Evaluating least-cost model predictions with empirical dispersal data: a case-study using radiotracking data of hedgehogs Eri

human-induced mortality and habitat loss, which reduce population size and accelerate the loss of genetic variation. Twenty-five metric traits of Iberian lynx skulls have been measured on 95 skulls collected between 1872 and 2003. The skulls belong to three geographically distinct areas/populations, which have recently diverged from each other as a consequence of increased habitat fragmentation: Doñana area, Sierra Morena mountains and Montes de Toledo area. The morphometric study was undertaken using univariate, multivariate and admixture analysis approaches, and all three techniques provided evidence for morphometric differentiation, both in skull size and shape, among the three populations for both males and females. Environmental and genetic forces that may have shaped these patterns are discussed. The males of the population of the Doñana area showed a different degree of reduction in size in nine of the skull traits with time, which has been suggested to be partly because of worsened habitat conditions. However, the heterogeneity of the degree of mean size reduction and the relatively high degree of reduction of some of the skull traits investigated (>4%), which have altered the original proportions between the skull variables, could also partly be attributed to inbreeding depression in the Doñana population. The phenotypic variability of the skull traits showed significant increases (two traits) or decreases (nine traits) with time, and this different pattern of change with time has been suggested to be because of a different number of genes controlling the traits with different degrees of dominance and epistatic interactions. The increased phenotypic variability of two of the traits has also been attributed to a possible decreased level of developmental stability, which can be produced by environmental and/or genetic stress. The findings of... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]; DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2005.00024.x; (AN 20753736)
Not seeing the ocean for the islands: the mediating influence of matrix-based processes on forest fragmentation effects. By: Kupfer, John A.; Malanson, George P.; Franklin, Scott B.. Global Ecology & Biogeography, Jan2006, Vol. 15 Issue 1, p8-20, 13p, 1 diagram, 6bw Abstract: The pervasive influence of island biogeography theory on forest fragmentation research has often led to a misleading conceptualization of landscapes as areas of forest/habitat and ‘non-forest/non-habitat’ and an overriding focus on processes within forest remnants at the expense of research in the human-modified matrix. The matrix, however, may be neither uniformly unsuitable as habitat nor serve as a fully–absorbing barrier to the dispersal of forest taxa. In this paper, we present a conceptual model that addresses how forest habitat loss and fragmentation affect biodiversity through reduction of the resource base, subdivision of populations, alterations of species interactions and disturbance regimes, modifications of microclimate and increases in the presence of invasive species and human pressures on remnants. While we acknowledge the importance of changes associated with the forest remnants themselves (e.g. decreased forest area and increased isolation of forest patches), we stress that the extent, intensity and permanence of alterations to the matrix will have an overriding influence on area and isolation effects and emphasize the potential roles of the matrix as not only a barrier but also as habitat, source and conduit. Our intention is to argue for shifting the examination of forest fragmentation effects away from a patch-based perspective focused on factors such as patch area and distance metrics to a landscape mosaic perspective that recognizes the importance of gradients in habitat conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]; DOI: 10.1111/j.1466-822X.2006.00204.x; (AN 19328965)
Mammal Conservation in Brazil. By: COSTA, LEONORA PIRES; LEITE, YURI LUIZ REIS; MENDES, SÉRGIO LUCENA; DITCHFIELD, ALBERT DAVID. Conservation Biology, Jun2005, Vol. 19 Issue 3, p672-679, 8p Abstract (English): Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world and the first of the megadiversity countries, accounting for roughly 14% of the world's biota. It has the largest mammal diversity (more than 530 described species) with many yet to be discovered and cataloged. Very few sites have been adequately surveyed, and local lists are usually incomplete, which makes for knowledge gaps that hamper conservation and management initiatives and regional analyses. According to the Brazilian Institute for the Environment (IBAMA), 66 species are threatened, and the World Conservation Union lists 74. Primates, mostly Atlantic Forest endemics, are the most endangered group (40% of the threatened taxa). Carnivores and rodents are also notable members of the lists. Twenty-nine percent of listed species are marine, 18% occur in the Atlantic Forest, 13% in the Pampas, 12% in the Cerrado, 11% in the Pantanal, 7% in the Amazon, and 6% in the Caatinga. Human-induced habitat loss and fragmentation are major threats to land mammals in Brazil, and large- and medium-sized mammals are hunted. The major threat to small mammals is the scarcity of basic scientific knowledge—taxonomy, systematics, distribution, and natural history. Aquatic mammals are threatened by commercial hunting, accidental netting, long-line fisheries, chemical pollution, habitat degradation, tourism, and boat traffic. Mammal conservation has benefited from a number of recent initiatives by government and nongovernmental organizations, including legislation, nationwide initiatives to define priority areas for conservation, management plans for some threatened species, sustainable landscape planning, and new protected areas. Given the rate of habitat loss, a nationwide program of short- and long-term field surveys and increased support for natural history collections is of particularly urgency. Progress has been made toward conserving Brazilian mammals in recent years, but threats are growing fast, and conservation... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]; DOI: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00666.x; (AN 17204920)
Responses of ‘resistant’ vertebrates to habitat loss and fragmentation: the importance of niche breadth and range boundaries. By: Swihart, Robert K.; Gehring, Thomas M.; Kolozsvary, Mary Beth; Nupp, Thomas E.. Diversity & Distributions, Jan2003, Vol. 9 Issue 1, p1-18, 18p Abstract: Abstract. An ability to predict species’ sensitivities to habitat loss and fragmentation has important conservation implications, and numerous hypotheses have been proposed to explain interspecific differences observed in human-dominated landscapes. We used occupancy data collected on 32 species of vertebrates (16 mammals and 16 amphibians) in an agricultural landscape of Indiana, USA, to compare hypotheses that focus on different causal mechanisms underlying interspecific variation in responses to habitat alteration: (1) body size; (2) morphology and development; (3) behaviour; (4) niche breadth; (5) proximity to range boundary; and multiple-process models combining main effects and interactions of hypotheses (1)–(2) and (4)–(5). The majority of habitat alteration occurred over a century ago and coincided with extinction of several species; thus, our study dealt only with variation in responses of extant species that often are considered ‘resistant’ to human modifications of native habitat. Corrected Akaike scores and Akaike weights provided strongest support for models incorporating niche breadth and proximity to range boundary. Measures of dietary and habitat breadth obtained from the literature were negatively correlated with sensitivity to habitat alteration. Additionally, greater sensitivity was observed for species occurring at the periphery of their geographical ranges, especially at northern or western margins. Body size, morphological, developmental and behavioural traits were inferior predictors of tolerance to fragmentation for the species and landscape we examined. Our findings reinforce the importance of niche breadth as a predictor of species’ responses to habitat alteration. They also highlight the importance of viewing the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation in a landscape within a biogeographical context that considers a species’ level of adaptation to local environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]; DOI: 10.1046/j.1472

Extinction Debt at Extinction Threshold. By: Hanski, Ilkka; Ovaskainen, Otso. Conservation Biology, Jun2002, Vol. 16 Issue 3, p666-673, 8p Abstract: To allow for long-term metapopulation persistence, a network of habitat fragments must satisfy a certain condition in terms of number, size, and spatial configuration of the fragments. The influence of landscape structure on the threshold condition can be measured by a quantity called metapopulation capacity, which can be calculated for real fragmented landscapes. Habitat loss and fragmentation reduce the metapopulation capacity of a landscape and make it less likely that the threshold condition can be met. If the condition is not met, the metapopulation is expected to go extinct, but it takes some time following habitat loss before the extinction will occur, which generates an extinction debt in a community of species. We show that extinction debt is especially great in a community in which many species are close to their extinction threshold following habitat loss because the metapopulation-dynamic time delay is especially long in such species. A corollary is that landscapes that have recently experienced substantial habitat loss and fragmentation are expected to show a transient excess of rare species, which represents a previously overlooked signature of extinction debt. We consider a putative example of extinction debt on forest-inhabiting beetles in Finland. At present, the few remaining natural-like forests are distributed evenly throughout southern Finland, but the number of regionally extinct old-growth forest beetles is much greater in the southwestern coastal areas, where human impact on forests has been lengthy, than in the northeastern inland areas, where intensive forestry started only after World War II. Ignoring time delays in population and metapopulation dynamics will lead to an underestimate of the number of effectively endangered species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]; DOI: 10.1046/j.1523-1739.2002.00342.x; (AN 6804085)

