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1.
Grassland regions of the southern Great Plains are fragmented by agricultural activity and many habitat remnants have experienced
encroachment by juniper (Juniperus virginiana L.). Recently, many cropland areas have been converted to monoculture grassland (pastures) and enrolled into the Conservation
Reserve Program (CRP). Our objectives were to develop spatial and temporal Markov models to characterize land cover dynamics
relative to juniper expansion and CRP using aerial photography from 1965, 1981, and 1995. We used landscapes surrounding three
Breeding Bird Survey routes with varying levels of juniper encroachment in Oklahoma as study areas. As expected, land cover
changes from 1965 to 1995 included increases in juniper woodland, mixed juniper-deciduous woodland, and pastures from CRP
activity. Markov models revealed that juniper had a low likelihood of self-replacement in early stages of encroachment. In
all areas, relatively little native grassland was lost to juniper encroachment, but other native habitat types such as deciduous
woodland were heavily impacted. Transition probabilities for land cover dynamics varied significantly both spatially and temporally.
Projections of these raw transition matrices produced widely varying models of future land cover conditions. By modifying
the matrices to account for recent and potential socio-political and ecological changes occurring in this region, a number
of more plausible land cover scenarios were produced than those resulting from simple projections of raw transition matrices. 相似文献
2.
Invasion of grasslands by woody plants has been identified as a key indicator of changes in ecosystem structure and function in arid and semi-arid rangelands throughout the world. We investigated changes in the balance between woody and herbaceous components of a semi-arid landscape in western Colorado (USA) using historical aerial photography. Aerial photographs from 1937, 1965–67, and 1994 were sampled at matched locations within overlapping photographs. We modeled change in spatial pattern and heterogeneity across the entire landscape and found a small, net decrease in woody canopy cover; however means disguised normal distributions of change that demonstrated offsetting increases and decreases. We described a region of widespread canopy decline within piñon-juniper forests between 2300 and 2600 m (7500–8500 feet) and a region of predominant increase at lower elevations, between 1800 and 2250 m (5900–7400 feet). It remains unclear whether this shift was driven by climate or by human-caused or natural disturbance. Mean conifer cover decreased within coniferous forests, which counteracted a trend of increased conifer cover in mixed forests, savanna-like woodlands, and the shrub steppe. Disturbance had a significant interaction with cover change in several communities, including forests, savanna and shrublands. Anthropogenic disturbances counteracted successional trends toward canopy closure more than wildfires, but this did not entirely explain observed canopy decline. The natural dynamics in this region also caused diverse changes rather than a simple progression towards increased forest cover. Importantly, temporal change in vegetation varied spatially across the landscape illustrating the importance of landscape level, spatially explicit analyses in characterizing temporal dynamics. 相似文献
3.
Context
Woodland and agricultural expansion are major causes of grassland fragmentation. Fire and rainfall play important roles in maintaining grasslands, however, fire activity has been reduced in fragmented landscapes.Objectives
Quantify the degree to which basic landscape fragmentation metrics could be used as drivers of woody cover potential.Methods
Woody plant percent cover was calculated between 2004 and 2008 at?>?2000 sites. At each site, we calculated these fragmentation metrics for grassland cover type (classified by the National Land Cover Database); # patches, landscape proportion, edge density, largest patch index, effective mesh size and patch cohesion index within 3 circular areas (10 km2, 360 km2 and 3600 km2) surrounding the sampling site. A quantile regression was performed to identify which metrics were useful at predicting the 25th, 50th, 75th or 95th quantile of woody cover distribution.Results
Grassland proportion and edge density were significant predictors of the woody plant potential (75th and 95th quantile). Woody cover potential was positively associated with edge density suggesting that fragmented areas (i.e., areas with high number of edges) maintained higher woody cover, while grassland proportion was negatively associated with woody plant potential.Conclusion
We propose that in addition to a lack of fire, fragmented landscapes may facilitate further woodland expansion by reducing natural land and restricting grasslands to smaller, less connected patches, which can maintain higher woody cover. Given current trends in woodland expansion, special attention should be given to areas that are found within a fragmented landscape and climatically prone to woodland expansion.4.
