Interactive persistent effects of past land‐cover and its trajectory on tropical freshwater biodiversity

Santos, Edineusa Pereira; Wagner, Helene H.; Ferraz, Sílvio; Siqueira, Tadeu

doi:10.1111/1365-2664.13717

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 70 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…We tried to minimize temporal mismatch in predictor and response variables by matching the year that landscape and climate predictors were collected with the temporal period of the NRSA survey. However, past land use activities can have lasting, legacy effects on stream ecosystems and can be better indicators of taxonomic assemblages than contemporary land use (Harding et al, 1998; Leal et al, 2016; Santos et al, 2020). Incorporating information on land use conversion may be something to consider in future studies to help improve prediction.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disentangling natural and anthropogenic effects on benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in western US streams

Fergus,

Brooks,

Kaufmann

et al. 2023

Ecosphere

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Stream macroinvertebrate assemblages are shaped by natural and human‐related factors that operate through complex hierarchical pathways. Quantifying these relationships can provide additional insights into stream ecological assessment. We applied a structural equation modeling framework to evaluate hypothesized pathways by which watershed, riparian, and in‐stream factors affect benthic macroinvertebrate condition in the Western Mountains (WMT) and Xeric (XER) ecoregions in the United States. We developed a conceptual model grounded in theory, empirical evidence, and expert opinion to evaluate the following hypotheses: (1) macroinvertebrate assemblages are primarily driven by proximal, in‐stream factors (e.g., water quality and physical habitat); (2) anthropogenic land uses affect macroinvertebrates indirectly by altering in‐stream characteristics; and (3) riparian vegetation cover attenuates land use effects. We tested our model separately on three measures of benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage condition: ratio of observed‐to‐expected taxonomic richness (O/E); a multimetric index (MMI); and richness of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera taxa (EPT). In the WMT, site‐level riparian cover, in‐stream physical habitat (relative bed stability), and water chemistry (total nitrogen) were the top three predictors of macroinvertebrate assemblages, each having over two times the magnitude of effect on macroinvertebrates compared with watershed‐level predictors. In the arid XER, annual precipitation and stream flow characteristics were top predictors of macroinvertebrate assemblages and had similar magnitudes of effect as in‐stream water chemistry. Path analyses revealed that land use activities in the watershed and at the stream site degraded macroinvertebrate assemblages indirectly by altering relative bed stability, water quality, and riparian cover/complexity. Increased riparian cover was associated with greater macroinvertebrate condition by reducing land use impacts on stream flow, streambed substrate, and water quality, but the pathways differed among ecoregions. In the WMT, site‐level riparian cover affected macroinvertebrate assemblages partly through indirect pathways associated with greater streambed stability and reduced total nitrogen concentrations. In contrast, in the XER, watershed‐level riparian cover affected macroinvertebrate assemblages through greater specific stream power. Identifying the relative effects of and pathways by which natural and anthropogenic factors affect macroinvertebrates can serve as a framework for prioritizing management and conservation efforts.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disentangling natural and anthropogenic effects on benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in western US streams

Fergus,

Brooks,

Kaufmann

et al. 2023

Ecosphere

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Yet, quantifying ecosystem stability in the face of complex drivers of environmental change, such as land-use intensification, poses major logistical challenges. Observational studies in farmed land are plagued with various spatial and historical factors that preclude a clear interpretation of biomass variation (Santos et al, 2020), while land use intensification cannot be realistically captured in laboratory experiments where the mechanisms of biomass variation could be unveiled. In this study, we report the results of a large-scale experiment conducted in Southeastern Brazil (Figure 1), manipulating a common sequence in land use intensification: extensive pastures with no management and low cattle stocking density; intensive pasture with tiling, liming, fertilizing, seeding, and moderate cattle stocking density; and sugarcane plantations with tiling, liming, fertilizing, pesticide application and harvesting.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community reorganization stabilizes freshwater ecosystems in intensively managed agricultural fields

