Abstract
The most common ecological response to climate change is the shifts in species distribution ranges. Nevertheless, landscape fragmentation compromises the ability of limited dispersal species to move following these climate changes. Building connected environments that enable species to track climate changes is an ultimate goal for biodiversity conservation. Here, we conducted an experiment to determine if electric power transmission lines could be transformed in a continental network of biodiversity reserves for small animals. We analysed if the management of the habitat located inside the base of the transmission electric towers (providing refuge and planting seedlings of native shrub) allowed to increase local richness of target species (i.e., small mammals and some invertebrates’ groups). Our results confirmed that by modifying the base of the electric transmission towers we were able to increase density and diversity of several species of invertebrates and small mammals as well as number of birds and bird species, increasing local biodiversity. We suggest that modifying the base of the electric towers would potentially facilitate the connection of fragmented populations. This idea would be easily applicable in any transmission line network anywhere around the world, making it possible for the first time to build up continental scale networks of connectivity.
Highlights
Both climate and land-use changes are the major drivers of habitat loss worldwide and dramatically affect the ecological integrity of many systems as well as species distribution and extinction rates [1,2,3,4].Global average temperature increased by 0.85 ◦ C from 1880 to 2012, and by the end of the XXI century, it is expected to rise further [5] (up to 4.8 ◦ C; Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)2014)
The most common ecological response to climate change is the shifts in species distribution ranges [11,12]
We did not find any difference in modified towers between the two power lines, nor among control sites, allowing us to directly compare among treatments
Summary
Both climate and land-use changes are the major drivers of habitat loss worldwide and dramatically affect the ecological integrity of many systems as well as species distribution and extinction rates [1,2,3,4].Global average temperature increased by 0.85 ◦ C from 1880 to 2012, and by the end of the XXI century, it is expected to rise further [5] (up to 4.8 ◦ C; Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)2014). Both climate and land-use changes are the major drivers of habitat loss worldwide and dramatically affect the ecological integrity of many systems as well as species distribution and extinction rates [1,2,3,4]. Climate change is going to cause substantial shifts in the ranges of several species [6] and may surpass habitat loss as the primary threat to global biodiversity over the decades [7]. Anthropogenic climate change is already affecting ecological systems and biodiversity distribution [8,9,10,11,12] and has influenced >80% of all biological processes [13]. The most common ecological response to climate change is the shifts in species distribution ranges [11,12]. Land-use changes and subsequent landscape fragmentation compromises the ability of species to move following these climate changes under the current climate velocity [14]
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