Multi-scale effects of farmland management on dragonfly and damselfly assemblages of farmland ponds

Raebel, Eva M.; Merckx, Thomas; Feber, Ruth E.; Riordan, Philip; Thompson, D. J.; Macdonald, David W.

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2012.07.015

Cited by 58 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…For each pond, surrounding landscape, distance to the closest pond, pond area, organic and inorganic matter contents in water (i.e., ions and mineral particles), diversity of freshwater macroinvertebrates and plants, and temporariness were evaluated in 2013 (Table S1). To characterise the surrounding landscape, several sizes of buffer zones were considered (Raebel, Merckx, Feber, Riordan, Thompson, et al., ) with the following range of radii: 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1,600 m. The percentages of urban, road, forest, field and wetland areas were measured in all buffers. This characterisation of the surrounding landscape gave similar results for buffers of 100, 200 and 400 m. For buffers of 800 and 1,600 m, the highest percentage of land cover corresponded to field area, suggesting that long distances were probably not representative of the close surrounding of ponds.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determinant landscape‐scale factors on pond odonate assemblages

et al. 2018

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Species assemblages are related to environmental factors acting at different landscape scales. Local habitat heterogeneity also contributes to maintain the regional species pool. Understanding factors determining species presence is therefore crucial for formulation of successful conservation and management strategies. Odonates can reveal much about patterns of species assemblages since their presence at a site reflects both their dispersal ability and life cycle constraints. Odonate assemblages were studied at 31 ponds located in three different landscapes: forest, urban and field. The impact of pond geographical distribution and their local characteristics (i.e., vegetation, suspended matter, freshwater macroinvertebrates, pond area and temporariness) on odonate composition, species richness and larval presence were studied. According to their intrinsic requirements, damselfly and dragonfly presence on ponds depended on local characteristics. Some species of the two orders were only detected in field or forest ponds. Moreover, some species were never detected in urban ponds. Differences in odonate assemblages were mainly related to vegetation, freshwater macroinvertebrates and pond area. Species richness was related to predator abundance and pond area, especially for dragonflies. The presence and abundance of odonate larvae were both related to aquatic vegetation, and to contrasted aquatic variables of ponds. Therefore, this study confirms that vegetation within and around ponds determines odonate presence. Interestingly, in a pond, species detected at the adult stage were not always detected at the larval stage, highlighting the need to really consider both parts of the lifecycle when studying odonate assemblages. Diversity of local habitats within and around ponds depends strongly on the surrounding landscape and influences the assembly of odonates. Forest and field ponds presented particularly dissimilar species assemblages. Urban ponds had no specific environmental habitats compared to the other contexts. Species present on these ponds are rather generalist and able to support human disturbances. Overall, this study confirms that pond heterogeneity may be a key factor in maintaining the regional pool of odonate species.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determinant landscape‐scale factors on pond odonate assemblages

et al. 2018

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“…; Raebel et al. ). In general, small invertebrates are likely to be influenced by climatic conditions prevailing at finer scales than larger‐sized taxa, such as birds and mammals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The Urban Heat Island and its spatial scale dependent impact on survival and development in butterflies of different thermal sensitivity

Kaiser

Merckx

Dyck

2016

Ecology and Evolution

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Climate alteration is one of the most cited ecological consequences of urbanization. However, the magnitude of this impact is likely to vary with spatial scale. We investigated how this alteration affects the biological fitness of insects, which are especially sensitive to ambient conditions and well‐suited organisms to study urbanization‐related changes in phenotypic traits. We monitored temperature and relative air humidity in wooded sites characterized by different levels of urbanization in the surroundings. Using a split‐brood design experiment, we investigated the effect of urbanization at the local (i.e., 200 × 200 m) and landscape (i.e., 3 × 3 km) scale on two key traits of biological fitness in two closely related butterfly species that differ in thermal sensitivity. In line with the Urban Heat Island concept, urbanization led to a 1°C increase in daytime temperature and an 8% decrease in daytime relative humidity at the local scale. The thermophilous species Lasiommata megera responded at the local scale: larval survival increased twofold in urban compared to rural sites. Urbanized sites tended to produce bigger adults, although this was the case for males only. In the woodland species Pararge aegeria, which has recently expanded its ecological niche, we did not observe such a response, neither at the local, nor at the landscape scale. These results demonstrate interspecific differences in urbanization‐related phenotypic plasticity and larval survival. We discuss larval pre‐adaptations in species of different ecological profiles to urban conditions. Our results also highlight the significance of considering fine‐grained spatial scales in urban ecology.

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“…Ponds within the agricultural mosaic contribute to regional biodiversity by adding species not found in other habitats (Biggs, Corfield, Walker, Whitfield, & Williams, ; Biggs, von Fumetti, & Kelly‐Quinn, ; Declerck et al, ; Ruggiero, Céréghino, Figuerola, Marty, & Angélibert, ) and by supporting diverse communities of aquatic organisms (Júnior, Batista, & Cabette, ; Oertli et al, ; Raebel et al, ; Williams et al, ). Farmland ponds are important habitats for many aquatic organisms, and contribute greatly to initiatives to enhance biodiversity (Céréghino, Ruggiero, Marty, & Angélibert, ; Williams et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macrophytes promote aquatic insect conservation in artificial ponds

Briggs

Pryke

Samways

et al. 2019

Aquatic Conservation

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Farmland ponds promote regional aquatic biodiversity; however, optimally managing these ponds requires knowledge on how the biodiversity differs between ponds across catchments with different land uses. This study investigated the response of macrophytes, both those in the pond and on the bank, as well as dragonfly and water beetle species richness, diversity and composition in artificial ponds, to numerous environmental variables in catchments dominated by three land uses: protected areas (as reference sites), sugarcane‐dominated and forestry‐dominated landscapes, across two seasons. There was a strong association between insect species richness and vegetation cover, particularly sedges (Cyperus spp.) in spring and bulrushes (Typha capensis) in summer. There was also a positive response between insect species richness and sedges up to 70% cover, and bulrushes up to 40% cover, after which there was a decrease. Furthermore, the protected area ponds contained more rare and specialist insect species. Pond size was not a major variable for biodiversity overall. Although there was generally little congruence in composition among the three taxa, dragonflies were a good surrogate for water beetles and floating macrophytes. Well‐vegetated ponds, both in the water and along the margin, are the most suited to promoting biodiversity, as long as the vegetation is not too dense, and not dominated by one plant species. Artificial ponds in production landscapes have great potential for conserving aquatic species, irrespective of land use, as long as there is management for macrophyte density and heterogeneity.

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Multi-scale effects of farmland management on dragonfly and damselfly assemblages of farmland ponds

Cited by 58 publications

References 45 publications

Determinant landscape‐scale factors on pond odonate assemblages

Determinant landscape‐scale factors on pond odonate assemblages

The Urban Heat Island and its spatial scale dependent impact on survival and development in butterflies of different thermal sensitivity

Macrophytes promote aquatic insect conservation in artificial ponds

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