Article
Ecology
F. Mestre, B. Silva
Summary: The lconnect R package is a user-friendly tool for assessing landscape connectivity and prioritizing habitat patches, which helps understand and address the challenges in biodiversity conservation.
ECOLOGICAL MODELLING
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Marina Pannunzio Ribeiro, Kaline de Mello, Roberta Averna Valente
Summary: In the process of urbanization, the connectivity of urban forest fragments in protected areas is insufficient to support biodiversity conservation. The current ecological network relies on neighboring forest fragments and flux dispersal in peri-urban areas. Riparian zones and anthropic grasslands play an important role in protected area connectivity.
URBAN FORESTRY & URBAN GREENING
(2022)
Review
Ecology
Cristina Banks-Leite, Matthew G. Betts, Robert M. Ewers, C. David L. Orme, Alex L. Pigot
Summary: The main goal of landscape ecology is to understand the impact of habitat transformation on biodiversity. However, the discipline faces challenges due to the context dependency of observed spatial and temporal trends. This study discusses recent evidence suggesting that factors and processes at macroecological scales, such as historical disturbance rates, distance to geographic range edges, and climatic suitability, modulate populations' and species' responses to habitat change at the landscape scale.
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Javan M. Bauder, William E. Peterman, Stephen F. Spear, Christopher L. Jenkins, Andrew R. Whiteley, Kevin McGarigal
Summary: The study focuses on the importance of landscape features and their scale effects on gene flow, using genetic algorithms to optimize landscape resistance surfaces. Results suggest that multisurface multiscale LRS outperformed other approaches, especially large-scale LRS had the greatest impact on eastern indigo snake connectivity.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Yongzhi Yan, Scott Jarvie, Qingfu Liu, Qing Zhang
Summary: This study evaluated the impacts of habitat loss and fragmentation on grassland plant species richness in the agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China. The results showed that habitat loss had a negative effect on overall species richness and grassland specialist richness, but a positive effect on weed richness. Additionally, the increase in patch density caused by habitat loss had a positive effect on overall species richness and grassland specialist richness. These findings highlight the importance of adding habitat patches in fragmented landscapes for conserving habitat specialists.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Ravi Jambhekar, Kavita Isvaran
Summary: A fundamental question in ecology is to understand how species are distributed in a landscape. This study investigated the population responses of butterfly species to patch size and connectivity in naturally heterogeneous tropical forest-grassland complexes, and found that ecological specialization and matrix resistance played important roles in predicting population responses.
Article
Ecology
Paul Savary, Jean-Christophe Foltete, Herve Moal, Stephane Garnier
Summary: This article discusses the potential benefits of integrating landscape graphs and genetic graphs in landscape genetics. By comparing different features and partitions of these graphs, the influence of intra-patch features and inter-patch connectivity on genetic structure can be examined, as well as the sensitivity of genetic diversity and differentiation to landscape factors. Additionally, the integration of these graphs through gravity models can enhance their joint use for various theoretical and applied objectives.
Article
Ecology
Adam Kimberley, Danny Hooftman, James M. Bullock, Olivier Honnay, Patricia Krickl, Jessica Lindgren, Jan Plue, Peter Poschlod, Anna Traveset, Sara A. O. Cousins
Summary: Increasing landscape connecting elements cannot compensate for large-scale grassland area loss, leading to significant declines in both structural and functional connectivity. Generalist species are negatively affected by connectivity, with structural connectivity having the strongest impact, while functional connectivity determines the presence of grassland specialist species in focal grasslands.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Lei Han, Zhi Wang, Mengmeng Wei, Muyang Wang, Hui Shi, Kathreen Ruckstuhl, Weikang Yang, Joana Alves
Summary: This study assesses the role of small patches in landscape connectivity and identifies critical and important patches for conservation in the Kalajun-Kuerdening forest in Xinjiang, China. It also highlights the importance of small patches in maintaining overall connectivity and providing habitat and protection for species with small home ranges and short dispersal distances.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lucas D. Fernandes, Angelica S. Mata, Wesley A. C. Godoy, Carolina Reigada
Summary: Species distributions and dynamics are influenced by the interplay between dispersal at different spatial scales and landscape connectivity and composition. This study examines the effects of these factors on local species dynamics using a host-parasitoid model. The results demonstrate the importance of both local and regional scales, as well as the combined effects of species biological parameters and landscape structure, in shaping species density and occupancy. These findings have practical implications for the development of effective strategies for biological control.
Article
Agronomy
Yawen Lu, Shilu Zheng, Kyle W. Tomlinson, Jiajia Liu
Summary: Plant herbivory and disease, which are essential for biodiversity and ecosystem function, are influenced by different processes and have different relationships in fragmented landscapes. We conducted a survey on 2,027 adult trees in 30 sites of 17 forest fragments in Xishuangbanna, China, and found that herbivory and disease were influenced by local and landscape environmental variables.