Quantifying barrier effects of roads and seismic lines on movements of female woodland caribou in northeastern Alberta. By: O'Neill, Jack P.; Boutin, Stan. Canadian Journal of Zoology, May2002, Vol. 80 Issue 5, p839, 7p; Abstract: Linear developments such as roads, seismic lines, and pipeline rights-of-way are common anthropogenic features in the boreal forest of Alberta. These features may act as barriers to the movement of threatened woodland caribou, Rangifer tarandus caribou. Seismic lines were not barriers to caribou movements, whereas roads with moderate vehicle traffic acted as semipermeable barriers to caribou movements. Twenty-two adult female and 1 adult male woodland caribou were captured and collared on February 17–19, 1998. Each caribou was fitted with a global positioning system collar. The greatest barrier effects were evident during late winter, when caribou crossed actual roads 6 times less frequently than simulated road networks. Semipermeable barrier effects may exacerbate functional habitat loss demonstrated through avoidance behavior. Caribou may cross roads less frequently than expected for a number of reasons, including an aversion to the physical barrier presented by a road and associated forest opening, vehicle traffic, or predation by humans. The effects of habitat fragmentation through habitat loss, avoidance, and the semipermeable barrier effects of roads should be considered in developing strategies to maintain woodland caribou populations in Alberta. Roads that act as semipermeable barriers to caribou movements may make the presence of caribou more predictable in space and time, and hence compromise the "spacing out" strategy that caribou adopt to reduce predation. The approach we have outlined in this paper is a useful method to quantify the effects of human developments acting as semipermeable barriers to animal movements and should be considered in the development of animal-movement models.; (AN 10250737)
Characteristics of insect populations on habitat fragments: A mini review. By: Tscharntke, Teja; Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf; Kruess, Andreas; Thies, Carsten. Ecological Research, Mar2002, Vol. 17 Issue 2, p229-239, 11p Abstract: Modern human-dominated landscapes are typically characterized by intensive land-use and high levels of habitat destruction, often resulting in sharply contrasted habitat mosaics. Fragmentation of remaining habitat is a major threat to biodiversity. In the present paper, we focus on the different features of habitat fragmentation. First we discuss the importance of pure habitat loss, fragment size, fragment isolation and quality, edge effects, and the importance of landscape structure. Second, we characterize life-history features of fragmentation-sensitive species, showing that rare, specialized, little dispersing species are most affected, as well as species characterized by high population variability and a high trophic position, while the effect of body size is unclear. Third, we discuss the conservation value of habitat fragments. The question arises how to relate studies on population survival to those of community structure and studies on biodiversity to those on ecologicalal functions. Despite the general superiority of large to small reserves, only small or medium-sized reserves are available in many human-dominated landscapes. A great number of small habitats covering a wide range of geographic area should maximize beta diversity and spreading of risk and may be very important for the regional conservation of biodiversity, in contrast to the prevailing arguments in favor of large habitats. Finally, landscape context influences community structure of fragments, and communities are composed of species that experience the landscape on a broad range of spatial scales. Spatial arrangement of habitat fragments in a landscape appears to be important only in simple, not complex landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]; DOI: 10.1046/j.1440-1703.2002.00482.x; (AN 6571717)
Habitat loss, fragmentation and predator impact: spatial implications for prey conservation. By: Schneider, Michael F.. Journal of Applied Ecology, Aug2001, Vol. 38 Issue 4, p720-735, 16p, 4 charts, 2 diagrams, 9 graphs Abstract: Summary 1.Because predators threaten the survival of endangered prey in many places, predator management is a widespread conservation tool. At the same time, the effects of predators on their prey are greatly influenced by landscape structure. Therefore, the management of landscapes could be an alternative to predator regulation. 2.A spatially explicit presence/absence model (a stochastic one-layer cellular automaton) was used to investigate two different predator–prey systems that were subject to changes in the number and size of habitat patches in a model landscape. 3.The first scenario included grey-sided voles Clethrionomys rufocanus , Norwegian lemmings Lemmus lemmus and small mustelids (stoats Mustela erminea and weasels M. nivalis ) interacting in a tundra landscape. In the second scenario, the effect of habitat perforation by human settlements with subsidized predators (house cats Felis silvestris catus ) on the dynamics of lemmings (as surrogate for endangered prey) was studied. 4.Both the total area of lemming habitat and the degree of fragmentation were important determinants of the population size and persistence of lemmings. A qualitative change in the effect of fragmentation was observed when the area of lemming habitat decreased from 70% (positive effect) to 50% (negative effect). When lemming habitat covered 50% or less of the landscape, fragmentation had a negative effect on lemming population size and viability, even though habitat area did not decrease. 5.The spatial configuration of settlements as predator sources was important. A few evenly spaced predator sources had less negative effect on lemming populations than the same proportion of predator habitat that was randomly distributed, which in turn had less effect than many evenly spaced patches. 6.Including predator management in the model did not decrease the predators’ negative impact on the population size and persistence of the endangered prey when settlements occurred in... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]; DOI: 10.1046/j.1365
Phylogeography, population history and conservation genetics of jaguars (Panthera onca , Mammalia, Felidae). By: Eizirik, Eduardo; Kim, Jae-Heup; Menotti-Raymond, Marilyn; Crawshaw JR., Peter G.; O’Brien, Stephen J.; Johnson, Warren E.. Molecular Ecology, Jan2001, Vol. 10 Issue 1, p65-79, 15p, 5 charts, 3 diagrams, 3 graphs, 1 map Abstract: Abstract The jaguar (Panthera onca ), the largest felid in the American Continent, is currently threatened by habitat loss, fragmentation and human persecution. We have investigated the genetic diversity, population structure and demographic history of jaguars across their geographical range by analysing 715 base pairs of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region and 29 microsatellite loci in ≈40 individuals sampled from Mexico to southern Brazil. Jaguars display low to moderate levels of mtDNA diversity and medium to high levels of microsatellite size variation, and show evidence of a recent demographic expansion. We estimate that extant jaguar mtDNA lineages arose 280 000–510 000 years ago (95% CI 137 000–830 000 years ago), a younger date than suggested by available fossil data. No strong geographical structure was observed, in contrast to previously proposed subspecific partitions. However, major geographical barriers such as the Amazon river and the Darien straits between northern South America and Central America appear to have restricted historical gene flow in this species, producing measurable genetic differentiation. Jaguars could be divided into four incompletely isolated phylogeographic groups, and further sampling may reveal a finer pattern of subdivision or isolation by distance on a regional level. Operational conservation units for this species can be defined on a biome or ecosystem scale, but should take into account the historical barriers to dispersal identified here. Conservation strategies for jaguars should aim to maintain high levels of gene flow over broad geographical areas, possibly through active management of disconnected populations on a regional scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]; DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-294X.2001.01144.x; (AN 5514493)

Human and domestic animal populations as a potential threat to wild carnivore conservation in a fragmented landscape from the Eastern Brazilian Amazon

Biological Conservation, Volume 138, Issues 1-2, August 2007, Pages 290-296

Christina Wippich Whiteman, Eliana Reiko Matushima, Ulisses Eugênio Cavalcanti Confalonieri, Maria das Dores Correia Palha, Alanna do Socorro Lima da Silva and Vanessa Conceição Monteiro

SummaryPlus

Hydroelectric projects are one of the well known factors responsible for habitat loss and fragmentation in the Amazon. The Tucuruí Lake Protected Area (Tucuruí Lake APA), in the state of Pará, Brazil, Eastern Brazilian Amazon, is under the influence of the Tucuruí dam. Zones of wildlife protection (ZWPs), where no human activities should be allowed, were created inside this protected area. However, human populations and their domestic animals still reside within the ZWPs. Domestic carnivores have been implicated in wild carnivore population declines, particularly in Africa, as a consequence of disease transmission, especially involving the canine distemper virus. This study examined the seroprevalence of antibodies to this pathogen in domestic dogs from the ZWPs and its immediate surroundings at the Tucuruí Lake Protected Area, and revealed 27% seropositivity. Wild carnivore species such as the jaguar (Panthera onca), puma (Puma concolor), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), coati (Nasua nasua), among others, inhabit the ZWPs and information provided by the local community indicates their close contact with the human and domestic dog populations. Such evidence supports the concern that relates the presence of the domestic dogs to disease transmission and conservation risks for wild carnivores in the ZWPs of the Tucuruí Lake APA.

Village size and forest disturbance in Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Ghats, India

Biological Conservation, Volume 128, Issue 2, March 2006, Pages 147-157

Krithi K. Karanth, Lisa M. Curran and Jonathan D. Reuning-Scherer

SummaryPlus

Habitat fragmentation, land cover change and biodiversity loss are often associated with village communities in protected areas, but the extent and intensity of such impacts are often inadequately assessed. We record resource use and depletion by human inhabitants by conducting ecological surveys in six villages and social surveys in all 13 villages of varying sizes in India’s Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary (492 km2). We examined the occurrence of 10 regionally-specific ecological indicators that encompassed several aspects of human activities. Thirty transects with 180 total sampling locations recorded the occurrence of these specific habitat disturbance variables. High correlations between the variables led to the use of principal component analysis to derive an effective summary index that reflected disturbance intensity and determined village ecological impacts spatially. A generalized linear model was fit to determine the rate at which disturbance decreases as we move away from village centers. Our model indicates that village size class, distance from the village and proximity to other villages were significant predictors of the disturbance index. The index distinguished each village’s spatially explicit ecological impact. We estimated that an average area of 23.7 km2 of the forest surrounding the six focal villages was altered by human activities. These six villages have directly impacted 8–10% of this protected area.

Influence of former cultivation on the unique Mediterranean steppe of France and consequences for conservation management

Biological Conservation, Volume 121, Issue 1, January 2005, Pages 21-33

Christine Römermann, Thierry Dutoit, Peter Poschlod and Elise Buisson
SummaryPlus

In Europe, the actual landscape has been mainly influenced by human activities. Agricultural intensification led to a considerable habitat loss and fragmentation, especially for dry semi-natural grasslands.

This current study investigates the impact of former melon and cereal cultivation (cultivation period: 1950–1987) on the semi-natural vegetation of the Crau, representing the last xeric Mediterranean steppe in France.
Today, the ex-cultivated melon and cereal fields are characterised by different vegetation compositions, species richness and evenness compared to the undisturbed steppe community. Also the abiotic conditions (N, P, K, pH, soil granule fractions) have been changed by former cultivation practices. The rather transient seed bank of the steppe was depleted during the cultivation periods; ancient weed species and ruderals now determine the seed bank of the ex-cultivated fields.
It is concluded that the conservation of the last parts of undisturbed steppe must have absolute priority. A re-development of the original and unique steppe community on formerly cultivated fields may take decades or centuries, if at all.

