Assessment of minimum stream corridor width for biological conservation: Species richness and distribution along mid-order streams in Vermont, USA

Spackman, Susan C.; Hughes, Jeffrey W.

doi:10.1016/0006-3207(94)00055-u

Cited by 123 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Riparian ecosystems contain a high and unique number of plant species (Sabo et al 2005), adapted to disturbance (e.g., floods, drought) (Lyon and Gross 2005;Malanson 1993), in a restricted area of land (Lyon and Gross 2005;Malanson 1993). Riparian ecosystems also provide aquatic, water-land interface and terrestrial habitats for animal species, as well as drinking water for upland animals (Brookshire et al 2002;Hilty and Merenlender 2004;Iverson et al 2001;Machtans et al 1996;Matos et al 2008;Spackman and Hughes 1994;Virgós 2001;Williams et al 2003). Despite their high biological value, riparian ecosystems have seldom been included in systematic conservation planning (Nel et al 2009), and are becoming increasingly threatened by human activities (Salinas et al 2000) and upland plant encroachment (Huxman et al 2005), especially in the semi-arid Mediterranean region (Nel et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Encroachment of upland Mediterranean plant species in riparian ecosystems of southern Portugal

Santos

2010

Biodivers Conserv

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Riparian ecosystems have unique biodiversity, are highly sensitive to disturbance and anthropogenic influence. As world water resources become scarcer, scientists predict greater competition among species for water resources. Indeed, increased encroachment of upland plants into the riparian zone is already occurring, irreversibly changing riparian plant communities. Since semi-arid regions such as Mediterranean-type ecosystems are likely to follow this same trajectory, assessing the contributions of riparian versus upland (sclerophyllous) plants to community composition is important. A survey of seventy 2 km-long riparian transects on the Sado and Guadiana watersheds in southern Portugal assessed (1) the woody riparian plant community composition, (2) how much richness is due to strictly riparian plants versus sclerophyllous upland plants, and (3) which combinations of biotic and abiotic factors allow higher species richness in the strictly riparian, sclerophyllous, and overall plant communities. The survey detected 53 different woody plant species (28 endemic) across all communities. Riparian community richness was on average 16 species, seven of which were strictly riparian and the remainder being sclerophyllous, exotic species or fruit trees. Sclerophyllous plant species occurred consistently across sampling units (90% of transects). On average, 46% of the total woody plant community richness was due to strictly riparian plants and 28% was due to sclerophyllous plants. Community richness was positively affected by the area of shrubs in the riparian zone and by the absence of human activities and goats. Surrounding landscape pattern only affected the strictly riparian plant richness. These results suggest that natural and human-mediated disturbances in riparian ecosystems create gaps and clearings for which riparian and sclerophyllous plants compete. Establishment success seems to be related to the propagule pressure of the neighbouring landscape, its diversity and density, as well as the presence of herbivores. Preserving strictly riparian plants, removing exotic 123Biodivers Conserv (2010) 19:2667-2684 DOI 10.1007 species, preventing grazing, and promoting riparian values (recreation, aesthetics and the provision of ecosystem services) will aid the future conservation of the unique biodiversity of riparian ecosystems.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Encroachment of upland Mediterranean plant species in riparian ecosystems of southern Portugal

Santos

2010

Biodivers Conserv

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“…Forest microhabitats with swamp stands and hygrophilic vegetation create breeding opportunities for wetland birds with specialized foraging or nesting requirements such as Sedge Warblers Acrocephalus schoenobaenus, Bluethroats Luscinia svecica or Penduline Tits Remiz pendulinus (Hagemeier & Blair 1997). Also, the breadth of tree belts along river courses affected the structure of the avian communities (Spackman & Hughes 1995). Significantly narrower growth (< 30 m) along regulated river segments compared to wide meanders (≥ 90 m) were characterized by sparsely stocked tree lines with low shrub coverage and a thin top tree canopy, resulting in a poorly structured organisation of the vertical branch and foliage profile.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Loss of Diversity in Bird Communities After Regulation of Riverine Meanders: How Strong is the Compensatory Effect of Mature Growth on Fishpond Dams?

2007

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“…The parameters use for setting the suitability threshold with regard to economic reason were taken from National Forest policy 1992 and National Forestry Act 1993,report by Muziol (1999) under a Malaysian-German Technical Cooperation Project for sustainable forest management and conservation. In designing a hydrological buffer, reviews of related scientific literature were carried out (see Wenger, 1999;Hodges and Krementz, 1996;Keller et al, 1993;Kinley and Newhouse, 1997, Spackman and Hughes, 1995and Mitchell, 1996. Table 4 show the class boundaries and standardised measurement employed for each criterion.…”

Section: Standardization (Rating) Of Criteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing Policy for Suitable Harvest Zone using Multi Criteria Evaluation and GIS-Based Decision Support System

Ismail¹

2009

IJEF

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Natural resources management often entails making choices among alternatives. Decision support tools are instruments for making rational decisions, particularly geographical information system (GIS) technology-incorporates the multi criteria evaluations (MCE) and analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Therefore, the objective of this study is to determine the suitable forest harvest zone in hill tropical forest in Peninsular Malaysia using MCE and GIS as a tool for decision support system. The implementation of the AHP method for MCE has shown the capabilities of integration of a GIS and decision support system, where the data was prepared spatially in a GIS, an analysis is performed with the systematic evaluation method. The MCE allows both constraint and criteria maps to be combined in arithmetic operation in a suitability analysis, and also allows for criteria maps to be assigned variable weights. From the weights derived from the AHP method, it can be seen that slope and elevation were strong factors in allocating the suitable harvest zone (0.63 and 0.29). The hydrological aspect is the third most important factor, with 0.07. The total suitable area for productive forest zone was 9757.30 ha (96.06%) and the designated protected forest was about 399.20 ha (3.94%). This implies the importance of certain forest land to be classified as a restricted area for logging purposes to ensure the sustainable forest ecosystem and water resources. This result demonstrated that the methodology used has high potential and functionality for determining suitable forest harvest zone from several criteria for hill forest. Finally, it can be concluded that, MCE incorporating GIS provides an ideal tool and essential in modelling with flexibility and the ability for spatial modelling operation for site suitability study in hill forest of Peninsular Malaysia.

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Assessment of minimum stream corridor width for biological conservation: Species richness and distribution along mid-order streams in Vermont, USA

Cited by 123 publications

References 21 publications

Encroachment of upland Mediterranean plant species in riparian ecosystems of southern Portugal

Encroachment of upland Mediterranean plant species in riparian ecosystems of southern Portugal

Loss of Diversity in Bird Communities After Regulation of Riverine Meanders: How Strong is the Compensatory Effect of Mature Growth on Fishpond Dams?

Developing Policy for Suitable Harvest Zone using Multi Criteria Evaluation and GIS-Based Decision Support System

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