The Influence Of Patch And Landscape Attributes On Species Richness And Occurrence Of Terrestrial Mammals In Hong Kong
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Influence Of Patch Landscape
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Author : Sharne Ellen McMillan
language : en
Publisher: Open Dissertation Press
Release Date : 2017-01-26
Influence Of Patch Landscape written by Sharne Ellen McMillan and has been published by Open Dissertation Press this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2017-01-26 with Science categories.
This dissertation, "The Influence of Patch and Landscape Attributes on Species Richness and Occurrence of Terrestrial Mammals in Hong Kong" by Sharne Ellen, Mcmillan, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: Studies on forest loss and fragmentation have found that proportion of forest cover, forest patch size, shape and isolation, and matrix quality affect mammal species richness and occurrence in tropical landscapes. However, how do these characteristics influence mammal species in a landscape like Hong Kong where the deforestation process has been lengthy and interrupted by waves of forest contraction and expansion, and that has resulted in a mammal community of habitat generalists? We have a good understanding of the mammal distributions in Hong Kong; however, we know very little about the factors affecting this. This study investigated if forest at the patch- and landscape-scale influences the species richness and relative abundance of mammal species in Hong Kong. Camera trapping data from a separate, Hong Kong-wide study, undertaken from 2000-2003 (which recorded 20 non-flying mammals species), was used to evaluate the influence of patch metrics (patch size/area and shape) and landscape attributes (forest cover, number of forest patches, mean inter-patch isolation distance, matrix quality and urban developed area cover) at two spatial scales (100 hectare buffer and 450 hectare buffer) on mammal species richness and relative abundance (using occurrence index). Patch metrics were measured from 32 focal patches and landscape attributes were measured from 21 landscape buffers, across Hong Kong. At the patch-scale, patch shape and size/area were not found to have an influence on extant and common mammal species richness or relative abundance. This is probably because the most sensitive species have already disappeared from Hong Kong, and the wide range of habitats in the matrix may be sufficient for the extant mammal species to survive and reproduce outside of forest patches. At the landscape-scale, Melogale moschata, Felis catus and Prionailurus bengalensis were associated with landscape buffers comprising a lower patch number and reduced patch isolation, indicating that whilst not forest obligates, these species may have some reliance on forest. In addition, the study found greater records of presence in forest habitat compared to matrix habitat for Hystrix brachyura, Macaca mulatta, Paguma larvata, Viverricula indica, Sus scrofa and Prionailurus bengalensis. Therefore, while the mammal species are likely to be able to use the matrix for survival, forest habitat is still likely to be important in Hong Kong for its terrestrial mammals. Matrix quality was not found to influence mammal species richness or relative abundance. The use of the matrix, which predominantly comprises natural habitats (e.g. shrubland and grassland) in Hong Kong, by the mammal generalists may help to mitigate the negative effects of forest fragmentation. The results of the study appeared to be strongly influenced by the geographic locations of the forest patches and landscape buffers. As the obvious patterns associated with patch metrics and landscape attributes were not strongly apparent, further examination of the mammal communities, particularly within different regions may be necessary. In addition given the rarity of some of the 'outlier' species omitted from the analyses, association or possible reliance on forest habitat/patches may make them more vulnerable. Therefore, further assessment of rare species is recommended. Subjects:
The Influence Of Patch And Landscape Attributes On Species Richness And Occurrence Of Terrestrial Mammals In Hong Kong
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Author : Sharne Ellen Mcmillan
language : en
Publisher:
Release Date : 2015
The Influence Of Patch And Landscape Attributes On Species Richness And Occurrence Of Terrestrial Mammals In Hong Kong written by Sharne Ellen Mcmillan and has been published by this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2015 with Mammals categories.
The Influence Of Species Traits And Landscape Attributes On The Response Of Mid And Large Sized Neotropical Mammals To Forest Fragmentation
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Author : Daniel Harry Thornton
language : en
Publisher:
Release Date : 2010
The Influence Of Species Traits And Landscape Attributes On The Response Of Mid And Large Sized Neotropical Mammals To Forest Fragmentation written by Daniel Harry Thornton and has been published by this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2010 with categories.
