Evaluación de la calidad de hábitats de brezales húmedos atlánticos en la Serra do Xistral, NO España

The assessment of habitat quality, especially in semi-natural managed systems, provides a powerful tool for monitoring short and long-term conservation actions. The Erica mackayana Atlantic wet heathlands of the Serra do Xistral protected area in Galicia, NW Spain, represent a dynamic system with high conservation value associated to traditional management through grazing of free-ranging cattle and wild ponies. Here, we aimed to develop a spatially-explicit, quantitative method for Habitat Quality Assessment, defining an optimum state and the alternative states that may arise from habitat degradation. Vegetation structure, grass-shrub cover ratio, gorse cover, presence of bracken, exotic species such as pine trees and saplings, erosive events and altered hydrological dynamics were identified as the main indicators of habitat degradation. A heterogeneous vegetation structure with a dominant shrub cover of c.a. 0.5 m height and constant gaps among shrubs, with a limited cover of gorse and absence of pine trees, bramble and bracken, and absence of erosive events was recognized as the optimum state. We applied the Habitat Quality Assessment (HQA) method to a pilot area within the Xistral protected site. Wet heathland was the dominant habitat, covering 37.1% of the area. 7.0% of the assessed heathlands were recognized as in the optimum state for habitat quality.Recommendations are made for habitat management to revert low scores, mainly by the adjustment of livestock numbers and the removal of exotic pine trees.La evaluación de la calidad de hábitats constituye una herramienta muy útil para el seguimiento, a medio y largo plazo, de las acciones de conservación, especialmente en sistemas semi-naturales manejados. Los brezales húmedos atlánticos con Erica mackayana del espacio Red Natura Serra do Xistral, situado en Galicia, noroeste de España, representan un sistema dinámico con alto valor de conservación asociado al manejo tradicional mediante ganado vacuno y caballos salvajes. En este artículo desarrollamos un método cuantitativo y espacialmente explícito para la evaluación de la calidad del hábitat en brezales húmedos. Para ello definimos un estado óptimo y los estados alternativos que pueden resultar de la degradación del hábitat. Los principales indicadores de degradación que identificamos fueron la estructura de la vegetación, la proporción de cobertura de herbáceas-arbustivas, la cobertura de tojo, la presencia de helechos (Pteridium aquilinum), especies exóticas como los pinos, eventos erosivos y la existencia de dinámicas hidrológicas alteradas. El estado óptimo se definió como una estructura de la vegetación heterogénea, con una cobertura de arbustivas dominante de entorno a 0,5 m de alto y pasillos constantes entre las matas, con cierta cobertura de tojo, ausencia de pinos, helecho, eventos erosivos y alteraciones hidrológicas. Aplicamos la Evaluación de la Calidad de Hábitats a un área piloto dentro del espacio Serra do Xistral. Los brezales húmedos son el hábitat dominante y cubren el 37,1% del área de estudio. Un 7,0% de los brezales evaluados puntuaron como en estado óptimo. Se incluyen una serie de recomendaciones de manejo que permitan incrementar los valores de calidad de hábitats, ajustando la presión de ganado o la retirada de especies exóticas como el pinoThis study was financed by the EU LIFE+ program through the LIFE IN COMMON LAND project (LIFE16 NAT/ES/000707)S

Arañas y carábidos como potenciales bioindicadores en ambientes con distinto grado de intervención antrópica en el este uruguayo: un estudio preliminar