Article
Plant Sciences
Ricard Arasa-Gisbert, Victor Arroyo-Rodriguez, Carmen Galan-Acedo, Jorge A. Meave, Miguel Martinez-Ramos
Summary: The study reveals that landscape composition has a stronger effect on sapling diversity than landscape configuration. Old-growth forest specialist species tend to decrease in deforested landscapes with open matrices, while forest generalist species show the opposite response, especially in regions with high-to-intermediate disturbance levels. Forest fragmentation has weak or no effects on species diversity, particularly after controlling for forest cover effects.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Flavia Freire Siqueira, Dulcineia de Carvalho, Jonathan Rhodes, Carla L. Archibald, Vanessa Leite Rezende, Eduardo van den Berg
Summary: The study investigated the role of Small Landscape Elements (SLEs) in landscape connectivity within the highly fragmented Atlantic Forest. It found that in these landscapes, the position of SLEs was more important than their respective areas for enhancing landscape connectivity.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Hongliang Bu, William J. McShea, Dajun Wang, Fang Wang, Youping Chen, Xiaodong Gu, Lin Yu, Shiwei Jiang, Fahui Zhang, Sheng Li
Summary: The downlisting of the giant panda from Endangered to Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List highlights the effectiveness of current conservation practices, but its future survival is still threatened by habitat fragmentation and climate change. Maintaining movement corridors between habitat patches in the newly established Giant Panda National Park is crucial for the species' long-term sustainability. The study found that current distribution of plantations has not harmed connectivity between core habitat patches, but mass conversion could severely degrade it. Recommendations include no expansion of plantations inside the GPNP and enhancing collective forest management for ecological forest expansion in adjoining habitat patches.
Article
Forestry
Julia Perez Cabral, Deborah Faria, Jose Carlos Morante-Filho
Summary: Biodiversity-friendly agricultural systems, such as cocoa agroforestry, play a crucial role in maintaining native species and providing habitats for various bird groups. The study found that landscapes with more forest cover and fewer cattle pastures support higher richness and abundance of frugivorous birds in cocoa agroforests, while an increase in cattle pasture negatively impacts all bird groups evaluated. Local vegetation structure, such as canopy closure and number of cocoa trees, also influences the abundance of insectivorous and non-forest bird species in cocoa agroforestry systems.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Yongcui Lan, Jinliang Wang, Qianwei Liu, Fang Liu, Lanfang Liu, Jie Li, Mengjia Luo
Summary: This study focuses on the five major plateau lake basins in central Yunnan, China, and constructs an ecological security pattern using the source-resistance surface-corridor-pinch point framework. The study simulates land use/cover change in the region and identifies early warning regions where future urban expansion poses a threat to current ecological source areas and corridors.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2024)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Pingping Huang, Feng Zhao, Bailing Zhou, Kuidong Xu
Summary: This study investigates the distribution of benthic microeukaryotes in the China Seas and finds that they can stride over the ecological barrier of 32 degrees N. The study also highlights the significant influence of depth, temperature, and latitude on communities in the China Seas.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2024)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Federico Morelli, Yanina Benedetti, Jesse Stanford, Leszek Jerzak, Piotr Tryjanowski, Paolo Perna, Riccardo Santolini
Summary: Species distribution models (SDMs) are numerical tools used for predicting species' spatial distribution. This study found that ecological characteristics, such as habitat specialization, play a role in improving the accuracy of SDMs.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2024)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Xiaoxuan Wu, Hang Liu, Wei Liu
Summary: Global climate change, urbanization, and economic development have increased the need for sustainable human development, urban ecological governance, and low-carbon energy transformation. This study analyzes the green ecological transition in Chengdu based on panel data from 2010 to 2020, exploring its spatiotemporal evolution and key factors. The results show an overall upward trend in Chengdu's green ecological development and positive spatial autocorrelation in certain districts.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2024)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Castaldi Simona, Formicola Nicola, Mastrocicco Micol, Morales Rodriguez Carmen, Morelli Raffaella, Prodorutti Daniele, Vannini Andrea, Zanzotti Roberto
Summary: Sustainable agricultural practices are increasingly important for global and national environmental policies and economy. This study compared the sustainability of grape production under integrated and organic management using multiple indicators. The results showed that organic management was more beneficial for most environmental aspects of the agroecosystem compared to integrated management, without affecting grape yield.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2024)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Gaia Vaglio Laurin, Alexander Cotrina-Sanchez, Luca Belelli-Marchesini, Enrico Tomelleri, Giovanna Battipaglia, Claudia Cocozza, Francesco Niccoli, Jerzy Piotr Kabala, Damiano Gianelle, Loris Vescovo, Luca Da Ros, Riccardo Valentini
Summary: Phenology monitoring is important for understanding forest functioning and climate impacts. This research compares the phenological behavior of European beech forests using Tree-Talker (TT+) and Sentinel 2 satellite data. The study finds differences in the information derived by the two sensor types, particularly in terms of season length, phenology changepoints, and leaf period variability. TT+ with its higher temporal resolution demonstrates precision in capturing the phenological changepoints, especially when satellite image availability is limited.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2024)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Huanhuan Pan, Ziqiang Du, Zhitao Wu, Hong Zhang, Keming Ma
Summary: The land use and cover changes resulting from coal mining activities and ecological restoration have had a significant impact on ecosystem services in mining areas. This study investigates the relationship between ecosystem services and land use intensity in coal mining areas, emphasizing the importance of understanding this interdependence for balanced human-land system development. The research examines the evolving relationship across different reclamation stages in Shanxi, China, using a coupling coordination degree model. The findings suggest the need for timely and judicious reclamation of coalfields, considering the land's bearing capacity.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2024)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Jingjuan He, Yijun Shi, Lihua Xu, Zhangwei Lu, Mao Feng
Summary: This study examines the spatial interplay between changes in the blue-green spatial distribution and modifications in land surface temperature grades in Shanghai. The findings reveal that the transformation of the blue-green spatial pattern differs between different sectors of the city, and the impact on the thermal environment varies spatially.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2024)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Yi Xu, Di Zhang, Junqiang Lin, Qidong Peng, Xiaohui Lei, Tiantian Jin, Jia Wang, Ruifang Yuan
Summary: This study analyzed the response relationship between phytoplankton growth and water environmental parameters in the Middle Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project in China using long-term monitoring data and machine learning models. The results revealed the differences between monitoring sites and identified the key parameters that affect phytoplankton growth.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2024)