Novel bird responses to successive, large-scale, landscape transformations
- Lindenmayer, David, Blanchard, Wade, Westgate, Martin, Foster, Claire, Barton, Philip
- Authors: Lindenmayer, David , Blanchard, Wade , Westgate, Martin , Foster, Claire , Barton, Philip
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Ecological Monographs Vol. 89, no. 3 (2019), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Transformation of intact vegetation into new kinds and configurations of human-modified habitats is a well-established driver of biodiversity loss. Following initial conversion, many human-dominated landscapes are then subject to further large-scale changes in land use. The impacts on biodiversity of repeated changes in land use remain poorly known, particularly how changes in the matrix interact with initial patterns of vegetation clearing. We used an 18-yr study of birds in remnant patches of endangered temperate woodland in south-eastern Australia to quantify the spatial and temporal effects of successive land use transformation in the surrounding landscape. We examined bird response to (1) initial patterns of landscape modification (creating semi-cleared grazing land dominated by pastures that surrounded remnant woodland patches), (2) subsequent establishment and maturation of exotic tree plantations on the pastures surrounding woodland patches, and (3) additive and interactive effects of both types of landscape transformation. The majority of the 57 bird species modeled responded to conversion of grazing land to exotic plantations, either independently from initial patterns of landscape transformation (20 species), or interactively (18 species) or additively (15 species) with initial landscape transformation. The occurrence of only one species (the Common Bronzewing) was related to patterns of initial transformation but not subsequent transformation due to plantation establishment. Thus, despite many characteristics of the woodland patches within the plantation remaining largely unaltered throughout our 18-yr investigation, the matrix had a profound effect on the kinds of species inhabiting them, with such impacts often magnified over time as the matrix continued to change. Plantation establishment triggered new regional-level spatial processes with effects on birds detected in woodland patches up to 2 km away from the plantation. Matrix conversion selected for species with different traits (size, diet and movement patterns) compared to the initial transformation, suggesting it is acting as a different filter on the bird community. New kinds of landscape transformation (such as plantation establishment on previously cleared land) can radically affect the species that have persisted for many decades in previously modified landscapes. This highlights the challenges, but also opportunities, for conserving taxa in ever changing human-dominated environments. © 2019 by the Ecological Society of America. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 5 including Federation University Australia affiliate “Philip Barton” is provided in this record**
- Authors: Lindenmayer, David , Blanchard, Wade , Westgate, Martin , Foster, Claire , Barton, Philip
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Ecological Monographs Vol. 89, no. 3 (2019), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Transformation of intact vegetation into new kinds and configurations of human-modified habitats is a well-established driver of biodiversity loss. Following initial conversion, many human-dominated landscapes are then subject to further large-scale changes in land use. The impacts on biodiversity of repeated changes in land use remain poorly known, particularly how changes in the matrix interact with initial patterns of vegetation clearing. We used an 18-yr study of birds in remnant patches of endangered temperate woodland in south-eastern Australia to quantify the spatial and temporal effects of successive land use transformation in the surrounding landscape. We examined bird response to (1) initial patterns of landscape modification (creating semi-cleared grazing land dominated by pastures that surrounded remnant woodland patches), (2) subsequent establishment and maturation of exotic tree plantations on the pastures surrounding woodland patches, and (3) additive and interactive effects of both types of landscape transformation. The majority of the 57 bird species modeled responded to conversion of grazing land to exotic plantations, either independently from initial patterns of landscape transformation (20 species), or interactively (18 species) or additively (15 species) with initial landscape transformation. The occurrence of only one species (the Common Bronzewing) was related to patterns of initial transformation but not subsequent transformation due to plantation establishment. Thus, despite many characteristics of the woodland patches within the plantation remaining largely unaltered throughout our 18-yr investigation, the matrix had a profound effect on the kinds of species inhabiting them, with such impacts often magnified over time as the matrix continued to change. Plantation establishment triggered new regional-level spatial processes with effects on birds detected in woodland patches up to 2 km away from the plantation. Matrix conversion selected for species with different traits (size, diet and movement patterns) compared to the initial transformation, suggesting it is acting as a different filter on the bird community. New kinds of landscape transformation (such as plantation establishment on previously cleared land) can radically affect the species that have persisted for many decades in previously modified landscapes. This highlights the challenges, but also opportunities, for conserving taxa in ever changing human-dominated environments. © 2019 by the Ecological Society of America. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 5 including Federation University Australia affiliate “Philip Barton” is provided in this record**
