Evaluating forest management intensity on an umbrella species: Capercaillie persistence in central Europe

Mikoláš, Martin; Svitok, Marek; Tejkal, Martin; Leitão, Pedro J.; Morrissey, Robert C.; Svoboda, Miroslav; Seedre, Meelis; Fontaine, Joseph B.

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2015.07.001

Cited by 44 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Atlegrim and Sjoberg 1996;Hedwall et al 2013) and capercaillie populations in central Europe (e.g. Mikolas et al 2015). From the management point of view, based on our results, reducing overstorey cover has the strongest positive effect on increasing V. myrtillus fruit production.…”

Section: Habitat Management Proposals For Capercaillie Conservation Imentioning

confidence: 62%

Canopy cover and understory composition determine abundance of Vaccinium myrtillus L., a key plant for capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), in subalpine forests in the Pyrenees

Montané

Guixé

Camprodón

2016

Plant Ecology & Diversity

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Background: The dwarf shrub Vaccinium myrtillus -with high cover, height, and fruit production -benefits capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus). Aims: Our aim was to quantify landscape (e.g. elevation, geographic location, and precipitation), site (e.g. overstorey cover and stoniness) and very fine scale factors (e.g. spatial associations in the understorey) that affect cover, height, and fruit production of V. myrtillus in subalpine forests in thePyrenees, with understorey usually dominated by Rhododendron ferrugineum. Methods: We sampled 155 plots (0.5 m × 5 m) in six sites. For each plot, in the understorey layer, we assessed species cover, height for R. ferrugineum and V. myrtillus, number of total fruits in V. myrtillus, and spatial associations among V. myrtillus and the remaining cover types. Results: Overstorey cover negatively influenced V. myrtillus cover, its height, and particularly, the number of fruits, which was also negatively influenced by R. ferrugineum cover. Associations between R. ferrugineum and V. myrtillus were site dependent, while V. myrtillus showed mostly positive associations with grasses and mosses. Conclusions: Reducing overstorey and R. ferrugineum cover has the strongest positive effect on increasing V. myrtillus fruit production, but with additional positive effects on V. myrtillus cover and height. Increases in grass and moss coverage could favour V. myrtillus.

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Section: Habitat Management Proposals For Capercaillie Conservation Imentioning

confidence: 62%

Canopy cover and understory composition determine abundance of Vaccinium myrtillus L., a key plant for capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), in subalpine forests in the Pyrenees

Montané

Guixé

Camprodón

2016

Plant Ecology & Diversity

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“…Several different indicators of forest biodiversity at various levels have been proposed, including the total volume of dead wood, number of species, ecological continuity, habitat heterogeneity, habitat fragmentation, structural complexity and connectivity or occurrence of focal species (Barbati et al 2014;Gao et al 2015). Currently, one of the most frequently proposed concepts in biodiversity assessments involves the use of indicator species, i.e., habitat specialists or umbrella species (Roberge and Angelstam 2004;Sattler et al 2014;Breckheimer et al 2014;Mikoláš et al 2015). Such an approach has several benefits, including a reduction of costs and clarity of management and conservation goals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large-scale habitat model reveals a key role of large trees and protected areas in the metapopulation survival of the saproxylic specialist Cucujus cinnaberinus

2019

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Deforestation for agricultural purposes and logging over centuries has resulted in a significant loss of forest cover and the deep structural and functional simplification of persistent European woodlands, which has led to a large-scale decline in biodiversity. Despite recent reforestation efforts in many regions of Europe, populations of numerous forest species remain unrecovered. Due to the loss of ecological continuity and the simplification of the ecosystem structure and functionality, the value of secondary forests in sustaining habitat specialists is being questioned. Here, we build a large-scale habitat suitability model to predict the current potential of forests to host populations of the flagship European saproxylic beetle Cucujus cinnaberinus. Our maximum entropy model revealed that the distribution of suitable habitats strongly corresponds to the occurrence of large and well-preserved forest complexes that are characterized by an ecological continuity of the stands. Among the analysed environmental variables, the mean tree diameter and distance to protected areas were the most important suitable habitat contributors. The optimum habitats were identified almost exclusively within some parts of the Carpathians and the northeastern part of the country, particularly in the Białowieża Forest, which include the best preserved European forests. Although a large number of small habitat patches was revealed across the country, these patches were highly scattered and had low predicted suitability. This study demonstrates that most woodlands are unsuitable for C. cinnaberinus, which points to the limited value of secondary forests for habitat specialists. Our findings emphasize the importance of large and intact forests with undisrupted ecological continuity as key areas for the persistence of the rare saproxylic beetle, which provokes questions about the effectiveness of reforestation as a tool for the conservation of forest habitat specialists. Communicated by Nigel E. Stork.

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“…Covariate relationships with occurrence dynamics were consistent with studies of T. pallidicinctus and other lek‐mating species conducted at similar scales (e.g. Woodward et al ., ; Mikoláš et al ., ) and other studies focused on T. pallidicinctus demographic rates (Hagen et al ., ). The negative effect of estimated shrub cover proportion on colonization probabilities at the start of the study period was unexpected.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Applying dynamic species distribution modelling to lek‐mating species

Sadoti

Albright

Johnson

2016

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim Lek‐mating species, in which males congregate to display and copulate with females, are of long‐standing behavioural, economic and conservation interest. Monitoring programs often target areas in which these species aggregate for mating (lek arenas) because of the often cryptic behaviours of these species when away from lek arenas. Due to survey methodologies and the ecology of many lek‐mating species, the building of species distribution models (SDMs) requires researchers to consider issues that are generally absent when modelling distributions of non‐lek‐mating species. We describe these considerations and illustrate the advantages of employing dynamic SDMs to address non‐equilibrium between a lek‐mating species (Lesser Prairie‐Chicken Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) and its environment. Location New Mexico, U.S.A. Methods We employed a 27‐year data set of 2771 lek surveys from a T. pallidicinctus metapopulation to build dynamic SDMs using multi‐season occupancy modelling. We considered covariates (1) indexing past abundance and distribution patterns expected to influence dispersal and local persistence, (2) describing landscape and weather dynamics expected to influence local recruitment, and (3) describing survey‐level conditions expected to influence lek attendance. Results The most supported dynamic SDM indicated an overall decline in occurrence and an ending distribution more restricted to the northern part of the 1222 km2 study area. Local colonization was best predicted by weather and landscape dynamics, while local extinction was best predicted by population processes and weather. Main conclusions Conservation of T. pallidicinctus will likely face challenges from (1) the reduced likelihood of colonization in areas of historical shrub‐targeting herbicide application and (2) projected patterns of seasonal temperature and precipitation under climate change. In considering lek‐mating species in general, we recommend the use of dynamic SDMs for an improved understanding of factors influencing distributions through time. Our approach and related efforts represent an important step in forecasting distributions under projected scenarios of environmental change to assist the conservation of these species.

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Evaluating forest management intensity on an umbrella species: Capercaillie persistence in central Europe

Cited by 44 publications

References 59 publications

Canopy cover and understory composition determine abundance of Vaccinium myrtillus L., a key plant for capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), in subalpine forests in the Pyrenees

Canopy cover and understory composition determine abundance of Vaccinium myrtillus L., a key plant for capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), in subalpine forests in the Pyrenees

Large-scale habitat model reveals a key role of large trees and protected areas in the metapopulation survival of the saproxylic specialist Cucujus cinnaberinus

Applying dynamic species distribution modelling to lek‐mating species

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