Forest Islands Research Articles

Abundance and diversity of butterfly in the Lombok Forest Park, Indonesia

Abstract. Ilhamdi ML, Al Idrus A, Santoso D, Hadiprayitno G, Syazali M, Hariyadi I. 2023. Abundance and diversity of butterfly in the Lombok Forest Park, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 24: 688-695. The lack of studies on butterflies on Lombok Island has prevented the biology and ecology of this insect group from being widely known. Further, the absence of data on insect communities impacts conservation management, especially that of the Lombok Island Forest Park. Insects can only be effectively managed for conservation by knowing their basic biology and ecology, yet almost nothing about the butterflies on Lombok Island has previously been quantified. This study aims to analyze the abundance and diversity of butterflies in the Forest Park of Lombok Island, Indonesia. The research was carried out from January to July 2022. Further, the samples were collected from three habitat types: waterways, forest middle lanes, and forest edge lanes. Butterfly data collection was carried out on the left and right of each line that became the transect. During this period, 1524 individuals from 42 butterfly species were collected. The most abundant species was Jamides celeno (Ra: 7.54%), while the species with the lowest abundance was Lampides boeticus (Ra: 0.26). The abundance of other species ranged from 0.45% to 6.95%. The results of the analysis show that the diversity of the butterflies in Lombok Island Forest Park is quite high in each of the habitat types surveyed. The data from this research can be used to design and implement conservation management, especially for butterflies.

A range’s core should not only be important in research

A range’s core should not only be important in research

Predation risk and landscape properties shape reproductive output of an endangered sea duck from two subpopulations with contrasting predation risk

Predation is the leading cause of avian reproductive failure and theory predicts clutch size reduction under high nest predation risk. However, the impact of nest predation on population dynamics is debated, and spatiotemporal variation in reproductive output is poorly understood due to the predominance of short-term, single-site studies. To this end, we investigated how island geography (size, forest cover, isolation), predation risk (White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla abundance), climate (migration phenology, winter severity) and time trends affected early breeding success (inverse of early predation rate) and clutch size of endangered Baltic Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima). The study was conducted at two close sites (Tvärminne, Velkua) during 1991–2020. Local breeding numbers showed a similar annual decline. Interestingly, fecundity components were negatively correlated across sites: early breeding success was higher in Velkua and clutch size in Tvärminne. Island forest cover and exposure were the best determinants of early breeding success and clutch size (with only weak explanatory power for clutch size), but their effects were mediated by differential susceptibility to eagle predation risk. Clutch size increased in Tvärminne but decreased in Velkua. The former finding likely reflects increased breeder phenotypic quality due to selective disappearance at this high-predation site, whereas the latter finding may indicate increasingly compromised food intake. Only at the high-risk site did clutch size show the expected decline with increasing eagle predation risk, and the expected increase with increasing overhead protection (forest cover). We identify the least exposed forested islands, associated with the highest productivity, as prime targets of conservation.

Porosty wysp leśnych w okolicach Wieruszowa (Polska południowa)

The article presents the results of lichenological research conducted in 2015-2016 in the area of four forest islands located south of Wieruszów. The aim of the study was to prepare the most detailed list of lichens in the selected forest areas and to investigate the relationship whether and to what extent the size of the forest island and the way of its use affect the diversity of lichens occurring there. A total of 102 lichen species were found in the study area. The number of species and the diversity of lichens were shown to be directly proportional to the area of the forest island, and it was also found that more favorable conditions for lichens existed in state forests than in private forests.

