Aquatic grazers reduce the establishment and growth of riparian plants along an environmental gradient

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Prediction of species richness of breeding birds by landscape-level factors of urban woods in Osaka Prefecture, Japan

We examined some models to predict the species richness of forest birds by the landscape-level factors at urban woods in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. The environmental factors examined were area (A) and elongation (E) of woodlands, the distance to mountain (D), distance to the nearest woods (> 10ha) (D ₁₀), and the proportion of woods (Pw) and field (Pf) within 25 km² outside the parks. The species–area relationship at 28 parks was better fitted by the power function (r²=0.704) and by the logistic function (r²=0.696) than by the exponential function (r²=0.637). A woods that was planted 7 years ago had extremely few species, but there was no significant difference in species richness between woods < 50 years old and those older. We built Principal Component Regression (PCR) models to predict the species richness, because collinearity was detected between D and Pw. PCR, log[S/(43–S)] = –1.820 + 0.224logA – 0.0113 D + 0.133 logPw – 0.0588E (R² = 0.939, n = 27) was estimated. The species–area relationship was caused by difference in the occurrence pattern of bird species. This was attributable to the differences in feeding habit or micro-habitat use. We estimated that birds living between the forest interior and the edge, such as Dendrocopos kizuki, required at least 20 ha of woodland.     

Importance of scale,land‐use,and stream network properties for riparian plant communities along an urban gradient

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Differential responses of cryptic bat species to the urban landscape

Urbanization is a key global driver in the modification of land use and has been linked to population declines even in widespread and relatively common species. Cities comprise a complex assortment of habitat types yet we know relatively little about the effects of their composition and spatial configuration on species distribution. Although many bat species exploit human resources, the majority of species are negatively impacted by urbanization. Here, we use data from the National Bat Monitoring Programme, a long‐running citizen science scheme, to assess how two cryptic European bat species respond to the urban landscape. A total of 124 × 1 km² sites throughout Britain were surveyed. The landscape surrounding each site was mapped and classified into discrete biotope types (e.g., woodland). Generalized linear models were used to assess differences in the response to the urban environment between the two species, and which landscape factors were associated with the distributions of P. pipistrellus and P. pygmaeus. The relative prevalence of P. pygmaeus compared to P. pipistrellus was greater in urban landscapes with a higher density of rivers and lakes, whereas P. pipistrellus was frequently detected in landscapes comprising a high proportion of green space (e.g., parklands). Although P. pipistrellus is thought to be well adapted to the urban landscape, we found a strong negative response to urbanization at a relatively local scale (1 km), whilst P. pygmaeus was detected more regularly in wooded urban landscapes containing freshwater. These results show differential habitat use at a landscape scale of two morphologically similar species, indicating that cryptic species may respond differently to anthropogenic disturbance. Even species considered relatively common and well adapted to the urban landscape may respond negatively to the built environment highlighting the future challenges involved in maintaining biodiversity within an increasingly urbanized world.     

Spatial and temporal patterns of species richness in a riparian landscape

Aim To test for control of vascular plant species richness in the riparian corridor by exploring three contrasting (although not mutually exclusive) hypotheses: (1) longitudinal patterns in riparian plant species richness are governed by local, river‐related processes independent of the regional species richness, (2) riparian plant species richness is controlled by dispersal along the river (longitudinal control), and (3) the variation in riparian plant species richness mirrors variation in regional richness (lateral control). Location The riparian zones of the free‐flowing Vindel River and its surrounding river valley, northern Sweden. Methods We used data from three surveys, undertaken at 10‐year intervals, of riparian reaches (200‐m stretches of riverbank) spanning the entire river. In addition, we surveyed species richness of vascular plants in the uplands adjacent to the river in 3.75‐km² large plots along the same regional gradient. We explored the relationship between riparian and upland flora, and various environmental variables. We also evaluated temporal variation in downstream patterns of the riparian flora. Results Our results suggest that local species richness in boreal rivers is mainly a result of local, river‐related processes and dispersal along the corridor. The strongest correlation between species richness and the environment was a negative one between species number and soil pH, but pH varied within a narrow range. We did not find evidence for a correlation between species richness on regional and local scales. We found that the local patterns of species richness for naturally occurring vascular plants were temporally variable, probably in response to large‐scale disturbance caused by extreme floods. Most previous studies have found a unimodal pattern of species richness with peaks in the middle reaches of a river. In contrast, on two of three occasions corresponding to major flooding events, we found that the distribution of species richness of naturally occurring vascular plants resembled that of regional diversity: a monotonic decrease from headwater to coast. We also found high floristic similarity between the riparian corridor and the surrounding landscape. Main conclusions These results suggest that local processes control patterns of riparian species richness, but that species composition is also highly dependent on the regional species pool. We argue that inter‐annual variation in flood disturbance is probably the most important factor producing temporal variability of longitudinal species richness patterns.     

Diversity and composition of tropical butterflies along an Afromontane agricultural gradient in the Jimma Highlands,Ethiopia

Afromontane landscapes are typically characterized by a mosaic of smallholder farms and the biodiversity impacts of these practices will vary in accordance to local management and landscape context. Here, we assess how tropical butterfly diversity is maintained across an agricultural landscape in the Jimma Highlands of Ethiopia. We used transect surveys to sample understory butterfly communities within degraded natural forest, semi‐managed coffee forest (SMCF), exotic timber plantations, open woodland, croplands and pasture. Surveys were conducted in 29 one‐hectare plots and repeated five times between January and June 2013. We found that natural forest supports higher butterfly diversity than all agricultural plots (measured with Hill's numbers). SMCF and timber plantations retain relatively high abundance and diversity, but these metrics drop off sharply in open woodland, cropland and pasture. SMCF and timber plantations share the majority of their species with natural forest and support an equivalent abundance of forest‐dependent species, with no increase in widespread species. There was some incongruence in the responses of families and sub‐families, notably that Lycaenidae are strongly associated with open woodland and pasture. Adult butterflies clearly utilize forested agricultural practices such as SMCF and timber plantations, but species diversity declines steeply with distance from natural forest suggesting that earlier life‐stages may depend on host plants and/or microclimatic conditions that are lost under agricultural management. From a management perspective, the protection of natural forest remains a priority for tropical butterfly conservation, but understanding functioning of the wider landscape mosaic is important as SMCF and timber plantations may act as habitat corridors that facilitate movement between forest fragments.     

Carabid beetle community composition, body size, and fluctuating asymmetry along an urban-rural gradient

Within the goal of defining indicators (species or combinations of life history traits) for habitat quality in an urban environment we investigated effects of urbanization on the community composition and morphological characteristics of carabid beetles. Between May and July 2000 nine woodlots were sampled along three axes representing urban - rural gradients from the centre of the city of Hamburg to its rural borders. Species richness decreased towards the city centre and with increasing isolation of the sites but was uncorrelated with the size of the site. Species assemblages were highly nested making successive loss of species predictable. Responsivness towards urbanization could not be linked to specific life history traits. Body length of one species (Carabus nemoralis) declined towards the city centre. Four species were found at all sites. These four species showed differences in fluctuating asymmetry (FA) at the different sites that could not be interpreted as an indication of responses to habitat suitability. FA of the remaining species (species negatively affected by urbanization) increased towards the city centre and with increasing isolation of a site. This matched the prediction that FA indicates habitat quality. Thus, urban effects lead to changes of communities through a predictable loss of species, to a reduction in body size in one species, and to increased FA in species which are susceptible to urbanization. The results indicate that the different sites were islands in an urban matrix rather than parts of a green network which would allow free exchange of plants and animals within the city of Hamburg.Wir untersuchten den Einfluss von Verstädterung auf Laufkäfergemeinschaften in Hamburg, Deutschland. Zwischen Mai und Juli 2000 wurden neun Fangorte entlang städtischer Gradienten beprobt. die von relativ ländlichen Gebieten an den Stadtgrenzen, bis hin zu Flächen im Stadtzentrum reichten. Die Artenzahl korrelierte negativ mit dem Grad der Isolierung und der Entfernung des Gebietes von der Peripherie, aber nicht mit der Größe eines Gebietes. Die gefundenen Artengemeinschaften wiesen strenge Schachtelung auf. Der Verlust bestimmter Arten war daher vorhersagbar, konnte aber nicht auf bestimmte Charakteristika (“life history traits”) der Arten zurückgeführt werden. Die Körperlänge von Carabus nemoralis nahm entlang des Gradienten ab. Nur vier Arten kamen im gesamten Stadtgebiet vor. Fluktuierende Asymmetrien (FA) dieser Arten konnten nicht sinnvoll mit Habitatqualitäten oder Verstädterung in Beziehung gesetzt werden. Die anderen Arten, die nach den Ergebnissen der Analysen zu geschachtelten Strukturen durch “Verstädterung” negativ beeinflusst waren (d.h. nicht an allen Orten und vor allem nicht im Stadtzentrum gefunden worden waren) zeigten zunehmende FA zum Stadtzentrum. Verstädterung führte demnach zu vorhersagbaren Verlust an Arten, zu Reduktion der Körperlänge einer Art und zu erhöhten Asymmetrien bei Arten, die durch Verstädterung negativ beeinflusst wurden. Nach diesen Befunden kann das Ziel der offiziellen Politik, in Hamburg negative Effekte der Stadtentwicklung auf die Biodiversität durch einen Verbund von Grünflächen und geschützten Gebieten zu reduzieren, mit den heute noch verfügbaren Flächen nicht erreicht werden.     

Contrasting response of native and alien plant species richness to environmental energy and human impact along alpine elevation gradients

Aim We tested whether the species–energy and species–human relationships vary between native and both naturalized and casual alien species richness when other environmental variables had been taken into account. Location Trento Province, a region (c. 6200 km²) on the southern border of the European Alps (Italy), subdivided into 156 contiguous (c. 37.5 km²) cells and ranging in elevation from 66 to 3769 m. Methods Data were separated into three subsets, representing richness of natives, naturalized aliens and casual aliens and separately related to temperature, human population and various environmental correlates of plant species diversity. We applied ordinary least squares and simultaneous autoregressive regressions to identify potential contrasting responses of the three plant status subsets and hierarchical partitioning to evaluate the relative importance of the predictor variables. Results Variation in alien plant species richness along the region was almost entirely explained by temperature and human population density. The relationships were positive but strongly curvilinear. Native species richness was less strongly related to either factor but was positively related to the presence of calcareous bedrock. Native species richness had a decelerating positive relationship with temperature (R²= 55%), whereas naturalized and casual aliens had a positive accelerating relationship explaining 86% and 62% of the variation in richness, respectively. Native species richness had a positive decelerating relationship with population density (R²= 42%), whilst both alien subsets had a positive accelerating relationship. Main conclusions Alien species richness was higher in areas with the most rich and diverse assemblages of native species. Areas at high altitudes are not especially prone to alien invasion due to energy constraints, low propagule pressure and disturbance, even considering a potential increased in temperature. Thus, if we consider future environmental change, we should expect a stronger response of aliens than natives in the currently warm, urbanized, low‐altitude areas than in cold, high‐altitude areas where human population density is low.     

Changes in home range sizes and population densities of carnivore species along the natural to urban habitat gradient

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Methane emissions from contrasting urban freshwaters: Rates,drivers, and a whole‐city footprint

Global urbanization trends impose major alterations on surface waters. This includes impacts on ecosystem functioning that can involve feedbacks on climate through changes in rates of greenhouse gas emissions. The combination of high nutrient supply and shallow depth typical of urban freshwaters is particularly conducive to high rates of methane (CH₄) production and emission, suggesting a potentially important role in the global CH₄ cycle. However, there is a lack of comprehensive flux data from diverse urban water bodies, of information on the underlying drivers, and of estimates for whole cities. Based on measurements over four seasons in a total of 32 water bodies in the city of Berlin, Germany, we calculate the total CH₄ emission from various types of surface waters of a large city in temperate climate at 2.6 ± 1.7 Gg CH₄/year. The average total emission was 219 ± 490 mg CH₄ m^?2 day^?1. Water chemical variables were surprisingly poor predictors of total CH₄ emissions, and proxies of productivity and oxygen conditions had low explanatory power as well, suggesting a complex combination of factors governing CH₄ fluxes from urban surface waters. However, small water bodies (area <1 ha) typically located in urban green spaces were identified as emission hotspots. These results help constrain assessments of CH₄ emissions from freshwaters in the world's growing cities, facilitating extrapolation of urban emissions to large areas, including at the global scale.     

Seasonality,species richness and poor dispersion mediate intraspecific trait variability in stonefly community responses along an elevational gradient

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厦门后溪水质与流域景观特征沿城乡梯度的变化分析

基于河流水质观测数据和Landsat 8影像数据,分析厦门后溪2013至2017年干季和湿季的水质时空变化特征,研究沿城乡梯度河流水质变化与流域景观特征的关系。结果表明:后溪上游(饮用水水源地水体)和下游(景观水体)溶解氧(DO)分别符合《地表水环境质量标准(GB3838—2002)》Ⅱ类标准和Ⅴ类标准,但是总氮(TN)和总磷(TP)有不同程度的超标,其中TN的超标比例较高。后溪上游土地利用类型中70%以上为林地,具有涵养水源、保护水质的作用;下游建设用地和耕地比重增加,TN、TP和叶绿素a (Chl a)显著高于上游。耕地和建设用地是提高TN、TP和Chl a等水质参数的主要土地利用类型,斑块密度、香农多样性指数和源汇景观指数与各水质指标也显著相关。冗余分析表明,流域景观特征可解释70%以上水质变化,对TN和TP的影响在湿季更大,而对Chl a的影响在干季较大。土地利用组成、配置、距离、高程和坡度对流域水质均有较大影响,其中土地利用组成对Chl a的影响较大,而景观指数则对TN和TP的影响较大。因此,在流域尺度加强土地利用的规划与综合管理,通过减少和控制地表径流面源污染的途径在一定程度上可降低人类活动对水质的不良影响。     

Senescence in the city: exploring ageing patterns of a long‐lived raptor across an urban gradient

In many vertebrates, productivity and survival usually increase with age and then start to decline above a certain age; processes known as reproductive and actuarial senescence. Senescence is widely believed to be driven by the accumulation of somatic damage or mutations. Thus, levels of such cellular damage, and therefore senescence could, in theory, differ between different habitats if they experience different stressors. Urban environments expose animals to a wide range of stressors that pose a challenge to physiological systems and might accelerate the ageing process. We studied productivity and survival of black sparrowhawks across an urban gradient in Cape Town, South Africa. We hypothesise that productivity and survival will first increase with age, but that productivity and survival will then decline above a certain age, due to senescence. Furthermore, we hypothesise that rates of senescence will be accelerated in more urban areas. We used 17 years of data from colour‐ringed individuals. We found no indication of any improvement in productivity with age in early‐life, but we did detect reproductive senescence, with productivity declining above six years of age. However, contrary to our predictions, there were no differences in reproductive senescence along the urban gradient. Similarly, we found that survival rates of adults did not show any strong improvement with age in early life, but decreased with age amongst older birds, providing support for actuarial senescence. However, once again no differences in this pattern were apparent along the urban gradient. This study represents one of the first to examine differences in senescence rates in different habitats. Our results suggest that for this urban adapted species, senescence patterns do not vary according to levels of urbanisation. Whether this pattern holds for species more sensitive to urbanisation remains worthy of exploration.     

我国三大城市群地区城市和农业用地地表热环境效应对比研究

以大中小城市协同发展为特征的城市群已成为我国城市化发展的主要形式,城市化和农业作为城市群地区最主要的土地利用活动,其气候效应是国际研究的热点。然而过去研究多关注大城市的热岛效应,对更为普遍的农业活动以及中小城市城市化的气候效应认识十分薄弱。基于MODIS地表温度数据,以自然林地为参照,提出了一种可逐像元估算土地利用地表热环境效应的新方法,进而对比分析了我国三大城市群地区（京津冀、长三角和珠三角）城市和农业用地地表热环境效应及其驱动因子差异。结果表明各城市群白天城市热岛效应明显,地级以上城市年平均热岛强度达3.2℃以上,但最强热岛均未发生在核心城市。夜晚热岛效应明显减弱,京津冀和长三角部分城市甚至出现冷岛效应。农业用地在白天亦表现出明显的增温效应,特别是在京津冀地区,而在夜晚除珠三角城市群外,降温效应明显,京津冀和长三角地区平均降温2.3℃和0.7℃。虽然城市用地平均增温强度大于农业用地,但农业用地因面积优势对区域温度变化起控制作用。白天城市和农业用地整体导致各城市群温度明显增加,京津冀增温最高（4.0℃）,夜晚二者导致长三角和京津冀地区平均温度降低。研究还发现各城市群城市和农业用地地表热环境效应时空异质性极大,主要受植被、地表反照率、气候背景和人口密度控制。本文对制定缓解气候变化的土地利用策略具有重要的指导意义。     

The behavioural ecology and population dynamics of a cryptic ground‐dwelling mammal in an urban Australian landscape

Urbanization results in widespread habitat loss and fragmentation and generally has a negative impact upon native wildlife, in particular ground‐dwelling mammals. The northern brown bandicoot (Isoodon macrourus; Marsupialia: Peramelidae) is one of relatively few native Australian ground‐dwelling mammals that is able to survive within urbanized landscapes. As a consequence of extensive clearing and urban development within the city of Brisbane, bandicoots are now restricted to the mostly small (<10 ha) bushland fragments scattered across the city landscape. Our study examined the behavioural ecology of northern brown bandicoots within habitat fragments located on a major creek‐line, using mark‐recapture population monitoring and radio telemetry. Bandicoots at monitored sites were found to occur at high densities (typically one individual ha^?1), although one‐third of the populations were transient. Radio tracking revealed that bandicoots had relatively small home ranges (mean 1.5 ± 0.2 ha) comprised largely of bushland/grassland with dense, often weed‐infested ground cover. Bandicoots sheltered by day in these densely covered areas and also spent most time foraging there at night, although they occasionally ventured small distances to forage in adjacent maintained parklands and residential lawns. We suggest that introduced tall grasses and other weeds contribute to high habitat quality within riparian habitat fragments and facilitate the persistence of high density populations, comprised of individuals with small home ranges. The generalized dietary and habitat requirements of northern brown bandicoots, as well as a high reproductive output, undoubtedly facilitate the survival of the species in urban habitat fragments. Further research is required on other native mammal species in urbanized landscapes to gain a greater understanding of how best to conserve wildlife in these heavily modified environments.