The use and utility of surrogates in biodiversity monitoring programmes
- Sato, Chloe, Westgate, Martin, Barton, Philip, Foster, Claire, O'Loughlin, Luke
- Authors: Sato, Chloe , Westgate, Martin , Barton, Philip , Foster, Claire , O'Loughlin, Luke
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Applied Ecology Vol. 56, no. 6 (2019), p. 1304-1310
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 5 including Federation University Australia affiliate “Philip Barton” is provided in this record**
- Authors: Sato, Chloe , Westgate, Martin , Barton, Philip , Foster, Claire , O'Loughlin, Luke
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Applied Ecology Vol. 56, no. 6 (2019), p. 1304-1310
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 5 including Federation University Australia affiliate “Philip Barton” is provided in this record**
Optimal taxonomic groups for biodiversity assessment: a meta-analytic approach
- Westgate, Martin, Tulloch, Ayesha, Barton, Philip, Pierson, Jennifer, Lindenmayer, David
- Authors: Westgate, Martin , Tulloch, Ayesha , Barton, Philip , Pierson, Jennifer , Lindenmayer, David
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Ecography Vol. 40, no. 4 (2017), p. 539-548
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: A fundamental decision in biodiversity assessment is the selection of one or more study taxa, a choice that is often made using qualitative criteria such as historical precedent, ease of detection, or available technical or taxonomic expertise. A more robust approach would involve selecting taxa based on the a priori expectation that they will provide the best possible information on unmeasured groups, but data to inform such hypotheses are often lacking. Using a global meta-analysis, we quantified the proportion of variability that each of 12 taxonomic groups (at the Order level or above) explained in the richness or composition of other taxa. We then applied optimization to matrices of pairwise congruency to identify the best set of complementary surrogate groups. We found that no single taxon was an optimal surrogate for both the richness and composition of unmeasured taxa if we used simple methods to aggregate congruence data between studies. In contrast, statistical methods that accounted for well-known drivers of cross-taxon congruence (spatial extent, grain size, and latitude) lead to the prioritization of similar surrogates for both species richness and composition. Advanced statistical methods were also more effective at describing known ecological relationships between taxa than simple methods, and show that congruence is typically highest between taxonomically and functionally dissimilar taxa. Birds and vascular plants were most frequently selected by our algorithm as surrogates for other taxonomic groups, but the extent to which any one taxon was the ‘optimal’ choice of surrogate for other biodiversity was highly context-dependent. In the absence of other information – such as in data-poor areas of the globe, and under limited budgets for monitoring or assessment – ecologists can use our results to assess which taxa are most likely to reflect the distribution of the richness or composition of ‘total’ biodiversity. © 2016 The Authors
- Authors: Westgate, Martin , Tulloch, Ayesha , Barton, Philip , Pierson, Jennifer , Lindenmayer, David
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Ecography Vol. 40, no. 4 (2017), p. 539-548
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: A fundamental decision in biodiversity assessment is the selection of one or more study taxa, a choice that is often made using qualitative criteria such as historical precedent, ease of detection, or available technical or taxonomic expertise. A more robust approach would involve selecting taxa based on the a priori expectation that they will provide the best possible information on unmeasured groups, but data to inform such hypotheses are often lacking. Using a global meta-analysis, we quantified the proportion of variability that each of 12 taxonomic groups (at the Order level or above) explained in the richness or composition of other taxa. We then applied optimization to matrices of pairwise congruency to identify the best set of complementary surrogate groups. We found that no single taxon was an optimal surrogate for both the richness and composition of unmeasured taxa if we used simple methods to aggregate congruence data between studies. In contrast, statistical methods that accounted for well-known drivers of cross-taxon congruence (spatial extent, grain size, and latitude) lead to the prioritization of similar surrogates for both species richness and composition. Advanced statistical methods were also more effective at describing known ecological relationships between taxa than simple methods, and show that congruence is typically highest between taxonomically and functionally dissimilar taxa. Birds and vascular plants were most frequently selected by our algorithm as surrogates for other taxonomic groups, but the extent to which any one taxon was the ‘optimal’ choice of surrogate for other biodiversity was highly context-dependent. In the absence of other information – such as in data-poor areas of the globe, and under limited budgets for monitoring or assessment – ecologists can use our results to assess which taxa are most likely to reflect the distribution of the richness or composition of ‘total’ biodiversity. © 2016 The Authors
- «
- ‹
- 1
- ›
- »