Landscape Ecology最新文献

Context: Recent large and high-severity wildfires have burned vast areas of coniferous forests throughout Western North America. These burned landscapes are recovering amid increasingly frequent climate extremes, such as drought. We need to understand how post-fire climate extremes and other ecological drivers (such as fire impacts) influence patterns and trends of coniferous recovery.

Objectives: We worked at a landscape scale (> 400,000 hectares) to investigate the association between distinct post-fire forest recovery and ecological drivers in dry sub-boreal forests. We created structural recovery groups distinct in patterns and trends of coniferous cover and density and then modeled their association with ecological drivers.

Methods: We used Landsat time-series data to identify unique spectral recovery, which we grouped based on post-fire regrowth and stocking estimates. Remotely Piloted Aircraft light detection and ranging (lidar) provided structural estimates 5-21 years post-fire. We modeled the association between structural recovery groups and ecological drivers with random forests. For each category of drivers (site conditions, climate, climate anomalies, pre-fire composition, and fire impacts), we used individual models to identify important drivers. We then incorporated the most important drivers in a global model to highlight the drivers that were important across categories.

Results: Initial spectral trends indicated longer-term differences in structural forest recovery. Climate anomalies (such as post-fire extremes in temperature and precipitation) and pre-fire basal area best predicted observed structural groupings-abnormally cold and dry summers after the fire were associated with slow conifer establishment. Comparatively, areas with a higher pre-fire basal area maintained a mixed canopy of deciduous and coniferous stems.

Conclusions: At a landscape scale, post-fire climate conditions best predicted structural forest recovery, suggesting management plans should be adaptable to the conditions experienced post fire.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10980-025-02266-y.

Context: While biodiversity decline is undebated on the global level, landscape-scale trends are poorly known and local assemblages even show stable species richness, accompanied by pronounced turn-over. The landscape-scale consequences of local-scale species turnover likely depend on whether species replacement is random or biased towards more frequent species in the metacommunity, but this potential bias is insufficiently studied.

Objectives: Here, we use grassland ecosystems of a Central European national park to simultaneously analyse time-series of local-scale species richness and landscape-scale species incidence to better understand how trends are linked at these two scales.

Methods: From 2013 to 2024 we sampled 120 plots per year and used regression methods to quantify changes in the number of species per assemblage, the incidence of species across assemblages and the relationship between initial incidence of species and incidence trends. To explore possible drivers of change, we further evaluated trends of community means of environmental indicator values.

Results: We found that local species richness has increased within the study period from 18 species per plot in 2013 to 21 species in 2024, while the overall number of species sampled per year stayed the same. In contrast, when looking at individual species trends we found an average decline of species' incidence in the region. While a small pool of already common species became more frequent, the majority of species became rarer, leading to a pronounced homogenization of plant communities on the sampled sites. Indicator-value analysis showed that the species turnover was mainly influenced by desiccation of grasslands, significantly biassing incidence changes towards species that prefer drier conditions.

Conclusions: We conclude that in typical Central-European grassland ecosystems, anthropogenic drivers rather decrease landscape-scale than local-scale biodiversity, because they tend to homogenize environmental conditions. The resulting species turn-over can stabilize local species richness but depletes the metacommunity, thereby posing future risks to the regional biodiversity.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10980-025-02256-0.

Context: The > 25,000 km² Flint Hills ecoregion in eastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma, USA, is an economically and ecologically important area encompassing the largest remaining tallgrass prairie ecosystem in North America. Prescribed fires are used routinely to control invasive woody species and improve forage production for the beef-cattle industry. However, burning releases harmful pollutants that, at times, contribute to air quality problems for communities across a multi-state area.

Objectives: Establish a modeling framework for synthesizing long-term ecological data in support of Flint Hills tallgrass prairie management goals for identifying how much, where, and when rangeland burning can be conducted to maximize ecological and economic benefits while minimizing regional air quality impacts.

Methods: We used EPA's VELMA ecohydrology model to synthesize long-term experimental data at the 35 km² Konza Prairie Biological Station (KPBS) describing the effects of climate, fire, grazing, topography, and soil moisture and nutrient dynamics on tallgrass prairie productivity and fuel loads; and to spatially extrapolate that synthesis to estimate grassland productivity and fuel loads across the nearly 1000 times larger Flint Hills ecoregion to support prescribed burning smoke trajectory modeling using the State of Kansas implementation of the U.S. Forest Service BlueSky framework.

