyzed from a historical perspective. In the second half of the twentieth century, two national and nine local park-monuments of landscape art were created in Ukrainian Polissya. The purpose of PMLA is the protection and the preservation of the most prominent and valuable examples of park construction in order to use them for aesthetic, educational, scientific, environmental and health purposes. By the placement in the planning structure of inhabited localities are defined city, village and district parks. The motivation for the creation of parks was the preservation, reproduction and enrichment of tree diversity in the conditions of the Ukrainian Polissya. In the parks were planted technical, fast-growing, rare species, and species of woody plants valuable for forestry and landscape gardening with their subsequent use for scientific and economic purposes. Some of the plantations in the parks were memorable, anniversary, or dedicated to significant events (the anniversary of the October Revolution and the birthday of V.I. Lenin). In Ukrainian Polissya, there are three parks created on the basis of existing oak plantations “Klevanskyi Park”, “Park Antonivka”, “Bondaretskyi”); one - on the basis of man-made plantations with Acer platanoides L., Carpinus betulus L., Fraxinus excelsior L., Tilia cordata Mill. (“Ovrutskyi”); three parks of culture and recreation (“Horodnianskyi”, “Vysokivskyi”, “Slovianskyi”) including a meadow park (“Slovianskyi”), a children's park (“Bondaretskyi”), three arboretums (“Dubechnenskyi”, “Bairak”, “Novostavskyi dendropark”, “Zhornivskyi”), which were transformed over time, or which were granted the status of PMLA. By the size, PMLA were small, medium, and large with star, axial, fan, loop, cross-shaped and combined planning structures. In four PMLA, there were man-made and natural reservoirs, and a fountain. Five parks were combined (memorial and park of culture and rest); there were concentrated memorial complexes, monuments, and an obelisk. Plantings of parks are represented by groups, solitairs, alleys, ordinary plantings, hedges, and sometimes by groves and massifs. On the territory of 11 PMLA grew 178 species of woody plants, with 121 of them being included to the IUCN Red List. In 4 parks, since their creation the number of species increased by 75–129%; in 6 parks tree diversity decreased, with 29 to 87% of tree plant species remaining, among them 66–94% of trees were rare. 11 PMLA are valuable centers of tree diversity and unique plantings of Ukrainian Polissya; and an example of the formation of didactic, ethnographic, memorial, children's, culture and recreation, and combined parks that need further protection and expansion of the area and collection. Some parks are in need of planting reconstruction.

Tree species diversity in Kalidhar forest of western Shiwaliks, Jammu, JK (UT)

The present study was conducted in Kalidhar forest of western Shiwaliks, Jammu, JK (UT), to assess the tree diversity and undertake phytosociological analysis in three major land use (LU) classes i.e. Forest, Agriculture and Scrub area. A total of 70, 50 and 50 sample plots of 0.1 ha were laid respectively in forests, scrub and agriculture LU classes. The study revealed that in forests possess a total 39 tree species belonging to 19 families and 31 genera, whereas, in scrub and agriculture lands a total of 9 tree species (8 families and 9 genera) and 60 tree species (26 families and 46 genera) were recorded respectively. Mallotus philippensis was the most dense tree species with 2.85 individuals per ha in forests followed by Pinus roxburghii 2.06 per hectare. In scrub and agriculture land Acacia modesta and Grewia optiva were found the densest species respectively. The value of Importance value index (IVI) was found highest for Pinus roxburhii (44.63) in forests, whereas, respective values were recorded highest for Syzygium cumini (82.64) and Grewia optiva (29.0) in scrub and agriculture lands. Flacourtia indica and Pinus roxburghii showed random distribution in forest and Syzygium cumini was also found to have random distribution in the scrub lands. Contiguous distribution was found for all tree species encountered in agriculture (LU) class. The diversity values of Shannon Wiener and Simpson indices showed highest tree diversity in agriculture lands with the values of 3.19 and 0.07 respectively followed by that in forests (2.47 and 0.14). Tree species richness was found high in agriculture area with Margalef’s (59.86) and Menhinick’s (1.80).

Evergreen Abundance Drives Ground Beetle Diversity And Density In Eastern Temperate Forests

Purpose: Soil insects mediate plant-soil interactions by fragmenting and decomposing litter that forms the base of soil food webs and through predator-prey interactions. Plant communities, in turn, shape soil insect communities via the quality, availability, and diversity of their litters. However, these drivers have rarely been examined in concert even though describing soil insect community patterns is critical for mitigating the effects of global environmental changes. Methods: Here, we evaluated the effects of tree diversity, density, and functional groups on ground beetle (Carabidae) diversity, density, and community composition in four eastern temperate forest sites in the National Ecological Observatory Network. Results Though we expected that higher tree diversity and density would, respectively, lead to higher diversity and density ground beetle communities, we found little evidence to support this hypothesis. Instead, evergreen tree abundance strongly shaped ground beetle diversity, density, and community composition. Specifically, evergreen plots as defined by National Land Cover Database hosted lower density ground beetle communities than deciduous plots. Similarly, ground beetle Shannon diversity and density decreased as the relative abundance of evergreen tree species increased. Conclusions: Although further study is needed to explicitly link litter quality with soil insect communities, the resource environments created by trees with varying leaf habits appear to be a dominant force driving ground beetle community diversity and density patterns.