Patch-scale factors also exerted a strong influence on occupancy of mammals. My review of the literature revealed that species from diverse taxa responded strongly to within-patch, patch, and landscape-scale variables, but the probability of response to these factors changed across taxa and according to several methodological variables. Given the ubiquity of hunting in tropical environments, my findings indicate that management efforts in fragmented landscapes that do not account for hunting pressure may be ineffective in conserving tropical mammals. My study also indicates that species traits may be useful in predicting relative patch occupancy rates and/or vulnerability to fragmentation across distinct landscapes, but that caution must be used as certain traits can become more or less influential on different landscapes, even when considering the same set of species. Finally, my results point to the need for management efforts in fragmented environments to go beyond habitat preservation and also consider prevention of habitat fragmentation per se, at least for tropical mammals.
Cross Scale Habitat Selection By Terrestrial And Marine Mammals
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Author : Jason Thomas Fisher
language : en
Publisher:
Release Date : 2010
Cross Scale Habitat Selection By Terrestrial And Marine Mammals written by Jason Thomas Fisher and has been published by this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2010 with categories.
Ecology has been devoted to defining the content of a species' environment. Defining the extent, or size, of a species' environment is also pivotal to elucidating species-habitat relationships. More than a home range, this extent integrates an individual's lifetime experiences with resources, competition, and predators. I theorised that a species' habitat extent is identifiable from its characteristic spatial scale of habitat selection, which in turn is predicted by body size. I reviewed scale-dependent mammalian habitat selection studies and found that a characteristic scale was typically not identified, but identifiable. Of several ecological predictors tested, only body mass was a significant predictor of the relative size of a species' characteristic habitat selection scale. Tests of existing data are confounded by differing approaches, so I empirically tested the scale-body mass hypothesis using a standardised survey of 12 sympatric terrestrial mammal species from the Canadian Rocky Mountains. For each species, support for habitat models varied across 20 scales tested. For six species, I found a characteristic selection scale, which was best predicted by species body mass in a quadratic relationship. Occurrence of large and small species was explained by habitat measured at large scales, whereas medium-sized species were explained by habitat measured at small scales. The relationship between body size and habitat selection scale is congruent with the textural-discontinuity hypothesis, and implies species' evolutionary adaptation to landscape heterogeneity as the driver of scale-dependent habitat selection. I applied this principle to examine wolverine habitat selection, and found that anthropogenic fragmentation of the landscape influences that species' occurrence in space at large spatial scales. Finally, I contended that the prevailing paradigm equating habitats to resources omits interspecific interactions that are key predictors of a species' occurrences. I examined habitat selection of martens and fishers in terrestrial environments, and sea otters in marine coastal environments, and tested whether the presence of heterospecifics could explain spatial occurrence beyond landscape structure and resources. In both cases, the presence of heterospecifics explained species occurrence beyond simple resource selection. Interspecific interactions are key drivers of a species' distribution in space; this is the spatial expression of the concepts of fundamental and realized niches. Body size interacts with landscape structure to determine the scale of a species' response to its environment, and within this habitat extent, interspecific interactions affect the species' pattern of occurrence and distribution.
The Effects Of Habitat Fragmentation On The Diversity And Community Structure Of Nekton Inhabiting Subtropical Seagrass Meadows
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Author : Geoffrey Michael Hensgen
language : en
Publisher:
Release Date : 2011
The Effects Of Habitat Fragmentation On The Diversity And Community Structure Of Nekton Inhabiting Subtropical Seagrass Meadows written by Geoffrey Michael Hensgen and has been published by this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2011 with categories.