Results: VELMA provided a performance-tested synthesis of KPBS data from field observations and experiments, thereby establishing a tool for regionally simulating the combined effects of climate, fire, grazing, topography, soil moisture, and nutrients on tallgrass prairie productivity and fuel loads. VELMA's extrapolation of that synthesis allowed difficult-to-quantify fuel loads to be mapped across the Flint Hills to support environmental decision making, such as forecasting when, where, and how prescribed burning will have the least impact on downwind population centers.

Conclusions: Our regional spatial and temporal extrapolation of VELMA's KPBS data synthesis posits that the effects of integrated ecohydrological processes operate similarly across tallgrass prairie spatial scales. Based on multi-scale performance tests of the VELMA-BlueSky toolset, our multi-institution team is confident that it can assist stakeholders and decision makers in realistically exploring tallgrass prairie management options for balancing air quality, tallgrass prairie sustainability, and associated economic benefits for the Flint Hills ecoregion and downwind communities.

Context: Land-use intensification to increase yields is often detrimental to biodiversity undermining the provision of ecosystem services. However, it is questionable if ecosystem service providers contribute to ecological intensification by achieving the same or higher yields than conventional high-intensity agriculture.

Objectives: In this study, we aimed to disentangle the effects of local and landscape-scale land-use intensification on arthropod communities and their contribution to ecosystem services and crop yield. A set of meta-analytic structural equation models allowed us to assess direct and indirect relationships in the cascade from land use to yield.

Methods: We selected 37 datasets containing information on land use, community composition, levels of pollination and natural pest control services, and crop yield. We quantified functional diversity of communities by collecting trait information for three exemplary groups of service-providers: bees, ground beetles, and spiders.

Results: Local land-use intensification reduced the abundance of all arthropod groups. Spiders were the only group whose species richness was negatively related to a higher percentage of arable land in the landscape. High abundance of bees related positively to oilseed rape pollination and crop yields. In the models for the two predator groups, crop yield was strongly determined by land use, independent of the pest control services provided by natural enemies.

Conclusions: Our results suggest a potential for ecological intensification mediated by land-use change in crops where pollination benefits yield, but suggest more nuanced effects for pest control. Our study also calls for experiments on multiple taxonomic groups and ecosystem services that apply comparable methods at similar scales.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10980-025-02117-w.

Context: Reversing the global biodiversity crisis requires not only conservation and management of species, but the habitats in which they live. While there is a long history of biodiversity recording by volunteers, at least in Europe, information on habitats is less frequently recorded. Habitat data is needed to map and monitor habitat extent and condition; to train and validate earth observation (EO) data; and to explain biodiversity change. The complexity of habitat classifications means that it is challenging to record habitat well, but citizen science provides diverse opportunities to improve the range and scale of habitat recording.

Objectives/methods: We reviewed how citizen science can complement surveys by professionals and EO for habitat recording, and discuss its opportunities and challenges. We summarised a survey of 458 volunteer biodiversity recorders asked about their interest in and barriers to recording habitat. From this we developed a framework of questions to design citizen science that is appropriate and effective for habitat recording.

Results/conclusions: We found that existing biodiversity recorders were willing to consider habitat recording, but many lacked confidence and some lacked motivation. Our framework of six questions addresses the interplay between volunteer motivation and confidence, and data accuracy. It highlighted design considerations such as clarity of purpose, cost to volunteers, protocol complexity and scale of sampling. This impacts the training and support required by volunteers. Building this understanding into citizen science design enables us to develop activities that meet the needs for habitat data for monitoring, EO validation and research.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10980-025-02155-4.

Context: Invasive species pose a significant threat to biodiversity, creating a need for accurate methods to assess their spread. Although multiple introductions are common, estimates of expansion rates often assume a single introduction site due to limited knowledge of population structure.

Objectives: This multidisciplinary study aimed to develop a novel spatio-temporal approach to delineate potential populations without prior knowledge of population structure. We applied this approach to the Sculptured Resin Bee, Europe's first non-native bee species, providing regional expansion rate estimates for its spread across Europe.

Methods: Observation data from 2008 to 2024 were analysed. Based on an environmental suitability map, sequential least-cost modelling was applied in annual time steps, linking each new observation to the nearest known observation via a least-cost path. Populations were delineated by excluding high-cost paths and analysing the connectivity of the remaining paths, and expansion rates were calculated using the distance regression method.

Results: We identified two populations, which align with known genetic groups in the area of France, Switzerland and Austria. Our modelling results also indicate two additional populations introduced to Italy and Serbia. Expansion rates ranged from 13.3 km/year to 58.6 km/year and peaked at 89.7 km/year during expansion phases, exhibiting a consistent sigmoidal expansion pattern.

Conclusions: Our spatio-temporal approach delineates introduced populations without prior genetic knowledge, improving expansion rate estimation and informing targeted genetic sampling, monitoring, and management efforts of invasive species.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10980-025-02188-9.

