87 research outputs found
Exploring life forms for linking Orthopteran assemblage and grassland plant community:
AbstractOrthopterans are well known to represent the majority of insect biomass in many grassland ecosystems. However, the verification of a relationship between the traditional descriptors of orthopteran assemblage structure and plant community patterns is not straightforward. We explore the usefulness of the concept of life forms to provide insights on such ecosystem level relationship. For this purpose, thirty sample sites in semi-natural calcareous grasslands were classified according to the relative proportion of dominant herbaceous plant life forms. Orthopteran species were grouped in four categories, based on the Bei-Bienko's life form categorization. The association among plant communities, orthopteran assemblages and environmental factors was tested by means of canonical correspondence analysis. Orthoptera groups were found to be associated with distinct plant communities, also indicating the effect of vegetation change on orthopteran assemblages. In particular, geobionta species were associated with all the most disturbed plant communities, while chortobionta and thamnobionta seemed to be dependent on better preserved grassland types. Therefore, the use of life forms could help informing on the relationships of orthopteran assemblages with grassland conservation state. Information on such community relationships at the local scale could also assist managers in the interpretation of habitat change maps in terms of biodiversity changes
Connectivity in a real fragmented landscape: distance vs movement model based approaches.
Graph theory derived models and measures are increasingly being used to quantify landscape connectivity in order to contribute to conservation biology and management. This is particularly relevant in the case of real landscapes in which local actions may have crucial consequences for maintaining biodiversity on large scale. A number of graphs were compared sharing an identical node weight definition and whose link weights representing functional patch-connectivity, were derived from conceptually different approaches. Habitat suitability was taken into account. Calculated patch-connectivity was compared between all the graphs and these differences, evaluated by a set of indices describing network properties at the element structure level, were investigated
GESTIONE DEL BOSCO E CONSERVAZIONE DELLA BIODIVERSITA': L'ANALISI ECOPAESISTICA APPLICATA A TERRITORI BOSCATI DELLA TOSCANA MERIDIONALE
This research, developed for a wooded area of Southern Toscana with both the evergreen and deciduous broadleaves woods, aims to
show the consequences of coppice management on biodiversity and to suggest a methodology useful to foster biological conservation.
An analysis of landscape spatial confi guration was carried out according to principles of landscape ecology and using birds as indicators,
by means of already available data describing this territory. The connection between the territory and biodiversity has been analysed at
different spatial scales to understand if the perception limits of wooded land and their changes, caused by implementation of forestry
strategies by a forest technician can be analogous to that of birds. Scenarios were built according to different constrains applied to management
to estimate the impact of different utilisation criteria on resources spatial pattern and therefore on biodiversity. These criteria
were then tested in a public estate managed according to a forest management plan. The most relevant conclusions of this research can
be summarised as follows:
1. at a regional level the Colline Metallifere territory is important for establishing ecological continuity. Forestry and ecological planning
should always approach the territory at different scales;
2. structural heterogeneity, for this case study, affects biodiversity in an apparently contradictory way. The management criteria adopted
favour bird species linked to high forest environment but are disadvantageous to species linked to open ground. Forest policy of past
decades leading to reforestation of former fi elds and pastures, rural depopulation inducing the secondary succession on abandonedfarmland and longer coppice rotations resulted in a strong reduction of open areas. These are important habitats for birds, which all
over the Mediterranean area are menaced;
3. growth processes cause structural changes at the stand level and therefore mosaics originated by different stand structures can be
considered as “fragile”. Changes in the landscape due to these processes increase homogeneity and therefore may act on biodiversity
in a negative way;
4. several limitations adopted in building the scenarios correspond to rules already adopted in standard management plans, which do
not take biodiversity specifi cally into consideration;
5. empirical data on biodiversity collected in coppices, which could support or reject these hypotheses, are lacking; fi eld research is
mostly needed;
6. different behaviour of various bird species in the coppice habitat show the need to adopt strict and clear concepts regarding indicator
species or umbrella species and to avoid generic statements about “fauna”, “birds” or “habitat” to evaluate biodiversity
Opportunities for coppice management at the landscape level: the Italian experience
Coppice silviculture has a long tradition in Italy. Societal demands have led to
the development of forest management techniques for integrating wood production
with other kinds of forest uses and regulations have been issued to
limit forest degradation. In Italy, 35% of the national forest cover is currently
managed under coppice silvicultural systems that provide 66% of the annual
wood production. Fuel-wood demand is increasing and a large amount of fuelwood
is currently imported in Italy. Modern coppice practices differ from those
adopted in the past and may have a reduced impact on ecosystem characteristics
and processes. Nevertheless, coppice silviculture has a bad reputation
mostly on grounds that are beyond economic, technical and ecological rationales.
