Increasing Landscape Diversity Research Articles

Conservation value of human-modified forests for birds in mountainous regions of south-west China

SummaryMountain systems are often recognised as biodiversity hotspots; however, most montane forests are human-modified. Understanding the conservation value of human-modified forests is essential to mountain biodiversity conservation. In this study, mist-nets and point-counts were used to compare the bird communities of primary forests on ridges in the Ailao Mountains of Yunnan, China, and secondary forests, firewood forests, and pine plantations in nearby lower elevation zones. We found that community turnover among habitats was very high using both methods. Although the percentage of forest interior species and insectivores in each habitat was higher in the primary forests than in the human-modified forests, relatively high percentages of forest interior species and insectivores were recorded in the human-modified forests. Moreover, many bird species, forest interior species, insectivores and babblers were only recorded in the human-modified forests. Our study indicated that the primary forests are important for sustaining mountain bird diversity. However, given that primary forests are restricted to ridges, secondary forests, firewood forests, and pine plantations at lower elevations also play important roles in bird conservation in mountainous regions by increasing landscape diversity and partially offsetting species loss from primary forests. Therefore, conservation efforts should also be concentrated on human-modified forests at lower elevations in mountainous regions in south-west China.

An integrated modeling approach for elucidating the effects of different management strategies on Chesapeake Bay oyster metapopulation dynamics

Eastern oyster abundance is at an all-time low, yet this species is a key component of many estuarine systems because it contributes to ecosystem function by providing habitat, improving water quality, stabilizing benthic and intertidal habitat, increasing landscape diversity and producing more oysters. Given the breadth of environmental benefits oysters provide, as well as their commercial and cultural importance, sustainable oyster production has become a priority in several regions, including the Chesapeake Bay. Current strategies include treating restored reefs as permanent sanctuaries, which provide long-term environmental benefits yet removes them from the fishery, or harvesting reefs on a rotational basis, which provides economic value yet decreases environmental benefits. The long term dynamics of these strategies is unknown. Oysters have a complex, biphasic life cycle (i.e., sessile adult and motile larval stages) and their viability is intimately tied to a suite of environmental factors including, but not limited to, flow regime, total suspended solids, temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen. In order to determine how different oyster management strategies affect oyster dynamics, we developed a multi-model approach that integrates a 2-D hydrodynamic model, a larval transport model, and a spatially-explicit, agent-based population dynamics model to simulate long term oyster dynamics. We applied our model to a ten reef system in the Great Wicomico River in the Chesapeake Bay, and simulated six different combinations of sanctuary and/or harvest management scenarios over an 8-year period. We evaluated the environmental and commercial benefits of each strategy. Our results indicated that sanctuary reefs are beneficial, and that the spatial position of sanctuary reefs strongly affected source-sink dynamics and must be considered before implementing a harvest regime. Simulations that did not consider the source/sink dynamics of the reefs yielded larger numbers of oysters for harvest in the short-term, yet resulted in a complete fishery collapse in the long term. Selective, rotational harvest, resulted in lower annual yield, but the fishery persisted throughout the eight year simulation. This integrated modeling approach helped reduce uncertainty within the study system and can help natural resource managers understand ecosystem-level processes leading to more informed decision making across spatial and temporal scales.

Is anticipated seed cutting an effective option to accelerate transition to high forest in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) coppice stands?

Traditional coppice conversion to high forest through periodic thinning requires a long period to attain the regeneration stage. We showed that anticipating seed cutting can accelerate the progression of the stands towards more adult stand conditions, compared with traditional management. The application of different active management options in the same landscape can contribute to increase landscape diversity. In southern European beech forests, coppice is a widespread management system, especially due to the past uses. The existence of large areas either abandoned or under protracted transitory stage raises questions concerning environmental and economic revenues related to the different management options. We evaluated the effectiveness of anticipating seed cutting in beech coppices to accelerate the coppice transition to high forest, compared with traditional management (periodic thinning) and natural evolution pattern (unthinned control). We used an exploratory analysis of ecological variables related to structure, dynamics, and productivity of the stands (growth efficiency, leaf area index, litter production, transmittance, and canopy heterogeneity), which were monitored during 10 years in beech coppices in Central Italy. Anticipating seed cutting produced stronger modification in canopy structure, improving growth efficiency as a result of higher resource availability, supporting higher seed production which accelerated the progression of the stand towards more adult stand conditions, compared with traditional management and unthinned control. The application of different active management options can increase landscape heterogeneity under the conditions in which increasing landscape diversity represents a priority management issue, while simultaneously allowing environmental and economic revenues.