The impact of free-roaming dogs on gazelle kid/female ratio in a fragmented area

Biological Conservation, Volume 119, Issue 2, September 2004, Pages 231-236

Regev Manor and David Saltz

SummaryPlus

One of the consequences of fragmentation is a combination of increased proximity to human dominated areas and an influx of free-roaming dogs. In fragmented habitats those dogs are expected to have a considerable impact on ungulate populations since conditions are, in effect, similar to alien species on islands. We studied the impact of free-roaming dogs (Canis familiaris) on the kid/mother ratio of mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella gazella) in an isolated area heavily disturbed by human activity. We used the kid/female ratio as an index of recruitment in the gazelle populations and evaluated the impacts of dog presence, intensity of human disturbance, and forage and cover availability on this ratio over space and time. Data were collected from direct observations. Overall, kid/female ratio in the area is too low for population growth; a finding that is in agreement with drive counts indicating a consistent decline over the past four years (1998–2001). Our results show that free-roaming dogs were the overwhelming factor affecting kid/female ratio in this area. Gazelles responded positively and quickly to dog culling. Thus, free-roaming dogs appear to be a considerable threat to the gazelle population in the study area. Removal of those dogs on a regular basis is an adequate short-term management protocol for increasing gazelle recruitment rate. However, a permanent solution would require reducing the number of dogs by limiting human waste disposal. These results suggest that, in addition to the loss of habitat and connectivity, free-roaming dogs can be a major threat to native ungulates in human dominated fragmented landscapes.

Spatial arrangement of habitat patches and corridors: clues from ecological field experiments

Landscape and Urban Planning, Volume 42, Issues 2-4, 7 December 1998, Pages 157-168

Sharon K. Collinge
SummaryPlus

Habitat loss and isolation associated with land conversion for human activities pose perhaps the most severe threat to the earth's biological diversity. Because the study of habitat fragmentation provides an important link between the concepts of landscape ecology and the practice of landscape architecture and planning, my dissertation research focused on the ecological consequences of changes in the spatial characteristics of native habitats. I completed two major field experiments with insects in a native grassland near Boulder, Colorado, USA, that directly tested ecological hypotheses regarding the influences of habitat spatial characteristics and patterns of land conversion on species loss, recolonization, and movement patterns. The first experiment focused on fragment size and connectivity, while the second experiment mimicked four sequences of land conversion that varied in size, connectivity and spatial arrangement of their remnant habitat patches. Both experiments yielded significant results that contribute to the ecological knowledge-base utilized in landscape architecture and planning projects. Specifically, the major findings of my field research were (1) fragment size influenced species loss; small fragments lost species at a higher rate than did larger fragments; (2) corridors reduced rates of species loss, but only in medium-sized fragments; (3) corridors enhanced recolonization of medium-sized fragments, (4) one of the three insect species examined moved preferentially in corridors; and (5) spatial configuration of land conversion sequences significantly influenced species richness.

Cumulative environmental impacts and aboriginal rights

Environmental Impact Assessment Review, Volume 18, Issue 4, July 1998, Pages 371-390

C. Tollefson and K. Wipond
SummaryPlus

Over the past two decades, increasing attention has been devoted to the concept of cumulative environmental effects. Cumulative effects are the additive and interactive impacts that may result from human activities that are repeated over time and space. In many cases, numerous small, independent actions considered to be individually insignificant can eventually lead to substantial and sometimes irreversible changes in the environment. Public awareness of such impacts is often minimal, until such time as a critical point or threshold is exceeded. By this time the environmental and social consequences may be considerable. Habitat loss and fragmentation, climate modification, soil loss, declines in water quantity and quality, and pesticide accumulation are just a few of the areas in which cumulative effects have become a major concern. Recently proclaimed Canadian environmental assessment laws impose new requirements to identify and address cumulative effects. So far, however, considerable uncertainty exists as to how these statutory requirements will or should be carried out. This uncertainty is compounded by the constitutional requirement to recognize and protect various traditional aboriginal rights. The Canadian Constitution recently has been interpreted to protect the right of aboriginal people to engage in traditional sustenance-oriented hunting, fishing, trapping, and gathering activities. Moreover, following a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in late 1997, aboriginal people are now entitled to assert rights of exclusive use and occupation to land under the emerging legal concept of aboriginal title. The struggle by aboriginal peoples for legal recognition of these rights has been long and difficult. A growing number of aboriginal communities have voiced concerns that these newly recognized rights are being threatened by the cumulative environmental effects of resource development and human settlement. Paradoxically, just as the quest for traditional rights recognition is coming to fruition, the ability of aboriginal peoples to exercise these rights appears to be eroding. The purpose of this article is to examine how the concept of cumulative effects, together with the legal imperative to protect traditional aboriginal rights, can and must transform environmental decision-making. It is in four parts. Part I explores the meaning and policy implications of the concept of cumulative environmental impacts. Part II is an introduction to the legal and historical basis for aboriginal rights. Part III seeks to illustrate the challenges, and the necessity, of reforming environmental decision-making by use of a case-study involving a controversy over logging in traditional aboriginal territory. In Part IV we offer some concluding observations in the implications of our analysis for environmental assessment and decision-making.

TI: Modeling human factors that affect the loss of biodiversity.

AU: Forester,-D-J; Machlis,-G-E

AD: Department of Forest Resources, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844, USA.

SO: Conservation-Biology. 1996; 10(4): 1253-1263

RE: 76 ref.

PY: 1996

LA: English

LS: Spanish

AB: The paper describes the development and testing of an interdisciplinary model incorporating human factors that affect biodiversity loss and demonstrates the possibilities and difficulties associated with modeling biodiversity loss. The model has been developed and tested using socioeconomic and ecological data from 107 countries. Variables in the model include: social, economic and political forces (human population, monetary wealth and capital, government policies); human use of resources (natural resource production activities, land cover, industrial activity); ecosystem impacts (habitat loss and fragmentation, ecosystem stress, natural forces); and biodiversity loss. Some portions of the model fit the data well while other parts are less predictive. Counterintuitive results may be a result of the quality and availability of cross-national data and statistical limitations in testing a model of such complex processes. The model test provides insight into future research needs for examining human impacts on biodiversity. Issues discussed include data quality and temporal and spatial scale.

DE: human-behaviour; biodiversity-; models-

CC: PP700; EE150; EE120

CD: Biological-Resources-General; Environmental-Economics; Policy-and-Planning

PT: Journal-article

IS: 0888-8892

UD: 199600

AN: 19961809131

TI: Factors affecting the persistence of New England cottontail metapopulations: the role of habitat management.

AU: Litvaitis,-J-A; Villafuerte,-R

AD: Wildlife Program, Department of Natural Resources, Pettee Hall, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA.

SO: Wildlife-Society-Bulletin. 1996; 24(4): 686-693

RE: 48 ref.

PY: 1996

LA: English

AB: The distribution and abundance of New England cottontails (Sylvilagus transitionalis) have declined dramatically in response to land-use changes and expanding human populations. Computer simulations in the context of metapopulation theory was used to understand the effects of environmental correlation, habitat loss and habitat management on remaining populations of the rabbit. Environmental correlation (based on increased vulnerability to predation during periods with snow) and habitat loss (based largely on forest maturation) can each affect the persistence of metapopulations. The synergistic effect of these 2 variables can cause a rapid decline in rabbit populations or local extinctions. A management programme that maintains a network of suitable habitats can counter the negative effects. Patches (15-75 ha) of early successional habitat that are maintained with a regime of periodic disturbances (burning, cutting or mowing) may be sufficient to sustain local populations of New England cottontails.

DE: fragmentation-; landscape-; simulation-; persistence-; management-; populations-; wildlife-management; computer-simulation; wildlife-

OD: sylvilagus-; rabbits-

GE: New-england-states-of-usa; USA-

ID: Sylvilagus-transitionalis

BT: Leporidae-; Lagomorpha-; mammals-; vertebrates-; Chordata-; animals-; small-mammals; Northeastern-States-of-USA; USA-; North-America; America-; Developed-Countries; OECD-Countries

CC: KK100; PP710

CD: Forests-and-Forest-Trees-Biology-and-Ecology; Biological-Resources-Animal

PT: Journal-article

IS: 0091-7648

UD: 199700

AN: 19970608159

SM: OZ

TI: Three views (and four glimpses) of a secret: challenges in epidemiology.

AU: Dobson,-A; Hudson,-P-J

ED: Thomas,-M-B; Kedwards,-T

AD: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Eno Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544-1003, USA.

SO: Aspects-of-Applied-Biology. 1999; (53): 17-26

CF: Challenges in applied population biology, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK, 8-9 July 1999.

RE: 49 ref.

PY: 1999

LA: English

AB: Parasites and pathogens present a range of challenging problems for applied biologists. In this brief review three major problems in this area are examined: (1) the impact of climate change on seasonality, (2) parasites as biological control agents for invasive species and (3) pathogens and human health. The reader is also directed to four other problem areas: (4) the evolution of drug and insecticide resistance, (5) habitat loss, fragmentation and pathogens, (6) the role of pathogens in maintaining diversity, and (7) the interactions between malnutrition, stress, immunity and parasite infection. Ecological epidemiology is steadily expanding from its refuge as an arcane area of applied mathematics. The last fifteen years have seen a renaissance of ecological studies that address a range of applied problems for pathogens that directly impact humans, livestock and natural and threatened ecological communities. Unfortunately, it is still true that while infectious diseases will create some of the major biological challenges of the next century, too few biologists are trained in the 'secret' delights of parasitism. The central theme underlying this paper is to tempt others to join us.

