Increasing biodiversity in wood-pastures by protecting small shrubby patches

Oksuz, Duygu P.; Aguiar, Carlos A. S.; Tapia, Susana; Llop, Esteve; Lopes, Pedro E. M.; Serrano, Artur R. M.; Leal, Ana I.; Branquinho, Cristina; Correia, Otília; Rainho, Ana; Correia, Ricardo A.; Palmeirim, Jorge M.

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118041

Cited by 16 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…This result agrees with previous studies on the role played by nurse species and facilitation as biodiversity drivers in severe environments (McIntire and Fajardo 2014;Le Bagousse-Pinguet et al 2014;Cavieres et al 2014;Gonzalez and Ghermandi 2019), supporting the fact that their protection should be a primary focus for management and conservation strategies in order to prevent the loss of diversity and functioning of these ecosystems (Valiente-Banuet et al 2015;Maestre et al 2016). A high nestedness of diversity could imply to focus on the conservation of only the more diverse sites or patches (Socolar et al 2016;Oksuz et al 2020). However, our results revealed that species turnover was still higher than the nestedness of assemblages in all study sites.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Plant–plant interactions and local patterns of diversity from semi-arid to subalpine Mediterranean plant communities

et al. 2021

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An understanding of the diversity spatial organization in plant communities provides essential information for management and conservation planning. In this study we investigated, using a multi-species approach, how plant–plant interactions determine the local structure and composition of diversity in a set of Mediterranean plant communities, ranging from semi-arid to subalpine habitats. Specifically, we evaluated the spatial pattern of diversity (i.e., diversity aggregation or segregation) in the local neighborhood of perennial plant species using the ISAR (individual species–area relationship) method. We also assessed the local pattern of beta-diversity (i.e., the spatial heterogeneity in species composition among local assemblages), including the contribution of species turnover (i.e., species replacement) and nestedness (i.e., differences in species richness) to the overall local beta-diversity. Our results showed that local diversity segregation decreased in the less productive plant communities. Also, we found that graminoids largely acted as diversity segregators, while forbs showed more diverse neighborhoods than expected in less productive study sites. Interestingly, not all shrub and dwarf shrub species aggregated diversity in their surroundings. Finally, an increase in nestedness was associated with less segregated diversity patterns in the local neighborhood of shrub species, underlining their role in creating diversity islands in less productive environmental conditions. Our results provide further insights into the effect of plant–plant interactions in shaping the structure and composition of diversity in Mediterranean plant communities, and highlight the species and groups of species that management and conservation strategies should focus on in order to prevent a loss of biodiversity.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Plant–plant interactions and local patterns of diversity from semi-arid to subalpine Mediterranean plant communities

et al. 2021

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“…While our survey plots on large graveyards harbored a particularly high diversity of plant species, even small family graveyards appear to play important roles in conserving the plant species richness in the agricultural land-use matrix. The potential importance of small habitat patches for biodiversity conservation is well established 10 , 13 , 41 , 42 . Even the smallest graveyard (2 m 2 ) with its 12 plant species already represents a distinct diversity ‘hotspot’ in the highly homogenous intensively cultivated agricultural landscape.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Family graveyards form underappreciated local plant diversity hotspots in China's agricultural landscapes

Gong

Axmarcher

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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In the intensively farmed, homogenous agricultural landscape of the North China Plain, family graveyards form distinct cultural landscape features. In addition to their cultural value, these graveyards represent semi-natural habitat islands whose potential roles in biodiversity conservation and ecological functioning has remained poorly understood. In this study, we investigated plant species richness on 199 family graveyards of different ages and sizes. In accordance with biogeography theory, both overall and insect-pollinated plant species richness increased with area and age of graveyards. Even small graveyards show a strong potential for conserving local plant richness, and a mosaic of both large and small family graveyards could play an important role in the conservation of farmland biodiversity and related ecosystem functions. The launch of agri-environmental measures that conserve and create semi-natural habitats, in turn benefitting agricultural biodiversity and ecological functioning, has proven difficult in China due to the shortage of dispensable arable land. Given the great value of family graveyards as semi-natural habitats reflected in our study, we propose to focus preliminary efforts on conserving these landscape features as existing, widespread and culturally important semi-natural habitat islands. This would represent an effective, complementary policy to a subsequent re-establishment of other semi-natural habitats for the conservation of biodiversity and ecological functioning in agricultural landscapes.

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“…The abundance and richness of lizards is greater when the understorey shrubby vegetation increases, as it protects them from predators, and is also related to low stocking rates [52,53]. Oksuz et al [54] demonstrated that the presence of small shrub patches (252-3000 m 2 ) substantially increased species richness for plants, lichens, and coleopterans as they contain very different species assemblages from in the wood-pasture matrix. Ramirez-Hernández et al [46] and Cárdenas et al [48] have detected a greater richness of saproxylic beetles in areas with scarce shrub cover and note that open areas contain greater amounts of accumulated dead wood, which favours saproxylic populations.…”

Section: Shrub Factormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the diversity of saproxylic syrphid species mainly depends on the shrub cover and diversity, which provide sources of pollen and nectar for feeding. Beetles are trophically diverse, and shrubby patches serve as feeding resources, breeding sites, shelter, and microclimate refuges [54]. For example, García-Tejero and Taboada [47] found that microhabitats of scattered shrubs in wood pastures contained a high richness in carabid (seed-eaters and predators) species.…”

Section: Shrub Factormentioning

confidence: 99%

Which Factors Favour Biodiversity in Iberian Dehesas?

et al. 2022

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Dehesas or montados are man-made systems whose conservation interest as a Mediterranean landscape or agroforestry system has been highlighted in the scientific literature due to their high levels of biodiversity. The understanding of how management practices influence the biodiversity of the dehesa requires a comprehensive approach that considers the broad spectrum of biological components (i.e., fungi, lichens, vascular plants, macroinvertebrates, and vertebrates) that make the dehesa an ecosystem. We have reviewed around seventy publications compiled through Scopus and other specialized bibliographic sources not included in Scopus that study the impact of land use and land cover on the biodiversity of Iberian dehesas. The most significant results have been organized and summarized into a group of factors related to habitat structure and management practices. The conclusion to be drawn from the scientific studies is that not all biological components respond in the same way to land-cover and human practices, and the maintenance of a high overall diversity in dehesas depends on a complex understorey vegetation and habitat heterogeneity.

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Increasing biodiversity in wood-pastures by protecting small shrubby patches

Cited by 16 publications

References 68 publications

Plant–plant interactions and local patterns of diversity from semi-arid to subalpine Mediterranean plant communities

Plant–plant interactions and local patterns of diversity from semi-arid to subalpine Mediterranean plant communities

Family graveyards form underappreciated local plant diversity hotspots in China's agricultural landscapes

Which Factors Favour Biodiversity in Iberian Dehesas?

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