Effects of management options on mammal richness in a Mediterranean agro-silvo-pastoral system

Gonçalves, Paula; Alcobia, Sandra; Simões, Luciana G.; Santos‐Reis, Margarida

doi:10.1007/s10457-011-9439-7

Cited by 54 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…This last goal is the main factor associated with functional redundancy in the studied region. Notably, riparian restoration in small tributaries can introduce additional benefits, since riparian restoration in small tributaries is most likely to result in improved environmental conditions that may extend downstream and consequently improved the quality of larger rivers (Pracheil et al 2013), thus securing benefits for terrestrial ecosystems in several ways (e.g., Fukui et al 2006;Chan et al 2008;Lorion and Kennedy 2009;Gonçalves et al 2012). It is noteworthy that according to several authors (e.g., Harding et al 1998;Teels et al 2006;Lévêque et al 2008), the maintenance of aquatic biodiversity and ecological processes depends on the protection of a large percentage of the watershed area.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

More of the Same: High Functional Redundancy in Stream Fish Assemblages from Tropical Agroecosystems

Casatti

Teresa

Zeni

et al. 2015

Environmental Management

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In this study, we investigated the influence of environmental variables (predictor variables) on the species richness, species diversity, functional diversity, and functional redundancy (response variables) of stream fish assemblages in an agroecosystem that harbor a gradient of degradation. We hypothesized that, despite presenting high richness or diversity in some occasions, fish communities will be more functionally redundant with stream degradation. Species richness, species diversity, and functional redundancy were predicted by the percentage of grass on the banks, which is a characteristic that indicates degraded conditions, whereas the percentage of coarse substrate in the stream bottom was an important predictor of all response variables and indicates more preserved conditions. Despite being more numerous and diverse, the groups of species living in streams with an abundance of grass on the banks perform similar functions in the ecosystem. We found that riparian and watershed land use had low predictive power in comparison to the instream habitat. If there is any interest in promoting ecosystem functions and fish diversity, conservation strategies should seek to restore forests in watersheds and riparian buffers, protect instream habitats from siltation, provide wood debris, and mitigate the proliferation of grass on stream banks. Such actions will work better if they are planned together with good farming practices because these basins will continue to be used for agriculture and livestock in the future.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

More of the Same: High Functional Redundancy in Stream Fish Assemblages from Tropical Agroecosystems

Casatti

Teresa

Zeni

et al. 2015

Environmental Management

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“…A been shaped by sheep and goat grazing for at least the last 10 000 years (Petanidou and Ellis 1996, Blondel et al 2010, Kizos et al 2010. Indeed, the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis has been repeatedly confirmed to apply in grazed Mediterranean systems for many aspects of community structure, such as heterogeneity in vegetation composition (Koniak and Noy-Meir 2009) and plant (Naveh and Whittaker 1979), mammal (Gonçalves et al 2012), and insect diversity (Kati et al 2012, Kaltsas et al 2013). Third, in Yoshihara et al's (2008a) study, grazing intensity levels were related to different types of grazers (sheep and goat, and cow and horses), and therefore, they could not distinguish between the effect of intensity and type of animal grazer.…”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moderation is best: effects of grazing intensity on plant-flower visitor networks in Mediterranean communities

Lázaro¹,

Tscheulin²,

Devalez³

et al. 2015

Ecological Applications

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Abstract. The structure of pollination networks is an important indicator of ecosystem stability and functioning. Livestock grazing is a frequent land use practice that directly affects the abundance and diversity of flowers and pollinators and, therefore, may indirectly affect the structure of pollination networks. We studied how grazing intensity affected the structure of plant-flower visitor networks along a wide range of grazing intensities by sheep and goats, using data from 11 Mediterranean plant-flower visitor communities from Lesvos Island, Greece. We hypothesized that intermediate grazing might result in higher diversity as predicted by the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis, which could in turn confer more stability to the networks. Indeed, we found that networks at intermediate grazing intensities were larger, more generalized, more modular, and contained more diverse and even interactions. Despite general responses at the network level, the number of interactions and selectiveness of particular flower visitor and plant taxa in the networks responded differently to grazing intensity, presumably as a consequence of variation in the abundance of different taxa with grazing. Our results highlight the benefit of maintaining moderate levels of livestock grazing by sheep and goats to preserve the complexity and biodiversity of the rich Mediterranean communities, which have a long history of grazing by these domestic animals.

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“…Within each site we set linear transects of Sherman live traps (HB Sherman Traps Inc., Tallahassee, USA), spaced 10 m apart and baited with rolled oats and tinned sardines. The trap lines were preferentially placed in cork oak woodland close to a riparian corridor with good shrub cover based on our previous experience with the species (Gonçalves et al 2012). Each trap was geo-referenced with a precision of 10 m or less.…”

Section: Sample Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating connectivity between Natura 2000 sites within the montado agroforestry system: a case study using landscape genetics of the wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus)

et al. 2014

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Context The Natura 2000 network is the centerpiece of European nature conservation policy but its effectiveness is challenged by ongoing landscape change. Objective Our objective was to assess landscape connectivity between Natura 2000 sites in the biodiversity-rich western Mediterranean region. Methods We used the wood mouse as a focal species with short-range dispersal and obtained genetic data for 393 individuals uniformly distributed between two Natura 2000 sites in SW Portugal. We created a map of connectivity between the two sites that was based on a stack of analyses including reciprocal causal modeling and least-cost path modeling coupled with resistant kernel analysis. Results Wood mice in the study area were genetically diverse and connected by gene flow over a large area. We did not find evidence of major population subdivision in the study area. Gene flow was limited by geographic distance, with significant genetic similarity between individuals within 3 km of each other. Vegetation cover and land use explained more of the variation in genetic distance than geographic distance alone. In particular, agroforestry areas and transitional woodland were associated with higher costs to movement than forest or arable land uses. This result may have been influenced by the difficulty in classifying land use in the open montado. Conclusions The Natura 2000 sites we studied are well connected by multiple corridors for dispersal. Our analysis also highlighted the importance of the Serra de Grândola, part of the European Long Term Ecological Research Network but not yet included in Natura 2000.

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Effects of management options on mammal richness in a Mediterranean agro-silvo-pastoral system

Cited by 54 publications

References 45 publications

More of the Same: High Functional Redundancy in Stream Fish Assemblages from Tropical Agroecosystems

More of the Same: High Functional Redundancy in Stream Fish Assemblages from Tropical Agroecosystems

Moderation is best: effects of grazing intensity on plant-flower visitor networks in Mediterranean communities

Evaluating connectivity between Natura 2000 sites within the montado agroforestry system: a case study using landscape genetics of the wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus)

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