DE: epidemiology-; biological-control; biological-control-agents; communities-; diversity-; evolution-; immunity-; infectious-diseases; insecticide-resistance; interactions-; livestock-; malnutrition-; parasites-; habitats-; pathogens-; stress-; environment-; ecosystems-; invasion-; helminths-

OD: man-; protozoa-

BT: Homo-; Hominidae-; Primates-; mammals-; vertebrates-; Chordata-; animals-; invertebrates-

CC: HH100; HH600; HH410; LL820; PP500

CD: Biological-Control; Host-Resistance-and-Immunity; Pesticide-and-Drug-Resistance; Parasites-Vectors-Pathogens-and-Biogenic-Diseases-of-Animals; Meteorology-and-Climate

PT: Conference-paper; Journal-article

IS: 0265-1491

UD: 199900

AN: 19990806802

TI: Conservation of the Cape parrot in southern Africa.

AU: Wirminghaus,-J-O; Downs,-C-T; Symes,-C-T; Perrin,-M-R

AD: School of Botany & Zoology, University of Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, 3209, South Africa.

SO: South-African-Journal-of-Wildlife-Research. 1999; 29(4): 118-129

RE: 77 ref.

PY: 1999

LA: English

AB: Features of its breeding and feeding biology make the Cape parrot (Poicephalus robustus) demographically vulnerable. The species occurs in the fragmented Afromontane forest in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Population numbers have declined significantly in recent years. Possible factors contributing to this decline include habitat loss, food shortage, the low reproductive rate, human predation and disease. Selective felling of Podocarpus spp., the preferred food tree and nest site species, has caused food shortage and nest site scarcity. Recommendations for the conservation of Cape parrots are presented.

DE: feeding-behaviour; felling-; tropical-forests; selective-felling; wild-birds; wildlife-conservation; forest-fragmentation; habitats-; nesting-; forest-ecology

OD: parrots-; Podocarpus-; Psittacidae-

GE: South-Africa

ID: Poicephalus-; Poicephalus-robustus

BT: Psittacidae-; Psittaciformes-; birds-; vertebrates-; Chordata-; animals-; Podocarpaceae-; Pinopsida-; gymnosperms-; Spermatophyta-; plants-; Southern-Africa; Africa-South-of-Sahara; Africa-; Developing-Countries; Threshold-Countries; Anglophone-Africa; Commonwealth-of-Nations

CC: KK100; PP710; ZZ331; PP600; ZZ332; YY500

CD: Forests-and-Forest-Trees-Biology-and-Ecology; Biological-Resources-Animal; Plant-Ecology; Pollution-and-Degradation; Animal-Ecology; Behaviour-Wild-Animals

PT: Journal-article

IS: 0379-4369

UD: 200000

AN: 20000611324

SM: OPS\Repr/6373

*LHM: Main Library,Main Library

TI: Ecological degradation in protected areas: the case of Wolong Nature Reserve for giant pandas.

AU: Liu-JianGuo; Linderman,-M; Ouyang-ZhiYun; An-Li; Yang-JiAn; Zhang-HeMin

AD: Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, 13 Natural Resources Building, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.

SO: Science-Washington. 2001; 292(5514): 98-101

PB: Washington, USA: American Association for the Advancement of Science.

RE: 29 ref.

PY: 2001

LA: English

AB: It is generally perceived that biodiversity is better protected from human activities after an area is designated as a protected area. However, we found that this common perception was not true in Wolong Nature Reserve, Sichuan Province, southwestern China, which was established in 1975 as a 'flagship' protected area for giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). Analyses of remote sensing data from pre- and post-establishment periods indicate that forest in the reserve has become more fragmented and less suitable for giant panda habitation. The rate of loss of high-quality habitat after the reserve's establishment was much higher than before the reserve was created, and the fragmentation of high-quality habitat became far more severe. After the creation of the reserve, rates of habitat loss and fragmentation inside the reserve unexpectedly increased to levels that were similar to or higher than those outside the reserve, in contrast to the situation before the reserve was created.

DE: biodiversity-; endangered-species; forest-fragmentation; habitat-destruction; habitats-; human-activity; nature-conservation; nature-reserves

OD: Ailuropoda-melanoleuca

GE: China-; Sichuan-

BT: Ailuropoda-; Ailuropodidae-; Fissipeda-; carnivores-; mammals-; vertebrates-; Chordata-; animals-; East-Asia; Asia-; Developing-Countries; South-Western-China; China-

CC: PP710; ZZ332; KK100; PP600

CD: Biological-Resources-Animal; Animal-Ecology; Forests-and-Forest-Trees-Biology-and-Ecology; Pollution-and-Degradation

PT: Journal-article

IS: 0036-8075

UD: 200100

AN: 20013053512

SM: OPS\P

*LHM: Frik-Scott Library,Main Library

TI: Factors affecting bird communities in fragments of secondary pine forests in the north-western Mediterranean basin.

AU: Brotons,-L; Herrando,-S

AD: Dept. Biologia Animal (Vertebrats), Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 645, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.

SO: Acta-Oecologica. 2001; 22(1): 21-31

PB: Paris, France: Editions Scientifiques et Medicales Elsevier SAS.

RE: 37 ref.

PY: 2001

LA: English

AB: We assessed the influence of size, extent of isolation and vegetation structure of secondary forest fragments on the richness and species composition of breeding bird communities in a sample of pine (Pinus halepensis) forest fragments surrounded by an agricultural matrix in the north-western Mediterranean basin (the Penedes area of NE Spain). Fragment size was the main predictor of bird's occurrence, since it accounted for 70% of the model variation. Isolation was also a valuable predictor of species occurrence, especially for forest specialists. Finally, subarboreal vegetation such as holm oak (Quercus ilex) and a well-developed tree layer of large pines favoured forest species occurrence. Therefore, in spite of the long history of human impact, forest birds in Mediterranean mosaics are sensitive to both habitat loss and isolation of remnant patches in a similar manner to the patterns found in other temperate fragmented landscapes where human impact is more recent.

DE: forest-fragmentation; forests-; habitats-; wild-birds

OD: birds-; Pinus-halepensis; Quercus-ilex

GE: Spain-

BT: vertebrates-; Chordata-; animals-; Southern-Europe; Europe-; Mediterranean-Region; Developed-Countries; European-Union-Countries; OECD-Countries; Pinus-; Pinaceae-; Pinopsida-; gymnosperms-; Spermatophyta-; plants-; Quercus-; Fagaceae-; Fagales-; dicotyledons-; angiosperms-

CC: KK100; ZZ332; PP710

CD: Forests-and-Forest-Trees-Biology-and-Ecology; Animal-Ecology; Biological-Resources-Animal

PT: Journal-article

IS: 1146-609X

UD: 200100

AN: 20013035444

SM: OPS\P

TI: Habitat loss, fragmentation and predator impact: spatial implications for prey conservation.

AU: Schneider,-M-F

AD: Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umea University, SE-901 87 Umea, Sweden.

SO: Journal-of-Applied-Ecology. 2001; 38(4): 720-735

PB: Oxford, UK: Blackwell Science.

RE: 83 ref.

PY: 2001

LA: English

AB: Because predators threaten the survival of endangered prey in many places, predator management is a widespread conservation tool. At the same time, the effects of predators on their prey are greatly influenced by landscape structure. Therefore, the management of landscapes could be an alternative to predator regulation. A spatially explicit presence/absence model (a stochastic one-layer cellular automaton) was used to investigate 2 different predator-prey systems that were subject to changes in the number and size of habitat patches in a model landscape. The 1st scenario included grey-sided voles Clethrionomys rufocanus, Norwegian lemmings Lemmus lemmus and small mustelids (stoats, Mustela erminea and weasels, M. nivalis) interacting in a tundra landscape. In the 2nd scenario, the effect of habitat perforation by human settlements with subsidized predators (house cats, Felis silvestris catus) on the dynamics of lemmings (as surrogate for endangered prey) was studied. Both the total area of lemming habitat and the degree of fragmentation were important determinants of the population size and persistence of lemmings. A qualitative change in the effect of fragmentation was observed when the area of lemming habitat decreased from 70% (positive effect) to 50% (negative effect). When lemming habitat covered 50% or less of the landscape, fragmentation had a negative effect on lemming population size and viability, even though habitat area did not decrease. The spatial configuration of settlements as predator sources was important. A few evenly spaced predator sources had less negative effect on lemming populations than the same proportion of predator habitat that was randomly distributed, which in turn had less effect than many evenly spaced patches. Including predator management in the model did not decrease the predators' negative impact on the population size and persistence of the endangered prey when settlements occurred in many small patches. It is concluded that predator management is not a viable strategy to combat the threat to the survival of endangered prey, but that careful planning of landscape pattern could compensate for negative predation effects. The location and size of patches of predator habitat should be optimized in order to minimize the negative effects of predators visiting adjacent areas of natural habitat.