Wildfires and landscape patterns in the Eastern Iberian Peninsula 总被引：12，自引：2，他引：10
Lloret Francisco Calvo Eduard Pons Xavier Díaz-Delgado Ricardo 《Landscape Ecology》2002,17(8):745-759
The relations between disturbance regime and landscape patterns have been developed from a theoretical perspective, but few studies have tested these relations when forces promoting opposing heterogeneity patterns are simultaneously operating on a landscape. This work provides quantitative evidence of these relations in areas dominated by human activity, showing that landscape heterogeneity decreases disturbance spread. In turn, disturbance introduces a source of landscape heterogeneity, but it is not enough to counterbalance the homogeneity trend due to agricultural abandonment. Land cover changes and wildfire occurrence (fires larger than 0.3 km2) have been monitored in the Tivissa municipality (208.4 km2) (Catalonia, NE Spain) from 1956 to 1993. Land cover maps were obtained from 1956, 1978 and 1993 and they were overlaid with fire occurrence maps obtained for the 1975–1995 period from 60 m resolution remote sensing images, which allow the identification of burned areas by sudden drops in Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Changes in landscape patterns in relation to fire regime have been analyzed considering several parameters: patch density, mean patch size, mean distance to the nearest neighbour of the same category, edge density, and the Shannon diversity index. In the 1956–1993 period there is a trend to increasing landscape homogenization due to the expansion of shrublands linked to a decrease in forest surface, and to the abandonment of agricultural lands. This trend, however, is not constant along all the period. Fires are more likely to occur in woody, homogenous areas, increasing landscape heterogeneity, as observed in the 1978–1993 period. This increase in heterogeneity does not counterbalance the general trend to landscape homogenization as a consequence of agricultural abandonment and the coalescence of natural vegetation patches.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date. 相似文献
5.
Landscape characteristics of disturbed shrubsteppe habitats in southwestern Idaho (U.S.A.) 总被引：4，自引：0，他引：4
We compared 5 zones in shrubsteppe habitats of southwestern Idaho to determine the effect of differing disturbance combinations on landscapes that once shared historically similar disturbance regimes. The primary consequence of agriculture, wildfires, and extensive fires ignited by the military during training activities was loss of native shrubs from the landscape. Agriculture created large square blocks on the landscape, and the landscape contained fewer small patches and more large shrub patches than non-agricultural areas. In contrast, fires left a more fragmented landscape. Repeated fires did not change the distribution of patch sizes, but decreased the total area of remaining shrublands and increased the distance between remaining shrub patches that provide seed sources. Military training with tracked vehicles was associated with a landscape characterized by small, closely spaced, shrub patches.Our results support the general model hypothesized for conversion of shrublands to annual grasslands by disturbance. Larger shrub patches in our region, historically resistant to fire spread and large-scale fires because of a perennial bunchgrass understory, were more fragmented than small patches. Presence of cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), an exotic annual, was positively related to landscape patchiness and negatively related to number of shrub cells. Thus, cheatgrass dominance can contribute to further fragmentation and loss of the shrub patch by facilitating spread of subsequent fires, carried by continuous fuels, through the patch. The synergistic processes of fragmentation of shrub patches by disturbance, invasion and subsequent dominance by exotic annuals, and fire are converting shrubsteppe in southwestern Idaho to a new state dominated by exotic annual grasslands and high fire frequencies. 相似文献
6.
Rural depopulation and recent landscape changes in a Mediterranean region: Consequences to the breeding avifauna 总被引：8，自引：0，他引：8
We studied the vegetational and avifaunistic changes following rural depopulation in an area covering 2,600 ha north of Montpellier
(Southern France). The study area is covered by a mosaic of Mediterranean habitats that includes cultivation, grasslands,
shrublands, and woodlands and is representative of the natural features present and of the human usage practiced so far in
this part of the Mediterranean.