Анализ структурной организации сообщества крупных хищных птиц Ремдовского заказника

Анализ структурной организации сообщества крупных хищных птиц Ремдовского заказника

Litter deposition in island forests associated with peatlands in the Serra do Espinhaço Meridional - Rio Preto State Park, MG, Brazil

Compreender a dinâmica evolutiva dos capões na paisagem pode subsidiar estratégias de conservação dos ecossistemas de turfeiras em montanhas tropicais e detalhar como diferentes elementos interagem na formação da paisagem. Estudou-se um ecossistema de turfeira na nascente do Rio Preto, em uma superfície de aplainamento conhecida como Chapadão do Couto, no Parque Estadual do Rio Preto (São Gonçalo do Rio Preto, MG) sob altitude de 1.600 m. Analisou-se dois capões de mata com predomínio de floresta estacional semidecidual, um inserido totalmente dentro da turfeira e outro na transição para o Campo Limpo Seco. O propósito foi investigar variações na quantidade e fracionamento de serapilheira aportada em cada fragmento florestal em diferentes épocas do ano, para evidenciar respostas da floresta às distintas condições de inserção na turfeira e como isso afeta a dinâmica de equilíbrio funcional do ecossistema. Quatro coletas de serapilheira foram realizadas no interior dos capões (jun./2018 a fev./2019) por meio da instalação de coletores de 1 m 2 confeccionados com tela de sombrite, suspensos a uma altura de 50 cm. Observou-se uma dinâmica de interações com padrões distintos entre os capões, sendo verificadas variações na serapilheira com relação à intensidade e à quantidade da deposição e dinâmica de deciduidade, está mais associada às condições de umidade do solo do que à temperatura na superfície e outros aspectos da matéria orgânica do solo.

“Pest Forests”, “Utility Forests” and “Cow Bends”

Small and scattered patches of forests contrast sharply within the context of the flat and monotonous dark green pastures in the Dutch polder landscapes. These patches, with various types of trees, are like little islands, surrounded by ditches. They are not remnants of the original old peat swamp forests but farmers created the patches in the past for particular purposes. Their names offer clear indications: in addition to the general name of ‘small polder forests’ (polderbosjes) they are called ‘pest forests’ (pestbosjes or krengenbosjes, places where contaminated or dead animals were dumped), ‘farmers’ utility or coppice forests’ (boerengeriefhoutbosjes or hakhoutbosjes, from which farmers collected all types of useful wood), or ‘cow bends or milk forests’ (koebochten or melkbosjes, places where the cows were milked and where the manure could be collected). With the modernization of agriculture and alternative sources of energy, many of these forest islands have been cleared for the sake of expanding the pastures. However, increasingly these forest patches are also viewed from a different perspective. Nowadays they are valued as an important element in the country’s (agri)cultural heritage, but also for the role they play in terms of the polders’ biodiversity (flora as well as fauna), which has rapidly declined with the modernization of agriculture in recent decades. In this article an overview will be given of the origin of these ‘forest islands’ and how they have functioned in the Dutch polder landscape in the past century as an often ignored aspect of farmers’ knowledge and practices. Attention will also be paid to the present efforts to maintain these forest islands.

Terrestrial food web complexity in Amazonian forests decays with habitat loss

The conversion of natural ecosystems into human-modified landscapes (HMLs) is the main driver of biodiversity loss in terrestrial ecosystems.1,2,3 Even when species persist within habitat remnants, populations may become so small that ecological interactions are functionally lost, disrupting local interaction networks.4,5 To uncover the consequences of land use changes toward ecosystem functioning, we need to understand how changes in species richness and abundance in HMLs6,7,8 rearrange ecological networks. We used data from forest vertebrate surveys and combined modeling and network analysis to investigate how the structure of predator-prey networks was affected by habitat insularization induced by a hydroelectric reservoir in the Brazilian Amazonia.9 We found that network complexity, measured by interaction diversity, decayed non-linearly with decreasingly smaller forest area. Although on large forest islands (>100 ha) prey species were linked to 3-4 potential predators, they were linked to one or had no remaining predator on small islands. Using extinction simulations, we show that the variation in network structure cannot be explained by abundance-related extinction risk or prey availability. Our findings show that habitat loss may result in an abrupt disruption of terrestrial predator-prey networks, generating low-complexity ecosystems that may not retain functionality. Release from predation on some small islands may produce cascading effects over plants that accelerate forest degradation, whereas predator spillover on others may result in overexploited prey populations. Our analyses highlight that in addition to maintaining diversity, protecting large continuous forests is required for the persistence of interaction networks and related ecosystem functions.

