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1.
Although many empirical and theoretical studies have elucidated the effects of habitat fragmentation on the third trophic level, little attention has been paid to the impacts of this driver on more generalist groups of non-hymenopteran parasitoids. Here, we used the highly-diverse group of tachinid flies as an alternative model to test the effects of landscape fragmentation on insect parasitoids. Our aims were: (i) to evaluate the relative importance of habitat area and connectivity losses and their potential interaction on tachinid diversity, (ii) to test whether the effects of habitat fragmentation changes seasonally, and (iii) to further assess the effect of habitat diversity on tachinid diversity and whether different parasitoid-host associations modify the species richness response to fragmentation. In 2012 a pan-trap sampling was conducted in 18 semi-natural grasslands embedded in intensive agricultural landscapes along statistically orthogonal gradients of habitat area, connectivity and habitat diversity. We found an interaction between habitat area and connectivity indicating that tachinid abundance and species richness were more negatively affected by habitat loss in landscapes with low rather than with relatively large habitat connectivity. Although tachinid communities exhibited large within-year species turnover, we found that the effects of landscape fragmentation did not change seasonally. We found that habitat diversity and host association did not affect tachinid species diversity. Our results have important implications for biodiversity conservation as any attempts to mitigate the negative effects of habitat loss need to take the general level of habitat connectivity in the landscape into account. 相似文献
2.
Land cover change, predominantly habitat conversion to agricultural use and urbanization, has recently been recognized as
the primary cause of biodiversity loss in terrestrial ecosystems. We evaluated the relative effects of urban and agricultural
landscapes on anuran species richness and the abundance of six anuran species found at breeding ponds in and around the cities
of Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec. We performed six call surveys at 29 permanent focal ponds surrounded by one of three
landscape contexts: primarily urban, primarily agricultural, and primarily forested. We also measured three local pond variables
to control for the effects of local habitat quality in our analyses. We found that anuran species richness was significantly
lower in breeding ponds in urban landscapes compared to forested and agricultural landscapes, which exhibited no significant
difference in species richness. The abundances of individual anuran species were also consistently lower in urban landscapes
for all species except one, which exhibited no response to landscape type. Three species had their highest abundances in ponds
in forested landscapes, whereas two species had their highest abundances in ponds in agricultural landscapes. We conclude
that ponds embedded in urban landscapes support lower biodiversity than ponds in agricultural settings. We suggest that landscapes
composed of a mosaic of forest and open habitats surrounding wetlands would hold the highest biodiversity of these species. 相似文献
3.
Isolated trees may significantly enhance biodiversity at the landscape level. However, our understanding of their impacts
is still poor, particularly in environments with high soil moisture where research on this topic has been comparatively limited.
We examined understorey vegetation and soil oribatid mite assemblages under live and dead Scots pine trees and in open treeless
areas, all within the same Scottish upland wet heath system, to determine whether isolated live trees affected the understorey
and mite components of the ecosystem, and whether these effects occurred in parallel. We also explored whether these responses
might result from tree-driven reductions in soil moisture content. Live trees reduced soil moisture (relative to wet heath
and beneath dead trees) and appeared to change vegetation from wet heath to dry heath type communities. These effects were
strongly related to tree trunk diameter (tree size). No major effects of dead trees on understorey vegetation or soil moisture
were apparent. Higher mite species abundance and richness were found under live trees than in treeless open heath. Although
mite abundances were lower under dead trees than live trees, richness remained similar, thus different factors seem to be
regulating mite abundance and community composition. These findings indicate that landscape-level biodiversity responses to
environmental change such as habitat fragmentation cannot be predicted from vegetation patterns alone, and that even in heavily
fragmented landscapes comparatively small patches such as isolated individual trees can enhance biodiversity. 相似文献
4.
The effects of habitat area and fragmentation are confounded in many studies. Since a reduction in habitat area alone reduces
patch size and increases patch isolation, many studies reporting fragmentation effects may really be documenting habitat-area
effects. We designed an experimental landscape system in the field, founded on fractal neutral landscape models, to study
arthropod community responses to clover habitat in which we adjusted the level of fragmentation independently of habitat area.