Benefits of clearing forest plantations to restore nature? Evidence from a discrete choice experiment in Flanders, Belgium

To ensure the long-term survival of its most valuable and threatened habitats, the European Union (EU) is committing its Member States to develop a network of protected areas. Flanders (northern Belgium) is a highly urbanised region, where natural environments are scarce. Policy-makers are converting existing forest plantations (mostly former coniferous plantations) into natural areas to comply with the EU requirements about nature restoration and satisfy the growing demand for recreation and amenity spaces.The conversion of forest plantations into higher value nature, however, sometimes meets public opposition because it often involves clearcuts and landscape modification. Regional planning authorities are looking for case studies demonstrating which type of nature restoration is valued and thus supported by citizens. Past valuation studies show that personal, site-specific and spatial characteristics influence preferences. However, little is known about the relative importance of such factors.We conduct a discrete choice experiment to investigate preferences for nature restoration scenarios that involve forest conversion. A mixed logit and a latent class model are estimated and the influence of socio-demographic characteristics is explored. Willingness-to-pay (WTP) estimates are elicited. Though people generally prefer the forest habitat type, our results suggest that public support exists for converting forest plantations if this contributes to increasing landscape diversity and species richness. Based on our findings, we recommend small scale cuts. This in order to gently open the landscape, assist the natural regeneration process and help current species adapt to that landscape modification.

Small water bodies formed after peat digging in Dobrzyńskie Lakeland / Małe zbiorniki wodne powstałe po wydobyciu torfu na Pojezierzu Dobrzyńskim

Abstract Post-peat water bodies formed as a result of peat digging for fuel in the 19th and the first half of the 20th century are common in the middle part of Dobrzyńskie Lakeland. In many cases peat was dug almost completely to form small water bodies. In the studied part of the lakeland 56.24 ha or 10.20% of peatland area have been exploited. The share of peatlands in the surface area of particular regions varied from 3.79% to 9.81%. The degree of peat exploitation also varied. Peat coverage of 7.06% was larger than the mean for Poland (3.80%) but close to that in young glacial areas. A group of water bodies formed after peat digging differed in terms of water quality. Physical and chemical properties of waters in studied water bodies are typical of surface and shallow ground waters in young glacial areas. They are fresh waters of a slightly higher content of mineral ions and of neutral to alkaline pH. Their electrolytic conductivity ranged between 300 and 500 μS∙cm-1. Bicarbonates and calcium dominated their ionic composition. Post-peat water bodies were colonised by pleustonic and rush plant communities. Their species composition indicates eutrophic habitat conditions. Despite the fact that post-peat water bodies were formed as a result of intense environmental disturbance, now they increase landscape diversity of the middle part of Dobrzyńskie Lakeland and are habitats of many rare and endangered plant species.

Managing uplands for biodiversity: Do agri‐environment schemes deliver benefits for breeding lapwing Vanellus vanellus?