Ecological Aspects of the Analysis of the Age Structure of the Stand of the National Park “Buzuluksky Bor”

The forests of the steppe Trans-Urals cover a small area and are represented to a greater degree by island forests, birch outlier and inundable poplar forests. However, it is difficult to overestimate their bioecological, habitat forming, soil-fixing, protective and recreational functions. Currently, due to various forest growth conditions and forestry operations, in natural and artificial forest stands, there are processes of shrinking of the stand, epiphytoxics of the stand with harmful insects and fungal diseases, an increase in the proportion of overmature stands, which worsen the general condition of the forest, lead to the development of outbreaks of diseases and create an inflammability. The tree plantations Buzuluksky Bor National Park are exposed to periodic droughts, high temperatures in spring and summer, fires in large areas, diseases, as well as continuous logging carried out in the past, which leads to a change in the structure of the stand. The article provides a history of the bor formation, which in the process of its formation was undergone serai change, the influence of various both positive and negative factors, which can be attributed to an anthropogenous factor. An analytical analysis of the changes in the forest fund of the national park Buzuluksky Bor National Park because of the use of logging of the main use and the impact of the pyrogenic factor is given. Changes in the area of plantings of individual species by years of forest management are also presented. The optimal age structure is determined, the value of the normative distribution of the areas of plantings for each kind of wood is calculated. Conservation and restoration of forest territories of the steppe zone, in particular Buzuluksky Bor National Park, the productive capacity of tree plantations, continuing of protective functions, as well as biodiversity and their contribution to global ecological processes are currently the task of prime importance and criterion for sustainable management of forest resources.

Comparative Floristic Studies of Island Hogs of the Southern Border of the <i>Pinus sylvestris</i> Range on the Territory of the East European Plain and the Southern Outskirts of the Ural Mountain Country

The article considers the natural relict forests of Pinus sylvestris L. within the southwestern boundary of the range at the junction of geomorphological areas and floristic areas within the Orenburg region. Relict plantings are characterized by high floral diversity and are subdivided on the basis of geobotanical studies into the following communities: grass-mossy pine forests; lichen pine forests; oak-lime pine forests; grass pine forests of depressions and hills Buzuluksky forest; grass pine forests of depressions; sparse woodlands at rock outcrops Karagai Pokrovsky forest. Adrianople, Bolotovsky, Aland island forests are represented by sparsely wooded rock outcrops with the presence of areas of depressions and hills grass pine forests. The revealed floristic differentiation between the studied forests is largely associated with isolation and remote location in a limited area in a region with increasing intensity of economic use over the past decades, as well as with the evolutionary processes of the formation of the Pinus sylvestris L. habitat. at the junction of two parts of the world of Europe and Asia, which are manifested in the features of the geomorphological structure and convergence of botanical and geographical zones.

Soundscape Perception Preference in an Urban Forest Park: Evidence from Moon Island Forest Park in Lu’an City

Urban forest parks improve the environment by reducing noise, which can promote the development of physical and mental health. This study aimed to investigate the soundscape preferences of visitors in different spaces. It also provides practical suggestions for the study of urban green-space soundscapes. This study took the example of Moon Island Forest Park in Lu’an City, based on the questionnaire field survey that acquired public soundscape perception data. SPSS 26.0 was used to analyze five different spatial soundscape perception preferences in Moon Island Forest Park, starting from the subjective evaluation of users’ soundscape perception, based on user preference for different spatial sound source types. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used and a separate analysis of soundscape preferences in each space was undertaken; the mean (SD) was also used to reveal the respondents’ preference for each sound-source perceptual soundscape. The study found that the five dimensions of different spaces were significantly correlated with sound perception preferences. First, the same sound source had different perceptual characteristics and differences in different functional areas. Second, different spatial features were influenced differently by typical sound sources. Third, in each functional area, water sound was the main sound source of positive impact and mechanical sound was the main source of negative impact. Mechanical sound had the greatest negative impact on the overall area. Overall, natural sound provided the most popular significant contribution to the soundscape preference; second was the human voice, and mechanical sound produced a negative effect. The results of these studies were analyzed from the perspective of soundscape characteristics in different spaces, providing a more quantitative basis for urban forest park soundscape design.

