Spatial relationship between biodiversity and geodiversity across a gradient of land-use intensity in high-latitude landscapes

Helena Tukiainen,Richard Field,Janne Alahuhta,Raino Lampinen,Terhi Ala-Hulkko,Jan Hjort

doi:10.1007/s10980-017-0508-9

Abstract

‘Conserving Nature’s stage’ has been advanced as an important conservation principle because of known links between biodiversity and abiotic environmental diversity, especially in sensitive high-latitude environments and at the landscape scale. However these links have not been examined across gradients of human impact on the landscape. To (1) analyze the relationships between land-use intensity and both landscape-scale biodiversity and geodiversity, and (2) assess the contributions of geodiversity, climate and spatial variables to explaining vascular plant species richness in landscapes of low, moderate and high human impact. We used generalized additive models (GAMs) to analyze relationships between land-use intensity and both geodiversity (geological, geomorphological and hydrological richness) and plant species richness in 6191 1-km2 grid squares across Finland. We used linear regression-based variation partitioning (VP) to assess contributions of climate, geodiversity and spatial variable groups to accounting for spatial variation in species richness. In GAMs, geodiversity correlated negatively, and plant species richness positively, with land-use intensity. Both relationships were non-linear. In VP, geodiversity best accounted for species richness in areas of moderate to high human impact. These overall contributions were mainly due to variation explained jointly with climate, which dominated the models. Independent geodiversity contributions were highest in pristine environments, but low throughout. Human action increases biodiversity but may reduce geodiversity, at landscape scale in high-latitude environments. Better understanding of the connections between biodiversity and abiotic environment along changing land-use gradients is essential in developing sustainable measures to conserve biodiversity under global change.

Highlights

30 Global change is affecting life on Earth, often negatively
In variation partitioning (VP), geodiversity best accounted for species richness in areas of moderate to high human impact
In the least human-impacted environments, there was a notable difference between the univariate and multivariate generalized additive models (GAMs): the raw relationship was a strong negative relationship, but when controlling for climate there was no relationship (Fig. 3B)

Summary

Introduction

30 Global change is affecting life on Earth, often negatively This trend is not slowing down (Butchart et al 2010), so more attention is being paid to conserving landscapes and related processes instead of individual properties therein, such as single species and geological formations (Lindenmayer et al 2008; Anderson and Ferree 2010; Comer et al 2015). This is especially relevant in boreal and Arctic areas, which are increasingly becoming focal points of 35 environmental, economic and geopolitical interest (Young 2012), leading to intensified land use and increased human pressures in these high-latitude landscapes. In facing future challenges in environmental conservation and land-use planning, profound knowledge of the factors affecting biodiversity across high-latitude landscapes is essential

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Conclusion