We sampled the vegetation and the bird fauna in the same 193 census plots in 1978 and in 1992. At both the habitat and landscape
scales the cover of woody plants increased significantly. Open habitats tend to disappear. As a consequence the abundance
of open-habitat bird species decreased significantly whereas the abundance of forest birds increased significantly. These
changes favor a pool of forest species widespread in western Europe and reduce habitat availability for open habitat and shrubland
species. Many of the latter are Mediterranean species whose distribution in Western Europe could become reduced under current
landscape dynamics. Our observation of more woodlands and their typical birds and of less open habitats and their associated
avifauna is not consistent with the traditional worry shown by the public and the managers about the regression of forests
and woodlands in the Northern Mediterranean as a consequence of fire. 相似文献
7.
Rainfall in drylands is erratic. Topographic features of landscapes can dampen or amplify temporal variability by spatially
influencing patterns of water loss and accumulation. The extent to which portions of a landscape may differentially capture
or retain scarce water and nutrient resources is an important determinant of vegetation patterns, particularly with respect
to the distribution of woody plants. We therefore hypothesized that historic changes in woody cover on landscapes experiencing
similar climate and disturbance regimes would vary with catena-to-catena (hillslope-to-hillslope) variation in topography-based
hydrologic features. We tested this hypothesis by comparing topographic wetness index (TWI) values on replicate landscapes
where woody plant abundance has increased over the past 100 yr. These landscapes are characterized by savanna parklands on
coarse-textured upland portions of catenas that grade (1–3% slopes) into closed-canopy woodlands on fine-textured (lowland)
portions of catenas. TWI values for woody and herbaceous communities were comparable within uplands, suggesting factors unrelated
to surface/subsurface hydrology determine patterns of woody cover in these catena locations. TWI values for upland savanna
parklands were significantly lower than those of closed-canopy woodlands occupying catena footslopes. Furthermore, uplands
adjoining historically static woodland boundaries had lower TWI values than those where woodland boundaries had moved upslope
2.1 m yr−1 from 1976 to 1995. Results suggest runoff–runon relationships influence patterns of woody plant cover and change at the catena
scale and may override constraints imposed by soil texture. As a result, changes in woody cover potentially accompanying changes
in disturbance regimes, climate or atmospheric chemistry are likely to be constrained by topoedaphic settings. Models of vegetation
dynamics may therefore need to explicitly account for rainfall–topography–soil texture relationships and associated scale-dependent
mechanisms to accurately predict rates and patterns of change in woody and herbaceous plant abundance. 相似文献
8.
Spatial heterogeneity of subsurface soil texture drives landscape-scale patterns of woody patches in a subtropical savanna 总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1
Context
In the Rio Grande Plains of southern Texas, subtropical savanna vegetation is characterized by a two-phase pattern consisting of discrete woody patches embedded within a C4 grassland matrix. Prior trench transect studies have suggested that, on upland portions of the landscape, large woody patches (groves) occur on non-argillic inclusions, while small woody patches (clusters) are dispersed among herbaceous vegetation where the argillic horizon is present.Objective
To test whether spatial heterogeneity of subsurface soil texture drives the landscape-scale pattern of woody patches in this subtropical savanna.Methods
Landscape-scale spatial patterns of soil texture were quantified by taking spatially-specific soil samples to a depth of 1.2 m in a 160 m × 100 m plot. Kriged maps of soil texture were developed, and the locations of non-argillic inclusions were mapped.Results
Visual comparison of kriged maps of soil texture to a high resolution aerial photograph of the study area revealed that groves were present exclusively where the non-argillic inclusions were present. This clear visual relationship was further supported by positive correlations between soil sand concentration in the lower soil layers and total fine root biomass which mapped the locations of groves.Conclusions
Subsurface non-argillic inclusions may favor the establishment and persistence of groves by enabling root penetration deeper into the profile, providing greater access to water and nutrients that are less accessible on those portions of the landscape where the argillic horizon is present, thereby regulating the distribution of grove vegetation and structuring the evolution of this landscape.9.
