Search results for "indicator species"
showing 10 items of 40 documents
The cost-effectiveness of using raptor nest sites to identify areas with high species richness of other taxa
2016
Abstract Given the limited resources available for conservation, it is important that the areas to preserve are selected in a cost effective manner. However, the cost effectiveness of the surrogate species strategy (the use of information on one or more species to identify areas of value for other species for which there is no, or more limited, available information) has seldom been evaluated. In this study, we investigate the opportunity cost of setting aside breeding sites of two forest raptor species (the surrogate species) by evaluating their individual and combined contribution to preserve diversity of polypores (wood-decaying fungi) and birds against the contributions of previously es…
Choosy beetles : How host trees and southern boreal forest naturalness may determine dead wood beetle communities
2021
Wood-living beetles make up a large proportion of forest biodiversity and contribute to important ecosystem services, including decomposition. Beetle communities in managed southern boreal forests are less species rich than in natural and near-natural forest stands. In addition, many beetle species rely primarily on specific tree species. Yet, the associations between individual beetle species, forest management category, and tree species are seldom quantified, even for red-listed beetles. We compiled a beetle capture dataset from flight intercept traps placed on Norway spruce (Picea abies), oak (Quercus sp.), and Eurasian aspen (Populus tremulae) trees in 413 sites in mature managed forest…
Hot spots, indicator taxa, complementarity and optimal networks of taiga
2000
If hot spots for different taxa coincide, priority-setting surveys in a region could be carried out more cheaply by focusing on indicator taxa. Several previous studies show that hot spots of different taxa rarely coincide. However, in tropical areas indicator taxa may be used in selecting complementary networks to represent biodiversity as a whole. We studied beetles (Coleoptera), Heteroptera, polypores or bracket fungi (Polyporaceae) and vascular plants of old growth boreal taiga forests. Optimal networks for Heteroptera maximized the high overall species richness of beetles and vascular plants, but these networks were least favourable options for polypores. Polypores are an important gro…
The rotifer community and its functional role in lakes of a neotropical floodplain
2014
Aquatic communities vary depending on local factors, such as environmental conditions and biological interactions and regional factors, such as the hydrological regime in floodplains. This study analyzed the community structure of rotifers and their secondary production in two lakes of an Upper Parana River floodplain (Brazil) differing in their hydrology: one connected to the river and the other isolated. Integrated samples of the water column were collected daily during 15 days in the low and high water periods. Three statistical methods, ANOVA, MRT, and IndVal were applied to distinguish the structure, biomass, and secondary production of their rotifer communities. The rotifer fauna was …
Quantitative relations between different concentrations of micro- and macroelements in mosses and lichens: the region of Opole (Poland) as an environ…
2010
We examined the concentration of selected metals: Al, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb, as well as activity of 137Cs in samples of moss and lichen, collected in the area surrounding Bory Stobrawskie, a wood complex situated in southern Poland. The concentration of metals was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry. The activity of 137Cs was determined by gamma spectrometry. We used these results, as well as results published in the literature, to determine the correlation between the concentration of analytes in lichens and in mosses. The analysis of the function ln(cx,moss) = lna + bln(cx,lichen) indicated with high degree of certainty that the concentration levels of analytes accumulated in…
Woodland key habitats in northern Europe: concepts, inventory and protection
2010
Abstract The woodland key habitat (WKH) concept has become an essential instrument in biodiversity-orientated forest management in northern Europe. The philosophy behind the concept is basically the same in all of the countries: to conserve the biodiversity of production landscapes by preserving small habitat patches that are supposed to be particularly valuable. This article reviews the definitions, inventories and implementation processes of WKHs in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. Sweden and the Baltic countries have similar WKH models, while the models in Finland and Norway are clearly deviating. Depending on the country, the definitions emphasize different factor…
Quantifying the Indicator Power of an Indicator Species
2009
Biodiversity indicator species are needed for classifying biotopes and sites for conservation, and a number of methods have been developed for determining indicator species for this purpose. Nevertheless, in addition to site classification, there is sometimes a need to define an indicator species that indicates the occurrence of another species. For example, when a species of interest (target species) is difficult to detect or identify, a reliable indicator species can function as a tool that saves time and money. We derived a method that provides a quantitative measure of the indicator power (IP) of an indicator species for the target species or any species assemblage. We calculated the me…
Response of benthic foraminifera to heavy metal contamination in marine sediments (Sicilian coasts, Mediterranean sea)
2011
To examine the suitability of benthic foraminifera and their test deformations as bioindicators of pollution in coastal marine environments, we studied foraminifera and metal concentrations in 72 marine sediment samples, collected from the inner shelf along the Sicilian coast (Gulfs of Palermo and Termini) and on the south-eastern coast of Lampedusa Island. These areas are characterised by different environmental conditions. On the basis of pollution sources and foraminiferal assemblages, we recognised different zones in the Gulf of Palermo. The most polluted zones showed high metal concentrations, and low diversity of benthic foraminifera with species typical of stressed environments. By c…
A comparison of two methods for surveying aquatic macrophyte communities in boreal lakes: Implications for bioassessment
2013
To compare the performance of two common methods for surveying boreal lake aquatic macrophyte communities (the transect survey and the phytolittoral inventory) in lake bioassessment, we studied five small humic lakes with both methods. In addition to this pairwise comparison, we contrasted available independent sets of reference lake data of either methodological origin. Specifically, we compared the observed species richness and a number of ecological quality (community) metrics and their variability both between the methods and within them in relation to sampling effort and operator. With the phytolittoral inventory, more taxa (mean 38.8 ± s.d. 12.1) were observed than with transect surve…
Does a voluntary conservation program result in a representative protected area network?
2009
Abstract Conservation contracting has attained growing interest worldwide as a tool for protecting biodiversity in privately owned lands. In this policy, landowners receive payments from an environmental agency in exchange for land use practices that contribute to the supply of biodiversity. This approach may result in a conservation network which does not cover all focal ecological characteristics, because landowners determine the supply of potential targets. In addition, the contracts are typically allocated by using a scoring method that is not giving information on the representativeness of the species composition of the sites. In this study, we investigated what is the performance of a…