Synergy between habitat fragmentation and climate change: implications for biodiversity in Alpine ecosystems

An increase in global temperature accompanied by rapid fragmentation of habitats will lead to greater pressure on biodiversity, with more dramatic impacts expected on high mountain ranges. A new wave of extinction is likely to occur as the ability of species to migrate toward new cooler suitable areas will be hampered by altered landscapes, also the magnitude of species loss will in part depend on species traits, or phenotypic plasticity of individuals which will have to adapt to the changed environmental conditions. In this PhD thesis, I included different models employing altitudinal gradient as a surrogate, to understand how effects determined by climatic variation might or might not exacerbate the negative impact of landscape changes on carabid communities (eastern Italian Alps). Chapter I contains a brief overview of the current body of scientific literature on the main ecological impacts of habitat fragmentation and climate change, and the emerging research related to the response of organisms to the synergistic impacts of these two threats. The aim of Chapter II is to determine whether the effects of rising temperature might enhance the impact of habitat fragmentation on beetle diversity and community structure. Chapter III describes an attempt to assess the existence of simultaneous effects generated by habitat fragmentation and climate change on variation of morphological traits (fluctuating asymmetry and body length) in natural populations of forest-dwelling species Haptoderus unctulatus. Finally, Chapter IV explores if species’ sensitivity to landscape modification and altitude might be maximized or not by a combination of life history traits of ground beetles. In summary, data of carabid assemblages suggest that the impact of rising temperature acting in synergy with land use pressure will move up along the mountainside, inflicting more serious negative impact on species composition, and causing changes in morphological traits of beetle populations particularly accentuated at lowlands. Also, interaction between these two drivers of change will exert a selective pressure on species with certain functional traits, which will result in a greater impact on the beetle assemblages of Alpine ecosystems than either driver acting individually

Assessing the response of ground-dwelling beetles communities to different land-uses in Mediterranea cork oak systems

In our study, we assessed the response of beetles communities at low taxonomical resolution to different Mediterranean cork oak land-use systems. Spatial variation of dung-beetles communities was also analyzed because of their potential role as ecological indicators in grazed areas

BIOFRAG: A new database for analysing BIOdiversity responses to forest FRAGmentation