Jesse E. D. Miller Ellen I. Damschen Zak Ratajczak Mutlu Özdoğan 《Landscape Ecology》2017,32(12):2297-2310
Context
Encroachment of woody vegetation represents a significant global threat to biodiversity in grasslands, but practices used to reverse encroachment are rarely evaluated comprehensively. Several factors may drive encroachment, such as land use history, alteration of disturbance regimes, and local environment, but their relative importance is poorly understood. Another complicating factor is that encroachment may proceed via positive feedbacks that result in thresholds, beyond which its reversal is difficult.Objectives
We ask what impact reintroducing frequent fire has on encroachment relative to the influences of landscape context and historical vegetation. We investigate whether woody cover frequency distributions suggest that feedbacks reinforce encroachment after a threshold of woody cover is surpassed.Methods
We analyze aerial photos in glade grasslands in Missouri, USA, to assess encroachment patterns over a 75-year period. Fire was excluded from this landscape for the first 45 years, and then reintroduced at varying frequencies in the last 30 years.Results
Woody vegetation cover increased sevenfold from 1939 to 2014 overall. After the reintroduction of prescribed fire, woody cover stayed approximately constant in burned glades, but continued increasing in unburned glades. Woody cover followed bimodal frequency distributions in burned areas. Fire-tolerant vegetation tended to encroach near historically wooded areas, while fire-sensitive vegetation responded more to fire history.Conclusions
Altered disturbance regimes, in addition to numerous recognized drivers, can cause ecosystem state changes associated with losses to biodiversity. Conducting management early in the encroachment process and restoring grasslands at broad landscape scales may help counteract local feedbacks that promote encroachment.10.
Jin Yao Debra P. C. Peters Kris M. Havstad Robert P. Gibbens Jeffrey E. Herrick 《Landscape Ecology》2006,21(8):1217-1231
Factors with variation at broad (e.g., climate) and fine scales (e.g., soil texture) that influence local processes at the
plant scale (e.g., competition) have often been used to infer controls on spatial patterns and temporal trends in vegetation.
However, these factors can be insufficient to explain spatial and temporal variation in grass cover for arid and semiarid
grasslands during an extreme drought that promotes woody plant encroachment. Transport of materials among patches may also
be important to this variation. We used long-term cover data (1915–2001) combined with recently collected field data and spatial
databases from a site in the northern Chihuahuan Desert to assess temporal trends in cover and the relative importance of
factors at three scales (plant, patch, landscape unit) in explaining spatial variation in grass cover. We examined cover of
five important grass species from two topographic positions before, during, and after the extreme drought of the 1950s. Our
results show that dynamics before, during, and after the drought varied by species rather than by topographic position. Different
factors were related to cover of each species in each time period. Factors at the landscape unit scale (rainfall, stocking
rate) were related to grass cover in the pre- and post-drought periods whereas only the plant-scale factor of soil texture
was significantly related to cover of two upland species during the drought. Patch-scale factors associated with the redistribution
of water (microtopography) were important for different species in the pre- and post-drought period. Another patch-scale factor,
distance from historic shrub populations, was important to the persistence of the dominant grass in uplands (Bouteloua eriopoda) through time. Our results suggest the importance of local processes during the drought, and transport processes before and
after the drought with different relationships for different species. Disentangling the relative importance of factors at
different spatial scales to spatial patterns and long-term trends in grass cover can provide new insights into the key processes
driving these historic patterns, and can be used to improve forecasts of vegetation change in arid and semiarid areas. 相似文献
11.
Effects of area and isolation of woodland patches on herbaceous plant species richness across Great Britain 总被引：5，自引：2，他引：5
Petit Sandrine Griffiths Leila Smart Simon S. Smith Geoff M. Stuart Rick C. Wright Simon M. 《Landscape Ecology》2004,19(5):463-471
Richness of Ancient Woodland Indicator plant species was analysed in 308 woodland patches that were surveyed during the Countryside Survey of Great Britain carried out in 1998. The Countryside Survey recorded vegetation plots and landscape structure in 569 stratified 1 km sample squares and developed a remotely-sensed land cover map of the UK. Using these datasets, we tested the hypothesis that Ancient Woodland Indicator species richness in woodland fragments was limited by patch area, shape and spatial isolation and that woodland patches located in the lowland region of Great Britain would respond differently than those in the upland region. The variation in Ancient Woodland Indicator species richness in the British lowlands (n = 218) was mainly explained by patch area and two measures of connectivity, the length of hedgerows and lines of trees in the 1 km square and the area of woodland within 500 m of the vegetation plot. By contrast, variation in Ancient Woodland Indicator species richness in the British uplands (n = 90) was related to Ellenberg scores of the vegetation communities sampled – a surrogate for habitat quality – and no significant effect of spatial structure was detected. It therefore appears that the degree of fragmentation of woodland in the British lowlands limits the distribution of Ancient Woodland Indicator species, while in the uplands, failed colonisation is a matter of habitat quality rather than a result of landscape structure.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date. 相似文献
12.
