Search results for "Riparian zone"
showing 10 items of 29 documents
Rereading a tree-ring database to illustrate depositional histories of subfossil trees
2017
Late Quaternary tree-ring chronologies have been constructed using data collected from subfossil trees preserved under favourable conditions in lake sediments and peat deposits. Tree-ring widths and densities are commonly used for reconstructions of past climate variability. An alternative way of using these data is to explore the replication curves of these chronologies. Here, we make use of previously collected data that is currently available from tree-ring databases to demonstrate the depositional histories of pine trees once accumulated into the sediment in lake (i.e., riparian trees) and peatland sites. Divergent courses of depositional histories were obtained for different sedimentar…
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…
Drivers of plant richness patterns of Mediterranean riparian forests at local and regional scales have bottom-up and top-down effects
2019
Questions: It has been long recognized that community species richness depends on factors operating at different spatial scales. Most frequently, across-scale studies have focused on the impact of regional factors on local richness (top-down effects) while few have analyzed the importance of local factors on regional richness (bottom-up) and even fewer have tried to integrate effects on both directions. Our objectives were to reveal the key factors shaping plant species richness of Mediterranean riparian forests and to test whether empirical models based on top-down or bottom-up relationships are able to explain the spatial scaling of richness. Location: Southern half of Spain, SW Europe. M…
The effect of buffer strip width and selective logging on riparian forest microclimate
2019
Riparian forests have cool and humid microclimates, and one aim of leaving forested buffer strips between clear-cut areas and streams is to conserve these microclimatic conditions. We used an experimental study set up of 35 streamside sites to study the impacts of buffer strip width (15 or 30 m) and selective logging within the buffer strips on summer-time air temperature, relative air humidity and canopy openness 12 years after logging. The buffer strip treatments were compared to unlogged control sites. We found that 15-meter buffer strips with or without selective logging and 30-meter buffer strips with selective logging were insufficient in maintaining temperature, relative humidity and…
Plastid DNA Homogeneity in Celtis australis L. (Cannabaceae) and Nerium oleander L. (Apocynaceae) throughout the Mediterranean Basin
2015
International audience; Premise of research. Riparian plants are highly dependent on water sources; consequently, general climatic conditions are less important to these taxa relative to woodland and shrubland species. This leads to interesting research questions regarding riparian plant taxa. Research on phylogeography of Mediterranean riparian tree and shrub species is scarce. In this article, we investigated the plastidial genetic diversity in Celtis australis L. (hackberry) and Nerium oleander L. (oleander) throughout the Mediterranean Basin. Both species are distributed in gullies, rivers, and stream banks under warm temperate climates. Methodology. Eighteen cpSSR loci and three noncod…
Do invasive alien plants really threaten river bank vegetation? : a case study based on plant communities typical for Chenopodium ficifolium : an ind…
2018
Riparian zones are very rich in species but subjected to strong anthropogenic changes and extremely prone to alien plant invasions, which are considered to be a serious threat to biodiversity. Our aim was to determine the spatial distribution of Chenopodium ficifolium, a species demonstrating strong confinement to large river valleys in Central Europe and an indicator of annual pioneer nitrophilous vegetation developing on river banks, which are considered to be of importance to the European Community. Additionally, the habitat preferences of the species were analysed. Differences in the richness and abundance of species diagnostic for riverside habitats, as well as the contribution of resi…
The dual role of rivers in facilitating or hindering movements of the false heath fritillary butterfly
2015
Background Species movement responses to landscape structures have been studied using a variety of methods, but movement research is still in need of simple methods that help predicting and comparing movements across structurally different landscapes. We demonstrate how habitat-specific movement models can be used to disentangle causes of differentiated movement patterns in structurally different landscapes and to predict movement patterns in altered and artificial landscapes. In our case study, we studied the role of riparian landscapes to the persistence of the endangered false heath fritillary butterfly (Melitaea diamina) in its newly discovered coastal distribution region in Finland. We…
Diversity and distribution of Phytophthora species in protected natural areas in Sicily
2019
: The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence, diversity, and distribution of Phytophthora species in Protected Natural Areas (PNAs), including forest stands, rivers, and riparian ecosystems, in Sicily (Italy), and assessing correlations with natural vegetation and host plants. Fifteen forest stands and 14 rivers in 10 Sicilian PNAs were studied. Phytophthora isolations from soil and stream water were performed using leaf baitings. Isolates were identified using both morphological characters and sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. A rich community of 20 Phytophthora species from eight phylogenetic clades, including three new Phytophthora taxa, was …
The effect of buffer strip width and selective logging on streamside plant communities
2019
Background Riparian forests surrounding streams host high biodiversity values, but are threatened by clear-cut logging. Narrow buffer strips of about 15 m are commonly left between the stream and the clear-cut, but studies suggest that the buffer width should be at least 30 m to protect riparian plant communities. Moreover, selective logging is often allowed on the buffer strips in order to increase economic gain. We used an experiment of 43 riparian sites where buffer strip width and selective logging within the strip were manipulated and supplemented with unlogged control sites. We report the short-term changes in the community composition of vascular plants and mosses near the stream (0–…
Movement of forest-dependent dung beetles through riparian buffers in Bornean oil palm plantations
2022
1. Fragmentation of tropical forests is increasing globally, with negative impacts for biodiversity. In Southeast Asia, expansion of oil palm agriculture has caused widespread deforestation, forest degradation and fragmentation. 2. Persistence of forest-dependent species within these fragmented landscapes is likely to depend on the capacity of individuals to move between forest patches. In oil palm landscapes, riparian buffers along streams and rivers are potential movement corridors, but their use by moving animals is poorly studied. 3. We examined how six dung beetle species traversed riparian buffers connected to a continuous forest reserve area within an oil palm plantation in Sabah, Ma…