DE: endangered-species; habitat-destruction; predator-prey-relationships; prey-; tundra-; wildlife-conservation

OD: Clethrionomys-rufocanus; Felis-silvestris; Lemmus-; Mustela-erminea; Mustela-nivalis

ID: landscape-architecture; Lemmus-lemmus; predator-control

BT: Clethrionomys-; Microtinae-; Muridae-; rodents-; mammals-; vertebrates-; Chordata-; animals-; small-mammals; Felis-; Felidae-; Fissipeda-; carnivores-; Mustela-; Mustelidae-

CC: PP710; YY500; ZZ332

CD: Biological-Resources-Animal; Behaviour-Wild-Animals; Animal-Ecology

PT: Journal-article

IS: 0021-8901

UD: 200100

AN: 20013113781

SM: OPS\P

TI: Resident bird species in urban forest remnants; landscape and habitat perspectives.

AU: Mortberg,-U-M

AD: Div. of Land- and Water Resources, Royal Institute of Technology, S-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden.

SO: Landscape-Ecology. 2001; 16(3): 193-203

PB: Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

RE: 43 ref.

PY: 2001

LA: English

AB: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of habitat loss, fragmentation and habitat quality on sedentary forest birds in an urban and suburban environment. The study area was situated in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, embracing the city centre, suburbs and parts of the rural surroundings. Breeding forest birds were surveyed in 51 forested sample sites (2-700 ha) and five species of resident birds were selected for further studies: willow tit (Parus montanus), crested tit (P. cristatus) and coal tit (P. ater) representing coniferous forest (Picea abies and Pinus sylvestris) and marsh tit (P. palustris) and nuthatch (Sitta europaea) representing deciduous forest (Quercus robur, Betula pendula and Populus tremula). A spatial landscape analysis was made using a geographical information system. In 21 of the smaller sites (2-200 ha), a field study was conducted to examine habitat quality parameters like vegetation age, structure and composition, and human-induced disturbance. The probability of occurrence (breeding) of bird species as functions of landscape and habitat descriptors was tested using logistic regression. All investigated species of the Parus guild showed high probabilities of occurrence only in forest patches larger than 200-400 ha, and was not present in patches smaller than 10-30 ha. This meant that patches of presumably suitable habitat (coniferous vs. moist deciduous forest) were left unoccupied. The amount of standing dead and decaying trees provided additional explanation for the distribution of the willow tit. Large areas of urban open land, industrial land use and large bodies of water had a negative influence on the probability of occurrence of several species, which indicate that they were sensitive to isolation. The probability of occurrence of the marsh tit was also influenced by distance to other sample sites with marsh tits. Unlike the Parus species, the nuthatch was breeding in most of the parks and forest remnants. This species prefers mature deciduous forest, mainly oak (Q. robur), which habitat was common in the urban environment. The nuthatch was only absent in some of the smallest (a few ha) forest fragments, with a mean distance between forest patches in the surroundings of over 100 m. The study showed that large forest areas and a high amount of forest in the landscape are important for the investigated resident birds that are not adapted to the urban environment. Vast areas without tree-cover seemed to be poor habitat and/or restrict dispersal. Strips of high-quality habitats, including standing trees with nest-holes, were not entirely absent in the urban and suburban environment.

DE: coniferous-forests; dead-trees; deciduous-forests; environmental-degradation; forest-fragmentation; forests-; geographical-information-systems; habitat-destruction; habitats-; stand-age; stand-structure; suburban-areas; trees-; urban-areas; urbanization-; wild-birds; wildlife-conservation

OD: Betula-pendula; birds-; Parus-; Passeriformes-; Picea-abies; Pinus-sylvestris; Populus-tremula; Quercus-robur

GE: Sweden-

ID: Parus-ater; Parus-cristatus; Parus-montanus; Parus-palustris; Sitta-; Sitta-europaea; Sittidae-

BT: Betula-; Betulaceae-; Fagales-; dicotyledons-; angiosperms-; Spermatophyta-; plants-; Paridae-; Passeriformes-; birds-; vertebrates-; Chordata-; animals-; Parus-; Picea-; Pinaceae-; Pinopsida-; gymnosperms-; Pinus-; Populus-; Salicaceae-; Salicales-; Quercus-; Fagaceae-; Scandinavia-; Northern-Europe; Europe-; Developed-Countries; European-Union-Countries; OECD-Countries

CC: KK100; PP600; PP710; YY500; ZZ332

CD: Forests-and-Forest-Trees-Biology-and-Ecology; Pollution-and-Degradation; Biological-Resources-Animal; Behaviour-Wild-Animals; Animal-Ecology

PT: Journal-article

IS: 0921-2973

UD: 200100

AN: 20013079145

TI: Characteristics of insect populations on habitat fragments: a mini review.

AU: Tscharntke,-T; Steffan-Dewenter,-I; Kruess,-A; Thies,-C

AD: Agroecology, University of Gottingen, Waldweg 26, D-37073 Gottingen, Germany.

EM: [e-mail]

SO: Ecological-Research. 2002; 17(2): 229-239

PB: Carlton South, Australia: Blackwell Science Asia.

RE: many ref.

PY: 2002

LA: English

AB: Modern human-dominated landscapes are typically characterized by intensive land-use and high levels of habitat destruction, often resulting in sharply contrasted habitat mosaics. Fragmentation of remaining habitat is a major threat to biodiversity. In the present paper, we focus on the different features of habitat fragmentation. First we discuss the importance of pure habitat loss, fragment size, fragment isolation and quality, edge effects, and the importance of landscape structure. Second, we characterize life-history features of fragmentation-sensitive species, showing that rare, specialized, little dispersing species are most affected, as well as species characterized by high population variability and a high trophic position, while the effect of body size is unclear. Third, we discuss the conservation value of habitat fragments. The question arises how to relate studies on population survival to those of community structure and studies on biodiversity to those on ecological functions. Despite the general superiority of large to small reserves, only small or medium-sized reserves are available in many human-dominated landscapes. A great number of small habitats covering a wide range of geographic area should maximize beta diversity and spreading of risk and may be very important for the regional conservation of biodiversity, in contrast to the prevailing arguments in favor of large habitats. Finally, landscape context influences community structure of fragments, and communities are composed of species that experience the landscape on a broad range of spatial scales. Spatial arrangement of habitat fragments in a landscape appears to be important only in simple, not complex landscapes.

DE: biodiversity-; community-ecology; conservation-; habitat-destruction; habitats-; landscape-; life-history; nature-reserves; reviews-

OD: insects-

BT: arthropods-; invertebrates-; animals-

CC: PP300; PP710; ZZ332

CD: Land-Resources; Biological-Resources-Animal; Animal-Ecology

PT: Journal-article

IS: 0912-3814

UD: 200200

AN: 20023064495

XURL: E-MAIL

TI: Landscape ecology and forest management: developing an effective partnership.

AU: Boutin,-S; Hebert,-D

AD: Alberta Pacific Forest Industries Ltd., Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada.

SO: Ecological-Applications. 2002; 12(2): 390-397

PB: Washington, USA: Ecological Society of America.

URL: http://www.esajournals.org/esaonline/?request=get-abstract&issn=1051-0761&volume=012&issue=02&page=0390

PY: 2002

LA: English

AB: Landscape ecologists have been eager to make their research applicable to forest management. We examine how landscape ecology has contributed to shaping the way forest management is currently practiced. Landscape ecology research in forested ecosystems can be divided into two general areas: (1) the study of fragmentation issues, which focuses on the effects of forest fragmentation on species conservation; and (2) the development of landscape projection models, which focuses on patch dynamics and the effects of spatial arrangement of patches on ecosystem processes. Fragmentation issues have become priorities in the minds of forest managers, but research to date has over-emphasized the effects of landscape structure on species conservation. We suggest that the research focus should move toward the study of threshold effects of landscape change on the relative influence of habitat loss and habitat configuration on species conservation in forest-dominated landscapes. Landscape projection models are rapidly becoming important tools in forest management planning, and they hold great promise as a means to bring landscape ecologists and forest managers together. The ability to produce future landscapes under different management scenarios and to compare these to landscapes produced by natural disturbance regimes will help to focus both managers and scientists on understanding the key interactions among human activities, landscape features, and ecological processes.

DE: ecological-disturbance; forest-fragmentation; forest-management; forests-; landscape-ecology; nature-conservation

CC: KK110; PP600; PP700

CD: Silviculture-and-Forest-Management; Pollution-and-Degradation; Biological-Resources-General

PT: Journal-article

IS: 1051-0761

UD: 200309

AN: 20033119006

XURL: URL

TI: Extinction debt at extinction threshold.

AU: Hanski,-I; Ovaskainen,-O

AD: Metapopulation Research Group, Department of Ecology and Systematics, P.O. Box 65, Viikinkaari 1, FIN-00014, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.

EM: [e-mail]

SO: Conservation-Biology. 2002; 16(3): 666-673

PB: Malden, USA: Blackwell Science, Inc..

RE: 26 ref.