The understanding and prediction of the responses of animal populations to habitat fragmentation is a central issue in applied
ecology. The identification of habitat variables associated to patch occupancy is particularly important when habitat quality
is affected by human activities. Here, we analyze the influence of patch and landscape characteristics on patch occupancy
by the subterranean herbivorous rodent Ctenomys porteousi. Patch occupancy was monitored in a network of 63 habitat patches identified by satellite imagery analysis which extends
along almost the whole distributional range for C. porteousi. Suitable habitat for the occurrence of C. porteousi is highly fragmented and represents <10% of the total area in its distributional range. The distribution of C. porteousi in the patch network is affected not only by characteristics of the habitat patches, but also by those of the surrounding
landscape matrix. Significant differences between occupied and empty patches were found in several environmental variables.
Overall, occupied patches were larger, less vegetated, more connected, and had larger neighbor patches than empty patches.
A stepwise procedure on a generalized linear model selected four habitat variables that explain patch occupancy in C. porteousi; it included the effects of habitat quality in the matrix surrounding the patch, average vegetation cover in the patch, minimum
vegetation cover in the matrix surrounding the patch, and the area of the nearest neighbor patch. These results indicate that
patch occupancy in C. porteousi is strongly influenced by the availability and quality of habitat both in the patch and in the surrounding landscape matrix. 相似文献
13.
Moran Segoli Eugene D. Ungar Itamar Giladi Amir Arnon Moshe Shachak 《Landscape Ecology》2012,27(6):899-910
Woody vegetation, as an ecosystem engineer, can modulate the landscape such that the levels of resources in its vicinity undergo positive and negative changes as far as the herbaceous vegetation is concerned. To better understand how these processes play out in a semi-arid ecosystem, we examined resource modulation by woody vegetation, and the response of herbaceous vegetation to that modulation, at a fine spatial scale. Experimental manipulations were employed to separate the positive and negative effects of water, light and seed dispersal in determining herbaceous species density and biomass in three patch types within and adjacent to the shrub (core, periphery and open). We synthesized our results into a multilayered landscape diversity (MLLD) model. Woody vegetation creates distinct multilayered resource patches at its core and periphery which do not correspond to the dichotomous structural pattern of shrub canopy versus intershrub background. The combined effect of these multilayered resource patches had higher herbaceous species density (8.2 vs. 4.0 species 400?cm?2) and herbaceous biomass (5.4 vs. 1.0?g 400?cm?2) in the periphery than in the core (3-yr averages). The periphery??s net positive effects are due to enhancement of soil properties (water infiltration depth of 11.1?cm at periphery vs. 8.1?cm at core), while the core??s net negative effects are due to modulation of seed (seed abundance per seed trap of 44.2 at periphery vs. 3.0 at core) and light availability (PAR transmittance of 41.9?% at periphery vs. 16.5?% at core) by the shrub canopy. Thus, when examined at this fine spatial resolution, woody vegetation has both net positive and net negative effects on herbaceous vegetation. Analysis of our results by means of the MLLD model emphasizes the importance of examining the landscape at the spatial scale of the modulated resources and of recognizing different patch types and their differing effects on herbaceous vegetation. 相似文献
14.