Schiesari

Saito

Ferreira

et al. 2023

Journal of Applied Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

1. Sustainable intensification may depend on associating precision farming with the harnessing of ecological principles in crop fields, and integrating farms and nonfarmed land in productive landscapes. Small wetlands could play an important role in both pursuits for having high per-unit-area rates of element cycling and species richness while deeply penetrating crop fields. However, their potential for ecosystem service provisioning is unlikely to be met if land management intensification promotes ecosystem destabilization in biomass production.2. We tested the consequences of land use intensification on various dimensions of freshwater ecosystem stability by means of a large-scale field experiment converting extensive pastures to intensive pastures and sugarcane plantations in Southeastern Brazil. Nested within experimental plots were 4000 L mesocosms simulating ponds and puddles commonly found in productive landscapes.Mesocosms were monitored for basic physico-chemical parameters, nutrients, pesticides, phytoplankton standing crop, and the spontaneously colonizing biodiversity.3. Despite severe environmental change, the stability of sugarcane communities was no different from that of extensive and intensive pastures. This occurred because the local extinction of a sensitive top dragonfly predator following the application of vinasse and insecticide was compensated by colonization of a suite of more tolerant invertebrate mesopredators such as beetles and bugs. Community stability tended to increase with biomass asynchrony and species richness, evidencing a portfolio effect of biodiversity. Unfortunately, the species richness necessary to

show abstract

“…However, this assumption is commonly violated in conservation-relevant cases such as invasive species, reintroduction programs, or threatened populations that are subjected to ongoing environmental change. This leads to inaccurate projections because the true species distribution is actually transient and thus dependent on time and history (Santos et al, 2020; Watts et al, 2020; Semper-Pascual et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fitting individual-based models of spatial population dynamics to long-term monitoring data

Malchow

Fandós

Kormann

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Generating spatial predictions of species distribution is a central task for research and policy. Among the currently most widely used tools for this purpose are correlative species distribution models (cSDMs). Their basic assumption of a species distribution in equilibrium with its environment, however, is rarely met in real data and prevents dynamic projections. Process-based, dynamic SDMs (dSDMs) promise to overcome these limitations as they explicitly represent transient dynamics and enhance spatio-temporal transferability. Software tools for implementing dSDMs become increasingly available, yet their parameterisation can be complex. Here, we test the feasibility of calibrating and validating a dSDM using long-term monitoring data of Swiss red kites Milvus milvus. This population has shown strong increases in abundance and a progressive range expansion over the last decades, indicating a non-equilibrium situation. We construct an individual-based model with the RangeShiftR modelling platform and calibrate it using Bayesian inference. This allows the integration of heterogeneous data sources, such as parameter estimates from published literature and observational data from monitoring schemes, and consistent quantification of parameter uncertainties. Our monitoring data encompass counts of breeding pairs at 267 sites across Switzerland over an annual time-series of 22 years. We validate our model using a spatial-block cross-validation scheme and assess predictive performance with a rank-correlation coefficient. Our model showed very good and excellent predictive accuracy of spatial and temporal projections, respectively, well representing the observed population dynamics over the last two decades. Results suggest that reproductive success was the most decisive factor driving the observed range expansion. According to our predictions, the Swiss red kite population fills most of its range but density will further increase before stabilising mid century. With our case study we demonstrate the practicality of data integration and validation for dSDMs using available tools. This approach can improve predictive performance compared to cSDMs. The workflow exemplified here can be adopted for any population for which prior knowledge on demographic and dispersal parameters as well as spatio-temporal observations of abundance or occupancy are available. The resulting calibrated model provides refined insights into the ecology of a species and its predictions can inform conservation and management.

show abstract

Interactive persistent effects of past land‐cover and its trajectory on tropical freshwater biodiversity

Cited by 8 publications

References 70 publications

Disentangling natural and anthropogenic effects on benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in western US streams

Disentangling natural and anthropogenic effects on benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in western US streams

Community reorganization stabilizes freshwater ecosystems in intensively managed agricultural fields

Fitting individual-based models of spatial population dynamics to long-term monitoring data

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About