DOI: doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.2002.00342.x

PY: 2002

LA: English

LS: Spanish

AB: To allow for long-term metapopulation persistence, a network of habitat fragments must satisfy a certain condition in terms of number, size, and spatial configuration of the fragments. The influence of landscape structure on the threshold condition can be measured by a quantity called metapopulation capacity, which can be calculated for real fragmented landscapes. Habitat loss and fragmentation reduce the metapopulation capacity of a landscape and make it less likely that the threshold condition can be met. If the condition is not met, the metapopulation is expected to go extinct, but it takes some time following habitat loss before the extinction will occur, which generates an extinction debt in a community of species. We show that extinction debt is especially great in a community in which many species are close to their extinction threshold following habitat loss because the metapopulation-dynamic time delay is especially long in such species. A corollary is that landscapes that have recently experienced substantial habitat loss and fragmentation are expected to show a transient excess of rare species, which represents a previously overlooked signature of extinction debt. We consider a putative example of extinction debt on forest-inhabiting beetles in Finland. At present, the few remaining natural-like forests are distributed evenly throughout southern Finland, but the number of regionally extinct old-growth forest beetles is much greater in the southwestern coastal areas, where human impact on forests has been lengthy, than in the northeastern inland areas, where intensive forestry started only after World War II. Ignoring time delays in population and metapopulation dynamics will lead to an underestimate of the number of effectively endangered species.
DE: endangered-species; extinction-; forest-fragmentation; forests-; habitat-destruction; habitat-selection; habitats-; insect-communities; landscape-

OD: Coleoptera-; insects-

GE: Finland-

BT: insects-; arthropods-; invertebrates-; animals-; Scandinavia-; Northern-Europe; Europe-; Developed-Countries; European-Union-Countries; OECD-Countries

CC: KK100; PP600; PP710; PP720; YY500; ZZ331; ZZ332

CD: Forests-and-Forest-Trees-Biology-and-Ecology; Pollution-and-Degradation; Biological-Resources-Animal; Biological-Resources-Plant; Behaviour-Wild-Animals; Plant-Ecology; Animal-Ecology

PT: Journal-article

IS: 0888-8892

UD: 200300

AN: 20023089120

SM: OPS/P

XURL: E-MAIL; DOI; DIGITAL-OBJECT-IDENTIFIER

TI: Two genetically distinct units of the Chinese sika deer (cervus nippon): analyses of mitochondrial DNA variation.

AU: Wu-Hua; Wan-QiuHong; Fang-ShengGuo

AD: College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, No. 268 Kai Xuan Road, Hangzhou 310029, Zhejiang, China.

EM: [e-mail]

SO: Biological-Conservation. 2004; 119(2): 183-190

PB: Oxford, UK: Elsevier Science Ltd.

RE: 22 ref.

PY: 2004

LA: English

AB: Chinese sika deer, Cervus nippon, are currently threatened by habitat loss, fragmentation and human hunting, which has led to the extinction of three subspecies in the wild. The remaining subspecies subsist in the narrow regions of Jilin, Heilongjiang, Sichuan, Gansu, Jiangxi, Anhui, and Zhejiang provinces. In order to design effective conservation strategies for the Chinese sika deer, we have investigated genetic diversity, population structure and gene flow in the Chinese sika deer populations by analyzing ~995 base pairs of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region in 59 individuals sampled from the northeast of China, Sichuan, Jiangxi and Zhejiang. Chinese sika deer exhibited low mtDNA diversity and high gene flow among the four populations, and showed no strong geographical structure. The analyses of mtDNA variation among individuals of sika deer identified only two main phylogenetic groups even though three subspecies were sampled. These data singles out the Zhejiang population as being highly genetically distinct and worthy of separate conservation consideration. Therefore, it is recommended that a breeding program for the Zhejiang population be established.

DE: endangered-species; gene-flow; genetic-diversity; mitochondrial-DNA; nucleotide-sequences; phylogeny-; population-structure; wildlife-conservation

OD: Cervus-nippon

GE: China-

BT: Cervus-; Cervidae-; ruminants-; Artiodactyla-; mammals-; vertebrates-; Chordata-; animals-; ungulates-; East-Asia; Asia-; Developing-Countries

CC: LL240; PP710; YY300; ZZ360; ZZ380

CD: Animal-Genetics-and-Breeding; Biological-Resources-Animal; Genetics-and-Molecular-Genetics-Wild-Animals; Molecular-Biology-and-Molecular-Genetics; Taxonomy-and-Evolution

PT: Journal-article

IS: 0006-3207

UD: 200410

AN: 20043142698

XURL: E-MAIL

TI: Allegheny woodrat (Neotoma magister) use of rock drainage channels on reclaimed mines in Southern West Virginia.

AU: Chamblin,-H-D; Wood,-P-B; Edwards,-J-W

AD: USGS West Virginia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, West Virginia University, Division of Forestry, P.O. Box 6125, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA.

EM: [e-mail] [e-mail] [e-mail]

SO: American-Midland-Naturalist. 2004; 151(2): 346-354

PB: Notre Dame, USA: University of Notre Dame Press.

RE: 24 ref.

PY: 2004

LA: English

AB: Allegheny woodrats (Neotoma magister) currently receive protected status throughout their range due to population declines. Threats associated with habitat fragmentation (e.g., introduced predators, disease, loss of connectivity among sub-populations and habitat loss) may explain why Allegheny woodrats are no longer found in many areas where they existed just 25 years ago. In southern West Virginia (USA), surface coal mining is a major cause of forest fragmentation. Furthermore, mountaintop mining, the prevalent method in the region, results in a loss of rock outcrops and cliffs within forested areas, typical habitat of the Allegheny woodrat. To determine the extent that Allegheny woodrats make use of reclaimed mine land, particularly rock drainages built during reclamation, we sampled 24 drainage channels on reclaimed surface mines in southern West Virginia, collected habitat data at each site and used logistic regression to identify habitat variables related to Allegheny woodrat presence. During 187 trap nights, 13 adult, 2 subadult and 8 juvenile Allegheny woodrats were captured at 13 of the 24 sites. Percent of rock as a groundcover and density of stems >15 cm diameter at breast height were related to Allegheny woodrat presence and were significantly greater at sites where Allegheny woodrats were present than absent. Sites where Allegheny woodrats were present differed substantially from other described habitats in West Virginia, though they may simulate boulder piles that occur naturally. Our findings suggest the need for additional research to examine the dynamics between Allegheny woodrat populations inhabiting rock outcrops in forests adjacent to mines and populations inhabiting constructed drainage channels on reclaimed mines. However, if Allegheny woodrats can use human-created habitat, our results will be useful to surface mine reclamation and to other mitigation efforts where rocky habitats are lost or disturbed.

DE: animal-behaviour; drainage-channels; endangered-species; habitat-selection; habitats-; mined-land; reclaimed-land; reclamation-; wild-animals; wildlife-conservation

OD: Neotoma-

GE: USA-; West-Virginia

ID: Neotoma-magister

BT: Hesperomyinae-; Muridae-; rodents-; mammals-; vertebrates-; Chordata-; animals-; small-mammals; North-America; America-; Developed-Countries; OECD-Countries; Appalachian-States-of-USA; Southern-States-of-USA; USA-; South-Atlantic-States-of-USA

CC: KK100; PP710; YY500; ZZ332

CD: Forests-and-Forest-Trees-Biology-and-Ecology; Biological-Resources-Animal; Behaviour-Wild-Animals; Animal-Ecology

PT: Journal-article

IS: 0003-0031

UD: 200406

AN: 20043072814

XURL: E-MAIL

TI: Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus - a good candidate for an umbrella species in the taiga forests.

AU: Pakkala,-T; Pellikka,-J; Linden,-H

ED: Storch,-I

AD: Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, PO Box 17, FIN-00014, Finland.

EM: [e-mail] [e-mail] [e-mail]

SO: Wildlife-Biology. 2003; 9(4): 309-316

PB: Ronde, Denmark: Nordic Council for Wildlife Research.

CF: 9th International Grouse Symposium, Beijing, China, 18-23 August 2002.

RE: 26 ref.

PY: 2003

LA: English

AB: The capercaillie Tetrao urogallus is widely accepted as a species seriously suffering from fragmentation of forests and habitat loss. Foresters as well as conservationists agree on the need and principles for maintaining viable populations, but the proposed management means often differ. The approach currently favoured by Finnish foresters is to manage capercaillie leks and their surroundings using methods that differ from those used in intensive forestry. It may be desirable to prove that forests with capercaillie leks also favour other forest bird species and biodiversity in general. During the last 16 years (1987-2002), forest birds have been censused and capercaillie leks were mapped in the 465-km2 study area in southern Finland. Most of the study area consists of sprucedominated mature forests. The remainder of the landscape is a mixture of variously aged forests, agricultural areas, lakes and scattered human settlements with a gradient from an agricultural-forest mosaic to forest-dominated areas. The old-growth forest bird species three-toed woodpecker Picoides tridactylus, pygmy owl Glaucidium passerinum and red-breasted flycatcher Ficedula parva were more abundant within 300 m and 1,000 m radii around capercaillie lek sites than in non-lek control sites. Also the overall species richness of breeding forest birds was higher in the vicinity of capercaillie leks. On a larger scale (100x100 km squares), using the wildlife triangle scheme developed in Finland, we show that the density of capercaillie closely coincides with a wildlife richness index describing the total abundance of 15 other forestdwelling mammal and bird species with diverse ecology and habitat requirements. Capercaillie is a flagship species for foresters, and can be considered a good candidate for an umbrella species for wildlife in taiga forests.

DE: boreal-forests; forests-; habitats-; old-growth-forests; population-density; species-richness; wild-birds

OD: birds-; Ficedula-; Picoides-; Tetrao-urogallus

GE: Finland-

ID: Ficedula-parva; Glaucidium-passerinum; Picoides-tridactylus

BT: Muscicapidae-; Passeriformes-; birds-; vertebrates-; Chordata-; animals-; Ficedula-; Scandinavia-; Northern-Europe; Europe-; Developed-Countries; European-Union-Countries; OECD-Countries; Picidae-; Piciformes-; Picoides-; Tetrao-; Phasianidae-; Galliformes-

CC: KK100; ZZ332

CD: Forests-and-Forest-Trees-Biology-and-Ecology; Animal-Ecology

PT: Journal-article; Conference-paper

IS: 0909-6396

UD: 200403

AN: 20043025884

XURL: E-MAIL

TI: Response of predators to loss and fragmentation of prey habitat: a review of theory.

