Small-scale response of plant species to land-use intensification

Plant communities are affected by land-use and landscape heterogeneity and can be used as indicators of environmental change. At small-scale, species composition and species richness of plant communities are influenced by local environment and by diaspores from the surroundings. Thus, they reflect the influence of both land-use type and land-use diversity. Plant community composition was studied along a gradient of agricultural disturbance in the Morvan Regional Natural Park (Burgundy, France). Six landscape units of 1 km² were selected along a range of increasing land-use intensity. Sixteen 0.2 m² sampling plots per unit were selected according to a grid-based design to estimate the percent cover of all plant species. Pattern analysis showed that local species richness increased from woodland to crop to grassland, and also increased with land-use diversity. Local plant biodiversity was maximized under intermediate disturbance intensity and minimized at low (woodland) and high (crop) disturbance levels.     

Early succession arthropod community changes on experimental passion fruit plant patches along a land-use gradient in Ecuador

Many tropical landscapes are today characterized by small forest patches embedded in an agricultural mosaic matrix. In such highly fragmented landscapes, agroforests have already been recognized as refuges for biodiversity but few studies have investigated the potential of non-forested land-use types to contribute to overall biodiversity of functionally important taxa in the tropics. This study experimentally investigated species richness, abundance, and community similarity of arthropods on Yellow Passion fruit plants, planted in standardized patches in 30 sites along a land-use intensity gradient. The gradient comprised all major land-use types of the area: forest fragments, abandoned coffee agroforests, coffee agroforests managed under shade trees, pastures, and rice fields in Coastal Ecuador. We found a total of 2123 individuals belonging to 242 species. Overall arthropod species richness increased with light intensity and leaf-surface area and decreased with land-use intensity: forest fragments and abandoned coffee agroforests harboured significantly more species than rice or pastures. Overall diversity in managed coffee agroforests was intermediate between the intensively managed and more natural habitats. However, the three most abundant taxa of arthropods (ants, spiders, and beetles) had the highest number of species in managed coffee agroforests, while ant abundance was highest in abandoned coffee agroforests and spider abundance highest in managed coffee agroforests. Analyses of community similarity revealed that open (pasture, and rice) and shaded (forest, abandoned and managed coffee agroforests) land-use types had distinct arthropod communities. In conclusion, although open agricultural land-use types tend to have fewer species in lower numbers, all land-use types contribute to overall biodiversity of the agricultural matrix because of distinct communities in shaded vs. non-shaded land-use types.     

Complementarity,biodiversity viability analysis,and policy-based algorithms for conservation

Biodiversity conservation “area-selection” strategies include not only trade-offs among society’s needs in land-use allocation, but also allocation of economic instruments such as incentives, levies, and biodiversity credits. For these applications, the key property of an area is its “complementarity”—the context-dependent, marginal gain in biodiversity provided by the area. Given that there has been little implementation of whole-sets of areas generated by the popular computer-based selection methods, we suggest that analogous “policy-based algorithms” would be a more effective real-world application of complementarity. Areas would be “selected” for conservation over time as a consequence of policies in which dynamic complementarity values influence application of economic instruments. These integrated biodiversity/economic strategies can use an extended form of complementarity reflecting marginal changes in regional probability of persistence of biodiversity. While probabilistic measures of biodiversity viability have been explored in area-selection for some time, it remains difficult to make viability statements about “all of biodiversity.” New approaches that use biodiversity surrogate information for “biodiversity viability analysis” (BVA) can take advantage of a general quantitative biodiversity framework in which pattern-based relationships among areas allow predictions at the species level. A standard assumption of “unimodal” species responses to environmental gradients yields an expected distribution of species in an ordination pattern, and allows sampling of inferred species. Based on environmental correlates, inferred species can be mapped in geographic space, forming distribution fragments. This information, when linked to species persistence models, may allow ongoing calculation of areas’ complementarity values. An example illustrates application of these ordination models to museum collection data for lizards from New South Wales (NSW), Australia.     

