Ecological and Land Use Studies Along Elevational Gradients

Becker, Alfred; Körner, Christian; Brun, Jean‐Jacques; Guisan, Antoine; Tappeiner, Ulrike

doi:10.1659/0276-4741(2007)27[58:ealusa]2.0.co;2

Cited by 146 publications

(103 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Monitoring historical data is a prerequisite for understanding processes and is essential for modelling (Becker et al 2007, Schneeberger et al 2007, Veit et al 2007) as well as for supporting land use planning and management. The fact that the managers of Paneveggio Park requested a multi temporal analysis is the demonstration that planners are becoming aware of the importance of this information.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring spatial and temporal pattern of Paneveggio forest (northern Italy) from 1859 to 2006

Tattoni¹,

Ciolli²,

Ferretti³

et al. 2010

iForest

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© iForest -Biogeosciences and Forestry IntroductionForest cover in the Alps in the past centuries was shaped by human activities: agriculture and timber harvesting affected the lower and intermediate elevations while farming the higher (MacDonald et al. 2000). In fact, the traditional form of farming in the Alps involved moving livestock (mainly cows and sheep) from the valleys to the higher pastures according to the season. In winter the animals were sheltered in the valleys while during the summer they were carried to higher pastures where they could exploit the seasonal abundance of food. The herdsman used to stay in the typical mountain dairy called "Malga" surrounded by natural pastures or grassland derived from forest clearance (Piussi 2000). Farming in these areas was traditionally extensive and carried out by means of local and frugal breeds.During World War I the forests of the eastern Italian Alps were extensively exploited by the soldiers because the fighting took place on the national border which ran along the tops of the mountains in the area being investigated. Since the end of World War II land use in mountain areas has changed dramatically: as many people moved to the cities, the traditional activities were almost abandoned, and consequently the pressure that shaped the vegetation for centuries was no longer there (De Natale et al. 2005, Sitzia et al. 2007, Sitzia 2009). While these social issues affect the Alps as well as in the study area, their impact on vegetation distribution and composition are harder to estimate (Swetnam et al. 1999, Scarascia-Mugnozza et al. 2000, Ciolli et al. 2002, Dullinger et al. 2003, Garbarino et al. 2009).There are interesting studies showing that agriculture related biodiversity is highly threatened both through abandonment and intensification but, unfortunately, much of the available data concerns arable and lowland farmland, although there is a lack of knowledge in mountain areas (Marriott et al. 2004).The The problem has been fully recognised also at EU level: a recent EEA report (European Environment Agency 2004) stresses the fact that the prevalence of high nature value farmland is in less productive areas, such as those located in southern Europe and in mountainous regions. Many relevant conservation efforts have been undertaken at a European level, such as the Pan-European biological and landscape diversity strategy, the Bern Convention, the European Landscape Convention, the Birds and Habitats Directives.In order to understand the ecological dynamics in the Alps under changing social and climatic conditions, it is crucial to develop a knowledge of what the forest landscape was like in the past and to get a precise idea of the rapidity of the natural succession set up in the open semi-natural grassland habitats.Multi-temporal analysis of historical maps, aerial photographs and satellite images with the aid of GIS is the best tools to reconstruct the past distribution of forest cover. The recent availability of aerial and satellite imagery and of the instru...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring spatial and temporal pattern of Paneveggio forest (northern Italy) from 1859 to 2006

Tattoni¹,

Ciolli²,

Ferretti³

et al. 2010

iForest

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“…From the perspective of preserving intraspecific genetic diversity in the European Alps, an important question is whether genetic diversity in alpine taxa is currently threatened (Becker et al 2007). Changes in human land use may affect genetic diversity of common alpine plants negatively (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High genetic differentiation in populations of the rare alpine plant species Campanula thyrsoides on a small mountain

Frei

Stöcklin

2012

Alp Botany

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Changes in climate and traditional land use have contributed to a loss and fragmentation of suitable habitats for many alpine plant species. Despite the importance of these changes, our knowledge of the consequences for gene flow and genetic diversity is still poor, especially in rare taxa and at fine spatial scales. Here, we investigated the genetic diversity in a rare alpine plant on a small and highly structured mountain in the Swiss Alps. Using microsatellite markers and Bayesian cluster analyses, we investigated genetic diversity within and among 24 populations of Campanula thyrsoides L. We also tested whether landscape structure has affected genetic structure by correlating genetic diversity with landscape and population features, which were assessed in a four-year monitoring period. The recorded genetic diversity (H e = 0.714) and genetic differentiation (G 0 ST = 0.32) at distances of 1-10 km were remarkably high. Clustering analyses revealed a split of populations into two genetically different spatial groups, but between-population genetic distances were neither correlated to geographic distance, elevation nor slope. The high differentiation and genetic bottlenecks may indicate strong founder effects, although the number of alleles was not decreased in bottlenecked populations. We conclude that stochastic colonisation by seeds is most important for shaping the genetic structure of C. thyrsoides on this small mountain. The high genetic diversity even in small populations may indicate that occasional gene flow is strong enough to overcome negative effects of bottlenecks. Nevertheless, further fragmentation and isolation of habitats may threaten this rare plant in the future.