Overall, habitat area had a greater and more consistent effect on morphospecies richness than fragmentation. Morphospecies
richness doubled between 10 and 80% habitat, with the greatest increase occurring up to 40% habitat. Fragmentation had a more
subtle and transient effect, exhibiting an interaction at intermediate levels of habitat only at the start of the study or
in the early-season (June) survey. In these early surveys, morphospecies richness was higher in clumped 40–50% landscapes
but higher in fragmented landscapes at 60–80% habitat. Rare or uncommon species are expected to be most sensitive to fragmentation
effects, and we found a significant interaction with fragmentation at intermediate levels of habitat for these types of morphospecies
in early surveys. Although the effects of fragmentation are expected to amplify at higher trophic levels, all trophic levels
exhibited a significant fragmentation effect at intermediate levels of habitat in these early surveys. Predators/parasitoids
were more sensitive to habitat area than herbivores, however. Thus, our results confirm that habitat area is more important
than fragmentation for predicting arthropod community responses, at least in this agricultural system. 相似文献
5.
Spiders associated with the meadow and tree canopies of orchards respond differently to habitat fragmentation 总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1
John D. Herrmann Debra Bailey Gabriela Hofer Felix Herzog Martin H. Schmidt-Entling 《Landscape Ecology》2010,25(9):1375-1384
The response of animal communities to habitat quality and fragmentation may vary depending on microhabitat associations of
species. For example, sensitivity of species to woody habitat fragmentation should increase with their degree of association
with woody plants. We investigated effects of local and landscape factors on spider communities in different microhabitats
within Swiss apple orchards. We expected a stronger negative effect of woody habitat fragmentation on spiders inhabiting tree
canopies compared to spiders living in the meadow. The 30 orchards that we sampled varied in woody habitat amount and isolation
at landscape and patch scales. Local factors included management intensity and plant diversity. Spiders associated with meadow
were affected by plant diversity, but not by fragmentation. In contrast, spiders associated with canopies responded to isolation
from other woody habitats. Surprisingly, we found both positive and negative effects of habitat isolation on local abundance.
This indicates that differences in dispersal and/or biotic interactions shape the specific response to habitat isolation.
The relative importance of local and landscape factors was in accordance with the microhabitat of the spiders. Thus, considering
microhabitat associations can be important for identifying processes that would be overlooked if sampling were pooled for
the whole habitat. 相似文献
6.
Context
Anthropogenic landscape simplification and natural habitat loss can negatively affect wild bees. Alternatively, anthropogenic land-use change may diversify landscapes, creating complementary habitats that maintain overall resource continuity and diversity.Objectives
We examined the effects of landscape composition, including land-cover diversity and percent semi-natural habitat, on wild bee abundance and species richness within apples, a pollinator-dependent crop. We also explored whether different habitats within diverse landscapes can provide complementary floral resources for bees across space and time.Methods
We sampled bees during apple bloom over 2 years within 35 orchards varying in surrounding landscape diversity and percent woodland (the dominant semi-natural habitat) at 1 km radii. To assess habitat complementarity in resource diversity and temporal continuity, we sampled flowers and bees within four unique habitats, including orchards, woodlands, semi-natural grasslands, and annual croplands, over three periods from April–June.Results
Surrounding landscape diversity positively affected both wild bee abundance and richness within orchards during bloom. Habitats in diverse landscapes had different flower communities with varying phenologies; flowers were most abundant within orchards and woodlands in mid-spring, but then declined over time, while flowers within grasslands marginally increased throughout spring. Furthermore, bee communities were significantly different between the closed-canopy habitats, orchards and woodlands, and the open habitats, grasslands and annual croplands.Conclusions
Our results suggest that diverse landscapes, such as ones with both open (grassland) and closed (woodland) semi-natural habitats, support spring wild bees by providing flowers throughout the entire foraging period and diverse niches to meet different species’ requirements.7.