Species-pool effect potentials (SPEP) as a yardstick to evaluate land-use impacts on biodiversity

Using land to produce biomass or to build infrastructure has adverse impacts on ecosystem quality or, more precisely, on attributes (biodiversity, ecological functions, natural resources) of ecosystem quality. However, there is no comprehensive assessment methodology that allows the assessment of different land-use activities in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). I have defined the safeguard subject ecosystem quality and have modelled land-use impacts on species diversity on both local and regional scales. The characterisation factor species-pool effect potential (SPEP) has been developed for weighting a wide range of land-use activities. Occupation of urban, built-up and arable land are found to negatively affect the species-pool. Mixed forests and fallow appear to have positive effects. Generic SPEP factors can be used to assess the potential effect of land-use interventions in the framework of LCIA.     

Biodiversity,profitability, and vegetation structure in a Mexican coffee agroecosystem

We studied the relationships of bird and small mammal species richness, composition, and abundance to vegetation structure and economic profitability across a coffee intensification gradient in central Veracruz, Mexico. We conducted 2 years of point count censuses for summer resident birds, 2 years of Sherman live trapping for small mammals, and gathered vegetation structure data at 147 sampling points distributed over 16 sites spanning a cultivation intensification gradient. We calculated net annual revenue per hectare as an index of profitability from economic and management data collected during interviews with plantation owners/managers. Both the species richness and abundance of forest-affiliated birds were significantly greater in floristically and structurally diverse ‘bajo monte’ coffee and forest compared with commercial polyculture coffee, which was, in turn, significantly richer than statistically indistinguishable specialized shade and sun coffee. Mammal capture rates were extremely low at all but two sites. Forest bird species richness and abundance were explained by multiple linear regression models that included statistically significant effects of shade cover, percent of trees with epiphytes, and canopy height. We found no clear relationship between profitability and biodiversity, with biodiverse bajo monte coffee plantations ranking among the most profitable under all price scenarios. The high profitability of biodiverse bajo monte coffee systems was not dependent on the inclusion of long-term environmental costs or premium pricing systems. Our results demonstrate that high-biodiversity coffee cultivation can be compatible with high profitability, and has significant potential for conserving biodiversity in coffee-growing regions, but only as a substitute for low-biodiversity coffee cultivation, not forest.     

Are landscape complexity and farm specialisation related to land-use intensity of annual crop fields?

Little is known about the predictive value of landscape complexity and farm specialisation for land-use intensity, although this is critical for regional agri–environmental schemes and conservation of biodiversity. Here, we analysed land-use intensity of annual crop fields of 30 farms in northern Germany that were located in 15 landscapes differing in structural complexity ranging from <15% to >65% non-crop habitats. The proportion of arable land per landscape was used as simple predictor of landscape complexity due to its close correlation with habitat-type diversity, and the proportion of arable land per farm acted as an indicator for farm specialisation due to its negative correlation with stock farming. Land-use intensity was quantified using questionnaires. Landscape complexity and farm specialisation were related to several but not all indicators of land-use intensity. Structurally simple landscapes were related to more nitrogen input and higher crop yields, and farms specialised on annual crops had reduced crop-species diversity, larger fields, higher crop yields and more pathogen species. In contrast to general expectations, pesticide use in annual crop fields was exceptionally high and not a function of landscape complexity or farm specialisation. Our results show that generalisations such as “farms specialised on annual crops and structurally simple landscapes show increased land-use intensity” may be misleading.     