AU: Ryall,-K-L; Fahrig,-L

SO: Ecology-. 2006; 87(5): 1086-1093

PB: Washington, USA: Ecological Society of America.

URL: http://www.esajournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1890%2F0012-9658%282006%2987%5B1086%3AROPTLA%5D2.0.CO%3B2

LA: English

AB: Despite extensive empirical research and previous reviews, no clear patterns regarding the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on predator-prey interactions have emerged. We suggest that this is because empirical researchers do not design their studies to test specific hypotheses arising from the theoretical literature. In fact, theoretical work is almost completely ignored by empirical researchers, perhaps because it may be inaccessible to them. The purpose of this paper is to review theoretical work on the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on predator-prey interactions. We provide a summary of clear, testable theoretical predictions for empirical researchers. To test one or more of these predictions, an empiricist will need certain information on the predator and prey species of interest. This includes: (1) whether the predator is a specialist on one prey species or feeds on many kinds of prey (omnivore and generalist); (2) whether the predator is restricted to the same habitat type as the focal prey (specialist), can use a variety of habitats but has higher survival in the prey habitat (omnivore), or lives primarily outside of the focal prey's habitat (generalist); (3) whether prey-only patches have lower prey extinction rates than predator-prey patches; and (4) whether the prey emigrate at higher rates from predator-prey patches than from prey-only patches. Empiricists also need to be clear on whether they are testing a prediction about habitat loss or habitat fragmentation and need to conduct empirical studies at spatial scales appropriate for testing the theoretical prediction(s). We suggest that appropriate use of the theoretical predictions in future empirical research will resolve the apparent inconsistencies in the empirical literature on this topic.

PT: Journal-article

AN: 20073243125

TI: Landscape genetics of Physalaemus cuvieri in Brazilian cerrado: correspondence between population structure and patterns of human occupation and habitat loss.

AU: Telles,-M-P-de-C; Diniz-Filho,-J-A-F; Bastos,-R-P; Soares,-T-N; Guimaraes,-L-D; Lima,-L-P

SO: Biological-Conservation. 2007; 139(1/2): 37-46

PB: Oxford, UK: Elsevier.

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00063207

LA: English

AB: It is now widely recognized that knowledge on population genetic structure is important to evaluate population viability and persistence or to establish conservation priorities. In this context, species that are locally abundant or widely distributed can be informative on how broad scale processes of habitat loss and fragmentation, as those caused by intensive human occupation, affect population genetic structure. In this paper, we analyzed population genetic structure of Physalaemus cuvieri (Amphibia: Leptodactylidae) in the core of the Cerrado biome, in the Goias State, Central Brazil, using RAPD molecular markers. Local populations are genetically different according to RAPD markers, and an analysis of molecular variation (AMOVA) revealed a significant interpopulational variance component around 10%. However, these population differentiation patterns are not strongly structured in geographic space, and a Mantel spatial correlogram indicated only a slight significant spatial structure at short geographic distances. These patterns are expected by the ecological and life-history knowledge of the species, leading to a relatively low magnitude of population differentiation coupled with short distance spatial patterns. Moreover, even these weak patterns showed a signature of effects of human occupation and habitat loss on genetic differentiation at regional scale, with discontinuities to gene flow in two particular regions of the State with more intense habitat loss and older human settlement.

PT: Journal-Article

AN: 20073211400
TI: The montane grasslands of the Western Ghats, India: community ecology and conservation.

AU: Thomas,-S-M; Palmer,-M-W

SO: Community-Ecology. 2007; 8(1): 67-73

PB: Budapest, Hungary: Akademiai Kiado.

URL: http://www.terra.hu/comecol

LA: English

AB: The montane (shola) grasslands of Western Ghats, South India are a component of a landscape mosaic including the better-studied shola forests. The conservation of the grasslands depends upon understanding their ecology. This review compiles available information and aims to evaluate the conservation potential of these grasslands. Most studies on these grasslands are descriptive in nature. There is little information regarding habitat heterogeneity, landscape configuration, natural disturbance, grazing and productivity in maintaining the grasslands. Succession is poorly understood because of the short-term nature of most studies. Human activities have historically influenced these grasslands and will continue to do so in more intensive manner. Threats to these grasslands include habitat loss, fragmentation, fires, and invasive species.

PT: Journal-Article

AN: 20073161513
TI: Impact assessment and biodiversity considerations in Nigeria: a case study of Niger Delta University campus project on wildlife in Nun River Forest Reserve.

AU: Hamadina,-M-K; Otobotekere,-D; Anyanwu,-D-I

SO: Management-of-Environmental-Quality. 2007; 18(2): 179-197

PB: Bradford, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.

URL: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/info/journals/meq/meq.jsp

LA: English

AB: The Niger Delta University (NDU) campus is located on the fringe of the Nun River Forest Reserve (NRFR) in Nigeria. The NRFR covers 97.15 km2 of humid tropical rain forest characterized by torrential rains, seasonal flooding, and multi-layered vegetation. This paper reports the results of an original work, discusses the impacts of the NDU campus on NRFR, highlights conservation-friendly local beliefs/practices that could fit into a wildlife management plan, and fosters the debate on methodologies and field initiatives. The study aimed to conduct a wildlife investigation to assess the effects of the NDU campus project on NRFR. The assessment was preceded by scoping to determine key wildlife issues. Thereafter, a mix of methods, including literature search, reconnaissance visits, field exercises, and interviews with hunters, was adopted to gather information. These were augmented with diurnal and nocturnal forest expeditions to find evidences of wildlife species existence. There was a rich assemblage of wildlife species, of which 12 are enlisted in the 2006 IUCN Red List of threatened species and 14 are protected by Nigeria's statutes, and they are threatened by human activities. The NDU campus project shall have significant adverse impacts on the wildlife: directly through habitat loss/fragmentation, nuisance and influx of people; and indirectly by exacerbating the existing threats. This work is limited to the NDU campus project and its impact on NRFR. The brevity of time spent in the field coupled with the generally inaccessible terrain and remote location of the NRFR constitute the limitations that must have influenced the findings of this study.

PT: Journal-Article

AN: 20073124656
TI: Habitat loss, fragmentation, and alteration - quantifying the impact of land-use changes on a Spanish dehesa landscape by use of aerial photography and GIS.

AU: Plieninger,-T

SO: Landscape-Ecology. 2006; 21(1): 91-105

PB: Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer Science + Business Media.

URL: http://springerlink.metapress.com/link.asp?id=103025

LA: English

AB: Mediterranean agroforestry landscapes, dehesas, experience significant structural changes that affect their ability to support habitats for a rich biodiversity. The goal of this study was to provide quantitative information on loss, fragmentation, and alteration of holm oak (Quercus ilex) stands over a 42-year period, based on two sites in the lowlands of Caceres province, Spain. Aerial photography and orthoimages from 1956, 1984, and 1998 were processed in a geographic information system (GIS). Important changes in demography and land-use were rural depopulation, abandonment of traditional agricultural activities, and a sharp increase in livestock stocking levels. These were related to intensification and extensification of land-uses determined by national and EU agricultural policies. Results of the land cover analysis indicated that dehesas suffered an annual 0.27 and 0.04% decrease in cover in the two sites. From 1984 loss rate had markedly accelerated (0.83 and 0.30%). Most dehesas were lost by shrub encroachment or conversion to open grassland. Fragmentation through roads increased by 28 and 45%, while rural buildings decreased by 17 and 50% from 1956 to 1998. Mean tree density decreased from 1956 to 1984, but a recovery was found since 1984. Significant factors determining stand densities in most time points were altitude (related with different land-uses and geological substrates), ownership, and proximity to villages. This suggests that stand structure is controlled both by human interventions and ecological settings. The findings support the view that opposite trends of land abandonment and intensification of land-uses arise in most northern Mediterranean countries as an effect of the EU Common Agricultural Policy.

PT: Journal-article

AN: 20063115480
TI: The roles of landscape context, niche breadth, and range boundaries in predicting species responses to habitat alteration.

AU: Swihart,-R-K; Lusk,-J-J; Duchamp,-J-E; Rizkalla,-C-E; Moore,-J-E

SO: Diversity-and-Distributions. 2006; 12(3): 277-287

PB: Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing.

URL: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/servlet/useragent?func=showIssues&code=ddi

LA: English

AB: Extant species in human-dominated landscapes differ in their sensitivity to habitat loss and fragmentation, although extinctions induced by environmental alteration reduce variation and result in a surviving subset of species with some degree of 'resistance'. Here, we test the degree to which variable responses to habitat alteration are (1) essentially an inherent property of a taxon subject to constraints imposed by its geographical range, as suggested by Swihart et al. (2003), (2) a function of the landscape in which a species occurs, or (3) a function of spatial trends occurring on large scales. We used data collected on 33 vertebrate species during 2001-04 across the upper Wabash River basin, Indiana, in 35 square 'landscapes', each 23 km2 in size. Six species of forest rodent, six species of grassland rodents, seven species of bats, eight species of aquatic turtles, and six species of amphibians were sampled at 504, 212, 590, 228, and 625 patches, respectively. The fraction of patches of primary habitat (e.g. forests for tree squirrels, wetlands for aquatic turtles) occupied by a target species was used as a response variable. On a basin-wide scale, 47% of variation in proportional occupancy among species could be explained by taxon-specific variables; occupancy rates were related positively to niche breadth and negatively to the proximity of a geographical range boundary. After controlling for species effects, landscape-level occupancy rates varied significantly for 16 of 33 species, with variation partitioned among landscape variables alone (mean=11% of variation), spatial trend variables alone (26%), and both variable sets jointly (8%). Among landscape variables, percentage forest cover positively affected occupancy rates of three bat species and a tree squirrel. Variation in occupancy rates among landscapes was consistent with large-scale spatial trends for 13 species. Our findings demonstrate the general importance of niche breadth as a predictor of species responses to habitat alteration and highlight the importance of viewing the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation at multiple spatial scales.

