Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Yi Fan, Tingting Li, Wei Liu, Minjie Xu, Shuang Pang, Zijia Zhang, Lihua Zhang, Yowhan Son, Ximei Zhang
Summary: This study found that anthropogenic disturbances can have consistent effects on soil microbial communities, particularly leading to an increase in the abundance and functional traits of subdominant bacterial phyla. Stochastic processes play a critical role in structuring the subdominant phyla, and disturbances can promote these processes. Overall, the high-growth-yield traits and stochasticity of subdominant phyla contribute to their positive responses to disturbances.
ANNALS OF MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Adia R. Sovie, L. Mike Conner, Joel S. Brown, Robert A. McCleery
Summary: Anthropogenically modified systems often result in homogenous wildlife communities, with specialists being replaced by generalists due to changes in environmental conditions and competitive interactions. This study in the Southeastern longleaf pine savanna of the US investigated the roles of environmental conditions and competition in driving biotic homogenization, finding that competition changes may lead to the replacement of specialist species by generalists.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jianshuang Wu, Meng Li, Xianzhou Zhang, Sebastian Fiedler, Qingzhu Gao, Yuting Zhou, Wenfang Cao, Waseem Hassan, Mihai Ciprian Margarint, Paolo Tarolli, Britta Tietjen
Summary: Alpine grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau are sensitive to climate change and human activities, with climate warming and overgrazing leading to degradation. Research has shown that climate and human factors may have opposite effects on grasslands, likely regulated by plant community assembly and species functional traits.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jonathan A. Walter, Lauren M. Hallett, Lawrence W. Sheppard, Thomas L. Anderson, Lei Zhao, Richard J. Hobbs, Katharine N. Suding, Daniel C. Reuman
Summary: Through studying micro-scale synchrony and geographies of synchrony within a serpentine grassland plant community, it was found that species populations exhibited a geography of synchrony even over distances up to 30 meters. Factors such as gopher disturbance and dispersal limitation played a major role in shaping the spatial structure of synchrony, while precipitation was a significant driver of temporal dynamics at both site and community levels.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Yixin Diao, Qing Zhao, Yue Weng, Bojian Gu, Fang Wang
Summary: The study investigated the spatial and temporal responses of mammal species to human activities in the Qinling Mountains, China, finding that giant pandas and takins mainly changed their distributions, while wild boars, tufted deer, and Chinese gorals altered their daily activity patterns in response to anthropogenic disturbances. This suggests that certain mammal species exhibit elusive responses to human interference, highlighting the need for a more adaptable conservation framework.
BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Ecology
David C. Pavlacky, Adam W. Green, Thomas Luke George, Rich Iovanna, Anne M. Bartuszevige, Maureen D. Correll, Arvind O. Panjabi, Thomas Brandt Ryder
Summary: The decline of biodiversity due to human landscape modification is a pressing conservation problem. The recovery of grassland avifauna has become a priority in North America. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) aims to restore perennial grasslands by providing financial incentives to private agricultural producers. This study investigates the spatial patterns of grassland availability and restoration in the Great Plains to inform landscape-scale conservation strategies for grassland birds.
ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Ping Wang, Shuang Pang, Minjie Xu, Wei Liu, Zijia Zhang, Baoming Ji, Ximei Zhang
Summary: The study revealed that different anthropogenic disturbances consistently restrain the role of migration in soil bacterial community assembly, limiting the random dispersal of soil microorganisms.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Joseph Oloya, Geoffrey M. Malinga, Margaret Nyafwono, Perpetra Akite, Ryosuke Nakadai, Sille Holm, Anu Valtonen
Summary: The study in the Budongo Central Forest Reserve in Uganda reveals that the fruit-feeding butterfly communities show similarities between primary forests and older secondary forests, but exhibit large seasonal variations in younger secondary forests.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Hamish S. Greig, Peter A. McHugh, Ross M. Thompson, Helen J. Warburton, Angus R. McIntosh
Summary: The study found that habitat size can impact community stability and vulnerability to disturbances, with smaller ecosystems having higher resilience but not enough to offset their lower resistance, leading to greater variability in communities over time.
Article
Ecology
Jaimie G. Vincent, Richard Schuster, Scott Wilson, Daniel Fink, Joseph R. Bennett
Summary: This study presents a new method to infer the migratory connectivity of songbirds using relative abundance models created from the global community science program eBird. The initial findings suggest that this method has the potential to be a rapid and inexpensive way to infer broad patterns of connectivity.
Article
Geography, Physical
Bianca R. Charbonneau, Adam Duarte, Todd M. Swannack, Bradley D. Johnson, Candice D. Piercy
Summary: In ecogeomorphic systems, there are complex couplings between geomorphology and ecology, where abiotic conditions influence vegetation growth and distribution, and the feedback from vegetation impacts topography. Communities play a role in storm response and landscape evolution. However, these systems, such as beach-dune habitats, are deteriorating due to anthropogenic modification and climate change. In order to develop a better understanding of the interactions between coastal vegetation communities and the environment, a structured approach is needed. The DOONIES Model, a spatially explicit process-based grid model, is presented to simulate the biological, physiological, and geomorphological drivers of landscape change in beach-dune habitats. The model focuses on vegetation growth, abundance, and spatial distribution dynamics, and it can be used to support restoration decisions.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
C. T. Shifa, Salindra K. Dayananda, Xu Yanjie, K. A. Rubeena, Sabir Bin Muzaffar, Aymen Nefla, T. Jobiraj, P. Thejass, Omer R. Reshi, K. M. Aarif
Summary: Fragile wetland habitats are vulnerable to threats from human activities, leading to a decline in kingfisher populations. Environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, turbidity, and fish abundance, as well as the presence of organic waste, have significant impacts on kingfisher abundance. Urgent action is needed to protect and manage wetlands for the sustainability of kingfisher populations.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Thomas Schmitt, Werner Ulrich, Andjela Delic, Mike Teucher, Jan Christian Habel
Summary: Species community structures in East African drylands are highly sensitive to both natural and anthropogenic impacts, with seasonality playing a significant role in resource availability and species composition. Farmland and savannah support distinct butterfly communities, with human activities buffering the seasonal fluctuations in detectable species abundances. Strict habitat associations are weaker in the savannah region, suggesting a more generalized species distribution compared to the farmland area.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Paulson Given Des Brisay, Laura Diane Burns, Kevin Ellison, William Gary Anderson, Marty Leonard, Nicola Koper
Summary: Oil extraction may affect wildlife by changing habitat suitability and impacting stress levels and behavior, but distinguishing the effects of infrastructure from associated noise and human activity is challenging. This study investigated the impacts of oil development on the demographic distribution and corticosterone levels of three grassland passerine species in southern Alberta, Canada. Surprisingly, higher-quality female Chestnut-collared Longspurs tended to nest closer to oil wells, while higher-quality Savannah Sparrows generally avoided nesting sites impacted by oil wells. Corticosterone levels varied with the presence of oil development, but the response was specific to species and stimuli. The study suggests that both physical infrastructure and anthropogenic noise should be mitigated to conserve the grassland songbird community.
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Martin Freitag, Johannes Kamp, Andrey Dara, Tobias Kuemmerle, Tatyana V. Sidorova, Ingrid A. Stirnemann, Frederike Velbert, Norbert Hoelzel
Summary: After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, decreased grazing pressure and increased fire frequency in Kazakhstan's dry steppe region led to changes in plant functional composition. Areas with high cover of grasses with high leaf dry matter content were more prone to fires, while higher grazing pressure favored the growth of woody forbs and ruderal plants with high specific leaf area.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2021)