Environmental Research: Ecology最新文献

{"title":"Connecting people with place-specific nature in cities reduces unintentional harm","authors":"M. Stanley, J. A. Galbraith","doi":"10.1088/2752-664x/ad3f22","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-664x/ad3f22","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 There is an increasing disconnect between people and nature as we become more urbanised. Intensification in cities often results in a reduction of natural areas, more homogenised and manicured green spaces, and loss of biota. Compared to people in rural areas, urban dwellers are less likely visit natural areas and recognise and value biota. Reconnecting people with nature in the city not only benefits human mental and physical wellbeing but can also have positive effects on how people value biodiversity and act on conservation issues. However, in some contexts, the push to reconnect people with nature may have unintended negative outcomes on biodiversity, particularly if place-specific nature is not used in urban greening. In the current biodiversity crisis, using vegetation and green space design that is not reflective of the environmental context of a city can further disconnect residents, particularly Indigenous people, from their local environment and species, and further entrench extinction of experience and loss of environmental values. This disconnect can result in residents applying wildlife gardening practices, such as bird feeding, that are not specific to place, and benefit introduced species over indigenous species. Furthermore, cities are gateways for invasive species, and using species in greening projects that are not locally sourced has already left cities and their surrounding regions with a large weed legacy. Using place-specific nature and green space in cities can be less resource intensive, highly beneficial for biodiversity and give residents a unique sense of place. Rather than simply adding ‘more nature’ in cities, the messaging should be more complex, emphasising the need for urban greening to be context specific to avoid negative impacts on biodiversity and ecological and cultural services.","PeriodicalId":367648,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Research: Ecology","volume":"29 21","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140696885","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing canopy height measurements from ICESat-2 and GEDI orbiting LiDAR across six different biomes with G-LiHT LiDAR","authors":"Qiuyan Yu, Michael G Ryan, W. Ji, L. Prihodko, J. Anchang, Njoki Kahiu, Abid Nazir, Jingyu Dai, Niall P. Hanan","doi":"10.1088/2752-664x/ad39f2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-664x/ad39f2","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Height of woody plants is a defining characteristic of ecosystems because height responds climate, soil and disturbance. Orbiting LiDAR instruments, ICESat-2 and GEDI, can provide near-global datasets of plant height at high resolution. We evaluate canopy height measurements from ICESat-2 and GEDI with airborne LiDAR in six study sites across different biomes with mean canopy height of 0.5-40 m. ICESat-2 and GEDI provide reliable estimates for the relative height with RMSE and MAE of 7.49 and 4.64 m (ICESat-2) and 6.52 and 4.08 m (GEDI) for 98th percentile relative heights. Both sensors overestimate the height of short shrubs (1-2 m at 5 m reference height), underestimate that of tall trees (by 6-7 m at 40 m reference height) and are highly biased (>3 m) for reference height < 5 m. Height estimates for both sensors were only weakly sensitive to canopy cover and terrain slope with lower RMSE for night compared to day samples (ICESat-2: 5.57 m, day: 6.82 m; GEDI night: 5.94 m, day: 7.03 m). For GEDI, day versus night differences had little effect on bias. Accuracy of ICESat-2 and GEDI canopy heights varies among biomes, and the highest MAE was observed in the tallest forest (GEDI: 7.85 m; ICESat-2: 7.84 m (night) and 12.83 m (day)).","PeriodicalId":367648,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Research: Ecology","volume":"10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140748186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Drivers of heterogeneity in tundra vegetation productivity on the Yamal Peninsula, Siberia, Russia","authors":"Morgan Shelby Tassone, H. E. Epstein, Amanda H Armstrong, U. Bhatt, G. Frost, Birgit Heim, M. Raynolds, Donald A Walker","doi":"10.1088/2752-664x/ad220f","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-664x/ad220f","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The direction and magnitude of tundra vegetation productivity trends inferred from the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) have exhibited spatiotemporal heterogeneity over recent decades. This study examined the spatial and temporal drivers of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Max NDVI (a proxy for peak growing season aboveground biomass) and time-integrated (TI)-NDVI (a proxy for total growing season productivity) on the Yamal Peninsula, Siberia, Russia between 2001 and 2018. A suite of remotely-sensed environmental drivers and machine learning methods were employed to analyze this region with varying climatological conditions, landscapes, and vegetation communities to provide insight into the heterogeneity observed across the Arctic. Summer Warmth Index (SWI), the timing of snowmelt, and physiognomic vegetation unit best explained the spatial distribution of Max and TI-NDVI on the Yamal Peninsula, with the highest mean Max and TI-NDVI occurring where summer temperatures were higher, snowmelt occurred earlier, and erect shrub and wetland vegetation communities were dominant. Max and