Search results for "LAND"

Planning for the future : identifying conservation priority areas for Iberian birds under climate change

2018

[Context]: Species are expected to shift their distributions in response to global environmental changes and additional protected areas are needed to encompass the corresponding changes in the distributions of their habitats. Conservation policies are likely to become obsolete unless they integrate the potential impacts of climate and land-use change on biodiversity.

Impacts of soil conditions and light availability on natural regeneration of Norway spruce Picea abies (L.) H. Karst. in low-elevation mountain fores…

2018

Abstract • Key message Natural regeneration ofP. abies(L.) H. Karst. may reach high densities in lower mountain elevations. The highest densities were found in sites with moderate light availability, with low pH, and not near the riverbank. However, age-height classes differed in the predicted magnitude of response, but were consistent in response directions. Mosses and understory species typical of coniferous forests were positively correlated with regeneration density. • Context Norway spruce Picea abies (L.) H. Karst. in Central Europe is at risk under climate change scenarios, particularly in mountain regions. Little is known about the impact of environmental factors on the natural rege…

Mn/Ca in shells of Arctica islandica (Baltic Sea) – A potential proxy for ocean hypoxia?

2021

Oxygen depletion threatens an increasing number of shallow water environments, specifically habitats below the seasonal halocline in coastal settings of the Baltic Sea. To understand the natural variations of dissolved oxygen levels on seasonal and inter-annual time-scales prior to the instrumental era, high-resolution archives are urgently required. The present study evaluates the potential use of Mn/Ca values in shells of the bivalve, Arctica islandica to infer concentrations of past dissolved oxygen concentrations. This study is based on laser ablation – inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) data of six contemporaneous specimens and demonstrates that background varia…

2018

Climatically controlled allocation to reproduction is a key mechanism by which climate influences tree growth and may explain lagged correlations between climate and growth. We used continent-wide datasets of tree-ring chronologies and annual reproductive effort in Fagus sylvatica from 1901 to 2015 to characterise relationships between climate, reproduction and growth. Results highlight that variable allocation to reproduction is a key factor for growth in this species, and that high reproductive effort ('mast years') is associated with stem growth reduction. Additionally, high reproductive effort is associated with previous summer temperature, creating lagged climate effects on growth. Con…

Influence of littoral periphyton on whole-lake metabolism relates to littoral vegetation in humic lakes

2017

The role of littoral habitats in lake metabolism has been underrated, especially in humic lakes, based on an assumption of low benthic primary production (PP) due to low light penetration into water. This assumption has been challenged by recent recognition of littoral epiphyton dominance of whole-lake PP in a small highly humic lake and of epiphyton as an important basal food source for humic lake biota. However, as these studies have mostly concerned single lakes, there is a need to test their wider generality. We studied the whole-lake PP and community respiration (CR) in eight small humic lakes in southern Finland during July 2015 using 14 C incorporation to measure pelagic PP and the c…

Using long-term ecosystem service and biodiversity data to study the impacts and adaptation options in response to climate change: insights from the …

2013

The International Long Term Ecological Research (ILTER) network can coordinate ecological research to provide observations of the ecosystem changes, and their socio-economic impacts on human societies at different scales. In this paper we demonstrate the importance of the ILTER network in the study and monitoring of environmental changes at a global level. We give examples of how biodiversity and ecosystem service data can be used to study impacts and adaptation options in response to climate change. Analysis of the 107 recent publications from LTER networks representing 21 countries show that LTER studies are often local and heterogeneous. There are some ecosystem types, such as agricultur…

Allochthonous carbon is a major regulator to bacterial growth and community composition in subarctic freshwaters

2016

In the subarctic region, climate warming and permafrost thaw are leading to emergence of ponds and to an increase in mobility of catchment carbon. As carbon of terrestrial origin is increasing in subarctic freshwaters the resource pool supporting their microbial communities and metabolism is changing, with consequences to overall aquatic productivity. By sampling different subarctic water bodies for a one complete year we show how terrestrial and algal carbon compounds vary in a range of freshwaters and how differential organic carbon quality is linked to bacterial metabolism and community composition. We show that terrestrial drainage and associated nutrients supported higher bacterial gro…

Disentangling the latitudinal and altitudinal shifts in community composition induced by climate change: The case of riparian birds

2021

11 pages; International audience; Aim: This study investigates whether, and how, the composition of riparian bird communities has been affected by climate warming and habitat change. Although these two forces act separately, their respective contributions are rarely examined. Moreover, while the response of a given community may be a function of latitude and altitude, most studies have focused on these gradients separately. Riparian ecosystems are an opportunity to investigate community change along latitudinal and elevational gradients.Location: France, three major rivers (the Doubs, the Allier and the Loire)Taxon: Birds.Methods: Drawing upon bird community monitoring data over a period of…

Woodland key habitats in preserving polypore diversity in boreal forests: Effects of patch size, stand structure and microclimate

2016

Abstract Woodland key-habitats (WKHs) are set-asides in managed forests that are conceived to maintain specific aspects of forest biodiversity and they are widely used in Northern European countries. WKHs are often quite small (from 0.1 to a few hectares) and thus it is unclear if they can maintain biodiversity. We studied the effects of WKH size, microclimate and forest structure on species richness and composition of polypores, a group of wood-decaying fungi that has become threatened due to clear-cut forestry. The WKHs studied varied in size between 0.05 and 3.6 ha, and the control forests from 6.5 to 44.7 ha. Patch size and the volumes of logs and standing dead trees significantly affec…

Do small protected habitat patches within boreal production forests provide value for biodiversity conservation? : A systematic review protocol

2019

Background Forest harvesting is the main driver of habitat degradation and biodiversity loss in forests of the boreal zone. To mitigate harmful effects, small-scale habitats with high biodiversity values have been protected within production forests. These include woodland key habitats, and other small-scale habitat patches protected by voluntary conservation action. This article describes a protocol for a systematic review to synthesize the value of small habitat patches left within production landscapes for biodiversity. The topic for this systematic review arose from a discussion with the Finnish forestry sector and was further defined in a stakeholder workshop. Research question: Do sma…