Exposure of European biodiversity to changes in human-induced pressures

There is increasing evidence that areas with high concentrations of species tend to have high concentrations of human activities. Would this tendency be altered with projected environmental changes? We investigate this possibility using the most extensive available dataset on species distributions in Europe, providing data for 3143 species. Observed land uses were utilised to generate three indicators of anthropogenic ‘pressure’ for 1971–2000: urbanisation, cropland and grassland use intensities. Storylines describing alternative development pathways were used to create four land-use scenarios for 2021–2050. Exposure of biodiversity to human activities was measured as changes in the degree of pressure recorded in hypothetical reserve networks selected to maximize the representation of plant, breeding bird, mammal, amphibian, and reptile species. In all socio-economic scenarios there was a tendency for increasing urbanisation and decreasing cropland intensities within selected conservation areas. Pressures arising from increasing grassland use were variable across scenarios and taxa. Our results challenge the idea that a single development strategy might provide reduced impacts in all regions and taxonomic groups. We show that impacts are likely to be complex and that tradeoffs might exist among development strategies. Nevertheless, results are contingent on the data, scale, and type of analyses conducted and further research is required to assess the impacts of alternative human-development scenarios.     

Human appropriation of net primary production as determinant of avifauna diversity in Austria

The relationship between land-use induced changes in production ecology and avifauna diversity was analysed using a GIS land cover dataset on a 0.25 km × 0.25 km grid covering Austria's national territory. Considering only aboveground processes, the “human appropriation of net primary production” (HANPP = potential NPP − NPP_t), actual NPP (NPP_act), harvest (NPP_h) and NPP_t (= NPP_act − harvest) were recalculated based on existing datasets. Elevation as well as indicators of land cover heterogeneity and landscape heterogeneity were also considered. Correlation analyses were performed between these potential determinants of avifauna diversity and breeding bird species richness data as well as the percentage of endangered breeding birds included in the Austrian red list. Four spatial scales—0.25 km × 0.25 km, 1 km × 1 km, 4 km × 4 km and 16 × 16 km, were analysed. It was shown that breeding bird species richness was more strongly correlated with production ecological indicators and elevation than with heterogeneity indicators. A residual analysis in which the effect of elevation (a proxy for climate) on species richness and its potential determinants was removed confirmed the importance of the availability of trophic energy (NPP) for bird diversity patterns. The results support the species-energy hypothesis, thus confirming the notion that HANPP could be a useful pressure indicator for biodiversity loss.     

Effects of bioenergy policies and targets on European wetland restoration options

The EU is committed to combat climate change and to increase security of its energy supply. Bioenergy from forestry and agriculture plays a key role for both. Concurrently, the EU agreed to halt the loss of biodiversity within its member states. To fulfil the biodiversity target more nature conservation and restoration sites need to be designated. There are arising concerns that an increased cultivation of bioenergy crops will decrease the land available for nature reserves and for “traditional” agriculture and forestry. To assess the role of bioenergy in light of possible negative impacts on ecosystems, the European Forest and Agricultural Sector Optimization Model (EUFASOM) assesses simultaneously economic and environmental aspects of land use. This study contributes to the assessment by analyzing the effect of bioenergy production on European wetland allocations by incorporating the spatial wetland distribution model SWEDI into EUFASOM. Results show that bioenergy targets increase land competition and thus marginal costs of wetland preservation but also of food prices. The designation of national wetland conservation targets, on the other hand, stimulates land use intensification in countries without these targets and here only a transfer of environmental stresses takes place. The model is able to illustrate regional differences of results.     

Land use as a mitigation strategy for the water-quality impacts of global warming: a scenario analysis on two watersheds in the Ohio River Basin