John L. Orrock Gregory R. Curler Brent J. Danielson David R. Coyle 《Landscape Ecology》2011,26(10):1361-1372
The size, shape, and isolation of habitat patches can affect organism behavior and population dynamics, but little is known
about the relative role of shape and connectivity in affecting ecological communities at large spatial scales. Using six sampling
sessions from July 2001 until August 2002, we collected 33,685 arthropods throughout seven 12-ha experimental landscapes consisting
of clear-cut patches surrounded by a matrix of mature pine forest. Patches were explicitly designed to manipulate connectivity
(via habitat corridors) independently of area and edge effects. We found that patch shape, rather than connectivity, affected
ground-dwelling arthropod richness and beta diversity (i.e. turnover of genera among patches). Arthropod communities contained
fewer genera and exhibited less turnover in high-edge connected and high-edge unconnected patches relative to low-edge unconnected
patches of similar area. Connectivity, rather than patch shape, affected the evenness of ground-dwelling arthropod communities;
regardless of patch shape, high-edge connected patches had lower evenness than low- or high-edge unconnected patches. Among
the most abundant arthropod orders, increased richness in low-edge unconnected patches was largely due to increased richness
of Coleoptera, whereas Hymenoptera played an important role in the lower evenness in connected patches and patterns of turnover.
These findings suggest that anthropogenic habitat alteration can have distinct effects on ground-dwelling arthropod communities
that arise due to changes in shape and connectivity. Moreover, this work suggests that corridors, which are common conservation
tools that change both patch shape and connectivity, can have multiple effects on arthropod communities via different mechanisms,
and each effect may alter components of community structure. 相似文献
8.
Urbanization is a permanent and still continuing expansion of human settlements and is responsible for dramatic changes of natural areas to urban areas. In traditional view, urbanization is often blamed for the loss of biodiversity and biotic homogenization of natural communities. However, for some species, urban areas, can represent suitable environment for life and even enable them to maintain stable and abundant populations. Urban ecosystems are not homogenous; within human settlements we can find several different habitats which can be occupied by species with different tolerance to certain aspects of urban life. This diversity can be exhibited by interhabitat changes in species richness, diversity and abundances of local communities. Here, we investigated biodiversity patterns in bird communities of two urban habitats, parks and cemeteries, in three Central European countries. Data on species richness, diversity and abundances of birds were collected from published papers as well as unpublished sources. Our analyses revealed that bird species richness was positively correlated with area and age of trees in both habitat types. There was however no significant relationship between species diversity and area in both habitat types. Moreover, species composition of bird communities significantly varied between cemeteries and parks with strong preference for one of habitat types in several species. Predominant occupancy of habitat type by certain species could be linked to interhabitat differences in vegetation structure, human behaviour and management. Interestingly, several bird species often recognised as urban avoiders were detected in surveyed cemeteries and parks. 相似文献
9.
Habitat fragmentation is expected to disrupt dispersal, and thus we explored how patch metrics of landscape structure, such as percolation thresholds used to define landscape connectivity, corresponded with dispersal success on neutral landscapes. We simulated dispersal as either a purely random process (random direction and random step lengths) or as an area-limited random walk (random direction, but movement limited to an adjacent cell at each dispersal step) and quantified dispersal success for 1000 individuals on random and fractal landscape maps across a range of habitat abundance and fragmentation. Dispersal success increased with the number of cells a disperser could search (m), but poor dispersers (m<5) searching via area-limited dispersal on fractal landscapes were more successful at locating suitable habitat than random dispersers on either random or fractal landscapes. Dispersal success was enhanced on fractal landscapes relative to random ones because of the greater spatial contagion of habitat. Dispersal success decreased proportionate to habitat loss for poor dispersers (m=1) on random landscapes, but exhibited an abrupt threshold at low levels of habitat abundance (p<0.1) for area-limited dispersers (m<10) on fractal landscapes. Conventional metrics of patch structure, including percolation, did not exhibit threshold behavior in the region of the dispersal threshold. A lacunarity analysis of the gap structure of landscape patterns, however, revealed a strong threshold in the variability of gap sizes at low levels of habitat abundance (p<0.1) in fractal landscapes, the same region in which abrupt declines in dispersal success were observed. The interpatch distances or gaps across which dispersers must move in search of suitable habitat should influence dispersal success, and our results suggest that there is a critical gap-size structure to fractal landscapes that interferes with the ability of dispersers to locate suitable habitat when habitat is rare. We suggest that the gap structure of landscapes is a more important determinant of dispersal than patch structure, although both are ultimately required to predict the ecological consequences of habitat fragmentation. 相似文献
10.