TI-NDVI temporal trends were positive across the majority of the Peninsula (57.4% [5.0% significant] and 97.6% [13.9% significant], respectively) between 2001 and 2018. Max and TI-NDVI trends had variable relationships with environmental drivers and were primarily influenced by coastal-inland gradients in summer warmth and soil moisture. Both Max and TI-NDVI were negatively impacted by human modification, highlighting how human disturbances are becoming an increasingly important driver of Arctic vegetation dynamics. These findings provide insight into the potential future of Arctic regions experiencing warming, moisture regime shifts, and human modification, and demonstrate the usefulness of considering multiple NDVI metrics to disentangle the effects of individual drivers across heterogeneous landscapes. Further, the spatial heterogeneity in the direction and magnitude of interannual covariation between Max NDVI, TI-NDVI, and climatic drivers highlights the difficulty in generalizing the effects of individual drivers on Arctic vegetation productivity across large regions.","PeriodicalId":367648,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Research: Ecology","volume":"49 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139602129","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The spatial scaling of mutualistic network diversity","authors":"Manette E Sandor, M. Tingley, Chris S Elphick","doi":"10.1088/2752-664x/ad1f4a","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-664x/ad1f4a","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 How species richness scales spatially is a foundational concept of community ecology, but how biotic interactions scale spatially is poorly known. Previous studies have proposed interactions-area relationships based on two competing relationships for how the number of interactions scale with the number of species, the “link-species scaling law” and the “constant connectance hypothesis.” The link-species scaling law posits that the number of interactions per species remains constant as the size of the network increases. The constant connectance hypothesis says that the proportion of realized interactions remains constant with network size. While few tests of these interactions-area relationships exist, evidence for the original interactions-species relationships are mixed. We propose a novel interactions-area relationship and test it against the two existing interactions-area relationships. We first present a general theory for how interactions scale spatially and the mathematical relationship between the interactions-area relationship and the species richness-area curve. We then provide a new mathematical formulation of the interactions-area relationship, accounting for connectance varying with area. Employing data from three mutualistic networks (i.e., a network which specifies interconnected and mutually-beneficial interactions between two groups of species), we evaluate three competing models of how interactions scale spatially: two previously published interactions-area relationship models and our proposed interactions-area relationship. We find the new interactions-area relationship described by our theory-based equation fits the empirical datasets equally as well as the previously proposed interactions-area relationship based on the link-species scaling law in one out of three cases and better than the previously-proposed models in two out of three cases. Our novel interactions-area relationship improves upon previous models and quantifies mutualist interactions across space, which is paramount to understanding biodiversity and preventing its loss.","PeriodicalId":367648,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Research: Ecology","volume":" 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139618622","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessment of conservation status of riparian vascular plant species in a dry season exposed flood plain area of the Incalaue river catchment, Niassa Special Reserve, Northern Mozambique","authors":"Ezrah Natumanya, Natasha Ribeiro, M. Mwanjalolo, Franziska Steinbruch","doi":"10.1088/2752-664X/ad0e7a","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-664X/ad0e7a","url":null,"abstract":"Riparian vegetation usually gets less focus in biodiversity assessments and yet species diversity is important knowledge when applying patch specific conservation value in the Niassa Special Reserve (NSR). This study assessed the composition and conservation status of riparian species in an exposed river basin downstream location. Purposive sampling was used in the selection of sites and respondents to maximize data collection. The study found 19 species belonging to 15 families with 52.63% of them having a frequency of ⩾50% in sampling plots. There were 10 species that are endemic to the sub-Sharan Africa Region. Fabaceae was the dominant family with 5 species. The species with the highest population was Flacourtia indica (Burm. f.) Merr. Species richness ranged from 0.35 to 0.98 with a mean of 0.66 ± 0.22. The IVI ranged from 34.70 (F. indica (Burm. f.) Merr) to 4.43 (Tribulus cistoides L.) with a mean of 15.79 ± 7.79. Threats of species loss and ecosystem disturbance were agriculture, infrastructure development and plant harvests. There was a reported decline in species availability over the previous 10 years by 18.7% of the respondents. The results added to existing studies and records of vegetation species of conservation value in areas exposed to loss in the NSR. This study advances research on vegetation range dynamics in the NSR and presents a need to mitigate human land use impacts on riparian vegetation species composition.","PeriodicalId":367648,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Research: Ecology","volume":"25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139254040","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Analysis of population size of Pterygoplichthys multiradiatus and its intake of microplastics in streams with different land uses","authors":"Edgar Lozada-Gómez, Omar Pérez-Reyes","doi":"10.1088/2752-664X/ad0cfe","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-664X/ad0cfe","url":null,"abstract":"Most freshwater habitats have been substantially affected by anthropogenic factors such as fish introductions, plastic pollution, and river regulation. Urban rivers are highly vulnerable to impacts associated with land use changes resulting from increasing urbanization, including altering habitat and establishing aquatic biological communities in these areas. In turn, the introduction of exotic species into sensitive and threatened ecosystems such as tropical urban streams and their rapid establishment, such as Pterygoplichthys multiradiatus, was used as an ecological model to determine the relative population size of the species. Also, the species was used to evaluate the presence of microplastics (MPs) in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of fish in rivers with different land use history. Our results showed significant differences in pleco abundance between areas with high and low urban (LU) development in the watersheds. The study demonstrated that abiotic environmental factors directly influence the relative abundance of plecos at the range and watershed scales. In a total of 42 fish examined, only 85.7% showed MPs retained in the GIT, with fibers and fragments being the most common. A total of 22 pieces of microplastic were identified with Nile Red staining by slide analysis. A significant difference was found between the abundance of microplastic ingested per total fish length between streams with high and LU development reaches. Therefore, in relatively small amounts, microplastic ingestion appears to be common in P. multiradiatus species, regardless of the habitat in which they are found and the diet present.","PeriodicalId":367648,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Research: Ecology","volume":"79 2-3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139267745","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tropical forests are mainly unstratified especially in Amazonia and regions with lower fertility or higher temperatures","authors":"C. Doughty, Camille Gaillard, P. Burns, Jenna Keany, Andrew J. Abraham, Y. Malhi, J. Aguirre‐Gutiérrez, G. Koch, P. Jantz, A. Shenkin, Hao Tang","doi":"10.1088/2752-664X/ace723","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-664X/ace723","url":null,"abstract":"The stratified nature of tropical forest structure had been noted by early explorers, but until recent use of satellite-based LiDAR (GEDI, or Global Ecosystems Dynamics Investigation LiDAR), it was not possible to quantify stratification across all tropical forests. Understanding stratification is important because by some estimates, a majority of the world’s species inhabit tropical forest canopies. Stratification can modify vertical microenvironment, and thus can affect a species’ susceptibility to anthropogenic climate change. Here we find that, based on analyzing each GEDI 25 m diameter footprint in tropical forests (after screening for human impact), most footprints (60%–90%) do not have multiple layers of vegetation. The most common forest structure has a minimum plant area index (PAI) at ∼40 m followed by an increase in PAI until ∼15 m followed by a decline in PAI to the ground layer (described hereafter as a one peak footprint). There are large geographic patterns to forest structure within the Amazon basin (ranging between 60% and 90% one peak) and between the Amazon (79 ± 9% sd) and SE Asia or Africa (72 ± 14% v 73 ± 11%). The number of canopy layers is significantly correlated with tree height (r 2 = 0.12) and forest biomass (r 2 = 0.14). Environmental variables such as maximum temperature (T max) (r 2 = 0.05), vapor pressure deficit (VPD) (r 2 = 0.03) and soil fertility proxies (e.g. total cation exchange capacity −r 2 = 0.01) were also statistically significant but less strongly correlated given the complex and heterogeneous local structural to regional climatic interactions. Certain boundaries, like the Pebas Formation and Ecoregions, clearly delineate continental scale structural changes. More broadly, deviation from more ideal conditions (e.g. lower fertility or higher temperatures) leads to shorter, less stratified forests with lower biomass.","PeriodicalId":367648,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Research: Ecology","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131915092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing thermal ecology of herpetofauna across a heterogeneous microhabitat mosaic in a changing aridland riparian system","authors":"Brian R. Blais, Daniel E Velasco, Marie E Frackiewicz, Avery Q Low, J. Koprowski","doi":"10.1088/2752-664X/ace6a3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-664X/ace6a3","url":null,"abstract":"Species–environmental relationships, including drivers of body temperature (T B), are important for understanding thermal ecology and physiological needs of species during climate change. This is especially important among ectotherms, including amphibians and reptiles (i.e., herpetofauna), in aridland riparian systems. Infrared thermography (IRT) can reliably and noninvasively estimate T B of ectothermic herpetofauna while simultaneously assessing thermal heterogeneity across a mosaic of microhabitats. We used IRT at a semi-arid riparian zone in Tucson, Arizona to assess