This study uses an integrative approach to study the water-quality impacts of future global climate and land-use changes. In this study, changing land-use types was used as a mitigation strategy to reduce the adverse impacts of global climate change on water resources. The climate scenarios were based on projections made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Kingdom Hadley Centre's climate model (HadCM2). The Thornthwaite water-balance model was coupled with a land-use model (L-THIA) to investigate the hydrologic effects of future climate and land-use changes in the Ohio River Basin. The land-use model is based on the Soil Conservation Service's curve-number method. It uses the curve number, an index of land use and soil type, to calculate runoff volume and depth. The ArcView programming language, Avenue, was used to integrate the two models into a geographic information system (GIS). An output of the water-balance model, daily precipitation values adjusted for potential evapotranspiration, served as one of the inputs into the land-use model. Two watersheds were used in the present study: one containing the city of Cincinnati on the main stem of the Ohio River, and one containing the city of Columbus on a tributary of the Ohio River. These cities represent two major metropolitan areas in the Ohio River Basin with different land uses experiencing different rates of population growth. The projected hypothetical land-use changes were based on linear extrapolations of current population data. Results of the analyses indicate that conversion from agricultural land use to low-density residential land use may decrease the amount of surface runoff. The land-use practices which generate the least amount of runoff are forest, low-density residential, and agriculture; whereas high-density residential and commercial land-use types produce the highest runoff. The hydrologic soil type present was also an important factor in determining the amount of runoff and non-point-source pollution. A runoff-depth matrix and total nitrogen matrix were created for Cincinnati and Columbus to describe possible land-use mitigation measures in response to global climate change. The differences in Cincinnati and Columbus were due to differences in geographic location, air temperature, and total runoff. The results of this study may be useful to planners and policy makers for defining the possible impacts of future global climate and land-use changes on water resources.     

基于土地利用变化模型的退耕还林还草决策分析——以通辽地区为例

通过综合考虑影响退耕还林还草的自然和社会因素,结合土地利用规划和遥感影像解译结果,论文以通辽地区为例,介绍了利用土地利用变化模型确定退耕还林还草区域的方法和过程。根据对2010年模型模拟结果和2000年通辽地区土地利用现状的对比分析,结果发现2000～2010年该地区进行退耕还林还草的合适区域应该主要位于研究地区的中部、南部,以及北中部。研究地区中部属于科尔沁沙地的腹地,土地沙漠化最为严重,同时城镇和农村居民点分布较密,退耕还林还草是政府用于减缓风沙对城镇和农村居民点危害程度的重要生态措施;而南部和北中部属于丘陵和山区,由于过度开垦,水土流失较为严重,是实施退耕还林还草的重点区域。此外,与退耕还林区相比,退耕还草区距城镇、农村居民点以及道路相对较远,具有可达性较差、地理位置较为偏僻的特点。论文得出的结果可为今后通辽地区退耕还林还草工程的实施提供科学依据,同时,该文提出的确定退耕还林还草区域的方法对其它地区具有一定的借鉴意义。     

High-risk ecosystems as foci for considering biodiversity and ecological integrity in ecological risk assessments

Ecological risk management historically focused on risks to human health and the immediate human environment. Increasingly, societal interest in biodiversity and ecological integrity demands that risk assessors and managers take a broader view of the environment and include non-human species and ecosystems within their realm of concern. The greatest threats to biodiversity in the USA and much of the world are habitat alteration (including conversion, degradation, and fragmentation) and exotic species invasions. This paper reviews and integrates the results of several recent studies (e.g. by The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, Defenders of Wildlife, and the National Biological Service) that have identified regions and ecosystems that are highly distinct biologically, are rare or declining, contain high numbers of imperiled species, face immediate threats, and stand to lose considerable biodiversity in the near future. These studies converge on a set of regions that warrant urgent attention from risk managers. Focal species and functional groups of species can be selected within these regions to characterize ecological effects and track recovery of ecosystems along the same axes (e.g. habitat structure, disturbance frequency) that led to biotic impoverishment. The most fruitful approach to risk management ultimately will be one that addresses the most urgent threats at several levels of biological organization, from focal species to communities to ecoregions.     

