Forest Islands Research Articles

Birds of French Island forest, woodland, heath and grassland

French Island, Western Port, Victoria, has a vital role in maintaining the population levels of several bird species in the region. The Island supports areas of native vegetation in good, intact condition. This study of the terrestrial birds (including both native and introduced species) draws on the field records of the late ornithologist Des Quinn and more recent records of many observers. One hundred and thirty-six species are listed, and historical data are provided for many of the rarer species. A few species have become locally extinct, in some cases as part of a more widespread contraction of these species. Some species have declined in numbers, others have been recorded over periods of just a few years, a few species have increased slightly in numbers, and some have appeared recently for the first time.

Foraging dispersion of Ryukyu flying-foxes and relationships with fig abundance in East-Asian subtropical island forests

BackgroundFigs are widely distributed key resources to many tropical-subtropical animals, and flying-foxes are major consumers and seed dispersers of figs. Bat-fig interrelationships, however, may vary among species differing in fruiting traits, i.e., bat- versus bird-dispersed figs. We examined Ryukyu flying-fox foraging dispersion and the relationships with tree species composition and fig abundance in forests of Iriomote Island.ResultsBat foraging dispersion showed no spatial patterns with respect to different areas of the island, and was not explained by heterogeneity, density, or basal area (BA) of total trees, nor by relative density or BA of fruiting trees or total fruiting figs among sites. Instead, bat densities were positively dependent on the relative density of total figs, and particularly the relative BA of bat-dispersed figs Ficus septica and F. variegata. Both species were dominant figs in forests, fruiting asynchronously with long crop seasons, and were used as predominant foods. Bats foraged mostly solitarily and the mean density was in a hump-shaped relationship with crop sizes of the dominant bat-figs. These two species and Ficus benguetensis are larger-sized bat-figs, all contained more seeds, higher dry-pulp mass and water mass, but not necessarily water content. By approximate estimation, higher proportions of seeds of these bat-figs would have been removed from fruits through the bat consumption, than that of small-sized bird-figs like F. virgata, F. superba, and F. microcarpa.ConclusionsThe foraging dispersion of Ryukyu flying-foxes in forests depends on the availability of the most abundant bat-figs that serve as predominant foods. Intermediate levels of crop sizes of theses figs appear most fit with their solitary foraging. Our results suggest that as density and BA coverage of these dominant bat-figs are below a certain level, their effectiveness to attract bats may dwindle and so would their chance of dispersal by bats.

Partnership Education in the Forest

Heidi Bruce is a founding board member of the Orcas Island Forest School, an outdoor early childhood education program located on Orcas Island, Washington State. In this article, she describes the interconnectedness of nature-based education and Partnership education, as outlined in Riane Eisler‘s book, Tomorrow’s Children: A Blueprint for Partnership Education in the 21st Century (2000). She also shares her experience in advocating for the first legislation in the country that creates a pilot program for licensing nature-based early childhood education programs.

Structure and tree species composition in different habitats of savanna used by indigenous people in the Northern Brazilian Amazon.

BackgroundWoody plant diversity from the Amazonian savannas has been poorly quantified. In order to improve the knowledge on wood plants of these regional ecosystems, a tree inventory was carried out in four different habitats used by indigenous people living in the savanna areas of the Northern Brazilian Amazon. The habitats were divided into two types (or groups) of vegetation formations: forest (riparian forest, forest island, and buritizal = Mauritia palm formation) and non-forest (typical savanna). The inventory was carried out in two hectares established in the Darora Indigenous Community region, north of the state of Roraima.New informationThe typical savanna is the most densely populated area (709 stems ha-1); however, it has the lowest tree species richness (nine species, seven families) in relation to typical forest habitats: riparian forest (22 species, 13 families and 202 stems ha-1), forest islands (13 species, 10 families and 264 stems ha-1), and buritizal (19 species, 15 families and 600 stems ha-1). The tree structure (density and dominance) of the forest habitats located in the savanna areas studied in this work is smaller in relation to forest habitats derived from continuous areas of other parts of the Amazon. These environments are derived from Paleoclimatic fragmentation, and are currently affected by the impact of intensive use of natural resources as timberselective logging and some land conversion for agriculture.