herpetofauna–environmental relationships during early-season activity periods in 2020 and 2022. From mixed-effect modeling of desert riparian herpetofauna (n = 81), we found complex environmental relationships influencing T B. Microhabitat perch surface temperature (T S) best explained T B; many ambient conditions were inadequate at capturing T B. Herpetofauna were as warm by mid-morning than in the early afternoon, with T B approaching equilibrium with T S as mornings progressed. Less T B–T S variation was detected for anurans (e.g., canyon treefrogs, Hyla arenicolor) than with lizards, supporting that desert amphibians are sensitive to the thermal landscape. There was also complex environmental variation among thermally heterogeneous microhabitats used and available to herpetofauna. As perch T S increased, shade became more important, though shade sources may be less relevant. The methods and data obtained in this study can serve to establish baselines during seasonally and ecologically important periods and be used to monitor thermal ecology changes across time for herpetofauna or taxa with similar life history in aridland riparian systems. Although ectotherm thermoregulatory functions are undeniably complex, we recommend IRT as a rapid, noninvasive, and complementary tool to monitor cryptic thermal ecology in heterogeneous systems. Understanding species–environmental relationships and monitoring responses of wildlife across time can help guide more effective biodiversity conservation management strategies in a warming and drying world.","PeriodicalId":367648,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Research: Ecology","volume":"119 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132151606","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A solution for perfect bioclimate envelopes that are imperfect for extirpated species","authors":"B. Hanberry","doi":"10.1088/2752-664X/ace056","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-664X/ace056","url":null,"abstract":"Present-day species distributions modeled with climate variables cannot provide potential future climate space for species that have contracted in range due to extirpations, regardless of abundant sample sizes within current ranges. My objective was to examine effects of range contractions on modeling of species to determine suitable space under climate change, exploring different approaches to modeling based on historical range maps. As examples of this issue, I estimated the current and future bioclimate envelopes of American bison (Bison bison) and elk (Cervus elaphus) from their current reduced ranges in the western United States compared to historical ranges immediately before extirpation. One solution for bioclimate envelope modeling is to generate presence samples from the historical range and pseudoabsence samples from outside of the historical range. By using the fullest climate space, the models identified areas of future suitable climate space that otherwise would be underpredicted (10%-27% of climate space, for these two examples) based on current ranges of species that have been extirpated from their historical range. Range contraction substantially reduced predictions of suitable climatic space under climate change. Therefore, species need to be evaluated for range extirpation before determining potential impacts of climate change on biodiversity conservation.","PeriodicalId":367648,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Research: Ecology","volume":"65 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128243303","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Managing small populations—using genetic data and trial translocations to help inform suitable conservation measures for the alpine blue-sowthistle (Cicerbita alpina) in Scotland","authors":"A. Finger, M. Smedley, D. Halley, N. Frachon, A. Ahrends","doi":"10.1088/2752-664X/acdef9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-664X/acdef9","url":null,"abstract":"Habitat fragmentation is causing an increasing amount of species loss around the world and creates problems at the population level. Many species are left as only small and isolated populations, which are vulnerable to genetic erosion and inbreeding depression. Here we present a study on the alpine blue-sowthistle (Cicerbita alpina). Due to intensive grazing the species is very rare in Scotland, where it occurs at only four small, montane sites, has never been reported to reproduce and is in need of conservation interventions. As the species can grow clonally it is unknown how many individuals remain and whether populations are affected by genetic isolation. We (1) quantified genetic diversity, inbreeding and between-population differentiation in Scotland and Norway using 15 microsatellite loci, and (2) experimentally translocated plants to new sites. Genetic diversity in Scotland was low (H E: 0.35; Allelic Richness: 1.84; 4 sites) compared to Norway (H E: 0.52; Allelic Richness: 2.56; 5 sites). The transplants were able to grow at new sites and are therefore not restricted to steep, montane ledges. While grazing is likely to be the main factor preventing range expansion, long-term genetic isolation has possibly further lowered population viability. To avoid local extinction of this species, conservation translocations and genetic rescue might be appropriate conservation interventions, but this needs to be further tested in a controlled environment and away from wild sites to avoid potential risks of outbreeding depression.","PeriodicalId":367648,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Research: Ecology","volume":"242 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114183614","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}