The landscape matrix modifies the effect of habitat fragmentation in grassland butterflies 总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1
Erik ?ckinger Karl-Olof Bergman Markus Franzén Tomá? Kadlec Jochen Krauss Mikko Kuussaari Juha P?yry Henrik G. Smith Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter Riccardo Bommarco 《Landscape Ecology》2012,27(1):121-131
The landscape matrix is suggested to influence the effect of habitat fragmentation on species richness, but the generality
of this prediction has not been tested. Here, we used data from 10 independent studies on butterfly species richness, where
the matrix surrounding grassland patches was dominated by either forest or arable land to test if matrix land use influenced
the response of species richness to patch area and connectivity. To account for the possibility that some of the observed
species use the matrix as their main or complementary habitat, we analysed the effects on total species richness and on the
richness of grassland specialist and non-specialist (generalists and specialists on other habitat types) butterflies separately.
Specialists and non-specialists were defined separately for each dataset. Total species richness and the richness of grassland
specialist butterflies were positively related to patch area and forest cover in the matrix, and negatively to patch isolation.
The strength of the species-area relationship was modified by matrix land use and had a slope that decreased with increasing
forest cover in the matrix. Potential mechanisms for the weaker effect of grassland fragmentation in forest-dominated landscapes
are (1) that the forest matrix is more heterogeneous and contains more resources, (2) that small grassland patches in a matrix
dominated by arable land suffer more from negative edge effects or (3) that the arable matrix constitutes a stronger barrier
to dispersal between populations. Regardless of the mechanisms, our results show that there are general effects of matrix
land use across landscapes and regions, and that landscape management that increases matrix quality can be a complement to
habitat restoration and re-creation in fragmented landscapes. 相似文献
11.
Romain Carrié Emilie Andrieu Annie Ouin Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter 《Landscape Ecology》2017,32(8):1631-1642
Context
The local intensity of farming practices is considered as an important driver of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes and its effect on biodiversity has been shown to interact with landscape complexity. But the influence of landscape-wide intensity of farming practices on biodiversity and its combined effect with landscape complexity have been little explored.Objective
In this study, we tested the interactive effect of the landscape-wide intensity of farming practices and landscape complexity on the local species richness and abundance of farmland wild bee communities.Methods
We captured wild bees in 96 crop fields and explored the effect of landscape-wide intensity of various farming practices along a gradient of landscape complexity (proportion of semi-natural habitats).Results
We found that species richness and abundance of wild bees were more positively influenced by landscape complexity in highly insecticide-sprayed landscapes than in less intensively managed landscapes. In contrast, we found that the positive effect of landscape complexity on bee species richness only occurred in landscapes with low nitrogen inputs.Conclusions
Our study demonstrates the interactive effects of landscape-wide farming intensity and landscape complexity in shaping the diversity of farmland wild bee communities. We conclude that the management of farming intensity at the landscape-scale could mitigate the effects of habitat loss on wild bee decline and would help to maintain pollination services in agricultural landscapes.12.
