Global Island Monitoring Scheme (GIMS): a proposal for the long-term coordinated survey and monitoring of native island forest biota

Abstract

Islands harbour evolutionary and ecologically unique biota, which are currently disproportionately threatened by a multitude of anthropogenic factors, including habitat loss, 2568 Biodivers Conserv (2018) 27:2567-2586 1 3 invasive species and climate change. Native forests on oceanic islands are important refugia for endemic species, many of which are rare and highly threatened. Long-term monitoring schemes for those biota and ecosystems are urgently needed: (i) to provide quantitative baselines for detecting changes within island ecosystems, (ii) to evaluate the effectiveness of conservation and management actions, and (iii) to identify general ecological patterns and processes using multiple island systems as repeated 'natural experiments'. In this contribution, we call for a Global Island Monitoring Scheme (GIMS) for monitoring the remaining native island forests, using bryophytes, vascular plants, selected groups of arthropods and vertebrates as model taxa. As a basis for the GIMS, we also present new, optimized monitoring protocols for bryophytes and arthropods that were developed based on former standardized inventory protocols. Effective inventorying and monitoring of native island forests will require: (i) permanent plots covering diverse ecological gradients (e.g. elevation, age of terrain, anthropogenic disturbance); (ii) a multiple-taxa approach that is based on standardized and replicable protocols; (iii) a common set of indicator taxa and community properties that are indicative of native island forests' welfare, building on, and harmonized with existing sampling and monitoring efforts; (iv) capacity building and training of local researchers, collaboration and continuous dialogue with local stakeholders; and (v) long-term commitment by funding agencies to maintain a global network of native island forest monitoring plots.

Cycas micronesica Trees Alter Local Soil Traits

“…The community responses will likely homogenize soil chemical traits and reduce soil biodiversity. This study provides crucial quantitative baseline information [35,36] that may be useful for future monitoring to determine localized biodiversity erosion in the medium term and ecological restoration attempts in the long term. Continued manipulative studies that are designed to more fully understand how C. micronesica trees behave in plant-soil feedbacks are no longer possible on Guam or Rota.…”

Community structure of woody plants on islands along a bioclimatic gradient

“…50 m × 50 m is the minimum size considered adequate to obtain measures of beta diversity that are independent of gamma diversity for trees (Chao et al 2009). At each plot corner 5 m × 5 m square subplots were also delimited in which we counted all woody species shoots with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 1 cm (see for more details Borges et al 2018).…”

The General and the Specific of Ecosystem Services

“…As observed by Hanski, all facets of biodiversity are rapidly changing on islands, and I consider it urgent to promote long-term standardized monitoring of the remnant native forests to obtain quantitative baselines for detecting changes in island ecosystems (Schmeller et al 2017;Borges et al 2018).…”