Modeling the effects of grassland management intensity on biodiversity

A growing food demand and advanced agricultural techniques increasingly affect farmland ecosystems, threatening invertebrate populations with cascading effects along the food chain upon insectivorous vertebrates. Supporting farmland biodiversity thus optimally requires the delineation of species hotspots at multiple trophic levels to prioritize conservation management. The goal of this study was to investigate the links between grassland management intensity and orthopteran density at the field scale and to upscale this information to the landscape in order to guide management action at landscape scale. More specifically, we investigated the relationships between grassland management intensity, floral indicator species, and orthopteran abundance in grasslands with different land use in the SW Swiss Alps. Field vegetation surveys of indicator plant species were used to generate a management intensity proxy, to which field assessments of orthopterans were related. Orthopteran abundance showed a hump-shaped response to management intensity, with low values in intensified, nutrient-rich grasslands and in nutrient-poor, xeric grasslands, while it peaked in middle-intensity grasslands. Combined with remote-sensed data about grassland gross primary productivity, the above proxy was used to build landscapewide, spatially explicit projections of the potential distribution of orthopteran-rich grasslands as possible foraging grounds for insectivorous vertebrates. This spatially explicit multitrophic approach enables the delineation of focal farmland areas in order to prioritize conservation action

Chapitre V. — Les travaux des assemblées

Lenoir Noëlle, Klein Jacques-Sylvain. Chapitre V. — Les travaux des assemblées. In: Annuaire des collectivités locales. Tome 1, 1981. pp. 147-165

Chapitre V. Les travaux des assemblés

Klein Jacques-Sylvain, Lenoir Noëlle. Chapitre V. Les travaux des assemblés. In: Annuaire des collectivités locales. Tome 2, 1982. pp. 273-297

Validating Farmland Biodiversity Life Cycle Assessment at the Landscape Scale

Life cycle assessment (LCA) aims at providing standardizedevaluationsof processes involving resource use, human health, and environmentalconsequences. Currently, spatial dependencies are most often neglected,though they are essential for impact categories like biodiversity.The "Swiss Agricultural Life Cycle Assessment for Biodiversity(SALCA-BD)" evaluates the impact of agricultural field managementon 11 indicator species groups. We tested if its performance can beimproved by accounting for the spatial context of the individual fields.We used high-resolution bird/butterfly point observations in two agriculturalregions in Switzerland and built linear mixed models to compare SALCA-BDscores to the observed species richness at the field/landscape scale.We calculated a set of landscape metrics, tested their relationshipwith the landscape-model prediction errors, and then added all significantmetrics as additional predictors to the landscape models. Our resultsshow that field-scale SALCA-BD scores were significantly related tothe observed field-scale richness for both indicator groups. However,the performance decreased when aggregated to the landscape scale,with high variability between regions. Adding specific landscape metricsimproved the landscape model for birds but not for butterflies. Integratingthe spatial context to LCA biodiversity assessments could providemoderate benefits, while its usefulness depends on the conditionsof the respective assessment.ISSN:0013-936XISSN:1520-585

Chapitre V. — Les travaux des assemblées

Klein Jacques-Sylvain, Lenoir Noëlle, Bébin Paul, Chadenet Bernard. Chapitre V. — Les travaux des assemblées. In: Annuaire des collectivités locales. Tome 3, 1983. pp. 215-265

Nidification réussie du Guêpier d’Europe Merops apiaster à près de 1200 m d’altitude en Valais

Successful breeding of the European Bee-eater Merops apiaster at ca 1200 m elevation in Valais (southwestern Swiss Alps) In 2018, the European Bee-eater bred at 1165 m above see level on a South-exposed slope of the Upper Rhône Valais (southwestern Swiss Alps). At least four juveniles fledged, from apparently one single occupied breeding hole. The landscape is dominated by cultivated grasslands and hedges, and surrounded by xeric, sub-Mediterranean oak and pine forests. To the best of our knowledge this represents a new altitudinal record for western Europe outside the Mediterranean basin

Inverse Gas Chromatography with Film Cell Unit: An Attractive Alternative Method to Characterize Surface Properties of Thin Films

International audienceInverse gas chromatography (IGC) is widely used for the characterizationof surfaces. The present work describes a novel IGC tool, therecently developed film cell module, which measures monolithic thinsolid film surface properties, whereas only samples in powder or fiberstate or polymer-coated supports can be studied by classic IGC. Thesurface energy of four different solid supports was measured usingboth classic IGC with columns packed with samples in the powderstate, and IGC with the new film cell module or the sessile drop technique,using samples in the film state. The total surface energy andits dispersive and specific components were measured for glass,polyethylene, polyamide and polytetrafluoroethylene. Similar resultswere obtained for the four materials using the three different techniques.The main conclusion is that the new film cell module forIGC is an attractive alternative to the sessile drop technique as itgives very accurate and reproducible results for surface energy components,with significant savings in time and the possible control ofsample humidity and temperature. This film cell module for IGC extendsthe application field of IGC to any thin solid film and can beused to study the effect of any surface treatment on surface energy

