Large scale landscape experiments : lessons from Tumut / David B. Lindenmayer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lindenmayer, David.

Contributor:

John G. Hartman Memorial Library Fund.

Series:

Ecology, biodiversity, and conservation

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fragmented landscapes--Environmental aspects.

Fragmented landscapes.

Biodiversity conservation.

Fragmented landscapes--Research--Australia--Tumut (N.S.W.).

Research.

Australia.

Physical Description:

xvi, 287 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Summary:

Landscape change and habitat fragmentation are key factors impacting biodiversity worldwide. These processes have many facets, each of which is usually studied in isolation. The Tumut Fragmentation Study has run for 11 years and yielded extensive data on changes in both plant and animal populations in areas of native forest and pine plantation. It is unique in the way that many different factors and processes influencing a wide range of species groups have been studied in the one large-scale natural experiment. Writing for academic researchers, professionals and graduate students, David B. Lindenmayer uses the Study and other relevant research to provide an overview of the relationships between landscape change, habitat fragmentation, and biodiversity conservation. He details the background ecology of landscape change and habitat fragmentation, the experimental design underpinning the establishment of the large-scale natural experiment, and the implementation of, and results from, an array of key and strongly contrasting research programs over the past 15 years. Key lessons are drawn on throughout the book on the design and implementation of large-scale ecological studies, biodiversity conservation in fragmented landscapes, and the management of plantation landscapes for enhanced nature conservation. The book highlights how important new insights can be generated from integrating demographic, genetic, and modeling research.

Contents:

1 The science of understanding landscape change: setting the scene for the Tumut Fragmentation Study 1

A guide to using the book 5

A few caveats 6

2 The theory: an overview of landscape change and habitat fragmentation 9

The 'species-orientated' to 'patterns-based' continuum 9

Conceptual models of landscape cover 14

Landscape context and landscape heterogeneity 23

Threshold responses to native vegetation cover 25

Patch size relationships 26

Habitat subdivision, habitat isolation and metapopulation dynamics 27

Connectivity 29

Nestedness 31

Edges 33

Summary 36

3 The field laboratory: the Tumut study area and the vertebrate animals it supports 39

Geology and climate 39

Plantation vegetation cover 40

Native vegetation cover 43

Disturbance 45

Fauna of the Tumut region 45

Birds 47

Mammals 50

Reptiles 57

Frogs 57

Other groups 66

Summary 66

4 Setting up the study: the design and implementation of the main cross-sectional study at Tumut 67

The experimental design underpinning the cross-sectional study at Tumut 67

Reasons why the Tumut area was selected for study 89

Limitations of the cross-sectional study of landscape context effects 93

Target groups selected for study 93

Summary 94

5 The core findings: the effects of landscape context on animals and plants 97

Survey methods 97

Arboreal marsupials 98

Small terrestrial mammals 101

Birds 104

Reptiles 109

Frogs 111

Invertebrates 112

Vascular plants 115

Invasive vascular plants 115

Bryophytes 118

Summary of landscape context effects for different groups 120

6 Patch use: how animals use patches of remnant eucalypt forest surrounded by pine 123

Movement and other changes in patches of different sizes 123

Bird calling behaviour within patches 128

Patch-matrix interrelationships 134

Altered breeding behaviour and dispersal 135

Summary 136

7 Theory against data: testing ecological theories and concepts 139

Conceptual models of landscape cover 139

Nested subset theory 144

Ecological thresholds in the amounts of native vegetation cover 149

Landscape indices 153

Tests of the peninsula effect 161

Other tests of theory 164

Summary 164

8 Testing PVA models with real data: melding demographic work with population modelling 167

Population viability analysis (PVA) 167

PVA model testing at Tumut 168

Model testing for arboreal marsupials 169

Model testing for small mammals 177

Model testing for birds 182

Lessons from Tumut 186

Summary 190

9 Genes in the landscape: integrating genetic and demographic analyses 193

Genetic analyses of Bush Rat populations 194

Genetic analyses of Agile Antechinus populations 201

Genetic analyses of Greater Glider populations 203

Genetic analyses of saproxylic beetle populations 208

Summary 209

10 Refining and extending the research programme: additional studies at Tumut (and nearby) that build on the Fragmentation Study 211

The Edge Experiment 212

The Nest Predation Study 214

The Nanangroe Natural Experiment 217

Summary 222

11 Recommendations for plantation managers: implications for biodiversity and conservation in plantations 225

The significance of plantation expansion as a form of landscape change 225

Softwood plantation management and the conservation of remnant native vegetation 226

The lack of indicator species 232

Summary 232

12 Lessons on running large-scale research studies: some insights from running the Tumut Fragmentation Study and directions for the future 235

The challenges of maintaining a large-scale, multifaceted research project 235

Deficiencies in existing work and future work 238

Some concluding remarks 240.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the John G. Hartman Memorial Library Fund.

ISBN:

9780521881562

0521881560

9780521707787

0521707781

OCLC:

295002269