Maintaining Habitat Heterogeneity Research Articles

Use of native and human-modified habitats by different mammal guilds in West Africa

Over millennia, mammals have coexisted with humans across the forest-savannah mosaics characterising part of West Africa. While some savannahs have long been used for rice cultivation in Guinea-Bissau, savannas and forests are now being rapidly converted into cashew monocultures. To understand how species cope with such land-use changes, we investigated how mammals make use of forest patches, cashew orchards and rice paddies over two contrasting periods: early and late rainy season. Using camera-trapping, we examined mammal diversity and trophic guild activity across seven landscapes, each with one sampling site per habitat type in Northern Guinea-Bissau. Based on 937 records from 21 species, species richness and activity were similar across habitat types, but generally higher in the late-rainy season. In this season, species composition differed between the cashew orchards and rice paddies. At the guild-level, carnivore activity was lowest in the rice paddies, while herbivore activity was lower in the cashew orchards in comparison to that in forests in the early-rainy season. The relatively similar assemblage-wide diversity across habitat types seems to be enabled by the high habitat heterogeneity, but likely offset by previous extinctions from the area. Yet, guild-level habitat use highlighted the fundamental role of forests to sustain functionally healthy mammal assemblages. Maintaining habitat heterogeneity, including patches of native forests, seems to be key in optimizing the long-term conservation of mammal diversity in rural West Africa.

The Influence of Grazing Systems on Bird Species Richness and Density in the Nebraska Sandhills

Grazing is the de facto method of habitat management used in much of the Nebraska Sandhills. Ranchers use a variety of grazing systems, and our goal was to evaluate the effects of systems on grassland birds. We estimated the species richness and density of grassland birds for three grazing systems used on private ranches: long, medium, and short duration grazing systems. We observed sixty species, and the grazing system with pastures utilizing long duration grazing periods had the highest estimates of species richness as well as the most heterogeneous habitat structure. Differences in species richness among systems were most pronounced in years of limited precipitation. Together, grasshopper sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum), western meadowlarks (Sturnella neglecta), and brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) accounted for 72% of our observations. We used a model comparison approach to determine the effects of habitat on the densities of six species. Densities of grasshopper sparrows and mourning doves showed effects of the grazing system. More species had higher densities in short duration, rotational systems than other grazing systems. However, species of grassland birds showed responses to a variety of cover types and habitat structures depending on life history needs. Regardless of the grazing system used, managers can use grazing and other tools such as prescribed burning to maintain habitat heterogeneity to support diverse bird communities.

Restoring Nature's Song: How Habitat Restoration Benefits Avifauna

Habitat restoration has proved to be a vital strategy in combating the widespread biodiversity loss caused by habitat degradation across the globe. The key roles played by avian species in critical ecosystem functions such as pollination, seed dispersal, and decomposition have made them an integral part of ecosystems, making them vital to the restoration process. Their detectability and cost-effective survey methods have positioned avifauna as focal species in ecological restoration research. This article delves into the effects of habitat restoration on avifaunal distribution, revealing a tapestry of positive outcomes. Restored habitats witness increased avian community diversity and evenness, heightened habitat heterogeneity, and greater densities of avian and migratory species. Avifauna's presence also facilitates breeding success, reduces nest parasitism, and fosters additional foraging and breeding grounds. Furthermore, habitat restoration has shown remarkable successes in reviving songbird populations in fragmented forests and rescuing endangered species like red-crowned cranes. In light of the transformative impact of avian restoration, understanding the effects of restoration on avifauna is pivotal in guiding management activities of restored sites. Implementing strategic management approaches such as predator control, maintaining habitat heterogeneity, controlling nest parasites, reintroducing natural disturbance regimes, and selecting appropriate plant species ensures a nurturing environment for avian survival. Additionally, promoting a heterogeneous environment in aquatic systems has proved crucial in enhancing bird diversity. Improving ongoing research and adaptive management practices further empowers restoration efforts, allowing us to compose a symphony of avian abundance, resilience, and harmonious coexistence with the natural world.

