Effects of woodland islets introduced in a Mediterranean agricultural landscape on local bird communities

This study assesses whether the afforestation approach consisting in the introduction of woodland islets in “agricultural seas” can reconcile the restoration of woody vegetation and the persistence of open-habitat bird populations, providing further opportunities for other forest species to enrich bird diversity at the landscape level. We compared the species richness and abundance of bird communities in a field with 16 introduced woodland islets and in a nearby abandoned field located in central Spain during spring and winter time. The woodland islets presented higher accumulated species richness as well as a higher probability of finding new species if sampling effort were increased only in winter time. These trends were the opposite during spring time. Mean species richness and mean bird abundance were lower at the woodland islets than at the abandoned field in both seasons. We found a higher abundance of open-habitat specialist species in the abandoned field. Woodland islets favoured the wintering of chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita. We did not find any effects on the only forest specialist species (blue tit Parus caeruleus) in spring. Bird richness and abundance were higher in edge islets than in inner islets. The introduction of larger and mixed plantations connected by hedgerows and a management that favoured the development of big trees, a lower tree density and a diverse shrub layer could promote bird diversity, allowing forest specialists and open-habitat species to coexist at the landscape scale

Restauración de campos agrícolas sin competir por el uso de la tierra para aumentar su biodiversidad y servicios ecosistémicos

Los autores que publican en esta revista están de acuerdo con los siguientes términos: Los autores conservan los derechos de autor y garantizan a la revista el derecho de ser la primera publicación del trabajo licenciado según una licencia de atribución Creative Commons que permite a otros compartir el trabajo con el reconocimiento de la autoría y de la publicación en la que se publicó por primera vez. Los autores pueden establecer por separado acuerdos adicionales para la distribución no exclusiva de la versión de la obra publicada en la revista (por ejemplo, situarlo en un repositorio institucional o publicarlo en un libro), con el reconocimiento de haber sido publicado primero en esta revista. Se permite y se anima a los autores a difundir sus trabajos electrónicamente (por ejemplo, en repositorios institucionales o en su propio sitio web) antes y durante el proceso de envío, ya que puede dar lugar a intercambios productivos, así como a una citación más temprana y mayor de los trabajos publicados.La restauración ecológica es capaz de aumentar la biodiversidad y los servicios ecosistémicos en los agro-sistemas con el objetivo de contrarrestar los impactos ambientales negativos de la expansión y de la intensificación agrícola. Una forma de conseguir este aumento es mediante acciones de restauración o creación estratégica de elementos clave que benefician a especies silvestres y a servicios ecosistémicos particulares sin competir por el uso de la tierra, a la vez que benefician a los cultivos. Algunas de estas acciones son la introducción de setos, charcas y cajas-nido para depredadores de roedores. La implementación de estas acciones de forma generalizada en el mundo contribuiría de forma importante a conciliar la producción agrícola y la conservación de la biodiversidad.Ecological restoration is capable of enhancing biodiversity and ecosystem services in agro-systems to counteract the negative impacts related to agricultural spread and intensification. An approach to get such enhancement is by means of restoring or creating target elements to benefit wildlife and particular services without competition for land use, including agricultural production. Introduction of hedge rows, ponds, and nest boxes for rodent predators are examples of such actions. Wide implementation of these actions is critical to conciliate agricultural production and biodiversity conservation

Plant diversity, biogeography and environment in Iberia: Patterns and possible causal factors