Some arthropod groups are considered to be good bioindicators of environmental quality. For that, they must fill some conditions, such as biological and morphological characteristics that lead to their easy find and identification. The pit-fall traps are widely used as an efficient method to collect predator arthropods that may have a good potential as bioindicators of the characteristics of their environment. During a nine months period, fortnightly collects were made in three production systems with different intensity of anthropic intervention, in the Laguna Negra basin, Rocha, Uruguay: natural grassland with low intensity of bovine cattle grazing; bovine and sheep grazed area, and an area under high bovine grazing intensity with winter-summer agriculture. In each of the three areas two series of 10 pitfall traps were installed with a distance 100 m minimum between series and 10 m between traps. Two spider morphospecies,  Mesabolivar sp (Pholcidae) y Steatoda sp (Theridiidae) appeared to be good indicators for the less and most intensified environments, respectively. Other four morphospecies of the families Nemesiidae, Oxyopidae, Lycosidae y Palpimanidae were characterized as detectors to different environments. Four morphospecies of the coleopteran family Carabidae (Calosoma retusum, Galerita collaris, Brachinus sp and Pelecium sp) were defined as indicators of the more intensified system, with agriculture.Algunos grupos de artrópodos son considerados buenos indicadores de calidad ambiental. Para ello deben cumplir con algunas condiciones, como poseer características biológicas y morfológicas que faciliten su hallazgo e identificación. Las trampas de caída (pitfall) son ampliamente utilizadas para recolectar artrópodos predadores potencialmente bioindicadores de las características del ambiente que ocupan. Se realizaron recolecciones quincenales, durante nueve meses, en tres sistemas productivos con diferente grado de intervención antrópica en la cuenca de la Laguna Negra, Rocha: área con baja intensidad de pastoreo de vacunos; área con bajo pastoreo de ganado vacuno y ovino, y área con altas cargas de ganado vacuno y agricultura inverno-estival. En cada área se instalaron dos series de 10 trampas pitfall separadas a una distancia mínima de 100 m y a una distancia de 10 m entre trampas. Dos morfoespecies de arañas, Mesabolivar sp (Pholcidae) y Steatoda sp (Theridiidae), fueron determinadas como indicadoras de los ambientes con menor y mayor intensidad de disturbio, respectivamente. Otras cuatro morfoespecies, pertenecientes a las familias Nemesiidae, Oxyopidae, Lycosidae y Palpimanidae, fueron caracterizadas como detectoras de los diferentes ambientes. Cuatro morfoespecies de coleópteros de la familia Carabidae (Calosoma retusum, Galerita collaris, Brachinus sp y Pelecium sp) resultaron indicadoras del ambiente de mayor intensidad productiva, con agricultura

Biodiversity-productivity relationship in ponds: Community and metacommunity patterns along time and environmental gradients

Primary production correlates with diversity in various ways. These patterns may result from the interaction of various mechanisms related to the environmental context and the spatial and temporal scale of analysis. However, empirical evidence on diversity-productivity patterns typically considers single temporal and spatial scales, and does not include the effect of environmental variables. In a metacommunity of macrophytes in ephemeral ponds, we analysed the diversity-productivity relationship patterns in the field, the importance of the environmental variables of pond size and heterogeneity on such relationship, and the variation of these patterns at local (community level) and landscape scales (metacommunity level) across 52 ponds on twelve occasions, over five years (2005?2009). Combining all sampling dates, there were 377 ponds and 1954 sample-unit observations.Vegetation biomass was used as a proxy for productivity, and biodiversity was represented by species richness,evenness, and their interaction. Environmental variables comprised pond area, depth and internal heterogeneity. Productivity and species richness were not directly related at the metacommunity level, and were positively related at the community level.Taking environmental variables into account revealed positive species richness-productivity relationships at the metacommunity level and positive quadratic relationships at the community level. Productivity showed both positive and negative linear and nonlinear relationships with the size and heterogeneity of ponds.We found a weak relationship between productivity and evenness.The identity of variables associated with productivity changed between spatial scales and through time. The pattern of relationships between productivity and diversity depends on spatial scale and environmental context, and changes idiosyncratically through time within the same ecosystem. Thus, the diversity-productivity relationship is not only a property of the study system, but also a consequence of environmental variations and the temporal and spatial scale of analysis.Fil: Piñeiro Guerra, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; Argentina. Universidad de la República. Facultad de Ciencias. Centro Universitario Regional Este. Departamento de Ecología y Evolución; UruguayFil: Fagúndez Pachón, César. Universidad de la República. Centro Universitario Regional Este; UruguayFil: Oesterheld, Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; ArgentinaFil: Arim, Matías. Universidad de la República. Facultad de Ciencias. Centro Universitario Regional Este. Departamento de Ecología y Evolución; Urugua

Diet of four annual killifishes: an intra and interspecific comparison

We examined the diet of 4 annual fishes, Austrolebias viarius, Austrolebias cheradophilus, Austrolebias luteoflammulatus and Cynopoecilus melanotaenia inhabiting temporal ponds of southeastern Uruguay, by analysis of stomach contents. Fishes were captured from fifty ephemeral ponds of Castillos Lagoon basin, in the region of the Humedales del Este. We identified 13099 individual prey items extracted from 669 stomachs of the four captured species. In the studied system, annual killifishes represents the most abundant and conspicuous top predators. Killifishes are generalist key predators at the ephemeral ponds of the studied system, consuming mostly aquatic items. Zooplancton represented the bulk of the diet in the four analyzed species, followed by eggs, algae and diatoms. Insects are the next group in prey number, as follows: Diptera larvae (especially Chironomidae and Cullicidae), Ephemeroptera (especially Betidae), and coleopteran larvae (especially Dytiscidae). Acari are also important prey in number. The four fish species differ in diet composition and in diet richness. A general pattern of differences in diet richness among killifish species and demographic groups could be related to variations in body sizes. As top predators annual killifishes are an important component of the temporal pond ecosystems. Understanding the natural history of this species and their communities is necessary in order to conserve them

