Can NDVI identify drought refugia for mammals and birds in mesic landscapes?

Analysis of spatial and temporal changes in vegetation cover and its drivers in the Aksu River Basin, China

Exploring vegetation dynamics in arid areas and their responses to different natural and anthropogenic factors is critical for understanding ecosystems. Based on the monthly MOD13Q1 (250 m) remote sensing data from 2000 to 2019, this study analyzed spatio-temporal changes in vegetation cover in the Aksu River Basin and predicted future change trends using one-dimensional linear regression, the Mann-Kendall test, and the Hurst index. Quantitative assessment of the magnitude of anthropogenic and natural drivers was performed using the Geodetector model. Eleven natural and anthropogenic factors were quantified and analyzed within five time periods. The influence of the driving factors on the changes in the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in each period was calculated and analyzed. Four main results were found. (1) The overall vegetation cover in the region significantly grew from 2000 to 2019. The vegetation cover changes were dominated by expected future improvements, with a Hurst index average of 0.45. (2) Land use type, soil moisture, surface temperature, and potential vapor dispersion were the main drivers of NDVI changes, with annual average q-values above 0.2. (3) The driving effect of two-factor interactions was significantly greater than that of single factors, especially land use type interacts with other factors to a greater extent on vegetation cover. (4) The magnitude of the interaction between soil moisture and potential vapor dispersion and the magnitude of the interaction between anthropogenic factors and other factors showed an obvious increasing trend. Current soil moisture and human activities had a positive influence on the growth of vegetation in the area. The findings of this study are important for ecological monitoring and security as well as land desertification control.

How do invasive predators and their native prey respond to prescribed fire?

Fire shapes animal communities by altering resource availability and species interactions, including between predators and prey. In Australia, there is particular concern that two highly damaging invasive predators, the feral cat (Felis catus) and European red fox (Vulpes vulpes), increase their activity in recently burnt areas and exert greater predation pressure on the native prey due to their increased exposure. We tested how prescribed fire occurrence and extent, along with fire history, vegetation, topography, and distance to anthropogenic features (towns and farms), affected the activity (detection frequency) of cats, foxes, and the native mammal community in south-eastern Australia. We used camera traps to quantify mammal activity before and after a prescribed burn and statistically tested how the fire interacted with these habitat variables to affect mammal activity. We found little evidence that the prescribed fire influenced the activity of cats and foxes and no evidence of an effect on kangaroo or small mammal (<800 g) activity. Medium-sized mammals (800-2000 g) were negatively associated with prescribed fire extent, suggesting that prescribed fire has a negative impact on these species in the short term. The lack of a clear activity increase from cats and foxes is likely a positive outcome from a fire management perspective. However, we highlight that their response is likely dependent upon factors like fire size, severity, and prey availability. Future experiments should incorporate GPS-trackers to record fine-scale movements of cats and foxes in temperate ecosystems immediately before and after prescribed fire to best inform management within protected areas.

Urban rooftops near sports pitches provide a safe haven for a declining shorebird

Urbanisation has contributed to a severe decline in biodiversity worldwide. However, urban ecosystems can also play an important role in the conservation of threatened species, including ground-nesting birds such as the Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus). While the coastal populations of this shorebird have declined sharply, there is growing evidence that pairs nesting on urban flat roofs have high reproductive success. However, the reasons for rooftop nesting and the species' habitat use in urban areas remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigate the territory selection and foraging behaviour of the Eurasian Oystercatcher in the city of Münster (NW Germany). All nesting sites were located on flat roofs (N = 24), most of which were covered with gravel. Overall, reproductive success was high. This was mainly because the roofs provided protection from mammalian predators, leading to increased nest and chick survival. Moreover, breeding performance in the study area was favoured by the proximity of sports pitches. According to our observations, they provided a large amount of easily accessible prey throughout the breeding season. Overall, our study highlights that the reproductive success of the Eurasian Oystercatcher in urban environments is highly dependent on both safe nesting sites on flat roofs and the availability of suitable foraging habitats. Although our study suggests that breeding in urban areas can be beneficial for the model organism, the species' strong territory fidelity makes it very sensitive to the rapid environmental changes occurring in cities. The value of urban ecosystems for bird conservation should therefore be better integrated into urban planning and management.

