Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Forest Buffers (forest + buffer)
Selected AbstractsEFFECTS OF PRESCRIPTIVE RIPARIAN BUFFERS ON LANDSCAPE CHARACTERISTICS IN NORTHERN MINNESOTA, USA,JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Issue 3 2002JoAnn M. Hanowski ABSTRACT: Forest buffers adjacent to water bodies are widely prescribed in forest management to protect ecological functions of riparian systems. To date, buffers have been applied on the landscape uniformly without quantifying their effectiveness or the effects they have on landscape characteristics. Our objective was to quantify landscape characteristics (amount of edge and interior forest) when buffers were applied to water bodies in a 100 by 100 km area of northern Minnesota. We used a Landsat classified image in a geographic information system platform to apply two buffer widths ,28.5 m and 57 m , to water bodies, including nonforested wetlands, intermittent or perennial streams, and lakes. A total of 107,141 ha (18.3 percent) of the forest area was adjacent to and within 28.5 m of these water bodies, while 201,457 ha of forest was within 57 m, representing 34.4 percent of the total forest area. Imposing a 28.5 m buffer on water bodies increased the amount of edge and interior forest in the study area. When water bodies were buffered with a 57 m forest strip, we found a slight increase in forest edge from the current condition, and this buffer width resulted in the largest amount of interior forest. Interior forest increased with the 57 m buffer due to the density of water bodies in this region; adjacent water bodies coalesced when buffers were applied and formed isolated forest islands that contained forest interior habitat. Instead of wholesale application of set width riparian buffers, we suggest that ecological conditions of riparian areas be evaluated on a site level and that areas that currently provide important riparian conditions be maintained on the landscape with appropriate management practices. [source] Hunting, disturbance and roost persistence of bats in caves at Ankarana, northern MadagascarAFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2009Scott G. Cardiff Abstract Surveys and monitoring of 37 caves in and around the Ankarana Special Reserve, northern Madagascar, yielded evidence of hunting of bats and potential disturbance of bats by miners and tourists, and colony counts for several bat species of potential conservation concern. Colony size decreased by 95% and 14% for a colony of Hipposideros commersoni and a colony of Eidolon dupreanum, respectively, when recent evidence of hunting occurred at those colonies and those declines are probably attributable to hunting. Evidence of hunting occurred commonly at the roosts of those species and most commonly at the roosts of Rousettus madagascariensis. Hunting of pteropodids was associated with high vulnerability of roosts to hunters, little forest buffer between the cave and open savannah and the absence of tombs in the cave. Roost sites of the hunted species persisted for at least several years and this regularity may facilitate hunting. This work supports the ranking of E. dupreanum, R. madagascariensis and H. commersoni as species of conservation concern. Managers should consider the impact of tourist visits on bats and of increasing access to caves for tourism. Conservation efforts for the hunted species should also seek to protect vulnerable and unprotected cave roosts. Résumé Des études et un suivi continu de 37 grottes dans la Réserve Spéciale d'Ankarana et dans les environs, dans le nord de Madagascar, ont permis de récolter des preuves de la chasse aux chauves-souris et de l'éventuel dérangement des chauves-souris par des mineurs et des touristes; et des comptes de colonies pour plusieurs espèces dont le statut de conservation pourrait être inquiétant. La taille des colonies avait baissé de 95% et de 14% respectivement pour Hipposideros commersoni et pour Eidolon dupreanum, lorsque des preuves récentes de chasse sont apparues dans ces colonies; ces déclins sont probablement dus à la chasse. Des preuves de chasse étaient réguliérement présentes aux dortoirs de ces espèces, et plus communes encore aux dortoirs de Rousettus madagascariensis. La chasse des ptéropodidés était associée à une grande vulnérabilité des dortoirs face aux chasseurs, à une petite zone forestière tampon entre la grotte et la savane ouverte, et à l'absence de tombes dans la grotte. Les sites de repos des espèces chassées existaient depuis plusieurs années au moins, et cette persistance pourrait faciliter la chasse. Ce travail soutient le classement de E. dupreanum, R. madagascariensis et H. commersoni parmi les espèces dont le statut de conservation est inquiétant. Les gestionnaires devraient considérer l'impact des visites de touristes sur les chauves-souris et de l'augmentation de l'accès aux grottes pour le tourisme. Les efforts de conservation des