Understory vegetation supports more abundant and diverse butterfly communities in oil palm plantations

IntroductionThe cultivation of oil palm, from which palm oil, the world’s most widely traded vegetable oil, is processed, has had marked effects on ecosystems and native species across the tropics. While declines in biodiversity due to conversion to oil palm have been well recorded across plant and animal taxa, less work has been done to identify approaches to plantation management which will enable producers to satisfy growing global demand while limiting environmental damage.MethodsThrough a large-scale understory management experiment, we investigated the long- and short-term effects of varying vegetation management regimes on the abundance, richness, and diversity of day-flying Lepidoptera.ResultsOver the long-term, the lowest levels of vegetation complexity resulted in significantly lower Lepidoptera abundance, species richness and evenness. Less intensive understory clearing resulted in healthier communities, with limited differences between removal by herbicide application or chemical-free removal. Over the short-term, biodiversity was not directly affected by vegetation complexity, suggesting that manual removal of vegetation may be equally damaging to butterfly or moth communities as removal by intermediate levels of herbicide spraying.DiscussionThese findings substantiate calls to limit vegetation clearing and maintain habitat heterogeneity on both a local and landscape scale, while also suggesting that a hard “no-spray” guideline may not be the only option to support butterfly friendly plantations.

Decline in semi-arid reptile occurrence following habitat loss and fragmentation

Context Habitat loss and fragmentation are leading causes of biodiversity decline worldwide. In Australia, woodland habitat has been extensively cleared and fragmented yet there has been limited research on the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on semi-arid reptiles, impeding conservation planning and recovery efforts. Aims We aimed to investigate factors influencing the distribution and occurrence of habitat specialist and generalist reptile species on a large agricultural holding in south-eastern Australia that has experienced habitat loss and fragmentation. Methods Reptiles were surveyed using pitfall and funnel traps and active searches across 20 sites stratified by land use and vegetation type. Twelve sites were established in remnant woodland patches embedded within an agricultural matrix and eight sites were established in a private conservation reserve on the same property. Generalised linear models were used to explore relationships between the occurrence of eight reptile species and predictor variables describing site, landscape and vegetation variables. Key results Of the 31 reptile species that were detected, eight were modelled. The results revealed that four specialist species, the eastern mallee dragon (Ctenophorus spinodomus), nobbi dragon (Diporiphora nobbi), barred wedge-snouted ctenotus (Ctenotus schomburgkii) and shrubland pale-flecked morethia (Morethia obscura), were closely associated with the conservation reserve, and that the southern spinifex ctenotus (Ctenotus atlas) had a strong association with spinifex (Triodia scariosa) dominated vegetation community. Conclusions Reptile habitat specialists are particularly sensitive to habitat loss and fragmentation and are at a higher risk of local extinction compared with habitat generalists. Reptile occurrence was reduced in remnant woodland patches, but remnant patches also supported a suite of habitat generalists. Implications A suite of semi-arid reptile species are sensitive to the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation and are susceptible to localised extinction. However, the presence of habitat generalists within woodland remnants highlights the value of retaining representative habitat patches in agricultural landscapes. Conservation of semi-arid woodland reptiles will depend on the retention of large tracts of protected vegetation across a broad range of soil types to maintain habitat heterogeneity and reptile diversity.

Ecological drivers of macroinvertebrate metacommunity assembly in a subtropical river basin in the Yangtze River Delta, China.