Fire-induced changes in northern Patagonian landscapes 总被引：4，自引：0，他引：4
In northern Patagonia, Argentina we quantify changes in fire frequency along a gradient from mesic Nothofagus dombeyi forest to xeric woodlands of Austrocedrus chilensis at the steppe ecotone, and we examine patterns of vegetation change coincident with the changes in fire regimes across a range of spatial scales. At a regional scale changes in land cover types are documented by comparing 1:250000 scale cover type maps from 1913 and 1985. Changes in landscape structure are analyzed by comparing vegetation patterns on 1:24000 scale aerial photographs taken in 1940 and 1970. Fire frequency peaked in the late nineteenth-century due to widespread burning and clearing of forests by European settlers late in the century. Subsequently, fire frequency declined dramatically about 1910 due to the cessation of intentional fires and has remained low due to increasingly effective fire exclusion. At a regional scale there has been a dramatic increase during the twentieth century in the proportion of forest cover relative to areas mapped as recent burns or shrublands in 1913. Remnant forest patches that survived the widespread late-nineteenth century burning have coalesced to form more continuous forest covers, and formerly continuous areas of shrublands have become dissected by forest. Under reduced fire frequency there has been a shift in dominance from short-lived resprouting species (mostly shrubs) towards longer-lived species and obligate seed-dispersers such as Austrocedrus chilensis and Nothofagus dombeyi. Due to limited seed dispersal of these tree species, the spatial configuration of remnant forest patches plays a key role in subsequent changes in landscape pattern. 相似文献
15.
Matthew D. Berg Bradford P. Wilcox Jay P. Angerer Edward C. Rhodes William E. Fox 《Landscape Ecology》2016,31(10):2433-2444
Context
Woody plant encroachment—the conversion of grasslands to woodlands—is among the greatest challenges faced by rangelands worldwide. Yet this phenomenon is poorly understood, and complex land use dynamics make interpreting the timing and extent of land cover changes a global challenge.Objectives
For many regions, the true degree and rate of historical change in woody cover and cropland remain unknown. We quantify these processes and explore the effects of prior cultivation on woody plant distribution.Methods
In the Lampasas Cut Plain, USA, we measured rangeland transformation using digital classification of aerial imagery 1937–2012. Our study is the first to use data of such high spatial and temporal resolution to address this question at this scale. We also provide some of the first documentation of dramatic regional cropland abandonment.Results
Although total woody cover remained almost unchanged (1937: 28%, 2012: 27 %), woody cover underwent a major redistribution across the landscape. Formerly open areas attained much greater levels of woody cover, and previously wooded areas lost woody cover. As cropland area declined by 78 %, woody plants invaded former croplands more slowly than the rangeland portions of the area (0.1 % year?1 vs. 0.3 % year?1, respectively).Conclusions
These findings conflict with widely held assumptions and suggest that woody plant encroachment is more nuanced than often recognized. Multiple dynamics and past conditions interact in complex ways to produce landscape change. Because perceptions of encroachment determine how we respond to this challenge, great care should be taken in interpreting observed woody plant encroachment of the world’s rangelands.16.
Leonie K. Fischer Moritz von der Lippe Ingo Kowarik 《Urban Forestry & Urban Greening》2013,12(3):263-272
Urbanisation is an important driver of biodiversity loss, also contributing to habitat loss and fragmentation of grasslands at the urban-rural interface. While urban green spaces are known to include many grassland habitats, it is uncertain to what extent urban land use types harbour grasslands of special conservation interest and whether patch characteristics and connectivity of these differ from grasslands on agricultural land. By relating the city-wide biotope mapping to the land use mapping of Berlin, Germany, we assessed (1) to which specific urban land use types the major grassland biotope types belong, (2) differences in patch characteristics and connectivity, and (3) the conservation value of grassland patches at a typological level by means of their legal protection status. Grasslands cover 5% of Berlin's surface, and 43% of that area is assigned to legally protected grassland types. The majority of legally protected grassland (71%) lies on urban land opposed to 29% on agricultural land. Airports and historic parks, which only cover 2% of land in Berlin, contain one-third of all protected dry grasslands. Wet grassland is more confined to agricultural land. In airports and agricultural areas, grassland patches are larger but of a more complex shape than those in historic parks. In airports, grassland patches show greater connectivity as they are situated in grassland-dominated surroundings. Grassland in historic parks appears to be more vulnerable due to smaller patch sizes and higher fragmentation. The example of Berlin demonstrates that the urban green infrastructure can clearly contribute to grassland conservation and may thus partially compensate for the decline of traditional grasslands in cultural landscapes. It will be important to involve residents and landowners in urban grassland conservation and management because most grassland of special conservation interest (57%) was found outside of conservation areas. 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.