Acknowledgment that the matrix matters in conserving wildlife in human-modified landscapes is increasing. However, the complex
interactions of habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, habitat condition and land use have confounded attempts to disentangle
the relative importance of properties of the landscape mosaic, including the matrix. To this end, we controlled for the amount
of remnant forest habitat and the level of fragmentation to examine mammal species richness in human-modified landscapes of
varying levels of matrix development intensity and patch attributes. We postulated seven alternative models of various patch
habitat, landscape and matrix influences on mammal species richness and then tested these models using generalized linear
mixed-effects models within an information theoretic framework. Matrix attributes were the most important determinants of
terrestrial mammal species richness; matrix development intensity had a strong negative effect and vegetation structural complexity
of the matrix had a strong positive effect. Distance to the nearest remnant forest habitat was relatively unimportant. Matrix
habitat attributes are potentially a more important indicator of isolation of remnant forest patches than measures of distance
to the nearest patch. We conclude that a structurally complex matrix within a human-modified landscape can provide supplementary
habitat resources and increase the probability of movement across the landscape, thereby increasing mammal species richness
in modified landscapes. 相似文献
13.
Edge and area effects on avian assemblages and insectivory in fragmented native forests 总被引：1，自引：1，他引：0
Luc Barbaro Eckehard G. Brockerhoff Brice Giffard Inge van Halder 《Landscape Ecology》2012,27(10):1451-1463
Disentangling the confounded effects of edge and area in fragmented landscapes is a recurrent challenge for landscape ecologists, requiring the use of appropriate study designs. Here, we examined the effects of forest fragment area and plot location at forest edges versus interiors on native and exotic bird assemblages on Banks Peninsula (South Island, New Zealand). We also experimentally measured with plasticine models how forest fragment area and edge versus interior location influenced the intensity of avian insectivory. Bird assemblages were sampled by conducting 15?min point-counts at paired edge and interior plots in 13 forest fragments of increasing size (0.5?C141?ha). Avian insectivory was measured as the rate of insectivorous bird attacks on plasticine models mimicking larvae of a native polyphagous moth. We found significant effects of edge, but not of forest patch area, on species richness, abundance and composition of bird assemblages. Exotic birds were more abundant at forest edges, while neither edge nor area effects were noticeable for native bird richness and abundance. Model predation rates increased with forest fragmentation, both because of higher insectivory in smaller forest patches and at forest edges. Avian predation significantly increased with insectivorous bird richness and foraging bird abundance. We suggest that the coexistence of native and exotic birds in New Zealand mosaic landscapes enhances functional diversity and trait complementation within predatory bird assemblages. This coexistence results in increased avian insectivory in small forest fragments through additive edge and area effects. 相似文献
14.
Habitat specificity indices reflect richness (α) and/or distinctiveness (β) components of diversity. The latter may be defined by α and γ (landscape) diversity in two alternative ways: multiplicatively () and additively (). We demonstrate that the original habitat specificity concept of Wagner and Edwards (Landscape Ecol 16:121–131, 2001) consists of three independent components: core habitat specificity (uniqueness of the species composition), patch area and
patch species richness. We describe habitat specificity as a family of indices that may include either area or richness components,
or none or both, and open for use of different types of mean in calculation of core habitat specificity. Core habitat specificity
is a beta diversity measure: the effective number of completely distinct communities in the landscape. Habitat specificity
weighted by species number is a gamma diversity measure: the effective number of species that a patch contributes to landscape
richness. We compared 12 habitat specificity indices by theoretical reasoning and by use of field data (vascular plant species
in SE Norwegian agricultural landscapes). Habitat specificity indices are strongly influenced by weights for patch area and
patch species richness, and the relative contribution of rare vs. common species (type of mean). The relevance of properties
emphasized by each habitat specificity index for evaluation of patches in a biodiversity context is discussed. Core habitat
specificity is emphasized as an ecologically interpretable measure that specifically addresses patch uniqueness while habitat
specificity weighted by species number combines species richness and species composition in ways relevant for conservation
biological assessment.
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. 相似文献
15.