Starch grain analysis of ceramic residue from forest islands associated with raised fields in west central Mojos, Bolivia

This study analyzed starch grain residues from 65 ceramic artifacts recovered from excavations of inhabited forest islands situated near raised fields in the Llanos de Mojos region of the southwestern Amazon Basin. The assemblage of starch grains from the forest island contexts represents a diverse array of plant resources including maize and manioc, but also other plants such as achira, arrowroot, and the first archaeological evidence for arracacha in the southwest Amazon. The artifacts sampled and plants identified in this study represent resource use by people living on forest islands who constructed and maintained adjacent raised fields for cultivation. The study highlights the importance of research into the diversity of local and regional foodways in the Llanos de Mojos.

Communities of endophytic fungi in a Puerto Rican rainforest vary along a gradient of disturbance due to Hurricane Maria.

Increases in the frequency and intensity of hurricanes influence the structure, function, and resilience of Caribbean forests. Trees in such forests harbor diverse fungal endophytes within leaves and roots. Fungal endophytes often are important for plant health and stress responses, but how their communities are impacted by hurricanes is not well known. We measured forest disturbance in Carite State Forest in Puerto Rico ca. 16 months after the passage of Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm. In three sites, each comprising three plots representing a local gradient of hurricane disturbance, we evaluated soil chemistry and used culture-free analyses to measure richness, phylogenetic diversity, and composition of endophyte communities in leaves and roots. We found that endophyte richness did not vary significantly among plant families or as a function of soil chemistry. Instead, leaf endophytes peaked in richness and decreased in phylogenetic diversity at intermediate levels of disturbance. Root endophytes did not show such variation, but both leaf- and root endophyte communities differed in species composition as a function of disturbance across the forest. Locations with less disturbance typically hosted distinctive assemblages of foliar endophytes, whereas more disturbed locations had more regionally homogeneous endophyte communities. Together, our results show that changes in endophyte richness and phylogenetic diversity can be detected in aboveground tissues more than a year after major storms. In turn, pervasive shifts in endophyte community composition both aboveground and belowground suggest a subtle and lasting effect of hurricanes that merits further study, potentially contributing to the promotion of spatially heterogeneous endophyte assemblages at a landscape scale in these diverse island forests.

Environmental factors determining the forest–grassland variation in the Espinhaço Range Biosphere Reserve—Brazil

Abstract Knowledge concerning the processes involved in defining the boundaries between rainforests (fire-sensitive) and open formations (fire-tolerant) is essential to safeguarding biodiversity and ecosystem services, especially under climate change and increased anthropogenic pressure. Here, we investigated the main environmental factors involved in the co-occurrence of forest islands and humid grasslands located in a protected area in the Espinhaço Biosphere Reserve, southeastern Brazil. We used permanent plots to collect the soil variables (moisture and chemical properties) in the forest islands. For sampling in wet grasslands, we installed four lines of 30 m from the edge of the islands in different directions. Subsequently, we delimited three points on each line10 m apart, totaling 12 points per area. We also surveyed the vegetation cover before and after prescribed burns. The environmental variables were subjected to tests of means and principal component analysis. We observed higher values of potassium, sum of bases, cation exchange capacity and organic matter in soils from forest islands than in wet grasslands. Therefore, the boundaries’ definition between the two vegetation types appeared to be primarily related to soil fertility and moisture gradients. After prescribed burning of the areas, no regeneration of arboreal individuals was detected near the edges of the islands. Therefore, our results suggest that forest islands are unable to expand due to well-defined edapho-climatic conditions. Thus, these environments should be a target focus for designing public conservation policies because they increase the complexity of the landscape of Campos Rupestres vegetation (mountain rocky grasslands).

Spatial and Temporal Variability and Driving Factors of Carbon Dioxide and Nitrous Oxide Fluxes in Alpine Wetland Ecosystems.