Las figuras que contiene el documento se localizan al final del mismoWe associated patterns of plant diversity with pos- sible causal factors by considering 93 local regions in the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands with respect to biogeo- graphy, environmental favourability, and environmental hetero- geneity, and their relationship with measured species diversity at four different scales: mean local species richness standard- ized at a grain of 100 m 2 , total species richness in a community type within a region (regional community richness), mean compositional similarity, and mosaic diversity. Local regions in biogeographic transition zones to the North African and Atlantic floras had higher regional commu- nity richness and greater mosaic diversity than did non-transi- tional regions, whereas no differences existed in mean local species richness or mean compositional similarity. Mean local species richness was positively related to environmental fa- vourability as measured by actual evapotranspiration, but negatively related to total precipitation and temporal heteroge- neity in precipitation. Mean local species richness was great- est in annual grassland and dwarf shrubland communities, and on calcareous bedrock types. Regional community richness was similarly related to actual evapotranspiration and total precipitation, but in addition was positively related to spatial heterogeneity in topography and soil water holding capacity. Mean compositional similarity decreased with increasing spa- tial heterogeneity and temperature seasonality. Mosaic diver- sity, a measure of complexity, increased with increasing local and regional richness. We hypothesize that these relationships can be explained by four ecological and evolutionary classes of causal factors: nu mbers of individuals, intermediate environments, limits to adaptation, and niche variation. These factors operate at various scales and manifest themselves in various ways. For example, at the site level, apparently processes that increase the number of individuals increase mean local species richness, but at the level of the entire region no such effects were foundWe are deeply indebted to Íñigo Vázquez- Dodero for his assistance in the early stages of this study. Jose M. Rey Arnaiz provided climate data. Emilio Chuvieco pro- vided the remote sensing data. Julio Álvarez, Javier Amigo, Carmen Bartolomé, and Marcelino de la Cruz provided useful information for finding data sets. Manuel Segura and Javier Temiño assisted with the classification of bedrock and soil types. Diana Piorno, Carmen Pineda, and Francisco Bermejo assisted with data entry. Meelis Pärtel, Mike Willig, Brad Hawkins, Sandra Lavorel, Jane Franklin, and R.M. Cowling provided comments about a previous version of this manu- script. This study was funded by the “Determinantes de la diversidad biológica en ecosistemas mediterráneos. Papel de los procesos locales y regionales” project (CICYT AMB96- 1161), and additionally supported by the ”Factores limitantes de la revegetación con especies leñosas autóctonas de áreas degradadas en ambientes mediterráneos. Rendimiento de distintas actuaciones de manejo” project (CICYT REN 2000 745). Travel by J.M.R.B. and S.M.S. was funded by the Universidad de Alcalá. The views expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Founda- tion or the United States Governmen

¿Coinciden los espacios naturales protegidos con las áreas relevantes de diversidad de herpetofauna en España peninsular y Baleares?

Debido a los elevados costes de la conservación, es importante priorizar áreas de actuación que permitan optimizar la inversión realizada. En este trabajo se identifican las áreas relevantes de biodiversidad de anfibios y reptiles en España peninsular e Islas Baleares. Para identificar estas áreas se han usado cuatro criterios, que proporcionaron distintos grados de eficacia o inclusión de especies, particularmente las amenazadas, en las áreas relevantes definidas por ellos. Se examina también la coincidencia geográfica entre dichas áreas relevantes y la red de Espacios Naturales Protegidos (ENPs), detectándose una serie de huecos que se propone completar con nuevos ENPs. Más allá de la explicación de la distribución de las áreas relevantes de biodiversidad, donde intervienen procesos ecológicos y evolutivos, creemos que estudios como éste pueden ayudar a la identificación de zonas del territorio especialmente valiosas para la conservación de la biodiversidad.Estas investigaciones se han beneficiado parcialmente del proyecto "Factores limitantes de la revegetación con especies leñosas autóctonas de áreas degradadas en ambientes mediterráneos. Rendimiento de distintas actuaciones de manejo" (REN2000 745) de la CICYT

Models for biomass estimation in native forest tree plantations and secondary forests in the Costa Rican Caribbean Region