Summary Within Europe, agri‐environment schemes are the key delivery mechanism for biodiversity conservation outside protected areas. Schemes have a range of land management options designed to deliver outcomes for target habitats or species. Breeding waders form an important part of the biodiversity of upland grasslands, and in the UK, there are multiple land management options within agri‐environment schemes designed to benefit waders. We assessed whether such options improve the suitability of breeding habitat and population dynamics for a declining wader, the lapwing Vanellus vanellus. The suitability of nesting and chick‐rearing habitat was better on land with agri‐environment scheme management, and breeding densities and productivity increased with habitat suitability. The lapwing populations declined during this study, and trends did not differ between agri‐environment and non‐agri‐environment scheme land. Productivity was below that required for population stability, although there was evidence of higher productivity on agri‐environment scheme land in later years. Agri‐environment management consisted of multiple land management options that varied in delivery of suitable habitat, breeding densities and success. The best management options were all in England on land benefiting from specific management advice or with rough grazing and grazed pasture agri‐environment scheme options. Synthesis and applications. Despite considerable investment and positive effects of agri‐environment schemes on habitat quality, populations of lapwing in the UK uplands have declined because of inadequate productivity. For species with complex requirements, populations are only likely to increase when all of these requirements are provided. Appropriately targeted habitat management, delivered through agri‐environment schemes, can play an important role in improving habitat quality and increasing landscape diversity. However, when populations are limited by something other than habitat quality, for example, predation, then habitat management alone is unlikely to recover populations. Increasing evidence suggests that predation impacts are also likely to be important for ground‐nesting species such as lapwing. Predator management may therefore need to be integrated with habitat measures where predation is limiting breeding success and population recovery.

Flow and stability of natural pest control services depend on complexity and crop rotation at the landscape scale

Summary Increasing landscape complexity can enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services in agroecosystems. However, policies based on conversion of arable land into semi‐natural habitats to increase landscape complexity and ecosystem services can be difficult to implement. Although it appears to be a promising management option, nothing is known about the effect of increasing landscape diversity through crop rotations on the delivery of ecosystem services. In this study, we examined how landscape complexity and crop rotation intensity in the landscape at different spatial scales affect the flow and the stability of natural pest control services in barley fields using manipulative cage experiments. Exclusion experiments revealed that natural enemies can have a strong impact on aphid population growth and that the delivery of pest control services is strongly dependent on the landscape context. We found that the overall level of pest control increased with landscape complexity and that this effect was independent of crop rotation intensity. In addition, the within‐field stability in pest control services increased with crop rotation intensity in the landscape, although stability in parasitism rates decreased. Multiple spatial scales analyses showed that the mean level of natural pest control was best predicted by landscape complexity at the 0·5‐km and the 1‐km spatial scales. The stability in overall pest control decreased with proportion of ley at the 2·5‐km and the 3‐km spatial scales. Synthesis and applications. Our study disentangled, for the first time, the relative effects of landscape complexity and crop rotation intensity on the delivery of an ecosystem service. We show that combined management of semi‐natural habitat and crop rotation can stabilize and enhance natural pest control in agricultural landscapes. Our findings have important implications in terms of management options to maintain and enhance ecosystem services in agroecosystems. They suggest that conservation of heterogeneous landscapes, characterized by a higher proportion of semi‐natural habitats such as pastures and relatively small fields, is essential for maintaining and enhancing effective biological control in agroecosystems.

Integrating Landscape Ecology and Geoinformatics to Decipher Landscape Dynamics for Regional Planning

We used remote sensing and GIS in conjunction with multivariate statistical methods to: (i) quantify landscape composition (land cover types) and configuration (patch density, diversity, fractal dimension, contagion) for five coastal watersheds of Kalloni gulf, Lesvos Island, Greece, in 1945, 1960, 1971, 1990 and 2002/2003, (ii) evaluate the relative importance of physical (slope, geologic substrate, stream order) and human (road network, population density) variables on landscape composition and configuration, and (iii) characterize processes that led to land cover changes through land cover transitions between these five successive periods in time. Distributions of land cover types did not differ among the five time periods at the five watersheds studied because the largest cumulative changes between 1945 and 2002/2003 did not take place at dominant land cover types. Landscape composition related primarily to the physical attributes of the landscape. Nevertheless, increase in population density and the road network were found to increase heterogeneity of the landscape mosaic (patchiness), complexity of patch shape (fractal dimension), and patch disaggregation (contagion). Increase in road network was also found to increase landscape diversity due to the creation of new patches. The main processes involved in land cover changes were plough-land abandonment and ecological succession. Landscape dynamics during the last 50 years corroborate the ecotouristic-agrotouristic model for regional development to reverse trends in agricultural land abandonment and human population decline and when combined with hypothetical regulatory approaches could predict how this landscape could develop in the future, thus, providing a valuable tool to regional planning.