How can traditional livelihoods find a place in contemporary conservation politics debates in India? Understanding community perspectives in Sundarban, West Bengal

Abstract We document the economic and socio-cultural vulnerability of a forest-dependent community inhabiting the forest fringe island of Satjelia in the Indian Sundarban. Using simple artisanal methods, they have practiced traditional livelihoods like fishing and collecting wild honey from the forests for more than a century. Despite having established cultural integrity and traditional occupations, this group is not indigenous, and are therefore treated as 'others' and 'settlers.' An ethnographic study describes these various forms of livelihoods and the ways that threatens local subsistence. We also document the bureaucratic and hierarchical structure of protected area (PA) management, showing it has little or no accommodation of this community's local traditional knowledge. Finally, we ask whether there is any scope for integrating 'non-indigenous' environmental knowledge, for a more egalitarian transformation of socio ecological relations within these communities. Keywords: Conservation, conflict, indigenous, political ecology, Sundarban, traditional livelihoods

Forest patch isolation drives local extinctions of Amazonian orchid bees in a 26 years old archipelago

Major hydroelectric dams are among key emergent agents of habitat loss and fragmentation in lowland tropical forests. Orchid bees (Apidae, Euglossini) are one of the most important groups of specialized pollinators of flowering plants in Neotropical forests. Here, we investigate how an entire assemblage of orchid bees responded to the effects of forest habitat loss, isolation and forest canopy degradation induced by a hydroelectric reservoir of Central Brazilian Amazonia. Built in 1986, the Balbina Dam resulted in a vast archipelagic landscape containing 3546 primary forest islands of varying sizes and isolation, surrounded by 3129km2 of freshwater. Using scent traps, we sampled 34 islands, 14 open-water matrix sites, and three mainland continuous forests, yielding 2870 male orchid bees representing 25 species. Local orchid bee species richness was affected by forest patch area but particularly by site isolation. Distance to forest edges, either within forest areas or into the open-water matrix, was the most important predictor of species richness and composition. Variation in matrix dispersal of individual species to increasingly isolated sites was a key determinant of community structure. Given the patterns of patch persistence and matrix movements of orchid bees in increasingly fragmented forest landscapes, we outline how forest bees respond to the landscape alteration induced by major hydroelectric dams. These results should be considered in environmental impact studies prior to the approval of new dams.

You can’t run but you can hide: the negative influence of human presence on mid-sized mammals on an Atlantic island

Here, we report the results of a camera-trapping survey of mid-sized (1–50 kg) mammals on an oceanic Atlantic forest island in Brazil. Despite 80% of the island being formally reserved for conservation, the island’s northern areas support a small, but rapidly growing human population that we expected would disturb the mammals and their foraging and movement behaviors. Hunting activities are also more frequent and severe on the north side of the island, closer to the villages. We tested the following hypothesis: the probability of occupancy, detectability, and abundance of mid-sized mammals will be higher in less-disturbed areas on southern parts of the island than in more-disturbed areas to the north. Ordination using multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) highlighted that mammal assemblages were differentiated between the northern and southern slope areas, and regression analyses showed MDS scores to be associated strongly with an index of human population density. Occupancy models for Didelphis aurita, Dasypus novemcinctus, Dasyprocta leporina, and Cuniculus paca showed no effect of habitat covariates, but there were marked effects of human activity impact on the detection probability of all species, except D. aurita. Species detections and local abundances were higher in the less disturbed southern parts of the island. Our results support the notion that mid-sized mammals will change their movement and foraging behaviors as a function of human activities, even inside reserved, protected areas.

Non-random lizard extinctions in land-bridge Amazonian forest islands after 28 years of isolation