The use of forest ecosystems as carbon sinks is now more accepted. However, credible information about its growth in terms of\ud biomass and its capacity to capture and store CO2 is still insufficient in order to suggest ways by which forest owners should be\ud compensated. The objective for this study was to construct models that allow us to determine tree biomass for native tree plantations\ud of Hieronyma alchorneoides Allemào, Vochysia guatemalensis Donn and a group of 35 species of secondary forests in the\ud Costa Rican Caribbean region. In each plantation the tree with the mean diameter at breast height (d) was harvested; in secondary\ud forests the harvested tree corresponded to the mean d tree with the highest Importance Value Index (IVI) for each diametric class.\ud Destructive sampling was used, separating each tree component and collecting a field sample in order to determine dry matter\ud content (MS). All selected models had R2aj values above 82.6%. Tree species from secondary forests showed the lowest R2aj\ud values. Stem, roots and total biomass had R2aj values above 91.3%, while leaves and branches had values between 82.6 and 94.1%.\ud Biomass expansion factor (BEF) in secondary forest was 1.44 and in forest tree plantations it was 1.56. The radical biomass (Bra)\ud relationship to total aboveground biomass (Bat) and stem biomass (Bf) in secondary forests was 0.25 and 0.37, respectively, 0.26\ud and 0.39 for V. guatemalensis and 0.3 and 0.52 for H. alchorneoides.El uso de los ecosistemas forestales como sumideros y reservorios de carbono es cada día más aceptado. Aún así, la información\ud fidedigna sobre su crecimiento en biomasa y la capacidad de captura y de almacenamiento de CO2 es insuficiente para proponer\ud formas de compensación a los propietarios de bosques. El objetivo de este trabajo fue construir modelos para estimar la biomasa\ud del árbol en plantaciones de Hieronyma alchorneoides, Vochysia guatemalensis y para un grupo de 35 especies en bosque secundario,\ud en la zona Caribe de Costa Rica. En cada plantación se extrajo un árbol de diámetro promedio a la altura del pecho (d) y en\ud bosque secundario un árbol de d promedio de la especie de mayor índice de valor de importancia por clase diamétrica. Se utilizó\ud un muestreo destructivo, separando cada componente del árbol y tomando una muestra de campo para determinar la materia seca.\ud Todos los modelos seleccionados tuvieron un R2aj superior al 82,6%. Las especies arbóreas de bosque secundario mostraron R2aj\ud inferiores. El fuste, raíz y biomasa total del árbol mostraron R2aj > 91,3%, y las hojas y ramas, entre 82,6 y 94,1%. El factor de\ud expansión de biomasa en bosque secundario fue de 1,44 y en plantaciones de 1,56. Se estimó que la relación de biomasa radical\ud respecto a biomasa aérea total y biomasa del fuste fue 0,25 y 0,37, respectivamente, en bosques secundarios; 0,26 y 0,39 en V.\ud guatemalensis, y 0,3 y 0,52 en H. alchorneoides.Este trabajo ha sido financiado por la Universidad\ud Nacional Autónoma de Costa Rica, el Ministerio de Ciencia\ud y Tecnología de Costa Rica y gracias al apoyo de la empresa\ud privada. El primer autor se benefició de una beca del\ud Programa Miguel de Cervantes para realizar su tesis doctoral\ud en la Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, España

Differential effects of vegetation restoration in Mediterranean abandoned cropland by secondary succession and pine plantations on bird assemblages

Las figuras y tablas que contiene el documento se localizan al final del mismoTwo contrasting trajectories for vegetation restoration in agricultural landscapes are secondary succession following cropland abandonment that can regenerate woodlands (passive restoration) and conversion of cropland to tree plantations (active restoration), which have mostly focused on pine species in the Mediterranean Basin. We compared the effects of these two contrasting trajectories of vegetation restoration on bird assemblages in central Spain. Vegetation structure differed in the two restoration trajectories, pine plantations attaining higher tree cover and height (31% and 4.1 m, respectively) but lower strata complexity than secondary shrubland and holm oak woodland (which attained 10% and 1.4 m of tree cover and height, respectively). Bird species richness differed in stands under active or passive restoration trajectories, the former collecting a higher total number of species (4.2 species per 0.78 ha plot) than the latter (3.5 species per plot). The number of forest species increased with vegetation maturity in both restoration trajectories, but especially in stands under active restoration. The occurrence of woodland generalist species increased and of species inhabiting open habitats decreased in actively restored stands, being some of these latter species of high conservation priority in the European context but relatively common at the regional level. Bird species inhabiting pine plantations had broader habitat breadth at the regional level than those inhabiting secondary shrublands and woodlands. Maximum regional density did not differ between both restoration trajectories, but it increased with development of the herbaceous layer only at the secondary succession trajectory. The relative importance of species of European biogeographic origin was higher in mature pine plantations (58.9% of total bird abundance) than in mature holm oak woodlands (34.4%), whereas that of Mediterranean species was considerably higher in the latter (40.1%) than in the former (20%). Bird assemblages of relatively small patches of pine plantations are unable to reflect the regional avifauna, in contrast with the relationships between local and regional assemblage characteristics that can be found in isolated natural forests. We conclude that programs of vegetation restoration should base upon a range of approaches that include passive restoration, active restoration with a variety of tree and shrub species, and mixed models to conciliate agricultural production, vegetation restoration and conservation of target species