M. J. Hill J. Biggs I. Thornhill R. A. Briers M. Ledger D. G. Gledhill P. J. Wood C. Hassall 《Landscape Ecology》2018,33(3):389-405
Purpose
Urbanisation is a leading cause of biotic homogenisation in urban ecosystems. However, there has been little research examining the effect of urbanisation and biotic homogenisation on aquatic communities, and few studies have compared findings across different urban landscapes. We assessed the processes that structure aquatic macroinvertebrate diversity within five UK cities and characterise the heterogeneity of pond macroinvertebrate communities within and among urban areas.Methods
A total of 132 ponds were sampled for invertebrates to characterise biological communities of ponds across five UK cities. Variation among sites within cities, and variation among urban settlements, was partitioned into components of beta diversity relating to turnover and nestedness.Results
We recorded 337 macroinvertebrate taxa, and species turnover almost entirely accounted for the high beta-diversity recorded within each urban area and when all ponds were considered. A total of 40% of all macroinvertebrates recorded were unique to a particular urban settlement. In contrast to the homogenisation of terrestrial and lotic communities in urban landscapes reported in the literature, ponds support highly heterogeneous communities within and among urban settlements.Conclusions
The high species turnover (species replacement) recorded in this study demonstrates that urban pond biodiversity conservation would be most efficient at a landscape-scale, rather than at the individual ponds scale. Pond conservation practices need to consider the spatial organization of ecological communities (landscape-scale) to ensure that the maximum possible biodiversity can be protected.16.
Kärnä Olli-Matti Heino Jani Laamanen Tiina Jyrkänkallio-Mikkola Jenny Pajunen Virpi Soininen Janne Tolonen Kimmo T. Tukiainen Helena Hjort Jan 《Landscape Ecology》2019,34(10):2469-2485
Context
One approach to maintain the resilience of biotic communities is to protect the variability of abiotic characteristics of Earth’s surface, i.e. geodiversity. In terrestrial environments, the relationship between geodiversity and biodiversity is well recognized. In streams, the abiotic properties of upstream catchments influence stream communities, but the relationships between catchment geodiversity and aquatic biodiversity have not been previously tested.
ObjectivesThe aim was to compare the effects of local environmental and catchment variables on stream biodiversity. We specifically explored the usefulness of catchment geodiversity in explaining the species richness on stream macroinvertebrate, diatom and bacterial communities.
MethodsWe used 3 geodiversity variables, 2 land use variables and 4 local habitat variables to examine species richness variation across 88 stream sites in western Finland. We used boosted regression trees to explore the effects of geodiversity and other variables on biodiversity.
ResultsWe detected a clear effect of catchment geodiversity on species richness, although the traditional local habitat and land use variables were the strongest predictors. Especially soil-type richness appeared as an important factor for species richness. While variables related to stream size were the most important for macroinvertebrate richness and partly for bacterial richness, the importance of water chemistry and land use for diatom richness was notable.
ConclusionsIn addition to traditional environmental variables, geodiversity may affect species richness variation in streams, for example through changes in water chemistry. Geodiversity information could be used as a proxy for predicting stream species richness and offers a supplementary tool for conservation efforts.
相似文献17.
Habitat fragmentation strongly affects insect species diversity and community composition, but few studies have examined landscape
effects on long term development of insect communities. As mobile consumers, insects should be sensitive to both local plant
community and landscape context. We tested this prediction using sweep-net transects to sample insect communities for 8 years
at an experimentally fragmented old-field site in northeastern Kansas, USA. The site included habitat patches undergoing secondary
succession, surrounded by a low turf matrix. During the first 5 years, plant richness and cover were measured in patches.
Insect species richness, total density, and trophic diversity increased over time on all transects. Cover of woody plants
and perennial forbs increased each year, adding structural complexity to successional patches and potentially contributing
to increased insect diversity. Within years, insect richness was significantly greater on transects through large successional
patches (5000 m2) than on transects through fragmented arrays of 6 medium-sized (total area 1728 m2) or 15 small (480 m2) patches. However, plant cover did not differ among patch types and was uncorrelated with insect richness within years. Insect
richness was strongly correlated with insect density, but trophic and α diversities did not differ among patch types, indicating
that patch insect communities were subsets of a common species pool. We argue that differences in insect richness resulted
from landscape effects on the size of these subsets, not patch succession rates. Greater insect richness on large patches
can be explained as a community-level consequence of population responses to resource concentration. 相似文献
18.