Habitat fragmentation is often regarded as a biodiversity threat associated with habitat degradation; however, research has also revealed beneficial effects on biodiversity as well, depending on the ecosystem and species community. This study examined the biodiversity of small nekton residing in seagrass meadows characterized by three levels of habitat fragmentation, and as a habitat gradient comprised of measures such as habitat amount, connectivity, patch shape, and proximity. Landscapes were mapped using recent advances in GPS and GIS technology, and analyzed using established methods from research in terrestrial ecosystems. Species richness was not significantly different as a function of fragmentation regardless of season, suggesting that the amount of habitat and configuration of several patches in fragmented habitats is sufficient to support comparable numbers of species in several patches compared to communities in large, continuous seagrass meadows. Species evenness declined significantly in fragmented habitats versus continuous ones in both seasons. Within fragmented landscapes, evenness progressively declined as habitat amount and connectivity decreased and patch isolation and density increased, suggesting that changes in landscape qualities can differentially impact processes supporting metapopulations such as dispersal and reproduction in certain species, thereby influencing community structure. Analyses that included measures of habitat connectivity, proximity, and patch density in addition to habitat amount accounted for more variability in species evenness than those just containing percent cover, and showed that fragmentation's impacts can differ geographically. These data suggest that community resilience to fragmentation can differ between similar animal communities residing in separate locations, and that landscape configuration plays an important role in determining how communities respond to fragmentation after a threshold of change in habitat amount has been exceeded.
Assessing The Impacts Of Habitat Fragmentation On Biodiversity Across Scales
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Author : Maxwell Wilson
language : en
Publisher:
Release Date : 2018
Assessing The Impacts Of Habitat Fragmentation On Biodiversity Across Scales written by Maxwell Wilson and has been published by this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2018 with Biodiversity categories.
Habitat fragmentation, the loss of habitat in the landscape and spatial isolation of remaining habitat patches, has long been considered a serious threat to biodiversity. However, the study of habitat fragmentation is fraught with definitional and conceptual challenges. Specifically, a multi-scale perspective is needed to address apparent disagreements between landscape- and patch-based studies that have caused significant uncertainty concerning fragmentation0́9s effects on biological communities. Here I tested the hypothesis that habitat fragmentation alters biological communities by creating hierarchically nested selective pressures across plot-, patch-, and landscape-scales using woody plant community datasets from Thousand Island Lake, China. In this archipelago edge-effects had little impact on species-diversity. However, the amount of habitat in the surrounding landscape had a positive effect on species richness at the patch-scale and sets of small islands accumulated species faster than sets of large islands of equal total size at the landscape-scale. In contrast, at the functional-level edge-effects decreased the proportion of shade-tolerant trees, island-effects increased the proportion of shade- intolerant trees, and these two processes interacted to alter the functional composition of the regional pool when the total amount of habitat in the landscape was low. By observing interdependent fragmentation-mediated effects at each scale, I found support for the hypothesis that habitat fragmentation's effects are hierarchically structured.
Plantation Forests And Biodiversity Oxymoron Or Opportunity
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Author : Eckehard G. Brockerhoff
language : en
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Release Date : 2010-07-23
Plantation Forests And Biodiversity Oxymoron Or Opportunity written by Eckehard G. Brockerhoff and has been published by Springer Science & Business Media this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2010-07-23 with Science categories.
1 Plantation forests and biodiversity: Oxymoron or opportunity? Forests form the natural vegetation over much of the Earth’s land, and they are critical for the survival of innumerable organisms. The ongoing loss of natural forests, which in some regions may have taken many millennia to develop, is one of the main reasons for the decline of biodiversity. Preventing the further destruction of forests and protecting species and ecosystems within forests have become central issues for environmental agencies, forest managers, and gove- ments. In this di?cult task science has an important role in informing policy and management as to how to go about this. So how do industrial and other pl- tation forests ?t into this? Plantation forests, comprised of rows of planted trees that may be destined for pulp or sawmills after only a few years of growth, appear to have little to c- tribute to the conservation of biodiversity. Yet there is more to this than meets the eye (of the casual observer), and there are indeed numerous opportunities, and often untapped potential, for biodiversity conservation in plantation forestry. With plantation forests expanding at a rate of approximately three million hectares per year, it is crucial to understand how plantations can make a positive contribution to biodiversity conservation and how the potentially negative impacts of this land use can be minimised. That is the topic of this book.
Bridging Aquatic And Terrestrial Ecosystems
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Author : Angela Holland
language : en
Publisher:
Release Date : 2016
Bridging Aquatic And Terrestrial Ecosystems written by Angela Holland and has been published by this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2016 with Aquatic ecology categories.