Major hydropower infrastructure has become a leading driver of biodiversity loss in the lowland tropics. Terrestrial species typically become stranded in post-isolation land-bridge islands within hydroelectric reservoirs. Understanding the resulting extinction dynamics of insular communities is critical to inform, if not to avert, the ongoing blitzkrieg of dam development. Here we assess the effects of forest patch and landscape metrics on diurnal lizard species richness and composition within the Balbina Hydroelectric Dam and surrounding areas in the Central Brazilian Amazon. This 28-yr-old dam created a reservoir of ~4438km2, comprising 3546 islands. We sampled 25 of these islands (0.83–1466ha) and five mainland continuous forest sites, one of which placed along stream banks. We further related morpho-ecological traits and the geographic distribution of lizard species to the spatial metrics of islands where they occurred. Using 100L-pitfall traps operated over 5447 trap-days, we recorded 1123 lizards from 17 taxa, two of which exclusively found along stream banks within continuous forest. Island area was the best predictor of species richness and composition. Small islands (≤2ha) harboured fewer than a third of all species typically observed in larger islands and continuous forest (≥8 species), and only islands ≥100ha retained nearly complete lizard faunas. Lizard assemblages inhabiting small, isolated islands consisted almost exclusively of an oversimplified set of widely distributed, large-bodied, habitat generalist, heliophile species associated with open areas and forest edges, and that feed on a wide spectrum of prey sizes. These wholesale changes in lizard community structure were characterized by severe losses in functional traits, and may profoundly affect ecosystem functioning.

A casualty of climate change? Loss of freshwater forest islands on Florida's Gulf Coast.

Sea level rise elicits short- and long-term changes in coastal plant communities by altering the physical conditions that affect ecosystem processes and species distributions. While the effects of sea level rise on salt marshes and mangroves are well studied, we focus on its effects on coastal islands of freshwater forest in Florida's Big Bend region, extending a dataset initiated in 1992. In 2014-2015, we evaluated tree survival, regeneration, and understory composition in 13 previously established plots located along a tidal creek; 10 plots are on forest islands surrounded by salt marsh, and three are in continuous forest. Earlier studies found that salt stress from increased tidal flooding prevented tree regeneration in frequently flooded forest islands. Between 1992 and 2014, tidal flooding of forest islands increased by 22%-117%, corresponding with declines in tree species richness, regeneration, and survival of the dominant tree species, Sabal palmetto (cabbage palm) and Juniperus virginiana (southern red cedar). Rates of S. palmetto and J. virginiana mortality increased nonlinearly over time on the six most frequently flooded islands, while salt marsh herbs and shrubs replaced forest understory vegetation along a tidal flooding gradient. Frequencies of tidal flooding, rates of tree mortality, and understory composition in continuous forest stands remained relatively stable, but tree regeneration substantially declined. Long-term trends identified in this study demonstrate the effect of sea level rise on spatial and temporal community reassembly trajectories that are dynamically re-shaping the unique coastal landscape of the Big Bend.

English

Trimanto, Rahadiantoro A. 2017. Acclimatization of plant collection from Moyo Island Forest, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia at Purwodadi Botanic Garden. Trop Drylands 1: 43-49. A number of plant accessions were collected from Moyo Island forest, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia consisted of 123 accession numbers of general collection and 17 accession numbers of orchid collection. These plant materials were acclimatized at a nursery in Purwodadi Botanic Garden, Pasuruan, East Java, Indonesia. Acclimatization was aimed to determine successfully adapting plants from the forest, which are expected to survive and can be used as plants collection in Purwodadi Botanic Garden. The objective of this research was to identify the plant species of Moyo Island that can adapt in Purwodadi Botanic Garden and analyze the mechanism of their adaptation. The study was conducted at a nursery unit in 2013, with an observational method. The results show that 75% plant species collected from Moyo Island could adapt in Purwodadi Botanic Garden. We found 96 accessions of the general collection and nine accessions of the orchid collection that could adapt. The orchid collection was harder to adapt as compared to the general plant collection.

Diversity of fruit-feeding butterflies in a mountaintop archipelago of rainforest.

We provide the first description of the effects of local vegetation and landscape structure on the fruit-feeding butterfly community of a natural archipelago of montane rainforest islands in the Serra do Espinhaço, southeastern Brazil. Butterflies were collected with bait traps in eleven forest islands through both dry and rainy seasons for two consecutive years. The influence of local and landscape parameters and seasonality on butterfly species richness, abundance and composition were analyzed. We also examined the partitioning and decomposition of temporal and spatial beta diversity. Five hundred and twelve fruit-feeding butterflies belonging to thirty-four species were recorded. Butterfly species richness and abundance were higher on islands with greater canopy openness in the dry season. On the other hand, islands with greater understory coverage hosted higher species richness in the rainy season. Instead, the butterfly species richness was higher with lower understory coverage in the dry season. Butterfly abundance was not influenced by understory cover. The landscape metrics of area and isolation had no effect on species richness and abundance. The composition of butterfly communities in the forest islands was not randomly structured. The butterfly communities were dependent on local and landscape effects, and the mechanism of turnover was the main source of variation in β diversity. The preservation of this mountain rainforest island complex is vital for the maintenance of fruit-feeding butterfly community; one island does not reflect the diversity found in the whole archipelago.

