36 research outputs found
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The role of churches in maintaining bird diversity: A case study from southern Poland
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd With the human population increasing there have been losses in biodiversity. A common feature of mankind is religious beliefs with various associated positive and negative consequences for biodiversity. Religion also has associated religious sites, many of which have a long history. The role of churches in benefitting biodiversity has not received attention. To examine the impact of churches we measured the taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional diversity of birds around Christian churches and compared this with matched farmsteads. We surveyed 101 churches and equal number of farmsteads in villages of southern Poland. We measured structural and compositional characteristics (e.g. number of trees, shrubs, number of buildings and height) at both churches and farmsteads. General additive models, ordination and rarefactions methods were used in data analysis. Species richness, abundance and phylogenetic diversity were each higher at churches than at farmsteads. The species composition differed between building types but functional diversity was similar at both types of buildings. Bird species richness and abundance were correlated with the church's age. Previous studies showed village farmsteads supported high species diversity, thus our current findings that churches are richer show they may increase bird diversity in studied villages. We suggest that the green surroundings and tall towers create strong environmental gradient that enhances species richness, functional and phylogenetic diversity. There are over ten thousand churches in Poland, and similar places of worship are present in many religions, thus this habitat may be important for sustaining local taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic biodiversity in different global areas
Puszcza Białowieska : miniprzewodnik naukowy
"Dzisiejsza roślinność Puszczy jest wynikiem procesów ekologicznych, które kształtowały ją od schyłku ostatniego zlodowacenia, kiedy ocieplenie klimatu
umożliwiło rozwój ekosystemów leśnych na tym terenie. Około 12 tysięcy lat temu rozprzestrzeniły się tu lasy sosnowo-brzozowe, a następnie kolejno przybywały inne gatunki drzew, które wędrowały z cieplejszych rejonów Europy, gdzie przetrwały
okres zlodowacenia. Stopniowo wzbogacały one tutejsze lasy i powodowały ich zróżnicowanie w zależności od warunków siedliskowych. Do pierwszych przybyszów, po sośnie i brzozie, należały wiąz i leszczyna, a między ok. 9300 a 3800 lat temu miał miejsce najbujniejszy rozwój wielogatunkowych, mieszanych lasów liściastych." (fragm.
Analysis of the capacity of google trends to measure interest in conservation topics and the role of online news
With the continuous growth of internet usage, Google Trends has emerged as a source of information to investigate how social trends evolve over time. Knowing how the level of interest in conservation topics--approximated using Google search volume--varies over time can help support targeted conservation science communication. However, the evolution of search volume over time and the mechanisms that drive peaks in searches are poorly understood. We conducted time series analyses on Google search data from 2004 to 2013 to investigate: (i) whether interests in selected conservation topics have declined and (ii) the effect of news reporting and academic publishing on search volume. Although trends were sensitive to the term used as benchmark, we did not find that public interest towards conservation topics such as climate change, ecosystem services, deforestation, orangutan, invasive species and habitat loss was declining. We found, however, a robust downward trend for endangered species and an upward trend for ecosystem services. The quantity of news articles was related to patterns in Google search volume, whereas the number of research articles was not a good predictor but lagged behind Google search volume, indicating the role of news in the transfer of conservation science to the public