espèces chassées devraient aussi viser à protéger les dortoirs dans des grottes vulnérables et non protégées. [source] The greening and browning of Alaska based on 1982,2003 satellite dataGLOBAL ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2008David Verbyla Abstract Aim To examine the trends of 1982,2003 satellite-derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values at several spatial scales within tundra and boreal forest areas of Alaska. Location Arctic and subarctic Alaska. Methods Annual maximum NDVI data from the twice monthly Global Inventory Modelling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) NDVI 1982,2003 data set with 64-km2 pixels were extracted from a spatial hierarchy including three large regions: ecoregion polygons within regions, ecozone polygons within boreal ecoregions and 100-km climate station buffers. The 1982,2003 trends of mean annual maximum NDVI values within each area, and within individual pixels, were computed using simple linear regression. The relationship between NDVI and temperature and precipitation was investigated within climate station buffers. Results, At the largest spatial scale of polar, boreal and maritime regions, the strongest trend was a negative trend in NDVI within the boreal region. At a finer scale of ecoregion polygons, there was a strong positive NDVI trend in cold arctic tundra areas, and a strong negative trend in interior boreal forest areas. Within boreal ecozone polygons, the weakest negative trends were from areas with a maritime climate or colder mountainous ecozones, while the strongest negative trends were from warmer basin ecozones. The trends from climate station buffers were similar to ecoregion trends, with no significant trends from Bering tundra buffers, significant increasing trends among arctic tundra buffers and significant decreasing trends among interior boreal forest buffers. The interannual variability of NDVI among the arctic tundra buffers was related to the previous summer warmth index. The spatial pattern of increasing tundra NDVI at the pixel level was related to the west-to-east spatial pattern in changing climate across arctic Alaska. There was no significant relationship between interannual NDVI and precipitation or temperature among the boreal forest buffers. The decreasing NDVI trend in interior boreal forests may be due to several factors including increased insect/disease infestations, reduced photosynthesis and a change in root/leaf carbon allocation in response to warmer and drier growing season climate. Main conclusions There was a contrast in trends of 1982,2003 annual maximum NDVI, with cold arctic tundra significantly increasing in NDVI and relatively warm and dry interior boreal forest areas consistently decreasing in NDVI. The annual maximum NDVI from arctic tundra areas was strongly related to a summer warmth index, while there were no significant relationships in boreal areas between annual maximum NDVI and precipitation or temperature. Annual maximum NDVI was not related to spring NDVI in either arctic tundra or boreal buffers. [source] Monitoring Regional Riparian Forest Cover Change Using Stratified Sampling and Multiresolution Imagery,JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Issue 2 2010Peter R. Claggett Claggett, Peter R., Judy A. Okay, and Stephen V. Stehman, 2010. Monitoring Regional Riparian Forest Cover Change Using Stratified Sampling and Multiresolution Imagery. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 46(2):334-343. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2010.00424.x Abstract:, The Chesapeake Bay watershed encompasses 165,760 km2 of land area with 464,098 km of rivers and streams. As part of the Chesapeake Bay restoration effort, state and federal partners have committed to restoring 26,000 miles (41,843 km) of riparian forest buffers. Monitoring trends in riparian forest buffers over large areas is necessary to evaluate the efficacy of these restoration efforts. A sampling approach for estimating change in riparian forest cover from 1993/1994 to 2005 was developed and implemented in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, to exemplify a method that could be applied throughout the Bay watershed. All stream reaches in the county were stratified using forest cover change derived from Landsat imagery. A stratified random sample of 219 reaches was selected and forest cover change within the riparian buffer of each sampled reach was interpreted from high-resolution aerial photography. The estimated footprint of gross change in riparian forest cover (i.e., the sum of gross gain and gross loss) for the county was 1.83% (SE = 0.22%). Stratified sampling taking advantage of a priori knowledge of locations of change proved to be a practical and efficient protocol for estimating riparian forest buffer change at the county scale and the protocol would readily extend to much broader scale monitoring. [source] | ||||||||||