Habitat quality assessment of Atlantic wet heathlands in Serra do Xistral, NW Spain

The assessment of habitat quality, especially in semi-natural managed systems, provides a powerful tool for monitoring short and long-term conservation actions. The Erica mackayana Atlantic wet heathlands of the Serra do Xistral protected area in Galicia, NW Spain, represent a dynamic system with high conservation value associated to traditional management through grazing of free-ranging cattle and wild ponies. Here, we aimed to develop a spatially-explicit, quantitative method for Habitat Quality Assessment, defining an optimum state and the alternative states that may arise from habitat degradation. Vegetation structure, grass-shrub cover ratio, gorse cover, presence of bracken, exotic species such as pine trees and saplings, erosive events and altered hydrological dynamics were identified as the main indicators of habitat degradation. A heterogeneous vegetation structure with a dominant shrub cover of c.0.5 m height and constant gaps among shrubs, with a limited cover of gorse and absence of pine trees, bramble and bracken, and absence of erosive events was recognized as the optimum state. We applied the Habitat Quality Assessment (HQA) method to a pilot area within the Xistral protected site. Wet heathland was the dominant habitat, covering 37.1% of the area. 7.0% of the assessed heathlands were recognized as in the optimum state for habitat quality. Recommendations are made for habitat management to revert low scores, mainly by the adjustment of livestock numbers and the removal of exotic pine trees.La evaluación de la calidad de hábitats constituye una herramienta muy útil para el seguimiento, a medio y largo plazo, de las acciones de conservación, especialmente en sistemas semi-naturales manejados. Los brezales húmedos atlánticos con Erica mackayana del espacio Red Natura Serra do Xistral, situado en Galicia, noroeste de España, representan un sistema dinámico con alto valor de conservación asociado al manejo tradicional mediante ganado vacuno y caballos salvajes. En este artículo desarrollamos un método cuantitativo y espacialmente explícito para la evaluación de la calidad del hábitat en brezales húmedos. Para ello definimos un estado óptimo y los estados alternativos que pueden resultar de la degradación del hábitat. Los principales indicadores de degradación que identificamos fueron la estructura de la vegetación, la proporción de cobertura de herbáceas-arbustivas, la cobertura de tojo, la presencia de helechos (Pteridium aquilinum), especies exóticas como los pinos, eventos erosivos y la existencia de dinámicas hidrológicas alteradas. El estado óptimo se definió como una estructura de la vegetación heterogénea, con una cobertura de arbustivas dominante de entorno a 0,5 m de alto y pasillos constantes entre las matas, con cierta cobertura de tojo, ausencia de pinos, helecho, eventos erosivos y alteraciones hidrológicas. Aplicamos la Evaluación de la Calidad de Hábitats a un área piloto dentro del espacio Serra do Xistral. Los brezales húmedos son el hábitat dominante y cubren el 37,1% del área de estudio. Un 7,0% de los brezales evaluados puntuaron como en estado óptimo. Se incluyen una serie de recomendaciones de manejo que permitan incrementar los valores de calidad de hábitats, ajustando la presión de ganado o la retirada de especies exóticas como el pino

Biodiversidata: A novel dataset for the vascular plant species diversity in Uruguay

South America hosts some of the world’s most prominent biodiversity hotspots. Yet, Uruguay – a country where multiple major ecosystems converge – ranks amongst the countries with the lowest levels of available digital biodiversity data in the continent. Such prevalent data scarcity has significantly undermined our ability to progress towards evidence-based conservation actions – a critical limitation for a country with a strong focus on agricultural industries and only 1.3% of the land surface guarded by protected areas. Under today’s rapid biodiversity loss and environmental changes, the need for open-access biodiversity data is more pressing than ever before. To address this national issue, Biodiversidata – Uruguay’s first Consortium of Biodiversity Data – has recently emerged with the aim of assembling a constantly growing database for the biodiversity of this country. While the first phase of the project targeted vertebrate biodiversity, the second phase presented in this paper spans the biodiversity of plants.As part of the second phase of the Biodiversidata initiative, we present the first comprehensive open-access species-level database of the vascular plant diversity recorded in Uruguay to date (i.e. all species for which data are currently available and species presence has been confirmed). It contains 12,470 occurrence records from across 1,648 species and 160 families, which roughly represents 60% of the total recorded flora of Uruguay. The primary biodiversity data include extant native and introduced species from the lycophytes, ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms groups. Records were collated from multiple sources, including data available in peer-reviewed scientific literature, institutional scientific collections and datasets contributed by members of the Biodiversidata initiative. The complete database can be accessed at the Zenodo repository: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.395440