Spatial relationships between above-ground biomass and bird species biodiversity in Palawan, Philippines.

Minerva Singh,Jose Don T De Alban,Roven D Tumaneng,Bruno Vilela,Angelica Kristina V Monzon,Rizza Karen A Veridiano,Daniel A Friess

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0186742

Abstract

This study maps distribution and spatial congruence between Above-Ground Biomass (AGB) and species richness of IUCN listed conservation-dependent and endemic avian fauna in Palawan, Philippines. Grey Level Co-Occurrence Texture Matrices (GLCMs) extracted from Landsat and ALOS-PALSAR were used in conjunction with local field data to model and map local-scale field AGB using the Random Forest algorithm (r = 0.92 and RMSE = 31.33 Mg·ha-1). A support vector regression (SVR) model was used to identify the factors influencing variation in avian species richness at a 1km scale. AGB is one of the most important determinants of avian species richness for the study area. Topographic factors and anthropogenic factors such as distance from the roads were also found to strongly influence avian species richness. Hotspots of high AGB and high species richness concentration were mapped using hotspot analysis and the overlaps between areas of high AGB and avian species richness was calculated. Results show that the overlaps between areas of high AGB with high IUCN red listed avian species richness and endemic avian species richness were fairly limited at 13% and 8% at the 1-km scale. The overlap between 1) low AGB and low IUCN richness, and 2) low AGB and low endemic avian species richness was higher at 36% and 12% respectively. The enhanced capacity to spatially map the correlation between AGB and avian species richness distribution will further assist the conservation and protection of forest areas and threatened avian species.

Highlights

Many tropical forested ecosystems continue to experience rapid decline, which in turn is associated with loss of ecosystem service provisions and biodiversity [1,2,3]
The research has laid the first step in the spatial mapping of above ground biomass (AGB) and biodiversity of a vital and increasingly threatened ecosystem
Data mining of archival resources has not been considered extensively in ecological studies, this study presents a roadmap of using them in conservation management

Summary

Introduction

Many tropical forested ecosystems continue to experience rapid decline, which in turn is associated with loss of ecosystem service provisions and biodiversity [1,2,3]. While PES may be able to provide biodiversity conservation co-benefits, overlaps between AGB and faunal species richness vary across tropical forest ecosystems and are variable at different scales [6]. Overlaps between AGB and biodiversity may be weak or non-existent at smaller scales in different tropical forest ecosystems. An examination of congruence between AGB and biodiversity was conducted across the different islands of Indonesia [8], where variable but weak overlaps were discovered between AGB and biodiversity These findings were further validated by a study conducted across 14 different tropical sites across South America, Africa and Indonesia, where limited overlap was observed between mammal and avian species richness and AGB [9]. Our lack of knowledge regarding the overlaps and co-existence of AGB stocks, biodiversity rich areas, and suitable habitats in this landscape is a major hindrance in devising PES mechanisms which could facilitate both carbon and biodiversity conservation

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion