Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Kazuhito Oki, Masashi Soga, Tatsuya Amano, Shinsuke Koike
Summary: Appropriate vegetation management in semi-natural grasslands is crucial for providing habitats for grassland species. However, the abandonment of semi-natural grasslands due to lifestyle changes and resource use has led to a decline in grassland-dependent species. Ski pistes can serve as important habitats for grassland flora and fauna, but they are being closed due to climate change and population decline. This study found that the abandonment of pistes likely negatively affects butterfly communities, and regular vegetation management could help mitigate biodiversity loss in these environments.
BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Hosia T. Pule, Julius T. Tjelele, Michelle J. Tedder
Summary: This study investigated the interaction effects of burning and soil depth on components of soil fertility. The results showed that except for K and P, the components of soil fertility decreased significantly with increasing soil depth before and after burning, while the concentrations of K and P in surface soils increased significantly after burning. These findings have important implications for the ecological management of grassland areas in South Africa and the encroachment of similar species in similar environments.
Article
Ecology
Nancy A. Mahony, Brenda C. Dale, David A. W. Miller
Summary: Grassland biomes in North America are facing threats that lead to declining populations of grassland birds, such as habitat loss, alteration, pesticide use, and declining landscape heterogeneity. A study in Alberta, Canada, compared the population trends of grassland bird species in regions with different levels of agricultural development. It was found that negative population trends were more prevalent in regions dominated by agriculture, highlighting the importance of protecting native grasslands for the conservation of grassland birds.
Article
Ecology
Julia B. B. Leone, Nora P. P. Pennarola, Jennifer L. L. Larson, Karen Oberhauser, Diane L. L. Larson
Summary: Butterflies and bees play important roles in grassland biodiversity, and their conservation and management are essential. This study explores the impacts of fire and grazing management on butterfly and bee communities in tallgrass prairies, highlighting the challenges of designing management plans for different pollinators. The findings emphasize the importance of considering a mosaic of management practices across the prairie landscape.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Joanna Kajzer-Bonk, Piotr Nowicki
Summary: Alarming reports indicate declines in invertebrate biodiversity, particularly in local populations and habitats, which pose a risk of regional extinctions. This study aimed to identify and quantify the main drivers of population dynamics and habitat loss for two endangered butterfly species. The results showed that urbanization and afforestation were the major threats, occurring mainly outside protected areas. Meadow abandonment and direct human destruction were the main threats to grassland habitats.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Stuart T. Schwab, G. Darrel Jenerette, Loralee Larios
Summary: Prescribed burning is commonly used to reduce non-native grass cover and seed availability, but its effectiveness in reducing non-native forbs remains unclear. Residual singed stands of invasive forbs can create high heterogeneity in postburn landscape and increase reinvasion. A field experiment in a prescribed burn area found that litter presence reduced temperature and light availability, while singed stands had lower soil moisture and temperature. The presence of litter increased Oncosiphon cover and viable seeds, and singed stands had even greater Oncosiphon cover and viable seeds. The addition of native seed did not affect native or Oncosiphon cover. These results highlight the importance of considering secondary treatments to reduce reinvasion when using prescribed burns for managing invasive forbs.
RESTORATION ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Entomology
Gwydion Scherer, Thomas Fartmann
Summary: The study highlighted the importance of environmental conditions, particularly the cover of host plants, for the distribution and survival of the Marsh Fritillary. The growth of host plants and microclimate conditions play a significant role in determining the occupancy and adaptation of the butterfly in specific regions.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Justin Merondun, Elizabeth M. Kierepka, Aaron B. A. Shafer, Dennis L. Murray
Summary: The study found that the eastern wolf in south-central Canada faces competition threats from gray wolves and coyote-like canids, with limited advantageous niche space, requiring conservation measures to maintain the survival of the population. The research also suggests that competitive disadvantage can limit species' recovery efforts, hence necessitating management measures to promote ecological differentiation between groups.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Yongjie Liu, Mingjie Xu, Guoe Li, Mingxia Wang, Zhenqing Li, Hans J. De Boeck
Summary: Climate change is expected to impact plant growth and biomass allocation, with studies showing that aboveground, belowground, and total biomass increase with growing season precipitation in a water-limited ecosystem. Allocation patterns vary along precipitation gradients, with significant differences between plant species. Isometric partitioning was observed in one species, while rhizome or stolon-forming species showed different allocation strategies. This research provides insights into how changes in biomass allocation can affect ecosystem functioning, especially in the context of environmental change.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Fiona Bell, Marc Botham, Tom M. Brereton, Andy Fenton, Jenny Hodgson
Summary: Climate change has not improved habitat suitability for the threatened butterfly Pyrgus malvae in Britain in the past 40 years, contrary to expectations. Population decline in the north and west of its range is more significant, with high December temperature and summer rainfall having minimal effects on population size. This indicates that factors other than climate change, such as habitat deterioration, may be more dominant drivers of population trends.
DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Gwydion Scherer, Thomas Fartmann
Summary: Traditional land use has led to the decline of temperate, semi-natural grasslands, impacting nutrient-poor grassland specialist butterfly species. This study reveals the effects of the complete harvest process on the survival of caterpillars, highlighting the importance of host plant growth form and timing of grassland harvest.
INSECT CONSERVATION AND DIVERSITY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Agota R. Szabo, Lunja M. Ernst, Robert Galle, Peter Batary
Summary: The alteration of agricultural land use has caused a widespread loss of biodiversity in human-dominated landscapes, leading to a global conservation concern. In European landscapes, intensive agriculture and the abandonment of extensively farmed areas endanger wildlife. This study explored the factors affecting butterfly functional diversity in grasslands using functional trait analysis, finding that habitat type had the strongest influence on butterfly functional traits and that calcareous grasslands supported more specialized butterflies favored by grassland management and proximity to forests. Maintaining the threatened butterfly fauna in calcareous grasslands will require extensive management focus in forested landscapes.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2022)
Article
Soil Science
Shan Luo, G. Kenny Png, Nicholas J. Ostle, Huakun Zhou, Xiangyang Hou, Chunling Luo, John N. Quinton, Urs Schaffner, Christopher Sweeney, Dangjun Wang, Jihua Wu, Yuwei Wu, Richard D. Bardgett
Summary: Grassland degradation simplifies soil fungal communities, reducing ecosystem multifunctionality, and restoration efforts are not effective in recovering these belowground properties.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Jan Christian Habel, Mike Teucher, Patrick Gros, Verena Gfrerer, Jonas Eberle
Summary: Intensification of land-use leads to a decrease in ecosystem heterogeneity and diversity, resulting in a loss of biodiversity. This study examines the relevance of forest heterogeneity, disturbance, and microhabitat preferences for a highly endangered butterfly species. By combining field observations and aerial imagery captured by drones, the study highlights the importance of forest structures with environmental dynamics for the survival of endangered species.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Jan Christian Habel, Viktoria Angerer, Patrick Gros, Mike Teucher, Jonas Eberle
Summary: This study analyzed the habitat requirements of the Clouded Apollo butterfly and found the importance of transition zones between habitats for the butterfly and biodiversity in general. The Clouded Apollo can serve as an indicator species to promote the conservation and restoration of transition zones in nature conservation.
BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION
(2022)