Cross-taxonomic surrogates for biodiversity conservation in human-modified landscapes – A multi-taxa approach

Yong, Ding; Barton, Philip S.; Ikin, Karen; Evans, Maldwyn J.; Crane, Mason; Okada, Sachiko; Cunningham, Saul A.; Lindenmayer, David B.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2018.06.008

Cited by 19 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 76 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This suggests that when compared to invertebrates, birds respond more similarly to environmental gradients than do other vertebrate groups (Ricketts et al 2002, Lovell et al 2007, Duan et al 2016, although their similarly high dispersal abilities associated with flight might also be a contributing factor. Ã P < 0.05; ÃÃ P < 0.01; ÃÃÃ P < 0.001. richness and composition, respectively (Yong et al 2018). The predictive power of birds in our study was always <30%, and such consistently weak relationships mean that there is little value in their application as umbrellas for invertebrates.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 51%

“…For GLM model statistics, see Appendix S1: Table S2, and for description of environmental variables, see Appendix S1: Table S1. Ã P < 0.05; ÃÃ P < 0.01; ÃÃÃ P < 0.001. richness and composition, respectively (Yong et al 2018). Birds are also typically poor surrogates for non-epigeic taxa (Lawton et al 1998, French 1999, Lund and Rahbek 2002, Vessby et al 2002, Williams et al 2006, Ekroos et al 2013, Foord et al 2013, Eglington et al 2015.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Vertebrates are poor umbrellas for invertebrates: cross‐taxon congruence in an Australian tropical savanna

Oberprieler

Andersen

Gillespie³

et al. 2019

Ecosphere

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Invertebrates are commonly ignored in conservation planning due to their vast diversity, difficulties with species identification, a poor understanding of their spatial patterns, and the impracticability of carrying out comprehensive sampling. Conservation planning for fauna is therefore often based on patterns of diversity and distribution of vertebrates, under the assumption that these are representative of animal diversity more generally. Here, we evaluate how well vertebrates act as umbrellas for invertebrate diversity and distribution in a highly diverse tropical savanna landscape, and we investigate the effect of vertebrate sampling intensity (i.e., number of surveys) on congruence results. We assessed congruence between each of the four classes of terrestrial vertebrates (amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals) and twelve invertebrate families (representing four dominant invertebrate taxa: ants, beetles, flies, and spiders) by applying a range of modeling approaches to analyze patterns of cross-taxon congruence in species richness and composition across sampling sites. To investigate drivers of congruence, we applied generalized and distance-based linear models to identify environmental associations of richness and composition for each taxon, then examined variation in environmental associations across taxa. Vertebrate and invertebrate richness was weakly (<30%) associated, and~60% of the significant associations were negative. Correlations in species composition between vertebrate and invertebrate taxa were also weak, with a maximum of 13% congruence. In most cases, pairwise correlation scores using data from single surveys of vertebrates were only marginally lower than those from multiple surveys. Poor among-site congruence between vertebrates and invertebrates was reflected by marked variation among taxa in their environmental associations. Our findings show that vertebrates are poor umbrellas for invertebrates in the tropical savannas of northern Australia in terms of geographic patterns of diversity and distribution and that this is not just an artifact of low vertebrate sampling intensity. Our study is one of the most comprehensive regional analyses of the congruence of vertebrate and invertebrate diversity, and it significantly adds to the growing evidence that empirical data on invertebrate diversity and distribution are required for conservation planning that effectively protects all faunal diversity.

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 51%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vertebrates are poor umbrellas for invertebrates: cross‐taxon congruence in an Australian tropical savanna

Oberprieler

Andersen

Gillespie³

et al. 2019

Ecosphere

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The lack of evidence for surrogacy in the species assemblages of both habitats mirrors results from other studies that have reported correlations that, while statistically significant, were small in marine (Karakassis et al 2006, Hirst 2008, aquatic (Heino 2010, Padial et al 2012, Ilg and Oertli 2016) and terrestrial environments (Irwin et al 2014, Yong et al 2018). These conclusions have been consistent across a variety of methods used to test surrogacy of species assemblages, including Mantel tests, Procrustes analysis, and RELATE tests (Beger et al 2003, Hirst 2008, Heino 2010, Padial et al 2012, Corte et al 2017.…”

Section: Performance Of Surrogatessupporting

confidence: 78%

“…Analyses were done with PRIMER 7 software (PRIMER-e, Quest Research Ltd). The null hypothesis that the pairwise patterns among sites of assemblage dissimilarity for a surrogate and its target are not correlated was tested by Mantel test (Heino 2010, Ilg and Oertli 2016, Yong et al 2018. Mantel correlation coefficients (RM) were calculated from the Bray-Curtis dissimilarity matrices of the surrogate and its target.…”