Computerized Symbol Digit Modalities Test in a Swiss Pediatric Cohort – Part 2: Clinical Implementation

Background: Information processing speed (IPS) is a marker for cognitive function. It is associated with neural maturation and increases during development. Traditionally, IPS is measured using paper and pencil tasks requiring fine motor skills. Such skills are often impaired in patients with neurological conditions. Therefore, an alternative that does not need motor dexterity is desirable. One option is the computerized symbol digit modalities test (c-SDMT), which requires the patient to verbally associate numbers with symbols. Methods: Eighty-six participants (8-16 years old; 45 male; 48 inpatients) were examined, 38 healthy and 48 hospitalized for a non-neurological disease. All participants performed the written SDMT, c-SDMT, and the Test of Non-verbal Intelligence Fourth Edition (TONI-4). Statistical analyses included a multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) for the effects of intelligence (IQ) and hospitalization on the performance of the SDMT and c-SDMT. A repeated measures analysis of variance (repeated measures ANOVA) was used to compare performance across c-SDMT trials between inpatients and outpatients. Results: The MANCOVA showed that hospitalization had a significant effect on IPS when measured with the SDMT (p = 0.04) but not with the c-SDMT (p = 0.68), while IQ (p = 0.92) had no effect on IPS. Age (p < 0.001) was the best predictor of performance of both tests. The repeated measures ANOVA revealed no significant difference in within-test performance (p = 0.06) between outpatient and inpatient participants in the c-SDMT. Conclusion: Performance of the c-SDMT is not confounded by hospitalization and gives within-test information. As a valid and reliable measure of IPS for children and adolescents, it is suitable for use in both inpatient and outpatient populations

A multi-scale analysis on the importance of patch-surroundings for farmland birds

Agricultural intensification has profoundly changed agricultural landscapes with important biodiversity impacts. There is increasing knowledge on the general effects of landscape structure and management practices on plant and animal species but understanding the role of surrounding landscape structure for patch-scale biodiversity is more complex. While it can be reasonably assumed, that adjacent habitats are more important than more distant ones, the importance of landscape structure has often been tested at the landscape scale but rarely at smaller scales such as patch-surroundings. We assessed the influence and interdependences of landscape composition and configuration (LCC) and land use/land cover (LULC) on bird species richness and abundance through a multi-scale analysis with specific focus on the surrounding patches. In two agricultural regions in Switzerland, we collected point data of birds on 36 transects (500 m) and combined them with detailed spatial data on LULC. Bird richness and abundance were correlated to sets of landscape metrics as proxies for LCC computed at the transect-scale as well as for the patch surroundings. We analysed patch LULC as well as the most important patch-surrounding metrics using generalized linear mixed models. The results illustrate that patch LULC is the most important predictor of bird richness and abundance. Woody structures increase bird richness, followed by extensive management on patch scale. On the transect-scale semi-natural structure and heterogeneous LCCs are beneficial for bird richness and abundance. The effect of patch-surrounding structure LCCs is only small and interacts with patch LULC. Birds in grassland benefit from fallows in the surroundings, while in cropland they tend to respond positively to surrounding extensive grassland. Our results highlight that considering surroundings can help improve patch-based biodiversity assessments, which will then better predict the consequences of farmland management and make the outcome more applicable for practice.ISSN:1470-160XISSN:1872-703

A multi-scale analysis on the importance of patch-surroundings for farmland birds

Agricultural intensification has profoundly changed agricultural landscapes with important biodiversity impacts. There is increasing knowledge on the general effects of landscape structure and management practices on plant and animal species but understanding the role of surrounding landscape structure for patch-scale biodiversity is more complex. While it can be reasonably assumed, that adjacent habitats are more important than more distant ones, the importance of landscape structure has often been tested at the landscape scale but rarely at smaller scales such as patch-surroundings. We assessed the influence and interdependences of landscape composition and configuration (LCC) and land use/land cover (LULC) on bird species richness and abundance through a multi-scale analysis with specific focus on the surrounding patches. In two agricultural regions in Switzerland, we collected point data of birds on 36 transects (500 m) and combined them with detailed spatial data on LULC. Bird richness and abundance were correlated to sets of landscape metrics as proxies for LCC computed at the transect-scale as well as for the patch surroundings. We analysed patch LULC as well as the most important patch-surrounding metrics using generalized linear mixed models. The results illustrate that patch LULC is the most important predictor of bird richness and abundance. Woody structures increase bird richness, followed by extensive management on patch scale. On the transect-scale semi-natural structure and heterogeneous LCCs are beneficial for bird richness and abundance. The effect of patch-surrounding structure LCCs is only small and interacts with patch LULC. Birds in grassland benefit from fallows in the surroundings, while in cropland they tend to respond positively to surrounding extensive grassland. Our results highlight that considering surroundings can help improve patch-based biodiversity assessments, which will then better predict the consequences of farmland management and make the outcome more applicable for practice