Application of Plants of Adaptability to Karst in Green Building

Concrete is the most common material used in buildings and its performance is improving. The plant-growing concrete was developed for conveniently greening. The plant species to able to grow in the plant-growing concrete was few. The habitat of plants grown in the plant-growing concrete is very similar to Karst soil environment. The plants of adaptability to Karst were adapted to the Karst stresses of high calcium and pH, low nutrition and drought. The plant-growing concrete combined with the plants of adaptability to Karst can apply in ecological slope protection, roads and roofs greening, and vertical greening. The vertical greening by the plant-growing concrete combined with the plants of adaptability to Karst will enlarge the green areas, beautify the cities and increasing landscape diversity.

U.S. National Forests adapt to climate change through Science–Management partnerships

Developing appropriate management options for adapting to climate change is a new challenge for land managers, and integration of climate change concepts into operational management and planning on United States national forests is just starting. We established science–management partnerships on the Olympic National Forest (Washington) and Tahoe National Forest (California) in the first effort to develop adaptation options for specific national forests. We employed a focus group process in order to establish the scientific context necessary for understanding climate change and its anticipated effects, and to develop specific options for adapting to a warmer climate. Climate change scientists provided the scientific knowledge base on which adaptations could be based, and resource managers developed adaptation options based on their understanding of ecosystem structure, function, and management. General adaptation strategies developed by national forest managers include: (1) reduce vulnerability to anticipated climate-induced stress by increasing resilience at large spatial scales, (2) consider tradeoffs and conflicts that may affect adaptation success, (3) manage for realistic outcomes and prioritize treatments that facilitate adaptation to a warmer climate, (4) manage dynamically and experimentally, and (5) manage for structure and composition. Specific adaptation options include: (1) increase landscape diversity, (2) maintain biological diversity, (3) implement early detection/rapid response for exotic species and undesirable resource conditions, (4) treat large-scale disturbance as a management opportunity and integrate it in planning, (5) implement treatments that confer resilience at large spatial scales, (6) match engineering of infrastructure to expected future conditions, (7) promote education and awareness about climate change among resource staff and local publics, and (8) collaborate with a variety of partners on adaptation strategies and to promote ecoregional management. The process described here can quickly elicit a large amount of information relevant for adaptation to climate change, and can be emulated for other national forests, groups of national forests with similar resources, and other public lands. As adaptation options are iteratively generated for additional administrative units on public lands, management options can be compared, tested, and integrated into adaptive management. Science-based adaptation is imperative because increasing certainty about climate impacts and management outcomes may take decades.

Ecologically asynchronous agricultural practice erodes sustainability of the Loess Plateau of China

Sustainability of agricultural landscapes depends largely on land-use practices. As one of the most productive and widespread agricultural soils, loess is often deep and easily eroded, posing grand challenges for environmental sustainability around the world. One prime example is the Loess Plateau of China, which has been cultivated for more than 7500 years. Based on long-term data sets, this study demonstrates that the dominant agricultural practice, winter wheat cropping, continues to be the primary driver for the massive soil erosion and landscape modifications on the Loess Plateau. This traditional farming system is asynchronous with the dynamic rhythm between natural vegetation and climate in the region. In particular, the long summer fallow period for winter wheat fields is concurrent with the heavy-rainstorm season, which greatly accelerates soil erosion. Our finding indicates that common land-use practices that have lasted for thousands of years in China are not environmentally sustainable. Agriculture in this region has relied primarily on the continuous "mining" of the soil for the past several thousand years but does not have a one-thousand-year future because of myriad environmental and socioeconomic factors associated with soil erosion. To contain soil erosion and promote sustainability on the Loess Plateau, therefore, a change in the agricultural regime is needed to make sure that current and future agricultural practices follow the vegetation-climate rhythm. In addition, to achieve environmental, economic, and social sustainability in this region, multifunctional land-use planning is required to increase landscape diversity and functions (e.g., proper arrangement of crop fields, orchards, and protected areas).