Higher climate warming sensitivity of Siberian larch in small than large forest islands in the fragmented Mongolian forest steppe.

Forest fragmentation has been found to affect biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in multiple ways. We asked whether forest size and isolation in fragmented woodlands influences the climate warming sensitivity of tree growth in the southern boreal forest of the Mongolian Larix sibirica forest steppe, a naturally fragmented woodland embedded in grassland, which is highly affected by warming, drought, and increasing anthropogenic forest destruction in recent time. We examined the influence of stand size and stand isolation on the growth performance of larch in forests of four different size classes located in a woodland-dominated forest-steppe area and small forest patches in a grassland-dominated area. We found increasing climate sensitivity and decreasing first-order autocorrelation of annual stemwood increment with decreasing stand size. Stemwood increment increased with previous year's June and August precipitation in the three smallest forest size classes, but not in the largest forests. In the grassland-dominated area, the tree growth dependence on summer rainfall was highest. Missing ring frequency has strongly increased since the 1970s in small, but not in large forests. In the grassland-dominated area, the increase was much greater than in the forest-dominated landscape. Forest regeneration decreased with decreasing stand size and was scarce or absent in the smallest forests. Our results suggest that the larch trees in small and isolated forest patches are far more susceptible to climate warming than in large continuous forests pointing to a grim future for the forests in this strongly warming region of the boreal forest that is also under high land use pressure.

Botanical Survey in Moyo Island, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia: Inventory of Flora Collection at Forest

Nusa Tenggara consists of some small islands, one of them is Moyo Island. The diversity of plant species in this island is not really known for certain. This research was determined to observe the diversity of plant spe-cies in Moyo Island forest. The research was conducted in April 2013 by using floristic analysis method. The characteristic of Moyo Island forest is lowland evergreen rain forest. The results showed there were 60 tree species recorded in Moyo Island forest. There were many fruiting trees and seedling from the trees which show healthy growth, indicated that the plant regeneration in this forest is went well. The diversity of Pteri-dophytes and orchids were not high. Epiphytic fern which often found in the forest were Drynaria quersifolia and Platycerium bifurcatum and terrestrial orchid that dominated in the forest was Nervilia aragoana. Tuber plant was often found in this forest and grew prolifically were Tacca, Dioscorea and Amorphophallus. In coastal area lived a population of Pandanus tectorius . There were three new record plants found. The first was epiphytic orchid: Pteroceras javanica , the second was the epiphytic plant: Hoya verticillata and wild tuber plant: Tacca leontopetaloides .

Predation restricts black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) colonization at its northern range limit along Florida’s Gulf Coast

Climate change-driven range expansion of black mangroves (Avicennia germinans) is predicted along the northern Gulf of Mexico, where sea level rise is also driving conversion of freshwater forest islands to salt marsh. While climate-driven A. germinans range expansion has garnered considerable scientific attention, the role of top-down controls on colonization is largely overlooked. We investigated the effects of abiotic (flooding frequency, soil depth, soil salinity) and biotic (predation, herbivory) controls on A. germinans establishment at its northern range limit along Florida’s Gulf Coast by comparing fates of caged and non-caged propagules across four landscape positions (from creek edge to forest island interior) and at three sites along a tidal flooding frequency gradient. Within 12 days, grapsid crab, Sesarma reticulatum, consumed 99% of non-caged propagules. Among caged propagules, establishment increased with increasing flooding frequency; however, cages did not entirely prevent predation, which remained a primary cause of mortality, except in the rarely flooded island. Propagules that survived to seedlings experienced mild to fatal herbivory across landscape positions and sites. This study revealed that while relict forest islands and surrounding marshes can support A. germinans, predation and herbivory strongly suppress colonization, suggesting that mangrove expansion models should incorporate biotic controls.