Identifying the underlying ecological drivers of macroinvertebrate community assembly is fundamental to metacommunity ecology. Comparably, determining the influence of different drivers on beta diversity patterns can provide insight into processes governing community organization. Exploring the ecological drivers of metacommunity and beta diversity are major avenues to improve bioassessment, restoration, and river management, which are still poorly explored in China, especially in subtropical highly developed river networks. To address this gap, we use a dataset (macroinvertebrate communities and environmental variables) collected from the Yangtze River Delta, China to test the above ideas. We used the K-means clustering method to divide 405 river sites into three anthropogenic impacted groups, nearly pristine sites, moderately impacted sites, and heavily impacted sites, and subsequently used partial Mantel tests to investigate how species sorting and dispersal shaped the metacommunity that varied with the levels of anthropogenic impacts and to explore the responses of different components of beta diversity to environmental and spatial distances among sites for each group. Our results revealed that both species sorting and dispersal shape communities, but the importance of species sorting and dispersal varied with the levels of anthropogenic impacts. Nearly pristine sites were mostly shaped only by species sorting, while heavily impacted sites were shaped by dispersal. We also found that turnover was by far the dominant component of beta diversity across all levels of impact. Therefore, we encourage that environmental variables and spatial processes should be considered in bioassessment approaches. In addition, it is essential to focus on maintaining habitat heterogeneity and identifying and protecting regional species pools that could improve local biodiversity through dispersal for ecosystem management of the Yangtze River Delta of China.

Influence of grazing and fire on breeding birds and perennial plants in Cyprus scrub and forest systems

Grazing and browsing by sheep and goats has been an important anthropogenic influence on ecosystems in the Mediterranean region for centuries. This influence has changed significantly in recent decades, with a general shift from range grazing to the penning of animals. The intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH) proposes that perturbation - including anthropogenic disturbance - is the norm for Mediterranean ecosystems, and that higher species diversity is found under conditions of continuous, moderate disturbance. Here we test the IDH as it relates to grazing of scrub and open forest habitats in Cyprus, while also testing for the effects of fire. We carried out surveys of breeding birds and vegetation at 48 study sites in scrub and open woodland across Cyprus. We estimated relative grazing pressure (past and present) and fire history at these sites, and tested for associations between these factors, breeding bird species richness and perennial vegetation diversity. We found moderate current grazing reduces density of lower and middle level scrub, and a higher level of diversity of perennial vegetation at moderately over intensively grazed sites. We found that moderate historical grazing pressure had a positive influence on richness of breeding bird species in lower scrub habitat such as phrygana, but that this effect was weaker the taller and denser the habitat. By contrast, current grazing pressure had a negative effect on species richness in lower scrub, but species richness in grazed habitats was higher in denser, taller scrub habitat such as garrigue and maquis. Our study suggests grazing plays an important role in maintaining habitat heterogeneity but the impact on avian species richness depends on the density and height of the vegetation.

Embracing mountain microbiome and ecosystem functions under global change.

Mountains are pivotal to maintaining habitat heterogeneity, global biodiversity, ecosystem functions and services to humans. They have provided classic model natural systems for plant and animal diversity gradient studies for over 250 years. In the recent decade, the exploration of microorganisms on mountainsides has also achieved substantial progress. Here, we review the literature on microbial diversity across taxonomic groups and ecosystem types on global mountains. Microbial community shows climatic zonation with orderly successions along elevational gradients, which are largely consistent with traditional climatic hypotheses. However, elevational patterns are complicated for species richness without general rules in terrestrial and aquatic environments and are driven mainly by deterministic processes caused by abiotic and biotic factors. We see a major shift from documenting patterns of biodiversity towards identifying the mechanisms that shape microbial biogeographical patterns and how these patterns vary under global change by the inclusion of novel ecological theories, frameworks and approaches. We thus propose key questions and cutting-edge perspectives to advance future research in mountain microbial biogeography by focusing on biodiversity hypotheses, incorporating meta-ecosystem framework and novel key drivers, adapting recently developed approaches in trait-based ecology and manipulative field experiments, disentangling biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships and finally modelling and predicting their global change responses.

