Search results for "landscape conservation"

Local Extinction of Dragonfly and Damselfly Populations in Low- and High-Quality Habitat Patches

2010

Understanding the risk of extinction of a single population is an important problem in both theoretical and applied ecology. Local extinction risk depends on several factors, including population size, demographic or environmental stochasticity, natural catastrophe, or the loss of genetic diversity. The probability of local extinction may also be higher in low-quality sink habitats than in high-quality source habitats. We tested this hypothesis by comparing local extinction rates of 15 species of Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) between 1930-1975 and 1995-2003 in central Finland. Local extinction rates were higher in low-quality than in high-quality habitats. Nevertheless, for the thre…

A comparison of three statistical methods for analysing extinction threat status

2013

SUMMARYThe International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List provides a globally-recognized evaluation of the conservation status of species, with the aim of catalysing appropriate conservation action. However, in some parts of the world, species data may be lacking or insufficient to predict risk status. If species with shared ecological or life history characteristics also tend to share their risk of extinction, then ecological or life history characteristics may be used to predict which species may be at risk, although perhaps not yet classified as such by the IUCN. Statistical models may be a means to determine whether there are non-threatened or unclassified species that s…

Choice between alternative investments in agriculture: The role of organic farming to avoid the abandonment of rural areas

2015

Abstract Sicily has a long tradition in citrus fruit cultivation that, with vineyard and olive tree, represents the main Mediterranean tree crops. Since many Sicilian farmers in recent years have decided to abandon conventional lemon orchards, in this paper we have evaluated the financial sustainability of organic lemon production by comparing it with the conventional one. Financial analysis has been carried out in a case study on the northwestern coast of Sicily, considering a 50-year economic life of an orchard. The results, per hectare of area, showed a clear advantage of organic lemon orchard. This was due to fewer labor requirements and to greater market appreciation for organic produc…

STATUS OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AS A SOURCE OF FINANCE FOR REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: MEASUREMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND REGIONAL POLICY WITH TH…

2008

The present paper analyses spatial distribution of EU financial support for territories, where environmental protection is of high importance, and tests the measuring method based on the t‐statistic of sign frequency in order to apply the R. Fisher function's arcsin transformation. The measuring of EU fund distribution is based on the analysis of sign frequency in sample groups with sign frequency in all the municipalities of Latvia. There are 530 municipalities in Latvia, and in 100 of them environmental protection is of high importance. The author has concluded that Latvian municipalities with high environmental protection levels have significantly higher possibilities to obtain EU funds …

Use of stable isotope analysis to evaluate the possible impact of fish migration on a lake biomanipulation

2007

1. A lake restoration project involving mass fish removals was started to improve further the water quality of a lake recovering from severe eutrophication. The effectiveness of such biomanipulation as a lake management option could be compromised if removed fish are rapidly replaced by large-scale immigration from a connected lake. 2. Stable isotope analysis (SIA) was used to examine the migrations of perch (Perca fluviatilis L.) and roach (Rutilus rutilus (L.)) between two connected lakes in central Finland, Jyvasjarvi and the larger Paijanne. Baseline δ15N signatures in primary consumers were significantly higher in Jyvasjarvi and this difference was reflected further up the food chain i…

A Brief History of Fisheries in Canada

2020

Turtles on the trash track: loggerhead turtles exposed to floating plastic in the Mediterranean Sea

2019

Loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) spend most of their life in large marine areas occupying a variety of habitats where they are exposed to different types of threats. Among these, marine litter is known to pose a risk of entanglement or ingestion. Areas of risk exposure can be identified where the species overlap with litter accumulations, but gathering data on this highly mobile species and marine litter, especially in high sea areas, is challenging. Here we analysed five years of sea turtle and marine litter data collected by a network of research bodies along fixed trans-border transects in the Mediterranean Sea. Ferries were used as observation platforms to gather systematic data on …

Behavioural strategy of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in response to different kinds of boats in the waters of Lampedusa Island (It…

2013

Owing to the increase of boat-traffic in the ocean many studies have been conducted to determine the response of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) to this kind of disturbance. This species is affected by boats in various ways and the response depends on the behavioural state of the dolphin but also on the kind of vessel. This study aimed to determine the effect of motorboats and trawlers on dolphins' presence, permanence in the area and whistle parameters in Lampedusa waters (Italy). Sampling was carried out between May and December 2006 and between July and September 2009, using experimental passive acoustic monitoring systems (PAM); a total of 300 h of recordings and 3000 whistles w…

Plant hunting: exploring the behaviour of amateur botanists in the field

2021

We asked what are the behavioural and logistic preferences of professional and amateur botanists when exploring flora in the field. We extracted temporal and spatial data on vas- cular plant species occurrences from three datasets of Sicilian flora: a subset of iNaturalist, a dataset collected by a Facebook group focused on the flora of Sicily and a subset of the professional database European Vegetation Archive. We used the time span of individual contributor’s activity as a proxy of their commitment to collecting information about the flora of Sicily. Climate and landscape data were used to better characterize the spatial and temporal activity of data contributors. Finally, we assessed wh…

Sensitivity of soil processes in northern forest soils: are management practices a threat?

2000

Abstract There is evidence that forest management practices influence soil-decomposer communities. It is also established that changes in the trophic structure and composition of these communities can induce changes in soil-nutrient dynamics, thereby affecting plant growth. Whether forest productivity is affected by management-induced changes in, e.g. soil faunal structure, is, however, yet to be shown. The aim of this study was (1) to determine the resolution of the ecological hierarchy (e.g. species, functional groups, trophic levels) at which a change in soil fauna would alter biotically-controlled processes in soils, and (2) to examine the sensitivity of soil fauna of the boreal forest …