Plants regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes in wetland ecosystems, but the mechanisms of plant removal and plant species that contribute to GHG emissions remain unclear. In this study, the fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) were measured using the static chamber method from an island forest dominated by two different species, namely Betula platyphylla (BP) and Larix gmelinii (LG), in a marsh wetland in the Great Xing'an Mountains. Four sub-plots were established in this study: (1) bare soil after removing vegetation under BP (SBP); (2) bare soil after removing vegetation under LG (SLG); (3) soil with vegetation under BP (VSBP); and (4) soil with vegetation under LG (VSLG). Additionally, the contributions of the dark respiration from plant aerial parts under BP (VBP) and LG (VLG) to GHG fluxes were calculated. We found that the substantial spatial variability of CO2 fluxes ranged from -25.32 ± 15.45 to 187.20 ± 74.76 mg m-2 h-1 during the study period. The CO2 fluxes decreased in the order of SBP > VSLG > VSBP > SLG > VLG > VBP, indicating that vegetation species had a great impact on CO2 emissions. Particularly, the absence of vegetation promoted CO2 emission in both BP and LG. Additionally, CO2 fluxes showed dramatically seasonal variations, with high CO2 fluxes in late spring (May) and summer (June, July, and August), but low fluxes in late summer (August) and early autumn (September). Soil temperatures at 0-20 cm depth were better predictors of CO2 fluxes than deeper soil temperatures. N2O fluxes were varied in different treatments with the highest N2O fluxes in SLG and the lowest N2O fluxes in VBP. Meanwhile, no significant correlation was found between N2O fluxes and air or soil temperatures. Temporally, negative N2O fluxes were observed from June to October, indicating that soil N2O fluxes were reduced and emitted as N2, which was the terminal step of the microbial denitrification process. Most of the study sites were CO2 sources during the warm season and CO2 sinks in the cold season. Thus, soil temperature plays an important role in CO2 fluxes. We also found that the CO2 flux was positively related to pH in a 10 cm soil layer and positively related to moisture content (MC) in a 50 cm soil layer in VSBP and VSLG. However, the CO2 flux was negatively related to pH in a 30 cm soil layer in SBP and SLG. Our findings highlight the effects of vegetation removal on GHG fluxes, and aid in the scientific management of wetland plants.

Importance of grassy and forest non-crop habitat islands for overwintering of ground-dwelling arthropods in agricultural landscapes: A multi-taxa approach

Non-crop habitats are supposed to provide valuable resources to beneficial arthropods inhabiting agricultural landscapes during both the growing and winter seasons. Unfortunately, studies focused on the performance of non-crop habitats during the winter period are much less abundant, despite their importance for efficient biodiversity conservation measures. In this study, we assessed the distribution of ground-dwelling arthropods overwintering on arable land as well as the boundaries and interiors of neighbouring grassy and forest non-crop habitat islands. Myriapods, spiders, carabid and rove beetles were collected using a combination of quadrat sampling (soil sampling) and pitfall trapping. Our results revealed the importance of both non-crop habitat islands for overwintering arthropods, though slightly higher abundance and species richness were recorded in forest compared to grassy islands. Abundance and species richness of overwintering arthropods were lower on arable land for all the investigated taxa. Carabid and rove beetles overwintered more on non-crop boundaries than interiors, whereas spiders and myriapods used both boundaries and interiors. Landscape composition had stronger effects on carabids and myriapods collected with pitfall traps, which were benefitted in landscapes with high non-crop habitat cover. Grassy and forest non-crop habitat islands hosted different assemblages of myriapods, carabids and rove beetles, highlighting the complementarity of both non-crop habitat types for ground-dwelling arthropods. We recommend to preserve all existing non-crop habitat patches and to create new permanent non-crop habitat patches in intensively managed agricultural landscapes, as even relatively small non-crop habitat islands within the cultivated land can play a relevant role for overwintering arthropods.