Meander floodplain management and stabilization of riverbank in urban region

The normalization of the Meander River in the past caused environmental problems, changed the river’s ecology, and required heavy maintenance such as stabilizing riverbanks with revetments, sheet piles and other constructions. Pesanggrahan River, located at Southern Region of Jakarta, Indonesia which has a meander channel at the border between the middle reach and downstream reach. The river was normalized at the end of the year 2012 with several modifications such as resection, realignment and cutting-off meandering bends. Analysis the effect of normalization consisting of meander cut-off and riverbank stabilization presented in this paper in term of the behaviour of sediment transport along the channel that has been normalized. HEC-RAS program is used to track the Pesanggrahan river flow from upstream to downstream before and after normalization. The Ackers-White equation used to calculate the amount of sediment for each section based on the change of the river section due to sediment motion after normalizing of the channel river. From the results of the study, it is proposed that a river naturalization or low impact development (LID) approach, such as floodplain management especially at the meander bend with riparian ecosystems that maintain stabilization at the riverbank also maintain habitat heterogeneity, is an important factor for the long-term survival of several rare and endangered species.

Response of dung beetle diversity to three livestock management systems in drylands of central Mexico

Human activities such as livestock raising have modified the Mexican High Plateau in a land-use mosaic. We assessed the response of dung beetles to three livestock management systems with different intensities of cattle rearing, which determines their respective vegetation coverage. We found significant differences in species diversity in the three systems, due mainly to Euoniticellus intermedius and Digitonthophagus gazella, which were dominant species in induced pasture. Species turnover showed that induced pasture was significantly different from managed and unmanaged pasture. Both exotic species were also an indicator for induced pasture, along with Aphodius pseudolividus. Our results are presumably related to the differences in land use that influence community composition, favoring the presence of opportunistic dung beetle species in induced pastures. Managed and unmanaged pasture probably represent a more stable habitat for species that are more susceptible to habitat perturbation. We propose E. intermedius, D. gazella and A. pseudolividus as the main indicator species of habitat perturbation because they are able to colonize open grasslands when not facing competition with native species. Maintaining habitat heterogeneity, including native vegetation and extensive livestock farming, can aid the ecosystem conservation services provided by dung beetles, ensuring cattle production and food security.

Bird taxonomic and functional responses to land abandonment in wood-pastures

Wood-pastures are socio-ecological systems covering vast areas in Europe. Although used for grazing and production of various forest goods, wood-pastures harbour a rich biodiversity and are usually considered as High Nature Value Farmlands. However, socio-economic pressures are driving the transformation of these valuable landscapes from multi-functional, heterogeneous habitats to homogeneous areas through either intensification or land abandonment. We investigated how changes in management intensity influence the taxonomic diversity, functional diversity and functional composition of birds in these landscapes using generalized linear models. In contrast to taxonomic diversity, functional diversity decreased significantly towards shrub-dominated and less heterogeneous areas related to the abandonment of grazing and/or understory management practices. Grassland and generalist species, and associated guilds such as granivores, ground-nesters and ground-foragers are almost absent less managed areas. On the other hand, shrub-dominated areas favour forest species, particularly understory/canopy foragers and arboreal nesters, although the forest guild is still well-represented in actively managed, heterogeneous areas. Our results indicate the abandonment of wood-pasture management affects the prevalence of grassland and generalist species, leading to functional diversity loss and potentially reduced ecosystem functioning. We suggest non-intensive, active management is needed to maintain habitat heterogeneity and canopy openness, enhancing trait diversity in wood-pastures.

The role of fire disturbance on habitat structure and bird communities in South Brazilian Highland Grasslands

Grassland ecosystems are evolutionarily linked to disturbances such as grazing and fire. These disturbances define grassland plant communities and habitat heterogeneity, which influence animal communities. We evaluated the influence of fire disturbance on plant and bird communities and on habitat structure by sampling grassland fragments with different time elapsed since the last fire event. Habitat structure was sampled using plant life forms and abiotic variables and birds were sampled through point counts. We recorded 862 bird individuals from 70 species. Intermediately-burnt sites harbor higher habitat heterogeneity and plant species richness in comparison with recently or long-burnt sites. Bird abundance and taxonomic diversity decreased linearly as time since fire increased. Finally, time since fire influenced the relative distribution of plant life forms and bird food guilds. Our results indicate that fire management should be included in the framework for conservation and sustainable use of grasslands, because it promotes habitat heterogeneity and diversity. To maintain habitat heterogeneity and the related habitat-specific bird species and functional groups, conservation efforts should maintain grassland patches under different management intensities and frequencies on a landscape level. However, studies focused on determining the periodicity with which fire management should be used are still lacking.