Structure and composition of streamside management zones following reproduction cutting in shortleaf pine stands

Streamside management zones (SMZs) in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas and Oklahoma are frequently established along headwater ephemeral and intermittent streams to protect water quality, provide wildlife habitat, and increase landscape diversity. To better understand the function of these riparian forest corridors, we characterized the tree density and composition, forest floor mass, and downed woody debris volume within SMZs located in undisturbed, mature, upper mid-slope shortleaf pine stands and then compared these attributes to those in upland portions of these stands. In addition to evaluate the impact of upland forest harvesting on these riparian corridors, we compared the amounts and distribution of forest floor, downed woody debris (DWD), snags, and windthrows in SMZs within shortleaf pine stands that had been clearcut, had a shelterwood harvest, and had no recent management activity (uncut stands). Total tree and hardwood basal area was significantly higher (4.4 and 4.2 m 2 ha −1) while forest floor mass was significantly lower (0.5 kg m −2) in the SMZs than in the upland portion of the undisturbed stands. Five years following the reproduction cuttings tree basal area, DWD volume, and forest floor mass within SMZs did not significantly differ among stands that had or had not been harvested. Snag density was significantly lower within SMZs that occurred in clearcut stands compared to those in the uncut or shelterwood stands. Harvesting activities that retain few or no residual trees appear to increase the degradation of snags. This study provided evidence that clearcutting may also increase the risk of windthrow in SMZs as well. There was little difference in the distribution of forest floor within SMZs regardless of whether the stand was harvested or the type of harvesting that occurred in the stand. However, DWD amounts were higher near the SMZs edge than in the interior of the SMZs with the greatest differences in distributions in stands that were clearcut.

Assessing the Ecological Impacts of Bioenergy Projects

One of the major objectives of the current expansion in bioenergy cropping is to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions for environmental benefit. The cultivation of bioenergy and biofuel crops also affects biodiversity more directly, both positively and negatively. Ecological impact assessment methods for bioenergy projects (including changes to policy and land use) should address not simply changes to species abundance at field level, but include larger scale issues, including changes to landscape diversity, potential impacts to primary and secondary habitats and potential impacts on climate change. Such assessments require a correspondingly broad range of scientific methods, including modelling of climate and land use as well as the observation of biodiversity and landscape indicators. It is also possible to adopt evidence-based guidelines for good practice for situations where comprehensive assessments are not available. These might include favouring projects and policies that avoid gene flow to wild relatives of crops in centres of diversity, that do not result in invasion by the crop into other habitats, that enhance field-scale biodiversity, that increase landscape diversity, that do not threaten valued habitats within the local landscape, that promote the sustainable management of biodiverse habitats, that do not increase the risk of loss of primary habitats and that result in a proportionately large reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Target regions for silvoarable agroforestry in Europe

Silvoarable agroforestry (SAF) has recently been proposed as an alternative land-use system for Europe. Data on soil, climate, topography, and land cover were integrated in a geographic information system (GIS) to identify agroforestry target regions where (i) productive growth of trees ( Juglans spp ., Prunus avium, Populus spp ., Pinus pinea, and Quercus ilex) in SAF systems could be expected and where (ii) SAF systems could potentially reduce the risk of soil erosion, nitrate leaching and increase landscape diversity. The analysis shows that the investigated tree species could grow productively in SAF systems on 56% of the arable land throughout Europe (potential productive tree growth area). 80% of the European arable land was classified as potential risk area for soil erosion, nitrate leaching, and/or landscape diversity. Overlaying potential productive tree growth areas with the arable land that was considered as environmental risk area yielded target regions. They were found to make up about 40% of the European arable land and thus SAF could contribute to soil protection on 4%, to mitigate nitrate leaching on 18% and to increase landscape diversity on 32% of European arable land. Although limited by constrained data availability, the study shows that SAF could be implemented in a productive way throughout Europe and that it could help resolve some of the major land-use problems. The environmental benefits could justify the support of SAF by subsidies.