Mammals in freshwater aquatic systems play important roles as ecosystem engineers, trophic transfer agents, and apex predators, thus acting as indicators of freshwater ecosystem function. Watersheds inhabited by semi-aquatic mammals have increased links between adjacent terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems compared to watersheds where they are not present. Semiaquatic mammals not only exert top-down influences on streams, but are affected by bottom-up forces from the riparian system itself. The goal of this study was to identify variables that correlate with the presence of beaver (Castor canadensis), muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus ), mink (Neovison vison), and river otter ( Lontra canadensis), including their interactions, resulting in a better understanding of the areas where these semi-aquatic mammals occur and their effects on the riparian system. The objectives of this study were (1) to identify variables related to the probability of detection, initial occupancy, colonization, and extinction of the 4 semi-aquatic mammals in southern Illinois; and (2) to test if the reintroduction of river otter has changed stream food webs. To address my first objective, I sampled 120 bridge sites in 2 periods (winter: Jan-Feb; and spring: Mar-Apr) during 2012–2014 in 11 major watersheds in the southern third of Illinois (44,526 km2) to estimate multi-season occupancy. Each survey unit was a 400-m stream segment visited twice by 2 observers for a total of 4 observations per site per period. Observers recorded all mammal signs found, including sign species and type. Sites were Intensive Basin Survey Sites sampled by Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA), allowing data collected by the state to be available for explanatory variables for mammal occupancy. Data collected by the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) also were available for a subset of sites. I collected local- and landscape-scale habitat and weather variables for each site. I developed hypotheses regarding occupancy of sites based on land-cover, human disturbance, and stream attributes for each species. I developed additional hypotheses regarding prey availability and water quality for river otter and mink. Sites used in each analysis were dependent on data available to address the hypotheses of interest. My results indicate that semi-aquatic mammals in Illinois were affected by a riparian habitat, water availability, and stream community variables at both the landscape and local scale. I found high occupancy of mink, beaver, and muskrat across the entire landscape of southern Illinois, and my results suggest that the geographic range of river otter continues to expand. Relationships of occupancy of these semi-aquatic mammals to measurements of urban areas and human disturbance were not consistent across all species. Mink and river otter occupancy were both predicted by aspects of prey availability, indicating the importance of predator-prey relationships in occupancy dynamics of riparian predators. Hypotheses regarding predator pressure and changes in environmental variables were used to test the effects of river otter reintroduction on stream communities. For this objective, I used structural equation models. I compared fish and macroinvertebrate communities from before (1982-1995) and after (2005-2013) reintroduction of river otter, which occurred in 1994–1996. Fish and macroinvertebrate community data for 35 sites located throughout 6 major watersheds in southern Illinois (25,550 km2) were obtained from state agencies. Changes in stream communities were evaluated using 4 metrics (species richness, species dominance, skewness in size distribution of prey, and proportion of individuals in the size class preferred by river otter). Neither the inclusion of river otter site use nor change in stream quality, measured by change in % forest, improved models over the simple model which only included fish and macroinvertebrate communities. Overall, I found no evidence that river otter presence or change in forest cover affected stream fish and macroinvertebrate communities. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.)
Effects Of Human Modified Landscapes On Metacommunity Structure And Multiple Dimensions Of Biodiversity
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Author : Laura Marie Cisneros
language : en
Publisher:
Release Date : 2014
Effects Of Human Modified Landscapes On Metacommunity Structure And Multiple Dimensions Of Biodiversity written by Laura Marie Cisneros and has been published by this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2014 with categories.
Urban Biodiversity And Design
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Author : Norbert Muller
language : en
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Release Date : 2010-05-10
Urban Biodiversity And Design written by Norbert Muller and has been published by John Wiley & Sons this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2010-05-10 with Science categories.
With the continual growth of the world's urban population, biodiversity in towns and cities will play a critical role in global biodiversity. This is the first book to provide an overview of international developments in urban biodiversity and sustainable design. It brings together the views, experiences and expertise of leading scientists and designers from the industrialised and pre-industrialised countries from around the world. The contributors explore the biological, cultural and social values of urban biodiversity, including methods for assessing and evaluating urban biodiversity, social and educational issues, and practical measures for restoring and maintaining biodiversity in urban areas. Contributions come from presenters at an international scientific conference held in Erfurt, Germany 2008 during the 9th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biodiversity. This is also Part of our Conservation Science and Practice book series (with Zoological Society of London).