Treesearch

Two contrasting strategies have been proposed for conserving biological diversity while meeting the increasing demand for agricultural products: land sparing and land sharing production systems. Land sparing involves increasing yield to reduce the amount of land needed for agriculture, whereas land-sharing agricultural practices incorporate elements of native ecosystems into the production system itself. Although the conservation value of these systems has been extensively debated, empirical studies are lacking. We compared bird communities in shade coffee, a widely practiced land-sharing...

Among the three of us, we have attended every annual meeting of the U.S. Chapter of the International Association of Landscape Ecology (US-IALE), and at least 20 meetings each. There have been several reviews of published research from the journal Landscape Ecology that have suggested a need for or documented a trend of moving away from purely descriptive studies quantifying pattern towards more technologically and analytically rigorous examinations of processes occurring over a wider range of spatiotemporal scales to guide design and management activities (Wiens 1992; Hobbs 1997; Andersen...

Incidental to other field investigations, I happened upon small populations of two fern species not previously reported from New Hampshire: Pellaea atropurpurea (L.) Link and Dryopteris filix-mas (L.) Schott. Both species are typically associated with calcareous habitats, although limestone and marble are nearly absent from New Hampshire bedrock. The presence of these ferns provides examples of how other types of bedrock may accommodate calciphilic taxa, thus increasing the biodiversity of the Granite State.

This chapter reviews the process steps of wildlife habitat monitoring described in chapters 2 through 9 and provides three case examples that illustrate how the process steps apply to specific situations. It provides the reader an opportunity to synthesize the material while also revealing the potential knowledge gaps and pitfalls that may complicate completion of a comprehensive habitat monitoring program. The chapter strives to clarify questions the reader may have by demonstrating the process of developing a habitat monitoring plan.

This chapter provides guidance for applying existing habitat models to map and monitor wildlife habitat. Chapter 2 addresses the use of conceptual models to create a solid foundation for selecting habitat attributes to monitor and to translate these attributes into quantifiable and reportable monitoring measures. Most wildlife species, however, require a complex suite of multiple resources and environmental conditions. Therefore, monitoring single habitat attributes is often not sufficient to assess the true condition of habitat quality for a species. To quantify and map habitat as an...

The primary objective of this chapter is to describe standardized methods for measur¬ing and monitoring attributes of landscape pattern in support of habitat monitoring. This chapter describes the process of monitoring categorical landscape maps in which either selected habitat attributes or different classes of habitat quality are represented as different patch types, using maps produced by the modeling approaches described in chapter 5. Although many alternative models of landscape structure exist, such as landscape gradi¬ents (McGarigal and Cushman 2005) and graph models (Urban et al....

Human disturbances dominate national forests and grasslands and affect habitats and species in multifaceted ways. In the past, planning and management efforts focused mainly on the management activities of silviculture, prescribed fire, and livestock grazing. Those disturbances remain as common agents to monitor and evaluate. A variety of additional human disturbances, however, are now prevalent and deserve attention, including roads and traffic, recreation, energy extraction, urban expansion, and nonnative or invasive species. Monitoring and evaluating the most prevalent human disturbances...

Perhaps the greatest barrier between monitoring and management is data analysis. Data languish in drawers and spreadsheets because those who collect or maintain monitoring data lack training in how to effectively summarize and analyze their findings. This chapter serves as a first step to surmounting that barrier by empowering any monitoring team with the basic understanding of how to get data out of the drawer and onto the management table. Even if a statistician will complete the task of data analysis, monitoring team members need to have sufficient knowledge about the data analysis...