Habitat fragmentation studies are producing inconsistent and complex results across which it is nearly impossible to synthesise. Consistent analytical techniques can be applied to primary datasets, if stored in a flexible database that allows simple data retrieval for subsequent analyses. Method: We developed a relational database linking data collected in the field to taxonomic nomenclature, spatial and temporal plot attributes and further environmental variables (e.g. information on biogeographic region. Typical field assessments include measures of biological variables (e.g. presence, abundance, ground cover) of one species or a set of species linked to a set of plots in fragments of a forested landscape. Conclusion: The database currently holds records of 5792 unique species sampled in 52 landscapes in six of eight biogeographic regions: mammals 173, birds 1101, herpetofauna 284, insects 2317, other arthropods: 48, plants 1804, snails 65. Most species are found in one or two landscapes, but some are found in four. Using the huge amount of primary data on biodiversity response to fragmentation becomes increasingly important as anthropogenic pressures from high population growth and land demands are increasing. This database can be queried to extract data for subsequent analyses of the biological response to forest fragmentation with new metrics that can integrate across the components of fragmented landscapes. Meta-analyses of findings based on consistent methods and metrics will be able to generalise over studies allowing inter-comparisons for unified answers. The database can thus help researchers in providing findings for analyses of trade-offs between land use benefits and impacts on biodiversity and to track performance of management for biodiversity conservation in human-modified landscapes.Fil: Pfeifer, Marion. Imperial College London; Reino UnidoFil: Lefebvre, Veronique. Imperial College London; Reino UnidoFil: Gardner, Toby A.. Stockholm Environment Institute; SueciaFil: Arroyo Rodríguez, Víctor. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; MéxicoFil: Baeten, Lander. University of Ghent; BélgicaFil: Banks Leite, Cristina. Imperial College London; Reino UnidoFil: Barlow, Jos. Lancaster University; Reino UnidoFil: Betts, Matthew G.. State University of Oregon; Estados UnidosFil: Brunet, Joerg. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences; SueciaFil: Cerezo Blandón, Alexis Mauricio. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Métodos Cuantitativos y Sistemas de Información; ArgentinaFil: Cisneros, Laura M.. University of Connecticut; Estados UnidosFil: Collard, Stuart. Nature Conservation Society of South Australia; AustraliaFil: D´Cruze, Neil. The World Society for the Protection of Animals; Reino UnidoFil: Da Silva Motta, Catarina. Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia; BrasilFil: Duguay, Stephanie. Carleton University; CanadáFil: Eggermont, Hilde. University of Ghent; BélgicaFil: Eigenbrod, Félix. University of Southampton; Reino UnidoFil: Hadley, Adam S.. State University of Oregon; Estados UnidosFil: Hanson, Thor R.. No especifíca;Fil: Hawes, Joseph E.. University of East Anglia; Reino UnidoFil: Heartsill Scalley, Tamara. United State Department of Agriculture. Forestry Service; Puerto RicoFil: Klingbeil, Brian T.. University of Connecticut; Estados UnidosFil: Kolb, Annette. Universitat Bremen; AlemaniaFil: Kormann, Urs. Universität Göttingen; AlemaniaFil: Kumar, Sunil. State University of Colorado - Fort Collins; Estados UnidosFil: Lachat, Thibault. Swiss Federal Institute for Forest; SuizaFil: Lakeman Fraser, Poppy. Imperial College London; Reino UnidoFil: Lantschner, María Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Patagonia Norte. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Carlos de Bariloche; ArgentinaFil: Laurance, William F.. James Cook University; AustraliaFil: Leal, Inara R.. Universidade Federal de Pernambuco; BrasilFil: Lens, Luc. University of Ghent; BélgicaFil: Marsh, Charles J.. University of Leeds; Reino UnidoFil: Medina Rangel, Guido F.. Universidad Nacional de Colombia; ColombiaFil: Melles, Stephanie. University of Toronto; CanadáFil: Mezger, Dirk. Field Museum of Natural History; Estados UnidosFil: Oldekop, Johan A.. University of Sheffield; Reino UnidoFil: Overal , Williams L.. Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi. Departamento de Entomologia; BrasilFil: Owen, Charlotte. Imperial College London; Reino UnidoFil: Peres, Carlos A.. University of East Anglia; Reino UnidoFil: Phalan, Ben. University of Southampton; Reino UnidoFil: Pidgeon, Anna Michle. University of Wisconsin; Estados UnidosFil: Pilia, Oriana. Imperial College London; Reino UnidoFil: Possingham, Hugh P.. Imperial College London; Reino Unido. The University Of Queensland; AustraliaFil: Possingham, Max L.. No especifíca;Fil: Raheem, Dinarzarde C.. Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences; Bélgica. Natural History Museum; Reino UnidoFil: Ribeiro, Danilo B.. Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul; BrasilFil: Ribeiro Neto, Jose D.. Universidade Federal de Pernambuco; BrasilFil: Robinson, Douglas W.. State University of Oregon; Estados UnidosFil: Robinson, Richard. Manjimup Research Centre; AustraliaFil: Rytwinski, Trina. Carleton University; CanadáFil: Scherber, Christoph. Universität Göttingen; AlemaniaFil: Slade, Eleanor M.. University of Oxford; Reino UnidoFil: Somarriba, Eduardo. Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza; Costa RicaFil: Stouffer, Philip C.. State University of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Struebig, Matthew J.. University of Kent; Reino UnidoFil: Tylianakis, Jason M.. University College London; Estados Unidos. Imperial College London; Reino UnidoFil: Teja, Tscharntke. Universität Göttingen; AlemaniaFil: Tyre, Andrew J.. Universidad de Nebraska - Lincoln; Estados UnidosFil: Urbina Cardona, Jose N.. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana; ColombiaFil: Vasconcelos, Heraldo L.. Universidade Federal de Uberlandia; BrasilFil: Wearn, Oliver. Imperial College London; Reino Unido. The Zoological Society of London; Reino UnidoFil: Wells, Konstans. University of Adelaide; AustraliaFil: Willig, Michael R.. University of Connecticut; Estados UnidosFil: Wood, Eric. University of Wisconsin; Estados UnidosFil: Young, Richard P.. Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust; Reino UnidoFil: Bradley, Andrew V.. Imperial College London; Reino UnidoFil: Ewers, Robert M.. Imperial College London; Reino Unid