Neither cessation of use nor a generalized conversion from coppice to
high forest are likely to respond simultaneously to the many demands deriving
from complex and articulated political and economic perspectives operating at
global, European, national, regional and forest stand-level scales. Different
approaches of modern silviculture to coppice successfully tested in Italy for
more than a decade are illustrated. We propose to combine different options
at the stand and sub-stand level, including either development without human
interference or conversion to high forest, and to apply these approaches
within the framework of novel forest management plans and regionally consistent
administrative procedures. This bottom-up approach represents a potential
solution to the socio-economic and environmental challenges affecting
coppicing as a silvicultural system
Soil, humipedon, forest life and management
In recent years, three sections (Humipedon, Copedon and Lithopedon) were recognized in the soil profile. It was then possible to link the first and most biologically active section to the characteristics of the environment and soil genesis. In particular, it is now possible to distinguish organic horizons, mainly produced by arthropods and enchytraeids in cold and acidic or dry and arid environments, from organo-mineral horizons produced by earthworms in more temperate and mesotrophic environments. Each set of horizons can be associated with a humus system or form, with important implications for forestry. Anecic/endogeic earthworms and Mull or Amphi systems are more abundant in the early and late stages of sylvogenesis; by completely recycling litter, earthworms accelerate the availability of organic and inorganic soil nutrients to roots and pedofauna. On the other hand, arthropods and Moder or Tangel systems characterize the intermediate stages of sylvogenesis, where thickening in the organic horizons and the parallel impoverishment/reduction in the underlying organo-mineral horizons are observed. Recognizing the humus system at the right spatial and temporal scale is crucial for the biological management of a forest. This article includes a data review, new data from a doctoral thesis, and recent comparisons of Italian and French investigation
The Earth Observation Data for Habitat Monitoring (EODHaM) system
To support decisions relating to the use and conservation of protected areas and surrounds, the EU-funded BIOdiversity multi-SOurce monitoring System: from Space TO Species (BIO_SOS) project has developed the Earth Observation Data for HAbitat Monitoring (EODHaM) system for consistent mapping and monitoring of biodiversity. The EODHaM approach has adopted the Food and Agriculture Organization Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) taxonomy and translates mapped classes to General Habitat Categories (GHCs) from which Annex I habitats (EU Habitats Directive) can be defined. The EODHaM system uses a combination of pixel and object-based procedures. The 1st and 2nd stages use earth observation (EO) data alone with expert knowledge to generate classes according to the LCCS taxonomy (Levels 1 to 3 and beyond). The 3rd stage translates the final LCCS classes into GHCs from which Annex I habitat type maps are derived. An additional module quantifies changes in the LCCS classes and their components, indices derived from earth observation, object sizes and dimensions and the translated habitat maps (i.e., GHCs or Annex I). Examples are provided of the application of EODHaM system elements to protected sites and their surrounds in Italy, Wales (UK), the Netherlands, Greece, Portugal and India
Translating land cover/land use classifications to habitat taxonomies for landscape monitoring: A Mediterranean assessment
Periodic monitoring of biodiversity changes at a landscape scale constitutes a key issue for conservation managers. Earth observation (EO) data offer a potential solution, through direct or indirect mapping of species or habitats. Most national and international programs rely on the use of land cover (LC) and/or land use (LU) classification systems. Yet, these are not as clearly relatable to biodiversity in comparison to habitat classifications, and provide less scope for monitoring. While a conversion from LC/LU classification to habitat classification can be of great utility, differences in definitions and criteria have so far limited the establishment of a unified approach for such translation between these two classification systems. Focusing on five Mediterranean NATURA 2000 sites, this paper considers the scope for three of the most commonly used global LC/LU taxonomies—CORINE Land Cover, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) land cover classification system (LCCS) and the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme to be translated to habitat taxonomies. Through both quantitative and expert knowledge based qualitative analysis of selected taxonomies, FAO-LCCS turns out to be the best candidate to cope with the complexity of habitat description and provides a framework for EO and in situ data integration for habitat mapping, reducing uncertainties and class overlaps and bridging the gap between LC/LU and habitats domains for landscape monitoring—a major issue for conservation. This study also highlights the need to modify the FAO-LCCS hierarchical class description process to permit the addition of attributes based on class-specific expert knowledge to select multi-temporal (seasonal) EO data and improve classification. An application of LC/LU to habitat mapping is provided for a coastal Natura 2000 site with high classification accuracy as a result
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