Search results for "forest ecosystem"
showing 6 items of 6 documents
Habitat associations drive species vulnerability to climate change in boreal forests
2016
Species climate change vulnerability, their predisposition to be adversely affected, has been assessed for a limited portion of biodiversity. Our knowledge of climate change impacts is often based only on exposure, the magnitude of climatic variation in the area occupied by the species, even if species sensitivity, the species ability to tolerate climatic variations determined by traits, plays a key role in determining vulnerability. We analyse the role of species’ habitat associations, a proxy for sensitivity, in explaining vulnerability for two poorly-known but species-rich taxa in boreal forest, saproxylic beetles and fungi, using three IPCC emissions scenarios. Towards the end of the 21…
Ecological mechanisms can modify radiation effects in a key forest mammal of Chernobyl
2019
International audience; Nuclear accidents underpin the need to quantify the ecological mechanisms which determine injury to ecosystems from chronic low-dose radiation. Here, we tested the hypothesis that ecological mechanisms interact with ionizing radiation to affect natural populations in unexpected ways. We used large-scale replicated experiments and food manipulations in wild populations of the rodent, Myodes glareolus, inhabiting the region near the site of the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. We show linear decreases in breeding success with increasing ambient radiation levels with no evidence of any threshold below which effects are not seen. Food supplementation of experimental populatio…
Applying a framework for landscape planning under climate change for the conservation of biodiversity in the Finnish boreal forest
2015
Conservation strategies are often established without consideration of the impact of climate change. However, this impact is expected to threaten species and ecosystem persistence and to have dramatic effects towards the end of the 21st century. Landscape suitability for species under climate change is determined by several interacting factors including dispersal and human land use. Designing effective conservation strategies at regional scales to improve landscape suitability requires measuring the vulnerabilities of specific regions to climate change and determining their conservation capacities. Although methods for defining vulnerability categories are available, methods for doing this …
Exploring the spatial relationship between airborne-derived red and far-red sun-induced fluorescence and process-based GPP estimates in a forest ecos…
2019
International audience; Terrestrial gross primary productivity (GPP) plays an essential role in the global carbon cycle, but the quantification of the spatial and temporal variations in photosynthesis is still largely uncertain. Our work aimed to investigate the potential of remote sensing to provide new insights into plant photosynthesis at a fine spatial resolution. This goal was achieved by exploiting high-resolution images acquired with the FLuorescence EXplorer (FLEX) airborne demonstrator HyPlant. The sensor was flown over a mixed forest, and the images collected were elaborated to obtain two independent indicators of plant photosynthesis. First, maps of sun-induced chlorophyll fluore…
Adaptive forest governance to face land use change impacts in Italy: a review
2015
Il cambiamento dell’uso del suolo è uno dei driver principali della riduzione della resilienza ecosistemica, così come della perdita di biodiversità e approvvigionamento di servizi. Rappresenta una sfida peculiare, specialmente negli ambienti mediterranei, dove i fenomeni di abbandono e ricolonizzazione naturale stanno minacciando in modo sempre più crescente la capacità delle foreste di fornire benefici alle comunità locali. In queste condizioni, il sistema di governance forestale è chiamato a bilanciare gli impatti del cambiamento dell’uso del suolo con l’assicurazione della salute e della stabilità degli ecosistemi forestali, al fine di garantire la sostenibilità a lungo termine degli am…
The MIMOSE Approach to Support Sustainable Forest Management Planning at Regional Scale in Mediterranean Contexts
2017
In recent decades, Mediterranean landscapes have been affected by human-induced drivers, such as land use and climate change. Forest ecosystems and landscapes have been particularly affected in mountainous regions due to limited management and stewardship, especially in remote areas. Therefore, there is a need to set up new strategies to enhance ecosystem services in forested areas which, in turn, will benefit local communities and economies. In this study, we implemented a new approach—Multiscale Mapping of Ecosystem Services (MIMOSE)—to assess ecosystem services in Mediterranean forests located in a mountainous region of Italy. We spatially assessed timber provision and carbon sequestrati…