The relative importance of wetland area versus habitat heterogeneity for promoting species richness and abundance of wetland birds in the Prairie Pothole Region, USA

AbstractRecent work has suggested that a tradeoff exists between habitat area and habitat heterogeneity, with a moderate amount of heterogeneity supporting greatest species richness. Support for this unimodal relationship has been mixed and has differed among habitats and taxa. We examined the relationship between habitat heterogeneity and species richness after accounting for habitat area in glacially formed wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region in the United States at both local and landscape scales. We tested for area–habitat heterogeneity tradeoffs in wetland bird species richness, the richness of groups of similar species, and in species’ abundances. We then identified the habitat relationships for individual species and the relative importance of wetland area vs. habitat heterogeneity and other wetland characteristics. We found that habitat area was the primary driver of species richness and abundance. Additional variation in richness and abundance could be explained by habitat heterogeneity or other wetland and landscape characteristics. Overall avian species richness responded unimodally to habitat heterogeneity, suggesting an area–heterogeneity tradeoff. Group richness and abundance metrics showed either unimodal or linear relationships with habitat heterogeneity. Habitat heterogeneity indices at local and landscape scales were important for some, but not all, species and avian groups. Both abundance of individual species and species richness of most avian groups were higher on publicly owned wetlands than on privately owned wetlands, on restored wetlands than natural wetlands, and on permanent wetlands than on wetlands of other classes. However, we found that all wetlands examined, regardless of ownership, restoration status, and wetland class, supported wetland-obligate birds. Thus, protection of all wetland types contributes to species conservation. Our results support conventional wisdom that protection of large wetlands is a priority but also indicate that maintaining habitat heterogeneity will enhance biodiversity and support higher populations of individual species.

Effects of climate on spider beta diversity across different Mediterranean habitat types

Maintaining species turnover across habitats is essential for biodiversity conservation. Thus, identifying drivers of community variation is important for conservation strategies. Here, we examine spider community variation along a Mediterranean climatic gradient in Greece, characterised by a mosaic of vegetation. We quantified spider community composition in 22 sites including three different habitat types (grassland, shrubland, oak forest) along a temperature gradient. Community composition was assessed at the family and species (Gnaphosidae and allied families) level. We partitioned beta diversity into two additive components, turnover/balanced abundance variation and nestedness/abundance gradient. Permutational multivariate analysis of variance was used to assess the effects of habitat type, temperature, humidity and elevation on beta diversity. Results showed that different habitat types harboured distinct spider communities at both taxonomical levels. Turnover and balanced abundance variation of families and species were the largest beta diversity components. Turnover and balanced abundance variation of species but not families were significantly affected by temperature differences and the rate of compositional change was similar in grasslands and forests. We conclude that maintaining habitat heterogeneity in the area will conserve spider diversity and that future rising temperatures may potentially lead to species replacement and to changes in the chorological spectrum of the communities. Applying beta diversity partitioning at small spatial scales can offer valuable insights into climate change effects and sustain the development of appropriate conservation actions, especially in cases where temporal or coarser-scale distributional data are lacking. Given their sensitivity, ground spiders are good indicators of climate change effects on biodiversity.

Factors Associated with Habitat Segregation Among the Four Species of Cervids in the Chitwan National Park, Nepal

Abstract Study of habitat segregation among the four species of cervids was conducted in the Chitwan National park of lowland Nepal. This study aimed to investigate the possible mechanisms of habitat partitioning among the four cervids - chital, sambar deer, hog deer and northern red muntjac using discriminant analysis and canonical correlation analysis. Present study considered four major niche dimensions - habitat, human disturbance, presence of predators and seasons. The data were collected by walking along the line transects that encompasses the different habitats, varying degree of human disturbances and frequency of predator’s presence. Results showed the significant effect of season on the habitat segregation among these cervids. There was higher niche overlap during summer season as compared to winter season. Habitat overlap between chital and muntjac was higher and unstable than others, which showed that they were the competitors of the same resources as enlightened by their generalist nature. Therefore, maintaining habitat heterogeneity and minimizing human disturbances will be better solutions for the coexistence of herbivores in the Chitwan National Park and can be an example for similar areas of lowland Nepal.