Fifty-year spatiotemporal analysis of landscape changes in the Mont Saint-Hilaire UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (Quebec, Canada).

Diachronic analysis with a GIS-based classification of land-use changes based on aerial photographs, orthophotos, topographic maps, geotechnical reports, urban plans, and using landscape metrics has permitted insight into the driving forces responsible for landscape fragmentation in the Mont Saint-Hilaire (MSH) Biosphere Reserve over the period 1958-2015. Although the occurrence of exogenous factors, such as extreme weather and fires, can have a significant influence on the fragmentation of the territory in time and space, the accelerated development of the built environment (+470%) is nevertheless found to be primarily responsible for landscape fragmentation and the loss of areas formerly occupied by orchards, agriculture, and woodlands. The landscape metrics used corroborate these results, with a simplification of the shape of polygons, and once again reveal the difficulties of harmonizing different land uses. MSH has become somewhat of a forest island in a sea of residential development and agriculture. To counter this isolation of fragmented habitat components, forest corridors have been proposed and developed for the Biosphere Reserve and particularly for the core area. Two corridors, to the north and south, are used to connect the protected area and other wooded areas at the regional scale, in order to promote genetic exchange between populations of various species. In that regard, the forest buffer zone around the hill continues to play a key role and has great ecological value for species and ecological preservation and conservation. However, appropriate management and landscape preservation actions should recognize and focus on landscape composition and the associated geographical configuration.

Connection between tree functional traits and environmental parameters in an archipelago of montane forests surrounded by rupestrian grasslands

Forest islands are unique habitats standing out across mountains dominated by rupestrian grassland in southeastern Brazil. In this work we evaluated the relationship between the plant species functional traits (number of ecoregions in which a species occurs, potential height, mean height, mean basal area, mean leaf area) and ecological variables (leaf damage from chewing herbivores, the number of individuals) with environmental parameters (physical and chemical properties of the soil, canopy cover) of the tree communities in an archipelago of montane forest islands immersed in rupestrian grasslands. We found a strong connection between the traits of tree species and environmental parameters; habitats associated with high soil fertility and canopy cover (leaf area index) harbored species with high structural values (i.e., height and basal area), broad distribution among Brazilian ecoregions, high rates of leaf damage from chewing insects and fewer individuals. Habitats with low soil fertility and canopy cover values harbored species with low structural values, restricted geographic distribution and low rates of leaf damage by chewing insects. Although physical parameters play an important role in the establishment of forest islands, our results point to chemical indicators of soil fertility as a relevant environmental promoter, influencing the composition and structure of island tree communities. The impact of local habitat parameters on the tree species functional traits showed that habitat heterogeneity is essential in structuring tree communities in this natural archipelago of forest islands. We advocate that understanding the connection between habitat parameters and species functional traits can help to predict the ecological consequences of anthropogenic or natural impacts to those forests, supporting the development of effective conservation strategies.

Climate warming alters fuels across elevational gradients in Great Basin bristlecone pine-dominated sky island forests

Little is known about fuel characteristics and dynamics in GBBP communities, and current monitoring programs inadequately quantify the surface and canopy fuels of this system. Using the Forest Inventory Analysis (FIA) plot variables of tree species, height, diameter at breast height (DBH), canopy base height (CBH), coarse (CWD) and fine (FWD) woody debris counts, and canopy fuels measurements, this paper examines the effects of climate-induced changes to fuel loading, fire hazard and risk on predicted changes in fire behavior and severity. Field transects were installed using FIA protocols along environmental gradients. Plots were located every 22 chains or ∼440m along random transects on Mt. Washington in the Great Basin National Park (GBNP) and in the nearby Mt. Moriah Wilderness, NV. Additional plots were installed at Notch Peak (UT), Cave Mountain (NV), and Wheeler Peak (GBNP, NV). Linear regression showed that all classes of FWD decreased with elevation, and only 1000-h fuels remained constant across elevational transects. This, combined with lower CBH and foliar moisture and increasing temperatures due to climate change, increases fire potential at the Great Basin bristlecone pine treeline, threatening the oldest individuals of this iconic species. New information about discontinuous fuels will aid in management of high elevation alpine treeline forests.