Methodological approach for the assessment of environmental effects of agroforestry at the landscape scale

Silvoarable agroforestry, the deliberate combined use of trees and arable crops on the same area of land, has been proposed in order to improve the environmental performance of agricultural systems in Europe. Based on existing models and algorithms, we developed a method to predict the environmental effects of SAF at a farm and landscape scale. The method is comprised of an assessment of soil erosion, nitrogen leaching, carbon sequestration, and landscape diversity and allowed the comparison of the environmental performance of SAF with arable systems using these four indicators. The method was applied to three landscape test sites of 4 km × 4 km each in Spain, France, and The Netherlands, and compared different levels of agroforestry adoption on farmland of different potential productivity. Silvoarable agroforestry was predicted to reduce soil erosion by up to 70%, to reduce N leaching by 20–30%, to increase C sequestration over 60 years by up to 140 tonnes C ha −1, and to increase landscape diversity up to four times. The method developed was executed with widely available landscape and farm structural data and can therefore be applied to other regions in order to obtain a broader assessment of the environmental performance of silvoarable agroforestry systems.

Heterogeneity as a measure of spatial pattern for monitoring agricultural landscapes

The Norwegian monitoring programme for agricultural landscapes is a sample-based programme that aims to document the current state and patterns of change in the agricultural landscape for the entire country. For this broad geographical coverage an indicator approach is the most cost-effective methodology. Landscape metrics are used as indicators in the monitoring programme based on the assumed importance of landscape composition and spatial pattern for a number of countryside interests. However, although indicators have been used successfully over a long period of time in various disciplines, their use in landscape monitoring is relatively new and there is little empirical data with which to assess their validity. This paper provides information on the performance of landscape diversity and landscape heterogeneity indices as estimated by specific biodiversity measures. Preliminary results show increasing numbers of breeding bird species and numbers of vascular plant species with increasing landscape diversity and heterogeneity, two indices that capture information on landscape content and structure. Overall, the heterogeneity index provided a better surrogate for species richness than the diversity index.

Characteristics and construction of landscape ecology in arid regions

This paper analyzes the characteristics of the landscape structures and landacape ecological processes in arid regions of China. Landscape structure is simplicity and homogeneity with the pattern of desert-oasis-river and canal corridor. The spatial distribution of landscape heterogeneity mosaics is relatively dependent on water resources. In arid regions, the landscape changes rapidly and extensively because of the sensitive landscape ecosystems and fragile regional ecosystems. For the sustainable development of arid regions, the theories and methods for the eco-environmental construction and the strategies of ecological construction in the arid regions were proposed in the view of landscape ecology. Keynote subjects of landscape ecology were also discussed. The paper points out that protecting and increasing landscape diversity and heterogeneity are critical to control ecological safety in arid regions.

Factors affecting changes in landscape diversity in rural areas of the Fagus crenata forest region of central Japan

We compared landscape diversity in a primary forest site and a coppice forest site in rural area of the Fagus crenata forest region of central Japan. We focused on the factors affecting landscape diversity, with special reference to land ownership, and the relationship between changes in landscape diversity and the spatial distribution of landscape elements. We were able to identify two patterns that led to increased landscape diversity in the study sites. In the first, which was most apparent in the primary forest site, increased diversity resulted primarily from an increase in the number of landscape elements. In the other, which was seen in the coppice forest site, increased diversity resulted from a decrease in the difference between the numbers of grid squares dominated by each landscape element while the number of landscape elements remained unchanged. Land ownership also had different implications for the increase of landscape diversity. The changes in the Contagion Index, which decreased in private land and increased in the national forest, showed that private land contains many small patches while the landscape of the national forest consists of a few large, contiguous patches. Thus, an evaluation of changes in landscape structure requires measuring a variety of indexes in addition to the diversity.