Conservation of Voluntary Nature Reserves: Physical Characterization of Flora of the Biodiversity Zones of the Zuénoula Sugar Complex (Central West, Côte d'Ivoire)

Background: Conservation of voluntary nature reserves: physical characterization of flora of the biodiversity zones of the Zuénoula sugar complex (Central West, Côte d'Ivoire.
 Objective: To protect and conserve biodiversity zones of the Zuénoula sugar complex for abundant and sustainable sugar production in Côte d'Ivoire.
 Methods: A study of the perimeter boundaries and floristic structure of conservation areas was conducted in vegetation formations consisting of gallery forests, riparian forests and forest islands. The perimeter boundaries were determined by mapping the ecological sites with a GPS. The floristic list was established from surface and itinerant survey methods.
 Results: The three ecological sites were delimited and mapped on an area of 139.55 ha. The flora, mostly from the Guinean-Congolese region, was rich in 106 species and dominated by Mesophanerophytes. It belonged mainly to the Caesalpiniaceae, Moraceae and Sterculiaceae families. The gallery forests FG3 and FG5 were the most stable. In addition, all environments were diverse and indicated a uniform distribution of species. Six vulnerable species including Afzeliaafricana and Mallotusoppositus, two Red List species including Miliciaexcelsa and Triplochitonscleroxylon and 41 species of Least Concern including Albiziaadianthifolia and Lanneanigritana were identified.
 Conclusion: The ecological reserves of Zuénoula are rich and diversified in plant species. Their implementation allows for the reduction of industrial pollution.

Emergent properties of species-habitat networks in an insular forest landscape.

Deforestation and fragmentation are pervasive drivers of biodiversity loss, but how they scale up to entire landscapes remains poorly understood. Here, we apply species-habitat networks based on species co-occurrences to test the effects of insular fragmentation on multiple taxa—medium-large mammals, small nonvolant mammals, lizards, understory birds, frogs, dung beetles, orchid bees, and trees—across 22 forest islands and three continuous forest sites within a river-damming quasi-experimental landscape in Central Amazonia. Widespread, nonrandom local species extinctions were translated into highly nested networks of low connectance and modularity. Networks’ robustness considering the sequential removal of large-to-small sites was generally low; between 5% (dung beetles) and 50% (orchid bees) of species persisted when retaining only <10 ha of islands. In turn, larger sites and body size were the main attributes structuring the networks. Our results raise the prospects that insular forest fragmentation results in simplified species-habitat networks, with distinct taxa persistence to habitat loss.

IMPACT OF CLIMATE WARMING ON FLORISTIC DIVERSITY OF THE EAST EUROPEAN TUNDRA

IMPACT OF CLIMATE WARMING ON FLORISTIC DIVERSITY OF THE EAST EUROPEAN TUNDRA

Resource Communication: ForestAz - Using Google Earth Engine and Sentinel data for forest monitoring in the Azores Islands (Portugal)

Aim of study: ForestAz application was developed to (i) map Azorean forest areas accurately through semiautomatic supervised classification; (ii) assess vegetation condition (e.g., greenness and moisture) by computing and comparing several spectral indices; and (iii) quantitatively evaluate the stocks and dynamics of aboveground carbon (AGC) sequestrated by Azorean forest areas.&#x0D; Area of study: ForestAz focuses primarily on the Public Forest Perimeter of S. Miguel Island (Archipelago of the Azores, Portugal), with about 3808 hectares.&#x0D; Material and methods: ForestAz was developed with Javascript for the Google Earth Engine platform, relying solely on open satellite remote sensing data, as Copernicus Sentinel-1 (Synthetic Aperture Radar) and Sentinel-2 (multispectral).&#x0D; Main results: By accurately mapping S. Miguel island forest areas using a detailed species-based vegetation mapping approach; by allowing frequent and periodic monitoring of vegetation condition; and by quantitatively assessing the stocks and dynamics of AGC by these forest areas, this remote sensing-based application may constitute a robust and low-cost operational tool able to support local/regional decision-making on forest planning and management.&#x0D; Research highlights: This collaborative initiative between the University of the Azores and the Azores Regional Authority in Forest Affairs was selected to be one of the 99 user stories by local and regional authorities described in the catalog edited by the European Commission, the Network of European Regions Using Space Technologies (NEREUS Association), and the European Space Agency (ESA).