BIOFRAG - a new database for analyzing BIOdiversity responses to forest FRAGmentation

Peer reviewe

BIOFRAG – a new database for analyzing BIOdiversity responses to forest FRAGmentation

Habitat fragmentation studies have produced complex results that are challenging to synthesize. Inconsistencies among studies may result from variation in the choice of landscape metrics and response variables, which is often compounded by a lack of key statistical or methodological information. Collating primary datasets on biodiversity responses to fragmentation in a consistent and flexible database permits simple data retrieval for subsequent analyses. We present a relational database that links such field data to taxonomic nomenclature, spatial and temporal plot attributes, and environmental characteristics. Field assessments include measurements of the response(s) (e.g., presence, abundance, ground cover) of one or more species linked to plots in fragments within a partially forested landscape. The database currently holds 9830 unique species recorded in plots of 58 unique landscapes in six of eight realms: mammals 315, birds 1286, herptiles 460, insects 4521, spiders 204, other arthropods 85, gastropods 70, annelids 8, platyhelminthes 4, Onychophora 2, vascular plants 2112, nonvascular plants and lichens 320, and fungi 449. Three landscapes were sampled as long-term time series (>10 years). Seven hundred and eleven species are found in two or more landscapes. Consolidating the substantial amount of primary data available on biodiversity responses to fragmentation in the context of land-use change and natural disturbances is an essential part of understanding the effects of increasing anthropogenic pressures on land. The consistent format of this database facilitates testing of generalizations concerning biologic responses to fragmentation across diverse systems and taxa. It also allows the re-examination of existing datasets with alternative landscape metrics and robust statistical methods, for example, helping to address pseudo-replication problems. The database can thus help researchers in producing broad syntheses of the effects of land use. The database is dynamic and inclusive, and contributions from individual and large-scale data-collection efforts are welcome.Keywords: Species turnover, Data sharing, Database, Global change, Landscape metrics, Edge effects, Forest fragmentation, Matrix contrast, Bioinformatic

Synergy between habitat fragmentation and climate change : implications for biodiversity in Alpine ecosystems

An increase in global temperature accompanied by rapid fragmentation of habitats will lead to greater pressure on biodiversity, with more dramatic impacts expected on high mountain ranges. A new wave of extinction is likely to occur as the ability of species to migrate toward new cooler suitable areas will be hampered by altered landscapes, also the magnitude of species loss will in part depend on species traits, or phenotypic plasticity of individuals which will have to adapt to the changed environmental conditions. In this PhD thesis, I included different models employing altitudinal gradient as a surrogate, to understand how effects determined by climatic variation might or might not exacerbate the negative impact of landscape changes on carabid communities (eastern Italian Alps). Chapter I contains a brief overview of the current body of scientific literature on the main ecological impacts of habitat fragmentation and climate change, and the emerging research related to the response of organisms to the synergistic impacts of these two threats. The aim of Chapter II is to determine whether the effects of rising temperature might enhance the impact of habitat fragmentation on beetle diversity and community structure. Chapter III describes an attempt to assess the existence of simultaneous effects generated by habitat fragmentation and climate change on variation of morphological traits (fluctuating asymmetry and body length) in natural populations of forest-dwelling species Haptoderus unctulatus. Finally, Chapter IV explores if species’ sensitivity to landscape modification and altitude might be maximized or not by a combination of life history traits of ground beetles. In summary, data of carabid assemblages suggest that the impact of rising temperature acting in synergy with land use pressure will move up along the mountainside, inflicting more serious negative impact on species composition, and causing changes in morphological traits of beetle populations particularly accentuated at lowlands. Also, interaction between these two drivers of change will exert a selective pressure on species with certain functional traits, which will result in a greater impact on the beetle assemblages of Alpine ecosystems than either driver acting individually.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Similar life history trait combinations interact to determine species\u27 sensitivity to habitat fragmentation and climate change