Thomas Ibanez Vanessa Hequet Céline Chambrey Tanguy Jaffré Philippe Birnbaum 《Landscape Ecology》2017,32(8):1671-1687
Context
The biodiversity hotspot for conservation of New Caledonia has facing high levels of forest fragmentation. Remnant forests are critical for biodiversity conservation and can help in understanding how does forest fragmentation affect tree communities.Objective
Determine the effect of habitat configuration and availability on tree communities.Methods
We mapped forest in a 60 km2 landscape and sampled 93 tree communities in 52 forest fragments following stratified random sampling. At each sampling point, we inventoried all trees with a diameter at breast height ≥10 cm within a radius of 10 m. We then analysed the response of the composition, the structure and the richness of tree communities to the fragment size and isolation, distance from the edge, as well as the topographical position.Results
Our results showed that the distance from the forest edge was the variable that explained the greatest observed variance in tree assemblages. We observed a decrease in the abundance and richness of animal-dispersed trees as well as a decrease in the abundance of large trees with increasing proximity to forest edges. Near forest edges we found a shift in species composition with a dominance of stress-tolerant pioneer species.Conclusions
Edge-effects are likely to be the main processes that affect remnant forest tree communities after about a century of forest fragmentation. It results in retrogressive successions at the edges leading to a dominance of stress-tolerant species. The vegetation surrounding fragments should be protected to promote the long process of forest extension and subsequently reduce edge-effects.19.
Habitat loss and fragmentation of natural and semi-natural habitats are considered as major threats to plant species richness.
Recently several studies have pinpointed the need to analyse past landscape patterns to understand effects of fragmentation,
as the response to landscape change may be slow in many organisms, plants in particular. We compared species richness in continuously
grazed and abandoned grasslands in different commonplace rural landscapes in Sweden, and analysed effects of isolation and
area in three time-steps (100 and 50 years ago and today). Old cadastral maps and aerial photographs were used to analyse
past and present landscape patterns in 25 sites. Two plant diversity measures were investigated; total species richness and
species density. During the last 100 years grassland area and connectivity have been reduced by about 90%. Present-day habitat
area was positively related to total species richness in both habitats. There was also a relationship to habitat area 50 years
ago for continuously grazed grasslands. Only present management was related to species density: continuously grazed grasslands
had the highest species density. There were no relationships between grassland connectivity, present or past, and any diversity
measure. We conclude that landscape history is not directly important for present-day plant diversity patterns in ordinary
landscapes, although past grassland management is a prerequisite for the grassland habitats that can be found there today.
It is important that studies are conducted, not only in very diverse landscapes, but also in managed landscapes in order to
assess the effects of fragmentation on species. 相似文献
20.
The reliability of ants as bioindicators of ecosystem condition is dependent on the consistency of their response to localised
habitat characteristics, which may be modified by larger-scale effects of habitat fragmentation and loss. We assessed the
relative contribution of habitat fragmentation, habitat loss and within-patch habitat characteristics in determining ant assemblages
in semi-arid woodland in Queensland, Australia. Species and functional group abundance were recorded using pitfall traps across
20 woodland patches in landscapes that exhibited a range of fragmentation states. Of fragmentation measures, changes in patch
area and patch edge contrast exerted the greatest influence on species assemblages, after accounting for differences in habitat
loss. However, 35% of fragmentation effects on species were confounded by the effects of habitat characteristics and habitat
loss. Within-patch habitat characteristics explained more than twice the amount of species variation attributable to fragmentation
and four times the variation explained by habitat loss. The study indicates that within-patch habitat characteristics are
the predominant drivers of ant composition. We suggest that caution should be exercised in interpreting the independent effects
of habitat fragmentation and loss on ant assemblages without jointly considering localised habitat attributes and associated
joint effects.
The State of Queensland's right to retain a non-exclusive, royalty free license in and to any copyright is acknowledged. 相似文献