Riparian areas as a conservation priority under climate change

Zhang, Xiaoyan; Ci, Xiuqin; Hu, Jianlin; Bai, Yang; Thornhill, Andrew H.; Conran, John G.; Li, Jie

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159879

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 125 publications

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“…humidity and plant composition), than in upland woodlands under the same regional climate. This pattern could indirectly support the potential role of riparian woodlands in the Mediterranean as microclimatic refugia in a warming climate scenario (Zhang et al 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Plant and Bird Communities of Riparian and Upland Woodlands Respond Differently to an Atlantic- Mediterranean Climatic Gradient in Mainland Spain

Hera¹,

Alcaraz²,

Mezger³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Riparian habitats are key landscape elements promoting regional biodiversity, particularly in areas where water availability is scarce. In Mediterranean Iberia, the microclimatic conditions that occur near rivers allow the development of humid riparian woodlands that differ markedly from those growing in equivalent upland areas, but resemble higher-latitude (Atlantic) formations in their structure and composition. However, the effects of this variation on the animal species assemblages inhabiting each woodland type have not been well-documented. We characterized the vegetation of riparian and upland woodlands (general structure and composition) and their avian breeding communities (diversity, climatic and habitat preferences) in 38 sites distributed across mainland Spain to explore how they changed across a climatic gradient of increasing summer drought. Our results revealed that deciduous woody plants decreased as summer drought increased, but this reduction was more attenuated in riparian than in upland woodlands, reinforcing the idea that Mediterranean riparian areas act as microclimatic refugia where more Atlantic (deciduous) woody species can persist. Interestingly, we also found a lower similarity between riparian and upland bird assemblages in areas with higher indexes of summer drought, making riparian woodlands comparatively more diverse than upland woodlands in the Mediterranean. This pattern was partly due to the presence of deciduous-tree-related bird species that were unable to persist in equivalent upland woodlands. These findings suggest that restoring habitat of riparian woodlands would provide refuges with suitable conditions for many woodland species whose persistence on the limit of their distribution range in southern Iberia is threatened by global warming.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Plant and Bird Communities of Riparian and Upland Woodlands Respond Differently to an Atlantic- Mediterranean Climatic Gradient in Mainland Spain

Hera¹,

Alcaraz²,

Mezger³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…In spite of providing numerous key ecosystem services, riparian ecosystems worldwide have been subject to numerous anthropogenic pressures that led to their degradation. Therefore, the protection and restoration of riparian ecosystems became one of the conservation priorities over the last few decades (Zhang et al., 2023). To support efforts related to riparian conservation, the development of generalizable functional trait‐based approaches is needed to better understand the processes that control riparian biodiversity (Rodríguez‐González et al., 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Along the river: Longitudinal patterns of functional and taxonomic diversity of plants in riparian forests

Surmacz,

Foremnik,

Pielech

2024

J Vegetation Science

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QuestionsThe River Continuum Concept (RCC) predicts a gradual shift of functional adaptations of organisms along the longitudinal (upstream–downstream) gradient, as well as the maximization of the biotic diversity in mid‐reaches. Although this theoretical framework was originally developed for stream macroinvertebrates, we tested whether such a pattern can also be observed in riparian plant communities.LocationThe study was conducted in the upper catchments of the San and Wisłoka Rivers in southeastern Poland. In both catchments, very well preserved riparian forests occur continuously along both rivers.MethodsWe studied the cover of plant species in riparian forests across two river networks. We analyzed the taxonomic and functional diversity indices, as well as community‐weighted means of functional traits in relation to the plots' positions in the catchments.ResultsThe functional richness and divergence displayed unimodal patterns of increasing values in the mid‐reaches. The patterns of taxonomic diversity were similar, but some plots in the lowest reaches were more diverse than expected, forming an additional increase in diversity. The observed patterns were largely in line with the predictions of RCC. We discovered a significant decrease in the specific leaf area and an increase in the height of herbaceous plants in communities along a longitudinal gradient. There was also a shift in the dispersal syndromes, toward a higher importance of zoochory in the lower reaches.ConclusionsThe study shows that plant communities in natural riparian forests show continuous species turnover along the longitudinal gradient that, along with the longitudinal shift of abiotic factors, creates patterns that are known from theoretical predictions.

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“…The riparian area is an important transition zone between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems [1][2][3]. Riparian vegetation, a key component of the riparian ecosystem, plays a significant role in filtering pollutants, sediments, and nutrients from runoff and groundwater, thereby regulating water quality and influencing the survival of aquatic organisms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Riparian Vegetation Conversion to an Oil Tea Plantation: Impacts on Small Mammals at the Community, Population, and Individual Level

Zhang

Tang

Wang

et al. 2023

Forests

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Riparian vegetation is crucial for maintaining terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity, but it is threatened by land-use activities. To assess the ecological impacts of riparian vegetation conversion to an oil tea (Camellia oleifera) plantation, we quantified the responses of small mammals in two natural habitats (mature forest and flood-meadow) and in Camellia forests at the community, population, and individual level. We found that the community diversity was similar between Camellia forests and mature forests, but higher than the flood-meadow. Meanwhile, the community composition differed across three habitats, with Camellia forests favoring habitat generalist species. At the population level, Camellia forests and flood-meadow had a similar population density, which were higher than mature forests. At the individual level, Rattus nitidus was less sensitive to this conversion, but the body condition index of Niviventer confucianus was higher in Camellia forests than in mature forests, and Apodemus agrarius in Camellia forests had more ectoparasite load than in the flood-meadow, indicating a species-specific response to the impacts of oil tea plantation. Our study highlights that the occurrence of habitat generalist species and high ectoparasite loads may threaten regional biodiversity and increase the risk of parasite transmission with enlarging the oil tea plantation area within riparian zones.

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Riparian areas as a conservation priority under climate change

Cited by 7 publications

References 125 publications

Plant and Bird Communities of Riparian and Upland Woodlands Respond Differently to an Atlantic- Mediterranean Climatic Gradient in Mainland Spain

Plant and Bird Communities of Riparian and Upland Woodlands Respond Differently to an Atlantic- Mediterranean Climatic Gradient in Mainland Spain

Along the river: Longitudinal patterns of functional and taxonomic diversity of plants in riparian forests

Riparian Vegetation Conversion to an Oil Tea Plantation: Impacts on Small Mammals at the Community, Population, and Individual Level

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