Section: Data Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promising yet variable performance of cross-taxon biodiversity surrogates: a test in two marine habitats at multiple times

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Surrogates are a potential solution to the often-cited problem of there being insufficient information for biodiversity assessments or conservation planning. Cross-taxon surrogacy is the ability of a group of well-known taxa to represent variation in other poorly known taxa. To date, tests of the effectiveness of cross-taxon surrogacy in marine environments have yielded variable results and a significant qualification to the outcomes of tests that have demonstrated surrogacy is the near absence of tests for its persistence through time. This study tested for cross-taxon surrogacy and its persistence through time for three surrogates (crustaceans, molluscs, polychaetes). We used data on biodiversity variables and species assemblages of the surrogates and their targets that had been collected during multiple sampling events over 2.5 yr in two habitats (seagrass, unvegetated sediment) in a large bay in south-eastern Australia. We tested surrogacy by fitting a series of linear models using generalized least squares for biodiversity variables and by Mantel tests of dissimilarity matrices of species assemblages. We also tested whether the type of data transformation affected Mantel tests. We found that each of the groups were effective surrogates for some but not all biodiversity variables (with molluscs or polychaetes being effective surrogates for species richness in both habitats), that none of the groups were effective surrogates for species assemblages, and that the outcomes of Mantel tests of dissimilarity matrices of surrogates and their targets were unaffected by the data transformation used. We conclude that while our results for surrogacy for biodiversity variables are promising the inconsistent results from other studies argues for caution about their application beyond the area and context in which they were assessed. The lack of evidence that we found for surrogates of species assemblages, and similar lack of evidence from other studies, suggests that assemblage-level surrogates are unlikely to be useful in biodiversity surveys.

show abstract

“…The composition and diversity of bird communities have been used to assess biodiversity recovery in natural regeneration and restoration plantings (Bowen, McAlpine, Seabrook, House, & Smith, 2009;Catterall, Freeman, Kanowski, & Freebody, 2012;Hale et al, 2015). Birds have been recognized as effective taxonomic surrogates for fauna diversity in agricultural landscapes and can achieve high representation of other taxa such as bees, reptiles, and arboreal marsupials (Ikin, Yong, & Lindenmayer, 2016;Li Yong et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water availability drives aboveground biomass and bird richness in forest restoration plantings to achieve carbon and biodiversity cobenefits

Hagger

Wilson

England

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To combat global warming and biodiversity loss, we require effective forest restoration that encourages recovery of species diversity and ecosystem function to deliver essential ecosystem services, such as biomass accumulation. Further, understanding how and where to undertake restoration to achieve carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation would provide an opportunity to finance ecosystem restoration under carbon markets. We surveyed 30 native mixed‐species plantings in subtropical forests and woodlands in Australia and used structural equation modeling to determine vegetation, soil, and climate variables most likely driving aboveground biomass accrual and bird richness and investigate the relationships between plant diversity, aboveground biomass accrual, and bird diversity. We focussed on woodland and forest‐dependent birds, and functional groups at risk of decline (insectivorous, understorey‐nesting, and small‐bodied birds). We found that mean moisture availability strongly limits aboveground biomass accrual and bird richness in restoration plantings, indicating potential synergies in choosing sites for carbon and biodiversity purposes. Counter to theory, woody plant richness was a poor direct predictor of aboveground biomass accrual, but was indirectly related via significant, positive effects of stand density. We also found no direct relationship between aboveground biomass accrual and bird richness, likely because of the strong effects of moisture availability on both variables. Instead, moisture availability and patch size strongly and positively influenced the richness of woodland and forest‐dependent birds. For understorey‐nesting birds, however, shrub cover and patch size predicted richness. Stand age or area of native vegetation surrounding the patch did not influence bird richness. Our results suggest that in subtropical biomes, planting larger patches to higher densities, ideally using a diversity of trees and shrubs (characteristics of ecological plantings) in more mesic locations will enhance the provision of carbon and biodiversity cobenefits. Further, ecological plantings will aid the rapid recovery of woodland and forest bird richness, with comparable aboveground biomass accrual to less diverse forestry plantations.

show abstract

Cross-taxonomic surrogates for biodiversity conservation in human-modified landscapes – A multi-taxa approach

Cited by 19 publications

References 76 publications

Vertebrates are poor umbrellas for invertebrates: cross‐taxon congruence in an Australian tropical savanna

Vertebrates are poor umbrellas for invertebrates: cross‐taxon congruence in an Australian tropical savanna

Promising yet variable performance of cross-taxon biodiversity surrogates: a test in two marine habitats at multiple times

Water availability drives aboveground biomass and bird richness in forest restoration plantings to achieve carbon and biodiversity cobenefits

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About