Groundwater dependent ecosystems. Part I: Hydroecological status and trends

Groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) include valuable ecosystems such as springs, wetlands, rivers, lakes and lagoons. The protection of these systems and services they provide is highlighted by international agreements, i.e. Ramsar convention on wetlands, and regional legislation, i.e. the European Water Framework Directive. Groundwater provides water, nutrients and a relatively stable temperature. However, the role of groundwater in surface ecosystems is not fully understood. The ecosystem can depend on groundwater directly or indirectly, and the reliance can be continuous, seasonal or occasional. This has implications for the vulnerability of ecosystems, as some may be easily affected by external pressure. Conceptual models and quantitative assessments of how groundwater interacts with the environment are needed. GDEs are also threatened by different land use activities and climate change. Hence, we need to understand how GDEs are affected by changes in groundwater quantity and quality, as severe groundwater changes have been observed in many regions. This study examines key aspects of GDEs (hydrogeology, geochemistry and biodiversity) in order to improve conceptual understanding of the role of groundwater in such ecosystems. The status and baseline of different types of GDEs are discussed, with particular emphasis on past evidence of environmental change and potential thresholds and threats in GDEs in various parts of Europe with different land use, climate and geology.     

基于生物多样性保护的河头喀斯特土地整理探索

河头喀斯特地区生物多样性丰富,将生物多样性保护的理念融入该区域土地整理过程,在施工过程中改进工程和生物措施,并在土地整理运行后加强生物和环境的监管,将能较好地保护生物多样性,提高土地生产力,维护粮食和生态安全,促进区域生态系统的相对稳定和景观的协调发展。     

澜沧江流域云南段土地利用格局变化及环境影响分析

应用1986与2000年TM遥感影像解译生成的澜沧江流域云南段土地利用现状图,在ArcGIS 8.3软件的支持下,进行图形叠加、空间分析和数据统计分析,获取该流域1986-2000年土地利用格局变化图和面积转换矩阵,揭示了该流域1986和2000年土地利用与土地覆被的空间分布规律及14年来的变化特征,并对澜沧江流域云南段14年来土地利用变化对环境产生的影响进行分析.结果表明,澜沧江流域云南段土地利用格局的变化引发了流域水土流失、生物多样性降低、景观破碎化等一系列环境问题.      

南水北调重要水源地的土地生态安全动态研究 ——以陕西省商洛市为例

土地生态安全对区域可持续发展具有重要影响。论文从影响土地生态安全的自然、 社会、 经济和环境因素方面选取了23个指标,构建商洛市土地生态安全评价指标体系,运用计量模型,对商洛市土地生态安全进行定量综合评价。结果表明:2000—2009年商洛市土地利用结构信息熵从1.031 4降低到0.980 5,土地利用结构均衡度不断降低,并向非均衡态发展;土地生态安全综合指数整体呈上升趋势,土地生态安全状况不断改善,土地生态安全压力尚未得到根本缓解;商洛市土地生态安全的威胁主要源于土地自然生态系统,土地经济生态系统的限制作用逐渐减小;人均耕地面积、 旱涝保收率、 人口自然增长率、 单位面积化肥和地膜施用量等因子成为商洛市土地生态安全的主要限制因素。     

科尔沁沙地及其周围地区土地利用变化的情景分析

根据科尔沁沙地及其周围地区过去15年(1985～2000年)土地利用的时空动态变化、2000年的土地利用格局以及2010年的土地利用规划数据,构建了模拟研究地区土地利用变化的CLUE-S模型。在该模型的支持下,论文分别对研究地区未来10年(2000～2010年)土地利用变化格局的马尔柯夫情景和规划情景进行了模拟,然后,通过2000年土地利用现状图与2010年情景模拟图的叠加,分析了在以上两种情景下土地利用变化的共同之处及差异。研究结果对完善科尔沁沙地及其周围地区土地利用变化的动态管理具有重要意义。     