PT: Journal-article

AN: 20063103753
TI: Confounding factors in the detection of species responses to habitat fragmentation.

AU: Ewers,-R-M; Didham,-R-K

SO: Biological-Reviews. 2006; 81(1): 117-142

PB: Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

URL: http://journals.cambridge.org/

LA: English

AB: Habitat loss has pervasive and disruptive impacts on biodiversity in habitat remnants. The magnitude of the ecological impacts of habitat loss can be exacerbated by the spatial arrangement - or fragmentation - of remaining habitat. Fragmentation per se is a landscape-level phenomenon in which species that survive in habitat remnants are confronted with a modified environment of reduced area, increased isolation and novel ecological boundaries. The implications of this for individual organisms are many and varied, because species with differing life history strategies are differentially affected by habitat fragmentation. Here, we review the extensive literature on species responses to habitat fragmentation, and detail the numerous ways in which confounding factors have either masked the detection, or prevented the manifestation, of predicted fragmentation effects. Large numbers of empirical studies continue to document changes in species richness with decreasing habitat area, with positive, negative and no relationships regularly reported. The debate surrounding such widely contrasting results is beginning to be resolved by findings that the expected positive species-area relationship can be masked by matrix-derived spatial subsidies of resources to fragment-dwelling species and by the invasion of matrix-dwelling species into habitat edges. Significant advances have been made recently in our understanding of how species interactions are altered at habitat edges as a result of these changes. Interestingly, changes in biotic and abiotic parameters at edges also make ecological processes more variable than in habitat interiors. Individuals are more likely to encounter habitat edges in fragments with convoluted shapes, leading to increased turnover and variability in population size than in fragments that are compact in shape. Habitat isolation in both space and time disrupts species distribution patterns, with consequent effects on metapopulation dynamics and the genetic structure of fragment-dwelling populations. Again, the matrix habitat is a strong determinant of fragmentation effects within remnants because of its role in regulating dispersal and dispersal-related mortality, the provision of spatial subsidies and the potential mediation of edge-related microclimatic gradients. We show that confounding factors can mask many fragmentation effects. For instance, there are multiple ways in which species traits like trophic level, dispersal ability and degree of habitat specialisation influence species-level responses. The temporal scale of investigation may have a strong influence on the results of a study, with short-term crowding effects eventually giving way to long-term extinction debts. Moreover, many fragmentation effects like changes in genetic, morphological or behavioural traits of species require time to appear. By contrast, synergistic interactions of fragmentation with climate change, human-altered disturbance regimes, species interactions and other drivers of population decline may magnify the impacts of fragmentation. To conclude, we emphasise that anthropogenic fragmentation is a recent phenomenon in evolutionary time and suggest that the final, long-term impacts of habitat fragmentation may not yet have shown themselves.

PT: Journal-article

AN: 20063044677
TI: Landscapes, ecology and wildlife management in highly modified environments - an Australian perspective.

AU: Hobbs,-R-J

SO: Wildlife-Research. 2005; 32(5): 389-398

PB: Collingwood, Australia: CSIRO Publishing.

LA: English

AB: Landscapes in southern Australia have been extensively modified by a variety of human activities, predominantly agriculture and urban development. Over much of the area, native vegetation has been replaced with agriculture or buildings and infrastructure. A continuum exists from areas that remain largely intact, but are modified in some way (e.g. forests managed for timber production), to areas where the remaining native vegetation is fragmented to varying degrees. Habitat management will vary across this continuum, depending on the degree of habitat loss and isolation. In areas outside the main zones of agricultural and urban development, the process of habitat loss and fragmentation is less in evidence. Here, instead, the landscapes remain apparently structurally intact, in that the native vegetation is not actually removed. However, these landscapes have also, in many cases, been significantly modified, particularly by pastoralism and related activities, to the extent that their value as habitat is impaired. Declining habitat value in northern landscapes may lead to the same types of functional fragmentation as found in the south. An examination of the differences and similarities between southern and northern landscapes can highlight what can be learned from the southern experience which may be of value in savanna landscapes. In both cases, the importance of considering impacts in relation to species-specific responses needs to be emphasised.

PT: Journal-article; Conference-paper

AN: 20053187204

TI: Genetic diversity and conservation of common wild rice (Oryza rufipogon) in China.

AU: Song-ZhiPing; Li-Bo; Chen-JiaKuan; Lu-BaoRong

SO: Plant-Species-Biology. 2005; 20(2): 83-92

PB: Melbourne, Australia: Blackwell Publishing.

URL: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/servlet/useragent?func=showIssues&code=psb

LA: English

AB: Common wild rice (Oryza rufipogon Griff.), known as the ancestor of Asian cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.), is the most important germplasm for rice improvement. The first male sterility gene was found in the wild rice, and introduced to the cultivated rice, which launched the fast development of the high-yielding hybrid rice. Other agronomically beneficial traits in the wild rice, such as rice tungro virus resistance, bacterial leaf blight (Xa21 gene) resistance and acid sulfate soil tolerance, have played important roles in rice breeding. China has the northernmost distribution area of wild rice possessing great genetic diversity. However, most of the populations of this species have disappeared in China over the last three decades, mainly caused by habitat loss, fragmentation and other human disturbances. Unfortunately, the decline of existing populations still continues. In the present study, we reviewed studies on genetic diversity and conservation of this wild rice in China, concentrating on population structure, pollen competition, pollen/gene flow from cultivated rice to wild rice, and ecological restoration in relation to in situ conservation. The relatively high genetic diversity of populations of O. rufipogon in China suggests that there is great value for conservation. Considerable gene flow from cultivated rice to wild rice may alter the genetic structure of natural populations of O. rufipogon and eventually lead to its genetic erosion. Pollen competition between wild and cultivated rice has caused a low rate of crop-to-wild gene flow, but it does not completely prevent gene flow from the crop. Effective isolation measures should be undertaken in the regions where in situ conservation of O. rufipogon is carried out. Reintroduction is an important alternative for the in situ conservation of wild rice species. As wild rice is an important genetic resource, both in situ and ex situ conservation strategies are needed.

PT: Journal-article

AN: 20053143380
TI: Influence of former cultivation on the unique Mediterranean steppe of France and consequences for conservation management.

AU: Romermann,-C; Dutoit,-T; Poschlod,-P; Buisson,-E

SO: Biological-Conservation. 2005; 121(1): 21-33

PB: Oxford, UK: Elsevier Science Ltd.

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00063207

LA: English

AB: In Europe, the actual landscape has been mainly influenced by human activities. Agricultural intensification led to a considerable habitat loss and fragmentation, especially for dry semi-natural grasslands. This current study investigates the impact of former melon and cereal cultivation (cultivation period: 1950-1987) on the semi-natural vegetation of the Crau, representing the last xeric Mediterranean steppe in France. Today, the ex-cultivated melon and cereal fields are characterised by different vegetation compositions, species richness and evenness compared to the undisturbed steppe community. Also the abiotic conditions (N, P, K, pH, soil granule fractions) have been changed by former cultivation practices. The rather transient seed bank of the steppe was depleted during the cultivation periods; ancient weed species and ruderals now determine the seed bank of the ex-cultivated fields. It is concluded that the conservation of the last parts of undisturbed steppe must have absolute priority. A re-development of the original and unique steppe community on formerly cultivated fields may take decades or centuries, if at all.

PT: Journal-article

AN: 20053050362

Title: Apparent avian extinctions from islands in a man-made lake, South Africa
Authors: Dean, W.R.J.; Bond, W.J.
From: Ostrich, Vol 65, Issue 1, Mar
Published: 1994
Pages: p.7-13
Subjects: Avian diversity -- Hendrik Verwoerd Dam -- Isolated bird populations -- Natural habitats -- Ornithology
ISSN: 0030-6525
Indexed by: ISAP
Abstract: Surveys avian diversity and abundance on islands in the Hendrik Verwoerd Dam, comparing species lists on islands with matched sites on the mainland. Species counts were lower on islands than on the mainland. Shows that habitat fragmentation can cause rapid species loss and that the persistence of species in habitat fragments depends on corridors over which birds are willing to fly. Includes figures

Title: Loss and fragmentation of habitat for pastoral people and wildlife in east Africa: concepts and issues
Authors: Reid, R.S.; Thornton, P.K.; Kruska, R.L.
From: African journal of range and forage science, Vol 21, Issue 3, Dec
Published: 2004
Pages: p.171-181
Subjects: Case studies -- East Africa -- Fragmentation -- Habitat -- Landscape fragmentation -- Pastoral lands -- Pastoral people -- Pastoral systems -- Rangeland ecosystems -- Wildlife
ISSN: 1022-0119
Indexed by: ISAP
Abstract: Explores the relatively uncharted area of rangeland loss and fragmentation in east Africa. Discusses these issues with respect to east African pastoral systems to better understand the causes and consequences of habitat loss and fragmentation from the perspective of people, their livestock ad wildlife. Highlights unresolved issues that require further thought and testing