Context: In mammals, reproductive strategies and movement behavior can differ between sexes, influenced by biological and environmental factors. Whereas males typically adopt a "roam-to-mate" strategy, increasing movement to locate females, females may also adjust their behavior to enhance mating opportunities. Habitat and human disturbance can further shape the spatial structure of mating encounters.

Objectives: This study investigates sex-specific habitat use during mating in brown bears. We test (1) which habitats facilitate initial male-female encounters, and (2) how habitat use differs between solitary and consorting individuals, focusing on sex-based differences and responses to anthropogenic features.

Methods: We used GPS data from 70 unique adult brown bears (44 females, 26 males) during the mating season in Sweden (2006-2016). We contrasted initial encounter areas of male-female pairs with surrounding available habitat to assess encounter site preferences, accounting for natural and anthropogenic landscape features. Additionally, we compared habitat use for each sex when solitary versus consorting.

Results: Bears most often encountered the opposite sex in clearcuts and young forests. When consorting, males moved farther away from anthropogenic areas than when solitary and increased their use of clearcuts, whereas females reduced their use of young and old forests, in contrast to males. Both sexes approached roads more when consorting.

Conclusion: This study revealed distinct sex-specific habitat preferences during brown bear consorting behavior, supporting the evidence of female "roam-to-mate" behavior by adjusting to males' habitat use. Our findings emphasize the importance of managing anthropogenic landscapes for conservation efforts, especially if they disrupt mating behaviors.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10980-025-02250-6.

Context: Trees play a vital role in reducing street-level particulate matter (PM) pollution in metropolitan areas. However, the optimal tree growth type for maximizing the retention of various sizes of PM remains uncertain.

Objectives: This study assessed the PM reduction capabilities of evergreen and deciduous broadleaf street trees, focusing on how leaf phenology influences the dispersion of pollutants across particle sizes.

Methods: We collected data on six PM size fractions from 72 sites along streets lined with either evergreen or deciduous broadleaf trees in Wuhan, China, during the summer and winter of 2017-2018.

Results: Evergreen trees demonstrated superior PM reduction capabilities compared to deciduous trees, with evergreen street canyons showing 27.2% and 12.6% lower PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ concentrations in summer, and 13% and 5.5% lower concentrations in winter. During summer, evergreen streets predominantly contained fine particles (PM₁, PM_2.5), posing potential health risk due to their ability to infiltrate the human respiratory system. In contrast, deciduous streets primarily harbored coarser particles (PM₄, PM₇, PM₁₀, and total suspended particulate [TSP]). During winter, larger particles were dominant, regardless of the tree growth form.

Conclusions: Evergreen trees showed superior PM reduction capabilities compared to deciduous trees due to their year-round leaf retention, enhanced surface properties, and denser canopies that maximize PM capture. We recommend prioritizing evergreen broadleaf trees as the primary street trees while interspersing deciduous trees at appropriate intervals. This approach will ensure that urban greenery provides maximum ecological benefits while reducing the PM concentration.

Context: Silviculture-managing tree establishment for landscape objectives-influences ecological outcomes of forests. While forest harvest impacts on wildlife are well-documented, silvicultural treatment effects remain unclear.

Objectives: We investigated how forest harvest and silviculture shape predator and ungulate distributions and interactions, providing ecological insights for forest management.

Methods: We deployed two camera arrays in extensively harvested North American landscapes to evaluate relationships between forest harvest, silviculture, and predator and ungulate occurrences.

Results: Forest harvest, silviculture, and predator/prey activity shape wildlife occurrences. Wolf (Canis lupus), influenced by moose (Alces alces), decreased with regenerating (9-24 years) clearcuts, new (0-8 years) clearcuts with reserves, and fertilized cutblocks. Wolves increased with regenerating/older (25-40 years) clearcuts with reserves. Coyote (C. latrans) increased in manually or chemically brushed cutblocks at high or low deer occurrence, respectively. Black bear (U. americanus), influenced by prey, increased with regenerating prepared cutblocks and fewer new prepared cutblocks. Prey elevated lynx (Lynx canadensis) occurrence with regenerating prepared or older unprepared cutblocks. Depending on predators, mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) decreased with regenerating and older prepared cutblocks; white-tailed deer (O. virginianus) decreased with selection- and new even-aged cutblocks. Harvest age and wolves best explained moose, although silviculture mattered seasonally.

Conclusions: Silviculture shapes wildlife distributions and interactions. Integrating these effects into research and forest management is essential for meeting ecological objectives.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10980-025-02095-z.