随机森林算法在新疆物种丰富度影响因素研究中的应用

基于多源遥感数据及其产品,以2010年新疆地区鸟类与哺乳动物物种丰富度空间分布数据为基础,结合土地利用、植被、气候、地形等遥感数据产品,探讨了影响新疆地区鸟类和哺乳动物物种丰富度的各环境因子空间分布及其差异.通过随机森林算法对影响鸟类和哺乳动物种数的环境解释变量进行了重要性评估,同时采用探索性回归分析对物种丰富度与环境因子的关系进行建模,比较了鸟类和哺乳动物在草地、林地和耕地三种生境中的主要环境影响因子及其差异.结果显示：影响物种丰富度的环境因子中,植被生长状态与能量转换能力对鸟类丰富度十分重要,且草地的海拔高度重要性最高,为38.38%;耕地所处的气候类型对鸟类丰富度有明显影响,其中年均温重要性达到32.98%;哺乳动物的三种生境选择中气候和海拔条件十分重要,共占重要性的60%以上,最高达76.85%,在耕地中哺乳动物更看重气候而非植被生长情况;三种生境中鸟类和哺乳动物的最优模型及其影响因子均不同,耕地对于鸟类、林地对于哺乳动物的模型解释力最高,分别为69.9%和68.9%,随机森林和探索性回归分析均显示年均温、年降水量和海拔高度是哺乳动物丰富度差异的重要解释因子.     

Biodiversity of the ground-dwelling spider fauna of afforestation habitats

The aim of this study was to assess spider diversity among habitats that are typically used for afforestation in Ireland, and to identify habitat parameters which could potentially be used as indicators of their biodiversity value. Ground-dwelling spiders were surveyed in 24 sites across Ireland, with eight sites of each of the following habitat types: improved grassland, wet grassland and peatland. The spiders were sampled using pitfall traps which were located within the major vegetation types present in each site as well as within supplementary habitat features which may add to biodiversity value of the whole site such as hedgerows, flushes and the edges of ditches and streams.Each habitat supported distinct spider assemblages that reflect major differences in both environmental conditions and management regime. The improved grasslands had low spider species richness and low variation in assemblage structure which is probably related to the intensive management of this habitat. In this case hedgerows maybe an important aspect of the spider diversity within agricultural landscapes. The peatlands, and to a lesser extent wet grasslands, supported a diverse and specialist spider fauna, including a number of rare species; this may be due to differences in soil moisture and plant architecture. Indicators of biodiversity value identified included wet flushes in the peatlands and low grazing pressure in the wet grasslands. This study suggests that in terms of biodiversity value improved grassland is the preferable habitat for afforestation, because of the poor baseline spider diversity. However, it may be unrealistic to expect land owners to afforest their most productive agricultural land, so the management and habitat indicators identified in this study may be of use for assessing habitat quality among the wet grassland and peatlands to allow sites with lower biodiversity value to be identified.     

Fuzzy modelling to identify key drivers of ecological water quality to support decision and policy making

Water quality modelling is an effective tool to investigate, describe and predict the ecological state of an aquatic ecosystem. Various environmental variables may simultaneously affect water quality. Appropriate selection of a limited number of key-variables facilitates cost-effective management of water resources. This paper aims to determine (and analyse the effect of) the major environmental variables predicting ecological water quality through the application of fuzzy models. In this study, a fuzzy logic methodology, previously applied to predict species distributions, was extended to model environmental effects on a whole community. In a second step, the developed models were applied in a more general water management context to support decision and policy making. A hill-climbing optimisation algorithm was applied to relate ecological water quality and environmental variables to the community indicator. The optimal model was selected based on the predictive performance (Cohen’s Kappa), ecological relevance and model’s interpretability. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis was performed as an extra element to analyse and evaluate the optimal model. The optimal model included the variables land use, chlorophyll and flow velocity. The variable selection method and sensitivity analysis indicated that land use influences ecological water quality the most and that it affects the effect of other variables on water quality to a high extent. The model outcome can support spatial planning related to land use in river basins and policy making related to flows and water quality standards. Fuzzy models are transparent to a wide range of users and therefore may stimulate communication between modellers, river managers, policy makers and stakeholders.