Forest Islands and Castaway Communities: REDD+ and Forest Restoration in Prey Lang Forest

Climate Change policies are playing an ever-increasing role in global development strategies and their implementation gives rise to often-unforeseen social conflicts and environmental degradations. A landscape approach to analyzing forest-based Climate Change Mitigation policies (CCM) and land grabs in the Prey Lang Forest landscape, Cambodia revealed two Korea-Cambodia partnership projects designed to increase forest cover that are juxtaposed in this paper. Case study data revealed a REDD+ project with little negative impact or social conflict in the project area and an Afforestation/Reforestation (A/R) project that created both social and ecological conflicts. The study concludes that forest-based CCM policies can reduce conflict through efforts at minimal transformation of local livelihoods, maximal attention to the tenure rights, responsibilities, and authority of citizens, and by improving, not degrading, the project landscapes. The paper presents the circumstances under which these guidelines are sidestepped by the A/R project, and importantly reveals that dramatic forest and livelihood transformation had already affected the community and environment in the REDD+ project site. There are deep contradictions at the heart of climate change policies toward which attention must be given, lest we leave our future generations with nothing but forest islands and castaway communities.

Chromosomal and molecular studies of cryptic species of the subgenus Terricola (Rodentia, Arvicolinae, Microtus) in the Caucasian region: Analysis of new records

Using chromosomal and molecular (cytb) markers, the specific identity of 78 individuals of cryptic species of voles of the subgenus Terricola was ascertained. The animal samples were obtained at 13 localities of the Caucasian region, from Krasnodar krai to North Ossetia in the Greater Caucasus and in the Stavropol Upland (forest island in the steppe) in Ciscaucasia, which had not been covered earlier in genetic studies. In the total sample, two chromosomal forms (cryptic species), namely, Microtus (Terricola) majori (2n = 54, NF = 60) and M. (T.) daghestanicus (2n = 54, NF = 58), were identified. The specific identity of most animals tested was confirmed by karyological means, and for individuals from two localities on the south slopes of the Greater Caucasus (Adlerskii district of Krasnodar krai), it was confirmed exclusively by means of molecular (cytb) markers. The last two records were used for evaluation of the differential role of sibling-species of the subgenus Terricola in circulation of the pathogen in mountain loci of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in the Western Caucasus. For the first time, using the example of M. (T.) majori from the Ciscaucasia, which was compared with those of the mountain part of the species’ natural habitat, the role of isolation factors in morphogenesis of the subgenus Terricola was studied. As a whole, the results obtained specify the character of the geographical distribution and biotope attachment of cryptic species of the subgenus Terricola in the Caucasian region.

Diversity and distribution of ant assemblages above and below ground in a West African forest–savannah mosaic (Lamto, Côte d’Ivoire)

Habitat heterogeneity has a complex effect on ant species richness and community structure (both alpha- and beta-diversity). Savannahs and forests are thought to have distinct species assemblages, but studies comparing savannah–forest mosaics produced conflicting results, with savannah (the less complex ecosystem) poorer in species, equally rich, or richer than forest (the most complex habitat). We compared subterranean and above ground ant assemblages in savannah and forests of Lamto Reserve (Cote d’Ivoire) to examine how habitat heterogeneity and vertical stratification drive species composition and structure patterns. The Ants of the Leaf Litter (ALL) protocol and soil monolith were used to sample ants along 16 transects of 200 m in the three main habitats (gallery forest, forest islands, and savannah). In total, 138 species from 44 genera were collected. Forested habitats held assemblages that matched those found in savannah in terms of species density and richness; however, they differed in composition. Taxonomic structure varied among habitats, with Formicinae and Amblyoponinae prevailing in savannah, and Myrmicinae numerically dominant in forests. Ants were clearly vertically stratified. Subterranean assemblages had a less even distribution of occurrences among species as compared to above ground ones. The patterns observed agree with the heterogeneity-diversity theory relative to beta-diversity but not alpha-diversity, emphasizing the difficulty to generalize across continents about factors structuring ant assemblages. Our results support the need to conserve both forest and savannah to maintain biodiversity at landscape level in Cote d’Ivoire.