The impacts of oil palm plantation establishment on the habitat type, species diversity, and feeding guild of mammals and herpetofauna

Kwatrina RT, Santosa Y, Bismark M, Santoso N. 2018. The impacts of oil palm plantation establishment on the habitat type, species diversity, and feeding guild of mammals and herpetofauna. Biodiversitas 19: 1213-1219. Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of palm oil. Contributing 2.14% to the country’s gross domestic product, palm oil plays an important role in the national economy from plantation sector. However, the expansion of oil palm plantations has brought negative impacts to forests and wildlife. Little is known to what extent these negative impacts on mammals and reptiles can be reduced through better management. To address this knowledge gap, the current study assessed species diversity as affected by the establishment of the oil palm plantation in Central Kalimantan, a tropical biodiversity hotspot in Asia. We conducted 25 line transect surveys and visual encounter surveys in oil palm areas, shrubs and secondary forests in these landscapes. The results indicated that the establishment of oil palm plantation negatively impacted species abundance and diversity, and changed the mammal and reptile species composition, by favoring ecologically generalist species. For forest specialist species, forested areas like HCV and HCS, play an important role in maintaining habitat heterogeneity in oil palm landscapes. Mammal species found in habitat conditions following oil palm plantations belong to some feeding groups, whereas all species of herpetofauna have terrestrial habitat types. These mammal and herpetofauna species can live and function in the food chain in the oil palm plantation ecosystem.

Red‐backed fairywrens adjust habitat use in response to dry season fires

AbstractFire disturbance in tropical savannas is integral to maintaining habitat heterogeneity and biodiversity, but its impact on avian species is highly variable. Savannas in northern Australia have recently been invaded by gamba grass (Andropogon gayanus), a perennial tussock grass that fuels late season fires at eight times the intensity of native vegetation. As gamba grass rapidly outcompetes native species and promotes more frequent and intense fires, it greatly decreases landscape heterogeneity and alters the effect of fire in tropical savannas. To investigate how a small passerine, the red‐backed fairywren (Malurus melanocephalus), responds to fire disturbance and gamba grass cover, we studied their fine‐scale habitat use throughout the dry season before and after a high intensity fire. We used two spatially distinct approaches, radio‐telemetry and a transect‐based population census, to quantify fairywren habitat use at the group and population level, respectively. Radio‐telemetry and transect surveys revealed no direct mortality associated with the severe bushfire during the middle of the study season, suggesting fairywrens are resilient in the short‐term to fire disturbance. Our results indicate that fairywrens are largely flexible in their habitat use – instead of relocating after fire, they re‐centre their home range around the most photosynthetically productive habitats, dominated by saplings. While we found substantial variation in habitat use among social groups, red‐backed fairywren groups generally avoided dense habitat areas dominated by mature gamba grass. We conclude that red‐backed fairywrens are resilient to fire and flexible in their habitat use in the short‐term; however, in the long‐term, gamba grass may pose a threat to population viability. The importance of flexible behavioural strategies in tropical passerines will increase as fire regimes are exacerbated by invasive species and climate change.