Does post-disturbance salvage logging affect the provision of ecosystem services?

Background: Forest fires, insect outbreaks, and windstorms are common forest disturbances that are expected to increase in importance in coming decades. Post-disturbance management often involves salvage logging, i.e. the felling and removal of the affected trees. However, harvesting these biological legacies may represent a second disturbance whose effects on ecosystem processes add on those of the initial disturbance. Many of the potentially affected processes, such as soil erosion and stream water quality, represent regulating and supporting ecosystem services important for human society. In the last 15years, much empirical evidence has been gathered on the ecological consequences of this management practice, and it has now become necessary to synthesise this evidence in meaningful ways for managers and decision-makers. Methods: With this systematic review we aim to synthesise the literature on the effects of salvage logging on ecosystem services and determine the effects of major effect modifiers such as disturbance type and intensity, the timing and method of logging, and the type of forest. We will conduct searches of the primary scientific literature, which will be selected and categorised according to its relevance to the topic and its quality. Each relevant article will be read in full to obtain the necessary data for meta-analysis and to identify its main conclusions. Mixed-effects models will be performed to assess the effects of the identified effect modifiers on the effect sizes of the salvage intervention on ecosystem services and to account for random effects arising from studies being performed in the same area. Sensitivity analyses will test the potential effects of study quality, and publication bias will be assessed with the trim and fill method. We will present the results as a narrative review and a meta-analysis

The geography of high-value biodiversity areas for terrestrial vertebrates in Western Europe and their coverage by protected area networks

We identified high-value biodiversity areas (HVBAs) of terrestrial vertebrates according to a combined index of biodiversity (CBI) for each major taxon and a standardized biodiversity index (SBI) for all taxa in 2195 cells of 50 × 50 km in Western Europe to evaluate whether these areas are included in the current protected area networks. The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) and NATURA 2000 protected area network were used to assess the protected area cover in HVBAs. WDPA and NATURA 2000 were geographically quite complementary as WDPA is more densely represented in Central and Northern Europe and NATURA 2000 in the Mediterranean basin. A total of 729 cells were identified as HVBAs. From the total of these HVBA areas, NATURA 2000 network was present in more cells (660) than the WDPA network (584 cells). The sum of protected land percentages across all the HVBA cells was 28.8%. The identified HVBA cells according to the SBI included 603 or 78.2% of all vertebrate species in the study region, whereas the identified HVBA cells according to the SBI for individual taxa included 47 (90.4%) species of amphibians, 79 (74.5%) of reptiles, 417 (88.5%) of birds, and 130 (91.5%) of mammals. However, neither network was present in 7 or 3% of the identified HVBA cells. Thus, we recommend expanding protected areas in Europe to fill this gap and improve coverage of vertebrate species to strengthen biodiversity conservation.This research was supported by the\ud Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (grants CGL2010-\ud 18312 to JMRB, and CGL2010-22119 to MAR), and the\ud Madrid Government REMEDINAL project (S2009AMB-1783).\ud M. J. T. Assunc¸ao-Albuquerque was supported by the Brazil- ˜\ud ian Ministry of Education, through CAPES (Coordenac¸ao de ˜\ud Aperfeic¸oamento de Pessoal de N´ıvel Superior) Doctorate\ud scholarship and FSA was supported by BIOTREE-net-project\ud funded by BBVA Foundation. We are indebted to two anonymous\ud reviewers that greatly improved a former version of this manuscrip

