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Abstract: Aims: Understanding fine-grain diversity patterns across large spatial extents is fundamental for macroecological research and biodiversity conservation. Using the GrassPlot database, we provide benchmarks of fine-grain richness values of Palaearctic open habitats for vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens and complete vegetation (i.e., the sum of the former three groups). Location: Palaearctic biogeographic realm. Methods: We used 126,524 plots of eight standard grain sizes from the GrassPlot database: 0.0001, 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, 100 and 1,000 m2 and calculated the mean richness and standard deviations, as well as maximum, minimum, median, and first and third quartiles for each combination of grain size, taxonomic group, biome, region, vegetation type and phytosociological class. Results: Patterns of plant diversity in vegetation types and biomes differ across grain sizes and taxonomic groups. Overall, secondary (mostly semi-natural) grasslands and natural grasslands are the richest vegetation type. The open-access file ”GrassPlot Diversity Benchmarks” and the web tool “GrassPlot Diversity Explorer” are now available online (https://edgg.org/databases/GrasslandDiversityExplorer) and provide more insights into species richness patterns in the Palaearctic open habitats. Conclusions: The GrassPlot Diversity Benchmarks provide high-quality data on species richness in open habitat types across the Palaearctic. These benchmark data can be used in vegetation ecology, macroecology, biodiversity conservation and data quality checking. While the amount of data in the underlying GrassPlot database and their spatial coverage are smaller than in other extensive vegetation-plot databases, species recordings in GrassPlot are on average more complete, making it a valuable complementary data source in macroecology.
Keywords: benchmark, bryophyte, fine-grain biodiversity, grassland, GrassPlot Diversity Explorer, lichen, open habitat, Palaearctic, scale dependence, species–area relationship, vascular plant, vegetation plot
Published in DKUM: 07.08.2024; Views: 77; Downloads: 3
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Abstract: Cystoseira s.l. forests are recognised as important habitats which host diverse coastal fish assemblages. Many fish species use such habitats as feeding, breeding, and nursery grounds. Since the coastal fish community depends on the availability of dense macroalgal belts, the decline of these habitats in the Mediterranean Sea also affects the density of coastal fish species. We studied the coastal fish assemblage in Cystoseira s.l. forests in three consecutive years 2019–2021 in the Gulf of Trieste (Adriatic Sea). Data on coastal fish fauna were collected by visual counts conducted by SCUBA diving. Data on algal cover and habitat types were obtained by recording with a video camera. Similarities and differences in the fish community were analysed in terms of habitat and substrate preferences. A total of 34 species were recorded in Cystoseira forests. The results of the present study show that the different algal cover and associated depth gradient have different effects on the fish assemblage in coastal waters, affecting species composition and abundance. For many species, particularly labrids and sea breams, there is a decreasing temporal trend in frequency of occurrence and density. However, fish community trends can be used as a good “proxy” to evaluate the algal belt status. Our results indicate that rapid conservation and restoration actions are needed to stem the decline of Cystoseira s.l. forests.
