Landscape restoration in a mixed agricultural-forest catchment: Planning a buffer strip and hedgerow network in a Chilean biodiversity hotspot

Benayas, José M. Rey; Altamirano, Adison; Miranda, Alejandro; Catalán, German; Prado, Marco A. M.; Lisón, Fulgencio; Bullock, James M.

doi:10.1007/s13280-019-01149-2

Cited by 22 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Loss of crop production need not be an issue if remnant vegetation is strategically placed in less productive areas (e.g., poor soils) (Rey Benayas et al. 2019). Equally important, natural land cover at the landscape scale positively influenced one‐fifth of the species analyzed (from various dietary guilds), emphasizing the importance of protecting continuous areas of natural vegetation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bird‐friendly wine country through diversified vineyards

Muñoz‐Sáez

Kitzes

Merenlender

2020

Conservation Biology

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Vinecology, the integration of ecological and viticultural practices, focuses on the working landscapes of the Mediterranean‐climate biomes to make wine‐grape production compatible with species conservation. We examined how maintaining remnant native vegetation and surrounding natural areas in and around vineyards, two primary practices of vinecology, may influence bird community richness and composition across a vineyard landscape. We conducted bird surveys over spring and summer (October–January) at 120 sites across a wine‐grape growing region in central Chile. The sites were equally divided across vineyards with and without remnant native vegetation, and sites had varying amounts of adjacent natural land cover. We used generalized linear mixed models to examine individual species responses to remnant vegetation in the vineyard at plot scale (within a 50‐m radius) in the surrounding natural area (within a 500–1000 m radius). We used the Horn similarity index to explore overall community differences to quantify variations in endemic species, guild detection levels, and species richness between site types. At the plot scale, 9 out of 30 species were positively associated with the proportion of remnant vegetation and 3 species were negatively associated. Six were positively influenced by the proportion of native vegetation in the surrounding landscape and 3 species were negatively associated with proportion of native vegetation. Although overall total detections and richness were significantly greater in continuous mixed Mediterranean forest, 84.9% of these species were also detected in forest remnants within vineyards. Endemics, insectivores, granivores, and omnivores were all more abundant in vineyards with remnant native vegetation than in vineyards without remnant native vegetation. Our results show the value of maintaining and restoring natural vegetation remnants in vineyards as a tool for bird conservation that can be applied in working landscapes of the New World Mediterranean climate regions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2016), it is important to incentivize the retention and restoration of small remnants for bird conservation (Rey Benayas et al. 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bird‐friendly wine country through diversified vineyards

Muñoz‐Sáez

Kitzes

Merenlender

2020

Conservation Biology

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“…With respect to restoration, the criteria for setting priorities were defined in order to minimize conflicts with primary production [49,50], so that the boosting of links, especially the conversion of branches into bridges, was preferred to the creation of new forest patches. Moreover, such a conversion was simulated by favoring restoration of tree cover in preexisting paths or along linear element residuals between cultivated fields (such as unpaved road edges or grass verges) (Figure 3) and by limiting the development of redundant links between nodes (i.e., loops).…”

Section: Third Step: Prioritization Of Conservation and Restoration Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological Connectivity in Agricultural Green Infrastructure: Suggested Criteria for Fine Scale Assessment and Planning

Valeri

Zavattero

Capotorti

2021

Land

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In promoting biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service capacity, landscape connectivity is considered a critical feature to counteract the negative effects of fragmentation. Under a Green Infrastructure (GI) perspective, this is especially true in rural and peri-urban areas where a high degree of connectivity may be associated with the enhancement of agriculture multifunctionality and sustainability. With respect to GI planning and connectivity assessment, the role of dispersal traits of tree species is gaining increasing attention. However, little evidence is available on how to select plant species to be primarily favored, as well as on the role of landscape heterogeneity and habitat quality in driving the dispersal success. The present work is aimed at suggesting a methodological approach for addressing these knowledge gaps, at fine scales and for peri-urban agricultural landscapes, by means of a case study in the Metropolitan City of Rome. The study area was stratified into Environmental Units, each supporting a unique type of Potential Natural Vegetation (PNV), and a multi-step procedure was designed for setting priorities aimed at enhancing connectivity. First, GI components were defined based on the selection of the target species to be supported, on a fine scale land cover mapping and on the assessment of land cover type naturalness. Second, the study area was characterized by a Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) and connectivity was assessed by Number of Components (NC) and functional connectivity metrics. Third, conservation and restoration measures have been prioritized and statistically validated. Notwithstanding the recognized limits, the approach proved to be functional in the considered context and at the adopted level of detail. Therefore, it could give useful methodological hints for the requalification of transitional urban–rural areas and for the achievement of related sustainable development goals in metropolitan regions.

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“…The ecological role of dry-stone walls is instead less studied than the one of hedgerows (Collier 2013), but some researches based in different European countries highlight their role in creating microhabitat for flora and fauna species (Manenti 2014;Dover et al 2000;Tanadini et al 2012;Holland 1972). For these reasons the conservation of linear features should be promoted at planning level, as well as their restoration, also for the positive effects on the surrounding crops or pastures (Benayas et al 2020;Dainese et al 2017;Morandin and Kremen 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The multifunctional role of linear features in traditional silvopastoral systems: the sabana de morro in Dolores (El Salvador) and the pastures with carob trees in Ragusa (Italy)

et al. 2021

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Traditional agro-silvo-pastoral systems are becoming each day more important, representing multifunctional systems that can contribute to the preservation of agrobiodiversity and of traditional knowledge and associated culture, to the wellbeing of local communities and to sustainable development of rural areas, as testified by the increasing interest regarding the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Programme of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Despite many researches on traditional agro-silvo-pastoral systems tend to focus only on land uses and land use changes, is also important to analyse the different features that characterize cultural landscapes, as well as to produce detailed spatial maps, in order to preserve and valorise these systems as a whole. The paper intends to compare two traditional silvopastoral systems in two different continents and environments: sabana de morro (El Salvador) and pastures with carob trees (Italy), considered as good example of biocultural diversity. Both these sites are characterized by extensive cattle breeding in a hot climate under the shade of trees, whose fruits can also integrate the animal diet. The study analyzed the traditional landscape structure, with particular attention to the presence of linear elements, that act as property divisions and as ecological corridors, contributing to biodiversity at landscape scale. Sabana de Morro is characterized by a complex system of hedges that enhances the variety of species, while an extensive network of dry-stone walls divides the Sicilian pastures with carob trees. These two different types of linear elements created thanks to the local farmers’ knowledge are made of different materials but can play a similar ecological and social function, acting as a division between one pasture and another, as a delimitation of property boundaries, and are necessary to allow a correct pasture management. Despite the differences, these two traditional linear features deeply characterize the landscape structure and fragmentation, creating important microhabitat for many animal and vegetal species and a network of ecological corridors. For these reasons the conservation of linear features should be promoted at planning level, as well as their restoration. Thanks to the applied methodology, it was possible to identify peculiarities and vulnerabilities of linear features and of the systems as a whole, so that it will be possible to create effective management and conservation tools.

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Landscape restoration in a mixed agricultural-forest catchment: Planning a buffer strip and hedgerow network in a Chilean biodiversity hotspot

Cited by 22 publications

References 56 publications

Bird‐friendly wine country through diversified vineyards

Bird‐friendly wine country through diversified vineyards

Ecological Connectivity in Agricultural Green Infrastructure: Suggested Criteria for Fine Scale Assessment and Planning

The multifunctional role of linear features in traditional silvopastoral systems: the sabana de morro in Dolores (El Salvador) and the pastures with carob trees in Ragusa (Italy)

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