Contributions of Hedgerows to People: A Global Meta-Analysis

David García de León et al. (2021) 'Contributions of Hedgerows to People: A Global Meta-Analysis', Frontiers in Conservation Science, 2. doi:10.3389/fcosc.2021.789612.Hedgerows are linear landscape features of woody vegetation usually located around agricultural fields. An increasing number of studies have addressed the effects of hedgerows on biodiversity and ecosystem services. This study is aimed to synthesize these effects and compare the levels of biodiversity and ecosystem services in farmland with hedgerows and (1) farmland without hedgerows and (2) nearby natural habitat at the global scale. We hypothesized that farmland with hedgerows (1) enhances biodiversity and ecosystem services as compared to farmland without hedgerows but (2) supports lower levels of biodiversity and ecosystem services than natural habitat. Our systematic literature review retained 835 observations from 170 primary studies, which were analyzed following the standard methodology in meta-analyses. Our results partially support both hypotheses. Farmland with hedgerows exhibited higher levels of biodiversity and provisioning services than farmland without hedgerows (H1). Farmland with hedgerows provided similar levels of biodiversity (edge effects) but lower levels of ecosystem services than natural habitat (H2). The effects of hedgerows on biodiversity and ecosystem services depended on control ecosystem type (grassland/meadow or forest/woodland) but were largely independent of climate type (temperate or tropical) and the focus of spatial scale (field or landscape). In conclusion, conservation and restoration of hedgerows contribute to people in several ways by enhancing biodiversity and multifunctionality in agricultural landscapes.Comunidad de MadridUniversidad de Alcal

Simulated effects of herb competition on planted Quercus faginea seedlings in Mediterranean abandoned cropland

We tested simulated effects of herb competition on the performance of planted seedlings of Quercus faginea ssp. faginea in Mediterranean abandoned cropland. We produced three types of environment with respect to herb competition: absence of competition (AC), below-ground competition (BGC), and total competition (TC). We assessed the performance of Q. faginea seedlings in each treatment in five ways: (1) seedling mortality, (2) leaf length and total plant leaf area, (3) water potential, (4) total biomass and biomass allocation, and (5) non-structural carbohydrate storage in different plant organs. We also measured (6) soil moisture at different depths and (7) biomass production of herbs. The TC treatment reduced water availability more than the BGC treatment, in agreement with the most pronounced water stress in seedlings under TC conditions. BGC and TC treatments showed a high and similar seedling mortality, which was one order of magnitude higher than that in the AC treatment. Competition treatments affected glucose concentration in both shoots and roots, and followed the rank TC > BGC > AC. Q. faginea seedlings might compensate a lower water availability through glucose accumulation in leaves to reduce the osmotic potential. There was a maximum starch concentration in the BGC treatment that hints that a moderate resource limitation would limit tissue growth but not carbon assimilation. We conclude that the negative effects of herbs on Q. faginea seedlings are mostly a result of competition for water, and that this competition is noticeable since the earliest stages of the establishment. Complete weed removal is a technique that would strongly improve seedling survivorship.This research has been funded by the projects Factores limitantes de la revegetación con especies leñosas autóctonas de áreas degradadas en ambientes mediterráneos.\ud Rendimiento de distintas actuaciones de manejo (REN2000-745), granted by the\ud CICYT (Spanish government) and Estrategias para la restauración de paisajes\ud degradados en zonas secas (E040/2001), granted by the Universidad de Alcalá. We are\ud indebted to the students Olivier Pastre and Antoine Aubeneau for their assistance in\ud field and lab work. We acknowledge the comments on a preliminary version of this\ud manuscript from our colleagues Fernando Valladares, Pedro Villar, and Miguel A.\ud Zavala. Peter Buckley and an anonymous reviewer improved its final version