Conserving reptiles within a multiple-use landscape: determining habitat affiliations of reptile communities in the northern jarrah forest of south-western Australia

Disturbed landscapes can provide habitat for a variety of species; however, for fauna, a strong understanding of their habitat affiliations is critical both to detect species and to develop management prescriptions to maintain their populations. We assessed habitat affiliations of common, uncommon and rare reptile species in a multiple-use landscape, the northern jarrah forest of south-western Australia. To identify predictors of reptile occurrence, we related reptile presence/absence, or relative abundance, to habitat, climatic and seasonal variables. Because the reptiles studied have cryptic behaviours and low numbers of detections, we used a combination of analyses including non-metric multi-dimensional scaling, occupancy and regression models. We identified specific habitat affiliations for the most common species and potential linkages with vegetation structure for most uncommon species. There were insufficient detections to determine habitat affiliations accurately for most rare species. Often species were detected too infrequently to determine specific habitat variables that influence occupancy and detection, and altering survey time and scale may increase detections so that habitat affiliations can be determined. However, in highly speciose landscapes, like our study area, we may not be able to wait until we have enough detections to define the habitat affiliations of all reptiles before we make management decisions. Therefore management activities that maintain habitat heterogeneity and complexity is likely to be the best strategy to conserve the most reptile species.

Biodiversity functions of urban cemeteries: Evidence from one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Europe

As the world becomes more urbanized, urban cemeteries may become increasingly valuable for biodiversity conservation as cemeteries are ubiquitous elements of the green infrastructure in cities worldwide. By implementing a multi-taxon approach at different spatial extents, we analyzed habitat functions of a large urban cemetery in Berlin (Weiÿensee Jewish Cemetery) and explored related environmental variables. This cemetery is an outstanding cultural heritage site but it also stands for old urban cemeteries that have progressed to urban woodland, an ecosystem type that exists in many regional and religious contexts. The cemetery provided a habitat for 604 species; species of conservation concern comprised 1.6⿿100% of total species among different groups of taxa (in decreasing order: bats, birds, lichens, bryophytes, carabids, vascular plants, spiders). Species richness and species composition at the plot level were significantly related to differences in management intensity and resulting vegetation structures but differed among taxonomic groups. In vascular plants, carabids and spiders, the species composition varied significantly with habitat age, and there was a set of characteristic species for different age classes in each species group. Our results thus support the use of differentiated management approaches to maintain habitat heterogeneity by allowing wilderness development in some parts of a cemetery while keeping others more open. Since these aims can be combined with efforts to preserve outstanding grave architectures and allow access to visitors, our study indicates ways of reconciling conflicting aims of heritage preservation and biodiversity conservation, a promising perspective for biodiversity conservation in culturally shaped urban landscapes. We conclude that cemeteries provide important cultural ecosystem services within the urban green infrastructure.

A landscape approach to advance intermittent river ecology

Summary Intermittent rivers are increasingly viewed as shifting mosaics of lotic (flowing water), lentic (standing water) and terrestrial (dry riverbed) habitats. The diversity, spatial arrangement, temporal turnover and connectivity of these habitats are controlled by the magnitude, frequency, duration and extent of drying and rewetting events, which maintain habitat heterogeneity and control biodiversity and biogeochemical processes in intermittent rivers. We consider intermittent rivers as spatiotemporal landscape mosaics to identify the implications such a view has for empirical and theoretical developments in landscape and river ecology. Using observational data of flow states collected by citizen scientists along 1400 km of river channels in western France, we used landscape metrics and ecologically scaled indices for four hypothetical, aquatic species (two fish and two insects) to describe the dynamics of intermittent river mosaics for five catchments. Dry patches dominated most observation dates but flowing patches had the longest average length and occupied the greatest proportion of channel length. At the start of each summer, catchments were almost entirely composed of flowing patches but lentic and dry patches could represented up to 80% of the catchments as summer progressed. Patch dynamics were typified by high levels of spatiotemporal variability. In contrast, ecologically scaled indices did not vary greatly among catchments within species. The ecologically scaled indices representing small fish were the most affected by habitat fragmentation. Such a landscape perspective could affect understanding of biodiversity patterns and biogeochemical processes in intermittent rivers. We outline the methodological developments required to integrate landscape approaches into intermittent river research, the associated challenges and current limitations in landscape ecology tools and models and the benefits of citizen science data sets. The continued quantification of shifting habitat mosaics in intermittent rivers will provide multiple opportunities to advance river and landscape ecology.