Watershed analysis of forest fragmentation by clearcuts and roads in a Wyoming forest 总被引：14，自引：0，他引：14
Tinker Daniel B. Resor Catherine A.C. Beauvais Gary P. Kipfmueller Kurt F. Fernandes Charles I. Baker William L. 《Landscape Ecology》1998,13(3):149-165
Remotely sensed data and a Geographic Information System were used to compare the effects of clearcutting and road-building on the landscape pattern of the Bighorn National Forest, in north-central Wyoming. Landscape patterns were quantified for each of 12 watersheds on a series of four maps that differed only in the degree of clearcutting and road density. We analyzed several landscape pattern metrics for the landscape as a whole and for the lodgepole pine and spruce/fir cover classes across these maps, and determined the relative effects of clearcutting and road building on the pattern of each watershed. At both the landscape- and cover class-scales, clearcutting and road building resulted in increased fragmentation as represented by a distinct suite of landscape structural changes. Patch core area and mean patch size decreased, and edge density and patch density increased as a result of clearcuts and roads. Clearcuts and roads simplified patch shapes at the landscape scale, but increased the complexity of lodgepole pine patches. Roads appeared to be a more significant agent of change than clearcuts, and roads which were more evenly distributed across a watershed had a greater effect on landscape pattern than did those which were densely clustered. Examining individual watersheds allows for the comparison of fragmentation among watersheds, as well as across the landscape as a whole. Similar studies of landscape structure in other National Forests and on other public lands may help to identify and prevent further fragmentation of these areas. 相似文献
19.
Rapid urban growth has increased the importance of restoring degraded vegetation patches within these areas. In this study, we reforested a site that was previously dominated by exotic grasses within an urban area. The goal of this study was to evaluate restoration success in a reforested site using four variables of vegetation structure, five groups of organisms, and eight variables of ecosystem processes, and compare these values with a pre-reforested site and a forested reference site using the Subjective Bray Curtis Ordination. The change in vegetation structure provided arboreal habitats that increased species diversity and ecosystem processes in the reforested site. Specifically, the development of a vertical vegetation structure was associated with: (1) a decrease in herbaceous cover, which allowed the colonization of woody seedlings; (2) a change in microclimatic conditions, which enhanced the colonization of ants and amphibians; (3) colonization of arboreal reptiles and birds; and (4) an increase in litter production, which enhanced nutrient inputs. Moreover, the Subjective Bray Curtis Ordination demonstrated an overall recovery of approximately 70%. Planting woody species was sufficient to stimulate rapid recovery of many ecosystem attributes. Future restoration projects should include multiple variables that reflect important ecosystem attributes to determine the success of a project and to direct future management efforts. 相似文献
20.
In order to document the extent of landscape fragmentation for a section of the New Jersey Pine Barrens region, we have used satellite image and spatial analysis to monitor landscape change between 1972 and 1988. Land-cover patterns were quantified by mean, number, and size of patches; and amount of edges between land cover types. During the intervening sixteen year period, fractal dimension, diversity, and contagion generally decreased while dominance, disturbance and edges increased, indicating a trend to a more dissected and disturbed landscape. There was an increase in the number of forest patches and a significant decrease in the average size of forest patches. In contrast, the mean patch size for the non-forest category has increased as a result of a coalescence of patches. The landscape fragmentation is shown by a downward shift in the distribution of forest patches by size class. These changes in landscape pattern have implications for many ecological processes and resources. Management practices need to consider landscape fragmentation in the Pinelands National Reserve in order to preserve the essential character of the Pine Barrens landscape. 相似文献