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“…Inúmeras funcionalidades e serviços ambientais/ecossistêmicos das fl orestas altomontanas têm sido frequentemente expostas na literatura já há algum tempo (Stadmuller 1987, Bruijnzeel & Proctor 1995, Hamilton et al 1995, Bruijnzeel 2000, Becker et al 2006, Martínez et al 2009, Scheer 2010. Entre essas funcionalidades estão aquelas relacionadas à proteção de encostas (Becker et al 2006), ao aporte adicional de água pela interceptação das nuvens nas cabeceiras de bacias hidrográfi cas (Hamilton et al 1995, Bruijnzeel & Proctor 1995, ao estoque de signifi cativas quantidades de carbono e água (Bolstad & Vose 2005, Martínez et al 2009, Scheer et al 2011, à biodiversidade -por abrigar um grande número de espécies endêmicas e ameaçadas de extinção, muitas delas devido ao desmatamento de ecossistemas de menores altitudes (Hamilton et al 1995, Becker et al 2006, Bruijnzeel 2000-, à capacidade de servir como referência para o monitoramento de mudanças climáticas no ecótono com ecossistemas adjacentes a montante (Becker et al 2006), ao controle biológico, à polinização, à disponibilidade de recursos para a fauna, à recreação, entre outros (Martínez et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Estrutura arbórea da Floresta Ombrófila Densa Altomontana de serras do Sul do Brasil

Scheer

Mocochinski²,

Roderjan

2011

Acta Bot. Bras.

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1 RESUMO(Estrutura arbórea da Floresta Ombrófi la Densa Altomontana de serras do Sul do Brasil). O presente trabalho teve os objetivos de agrupar informações sobre a estrutura arbórea da fl oresta altomontana da Serra do Mar paranaense e de compará-las com as de fl orestas altomontanas de outras serras do Sul e Sudeste do Brasil. Foram realizados levantamentos fi tossociológicos em diversas montanhas de quatro importantes serras (ou subserras) do Paraná. Nas quatro subserras foram amostrados 2294 indivíduos (PAP ≥ 10 cm) pertencentes a 28 famílias, 43 gêneros e 78 espécies. Foi observada maior riqueza de espécies na amostragem da Serra Gigante (41 espécies), seguida pelas serras da Prata (37), da Igreja (34) ABSTRACT(Tree component structure of tropical upper montane rain forests in Southern Brazil). Th e aims of this study were:(1) to group information about the tree structure of the upper montane rain forest of Serra do Mar in the state of Paraná (PR), Southern Brazil; and (2) to compare this information with available data from other mountain ranges in Southern and Southeastern Brazil. In the four mountain ranges studied, 2294 tree individuals (perimeter at breast height -PBH ≥ 10 cm) were sampled, which included 28 families, 43 genera and 78 species. Th e cloud forest sampled in Serra Gigante showed the highest richness (41 species), followed by Serra da Prata (37), Serra da Igreja (34) and Serra do Ibitiraquire (26). Th e mean tree height was 4.8 m, the PBH was 22.9 cm, the tree abundance was 4779 in/ ha, the basal area was 33.5 m 2 /ha and the Shannon diversity index was 2.68 nats/ind. Combining our data with the published data on the Serra do Mar region, resulting in a total of 11 surveys and 204 plots (10200 m 2 ), a matrix with 75 identifi ed species was obtained. In this matrix, the fi ve most important species in the structure of the forest were Ilex microdonta, Siphoneugena reitzii, Drimys angustifolia, Ocotea porosa and Ilex chamaedrifolia. Th e cloud forests sampled in Serra do Mar showed lower richness and diversity indexes than the cloud forests in Serra da Mantiqueira (Southeast) and higher richness and diversity than cloud forests in Aparados da Serra Geral (South). Th ese diff erences are possibly related to the anthropic infl uences, geographic distances, diff erent centers of endemism, the tropical and subtropical surroundings, and geomorphology, among other factors.

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Ecological and Land Use Studies Along Elevational Gradients

Cited by 146 publications

References 51 publications

Monitoring spatial and temporal pattern of Paneveggio forest (northern Italy) from 1859 to 2006

Monitoring spatial and temporal pattern of Paneveggio forest (northern Italy) from 1859 to 2006

High genetic differentiation in populations of the rare alpine plant species Campanula thyrsoides on a small mountain

Estrutura arbórea da Floresta Ombrófila Densa Altomontana de serras do Sul do Brasil

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