The life history traits of species are known to be associated with species vulnerability to anthropogenic disturbances such as habitat fragmentation and climate change. Species with certain traits are more likely to persist within altered ecosystems than others, but the sensitivity of species to these two global changes may also depend on the covariance among traits, with certain trait combinations likely to elevate the extinction risk for particular species

Assessing the response of ground-dwelling beetles communities to different land-uses in mediterranean cork oak systems

Studying of macroarthropods communities in different land-use systems may be widely useful in defining management strategies in Mediterranean forests, mainly due to their sensitivity to human impact. This aspect is really interesting in agroforestry systems, where resources shall be managed in terms of ecological and functional sustainability. In our study, we assessed the response of beetles communities at low taxonomical resolution to different Mediterranean cork oak land-use systems. Spatial variation of dung-beetles communities was also analyzed because of their potential role as ecological indicators in grazed areas. We selected twenty-two sites in the northern part of Sardinia (Italy) where beetles were sampled by using a total of 220 pitfall traps. In addition, in each site, a number of environmental variables related to cork oak woodlands structure and land use were measured. During the entire sampling period a total of 4550 individuals belonging to 47 families of beetles were captured. Multivariate analysis performed on ground-dwelling beetles data showed a distinct separation in terms of assemblages between grazed and low-managed sites (stress value = 0.18). Environmental variables significant affecting beetles assemblages were the sheep grazing, the average diameter of cork oak trees, the altitude and the degree of shrubs cover. Further, constrained multivariate analysis indicated the significance of grazing, by both large (F = 2.36, p = 0.03) and small domestic herbivores (F = 3.88, p = 0.002), and altitude (F = 3.54, p = 0.005) as variables determining dung beetles assemblages. Our results support the reliability of ground-dwelling beetles as valuable tool both to detect environmental changes in Mediterranean cork oak woodlands and to define management strategies useful to increase the resilience of cork oak agroforestry systems under future global change scenarios

On the occurrence of the genus Leptanilla Emery, 1870 in Sardinia

The genus Leptanilla (Hymenoptera Formicidae), represented worldwide by 47 species, shows a very peculiar geographical distribution. It is found in Africa, Spain, Italy, Corsica, Russia, India, Ceylon, Malaysia, Java, Japan and in the southwest of Australia. Currently, no species has been discovered in North and South America. Scarcity of records, mainly due to the difficulty in collecting the female castes, leaves many aspects of Leptanilla biology still poorly known

Variability of ant community composition in cork oak woodlands across the Mediterranean region: implications for forest management

We evaluated the potential use of ants as a powerful tool for environmental monitoring, together with the applicability of the functional group approach as an alternative method for studying ant communities in cork oak woodlands. Variations in ant community composition, diversity and functional groups were studied in two cork oak forested sites across the Mediterranean region. Ants were sampled using pitfall traps placed along linear transects at 12 sites located in the main cork districts of Italy and Morocco (Gallura in Sardinia, and Ma?mora, east of Rabat). A total of 13.501 specimens were collected, belonging to 38 species (five shared species). A distinct separation in the NMDS plots between Gallura and Ma?mora ant assemblages was clearly visible. Ant species composition was widely different between the two districts and significant differences were detected within the Gallura district at the species level. Opportunist species were well represented in Gallura (about 27% of average Bray-Curtis similarity) as well as cryptic species (over 23%). In the Ma?mora forest, generalized Myrmicinae, hot climate specialists and opportunists contributed equally to the average similarity (together about 53%). Multi-scale ant diversity showed that the true turnover was higher in Gallura than in Ma?mora. These findings support the idea that the functional group approach, rather than species diversity per se, could be considered as a valuable tool to detect the response of the ant community to environmental changes in Mediterranean cork oak woodlands. Using ants as bioindicators could help not only in detecting early warning signs of habitat disturbance, but also in defining a useful management strategy to increase the resilience of agroforestry systems under future global change scenarios