Environmental heterogeneity increases the conservation value of small natural features in karst landscapes

Bátori, Zoltán; Valkó, Orsolya; Vojtkó, András; Tölgyesi, Csaba; Farkas, Tünde; Frei, Kata; Hábenczyus, Alida Anna; Tóth, Ágnes; Li, Gábor; Rádai, Zoltán; Dulai, Sándor; Barta, Károly; Erdős, László; Deák, Balázs

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162120

Cited by 15 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…The relatively higher soil quality results in more individuals or abundance, possibly leading to a pattern with higher species richness ( Zhang et al., 2022b ). In addition, the stronger habitat heterogeneity at local scales supports various micro-habitats, which helps feed more species ( Bátori et al., 2023 ). Thus, the relatively higher quality of habitat conditions and the stronger habitat heterogeneity might be the main reason for high species richness and evenness.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variations in species diversity patterns and community assembly rules among vegetation types in the karst landscape

Meng,

Li,

Chen

et al. 2024

Front. Plant Sci.

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The various vegetation types in the karst landscape have been considered the results of heterogeneous habitats. However, the lack of a comprehensive understanding of regional biodiversity patterns and the underlying ecological processes limits further research on ecological management. This study established forest dynamic plots (FDPs) of the dominant vegetation types (shrubland, SL; mixed tree and shrub forest, MTSF; coniferous forest, CF; coniferous broadleaf mixed forest, CBMF; and broadleaf forest, BF) in the karst landscape and quantified the species diversity patterns and potential ecological processes. The results showed that in terms of diversity patterns, the evenness and species richness of the CF community were significantly lower than other vegetation types, while the BF community had the highest species richness. The other three vegetation types showed no significant variation in species richness and evenness. However, when controlling the number of individuals of FDPs, the rarefied species richness showed significant differences and ranked as BF > SL > MTSF > CBMF > CF, highlighting the importance of considering the impacts of abundance. Additionally, the community assembly of climax communities (CF or BF) was dominated by stochastic processes such as species dispersal or species formation, whereas deterministic processes (habitat filtering) dominated the secondary forests (SL, MTSF, and CBMF). These findings proved that community assembly differs mainly between the climax community and other communities. Hence, it is crucial to consider the biodiversity and of the potential underlying ecological processes together when studying regional ecology and management, particularly in heterogeneous ecosystems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variations in species diversity patterns and community assembly rules among vegetation types in the karst landscape

Meng,

Li,

Chen

et al. 2024

Front. Plant Sci.

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“…The complex and unique hydrogeological structure results in an extremely fragile ecological environment [66]. Due to the control of karst degradation ecosystem structure, function, and process [67], grasslands in the KDC show fragmented, small, and scattered spatial patterns with significant non-equilibrium and heterogeneous characteristics in space [68,69]. This is a distinctive feature that distinguishes the grasslands in the KDC from other grassland ecosystems, such as tropical and subtropical savannas, temperate steppes, and arctic-alpine grasslands with concentrated and cohesive features in Eurasia (e.g., Himalayas of South Asia and China, Afghanistan-Xinjiang-Inner Mongolia, China, five Central Asian countries, and Russia), South America, and East Africa.…”

Section: Industrial Spatial Characteristics Of Grassland Gep In the Kdcmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analyzing Characteristics of Grassland Gross Ecosystem Product to Inform Decision Making in the Karst Desertification Control

Xiong

Zhang

et al. 2023

Agronomy

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Synergistically enhancing and realizing the value of grassland ecosystem services (ES) for economic activity is an important but challenging task for achieving sustainability in the karst desertification control (KDC). However, how to use grassland ES value characteristics in the KDC to make decisions on ES improvement, human well-being enhancement, and sustainable development remains unclear. In this paper, we took the contiguous region of karst desertification in Yunnan-Guangxi-Guizhou, China, a global hotspot, as the study area. Based on the valuation of the gross ecosystem product (GEP) and county economic intensity, we analyzed the structural and spatial characteristics of grassland GEP in the KDC using spatial analysis methods. We found that: (1) the grassland GEP in the KDC is mainly distributed in counties with low economic intensity (86.05% of the total number of counties) and vulnerable to losses caused by the livelihood of farmers; (2) the grassland GEP in the KDC is spatially small and scattered (the geographic concentration lies between 0.015 and 0.237), which makes it difficult to form industrial scale advantages; (3) the public product index (66.22–96.77%) and industry scale concentration (97.87–99.86%) of grassland GEP in the KDC are high, and most of the GEP is difficult to transform on the private market. Based on our findings, we proposed three corresponding recommendations for economic decision-making. The results of this study can provide a reference for economic decision-making regarding the management of grassland ES in karst areas with similar conditions and beyond.

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Karst fissures mitigate the negative effects of drought on plant growth and photosynthetic physiology

Luo,

Liu

et al. 2024

Oecologia

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Environmental heterogeneity increases the conservation value of small natural features in karst landscapes

Cited by 15 publications

References 73 publications

Variations in species diversity patterns and community assembly rules among vegetation types in the karst landscape

Variations in species diversity patterns and community assembly rules among vegetation types in the karst landscape

Analyzing Characteristics of Grassland Gross Ecosystem Product to Inform Decision Making in the Karst Desertification Control

Karst fissures mitigate the negative effects of drought on plant growth and photosynthetic physiology

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