Keywords: Cystoseira s.l. forests, fish assemblage, fish biodiversity, habitat preference, macroalgal belt, Mediterranean Sea
Published in DKUM: 19.04.2024; Views: 227; Downloads: 8
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Abstract: Cover crops can reduce the use of external inputs such as pesticides and fertilisers and can at the same time suppress weeds as well as improve or maintain soil fertility. Cover crops can also modify the microclimate which affects pest populations and diseases. Determining cover crop species and management practices is based on the needs and goals of production. The effects of introducing living mulch (LM) and management strategies on cash crop yield, product quality and energy use were studied in certain European countries (Slovenia, Italy, Germany and Denmark) in different climatic and soil conditions. In Slovenia, in organic production of cauliflower and leek, the effects of two terms of sowing white clover with additive design were compared with a production with black foil and with the usual agricultural practice by hoeing. In the field experiments the effect of LM on arthropod dynamics and activity density was investigated. The results demonstrated that the LM systems with a substitutive design, can be effectively implemented in vegetable production if the value of the ecological services (positive externalities) delivered by LM can counterbalance the yield loss due to the cash crop density reduction. If an additive design is used, the LM should be sown several weeks after the cash crop planting. Different cash crop genotypes (i.e., open pollinated/local cultivars in comparison with the hybrids) performed similarly. Use of human labor (HL) and fossil fuel (FF) energy slightly increased in LM systems (7%). The farmers’ acceptance of the LM techniques was quite high (75% of the interviewed sample). The LM technique did not affect the infestation of cabbage caterpillar Pieris spp., showing no detrimental effect of this technique on this key pest of cabbage. In Denmark, aphid populations were higher in the sole crop system than in the LM system. In Italy, a level of larval parasitization was detected and in the first year the percentage of parasitization was higher in LM (88%) than in sole crop (63%). Overall, the LM positively affected the activity density of Carabid beetles, also increasing the diversity and evenness of species (Slovenia and Italy) or activity density of some taxa (Slovenia and Denmark). Due to numerous agroecological services of cover crops, growing simultaneously with vegetables as LM, this could be promising technique for organic and others production systems in the future.
Keywords: organic vegetable production, cover crops, agroecological service, living mulch, energy consumption, biodiversity, soil arthropod
Published in DKUM: 01.02.2019; Views: 2197; Downloads: 281
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Abstract: Subterranean habitats are known for their rich endemic fauna and high vulnerability to disturbance. Many methods and techniques are used to sample the biodiversity of terrestrial invertebrate fauna in caves, among which pitfall trapping remains one of the most frequently used and effective ones. However, this method has turned out to be harmful to subterranean communities if applied inappropriately. Traditionally, pitfall traps have been placed in caves solely on the ground. Here we present an optimized technique of pitfall trapping to achieve a balance between sampling completeness and minimal disturbance of the fauna in the cave. Monthly we placed traps for two days in two parallel sets, a ground trap and an upper one−just below the ceiling−along the cave. In the upper set, about 10% additional species were recorded compared to the ground set. Greater species diversity in the cave was the consequence of both the increased sampling effort and the amplified heterogeneity of sampled microhabitats. In caves sampled by traditional pitfall trapping, overlooked species may be a consequence of methodological biases, leading to lower biodiversity estimates. In our research, incidence-based estimations mostly surpassed abundance-based ones and predicted 95% coverage of the species richness within about two years of sampling. The sampling used contributes at the same time to both the more effective and less invasive inventory of the subterranean fauna. Thus, it may serve as an optional sampling to achieve optimal balance between required data for biodiversity and ecological studies, and nature conservation goals.
Keywords: biodiversity estimators, microhabitats, sampling effort, sampling techniques, biological inventories
Published in DKUM: 30.10.2017; Views: 1347; Downloads: 389
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Abstract: Global, population-wide oscillations in models of cyclic dominance may result in the collapse of biodiversity due to the accidental extinction of one species in the loop. Previous research has shown that such oscillations can emerge if the interaction network has small-world properties, and more generally, because of long-range interactions among individuals or because of mobility. But although these features are all common in nature, global oscillations are rarely observed in actual biological systems. This begets the question what is the missing ingredient that would prevent local oscillations to synchronize across the population to form global oscillations. Here we show that, although heterogeneous species-specific invasion rates fail to have a noticeable impact on species coexistence, randomness in site-specific invasion rates successfully hinders the emergence of global oscillations and thus preserves biodiversity. Our model takes into account that the environment is often not uniform but rather spatially heterogeneous, which may influence the success of microscopic dynamics locally. This prevents the synchronization of locally emerging oscillations, and ultimately results in a phenomenon where one type of randomness is used to mitigate the adverse effects of other types of randomness in the system.
Keywords: biodiversity, cyclic dominance, rock-paper-scissors, physics of social systems
Published in DKUM: 23.06.2017; Views: 1142; Downloads: 339
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