Neotropical mammal responses to megafires in the Brazilian Pantanal

The increasing frequency and severity of human-caused fires likely have deleterious effects on species distribution and persistence. In 2020, megafires in the Brazilian Pantanal burned 43% of the biome's unburned area and resulted in mass mortality of wildlife. We investigated changes in habitat use or occupancy for an assemblage of eight mammal species in Serra do Amolar, Brazil, following the 2020 fires using a pre- and post-fire camera trap dataset. Additionally, we estimated the density for two naturally marked species, jaguars Panthera onca and ocelots Leopardus pardalis. Of the eight species, six (ocelots, collared peccaries Dicotyles tajacu, giant armadillos Priodontes maximus, Azara's agouti Dasyprocta azarae, red brocket deer Mazama americana, and tapirs Tapirus terrestris) had declining occupancy following fires, and one had stable habitat use (pumas Puma concolor). Giant armadillo experienced the most precipitous decline in occupancy from 0.431 ± 0.171 to 0.077 ± 0.044 after the fires. Jaguars were the only species with increasing habitat use, from 0.393 ± 0.127 to 0.753 ± 0.085. Jaguar density remained stable across years (2.8 ± 1.3, 3.7 ± 1.3, 2.6 ± 0.85/100 km2), while ocelot density increased from 13.9 ± 3.2 to 16.1 ± 5.2/100 km2. However, the low number of both jaguars and ocelots recaptured after the fire period suggests that immigration may have sustained the population. Our results indicate that the megafires will have significant consequences for species occupancy and fitness in fire-affected areas. The scale of megafires may inhibit successful recolonization, thus wider studies are needed to investigate population trends.

Multi-objective ecological restoration priority in China: Cost-benefit optimization in different ecological performance regimes based on planetary boundaries

In the context of the "United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration", optimizing spatiotemporal arrangements for ecological restoration is an important approach to enhancing overall socioecological benefits for sustainable development. However, against the background of ecological degradation caused by the human use of most natural resources at levels that have approached or exceeded the safe and sustainable boundaries of ecosystems, it is key to explain how to optimize ecological restoration by classified management and optimal total benefits. In response to these issues, we combined spatial heterogeneity and temporal dynamics at the national scale in China to construct five ecological performance regimes defined by indicators that use planetary boundaries and ecological pressures which served as the basis for prioritizing ecological restoration areas and implementing zoning control. By integrating habitat conservation, biodiversity, water supply, and restoration cost constraints, seven ecological restoration scenarios were simulated to optimize the spatial layout of ecological restoration projects (ERPs). The results indicated that the provinces with unsustainable freshwater use, climate change, and land use accounted for more than 25%, 66.7%, and 25%, respectively, of the total area. Only 30% of the provinces experienced a decrease in environmental pressure. Based on the ecological performance regimes, ERP sites spanning the past 20 years were identified, and more than 50% of the priority areas were clustered in regime areas with increased ecological stress. As the restoration area targets doubled (40%) from the baseline (20%), a multi-objective scenario presents a trade-off between expanded ERPs in areas with highly beneficial effects and minimal restoration costs. In conclusion, a reasonable classification and management regime is the basis for targeted restoration. Coordinating multiple objectives and costs in ecological restoration is the key to maximizing socio-ecological benefits. Our study offered new perspectives on systematic and sustainable planning for ecological restoration.

Lake Superior's summer cooling of shorelines and adjacent inland forests: Implications for refugia of boreal forests and disjunct arctic-alpine plants

Climate refugia can serve as remnant habitat for cold-adapted species and delay forest transitions. The world's largest freshwater lake by surface area, Lake Superior, serves as a model system for understanding cooling-mediated refugia effects, as its cool summer water temperatures have maintained disjunct populations of arctic-alpine plants on its shoreline since deglaciation. It is known to affect local inland climates by providing a summer cooling effect; however, the inland temperature gradient and spatial patterns of cooling have not been well quantified. Here, we describe the extent, degree, and patterns of temperature buffering and examine drivers of buffering and disjunct plant occurrence for Lake Superior's north shore over a 3-year period at distances of 10, 100 m, 1, 10, and 100 km inland. We analyzed temperature data by year, month, summer maximum (July), and growing degree days (GDD0) for each site. Average summertime cooling at shore sites (10 m) was ~5°C cooler than reference sites (100 km inland), with a maximum difference of -19.2°C. The magnitude of cooling varied geographically, with sites further west and southeast showing little to no cooling effect, while the exposed north-central shore showed the highest degree of buffering (5.8°C cooler) and had a shorter growing season than reference sites. Finally, north-central shorelines had fewer days above 16°C, a threshold above which disjunct plants are unlikely to grow. These sites also showed the highest proportion of disjunct arctic-alpine species, reflecting the highest buffering from inland sites. On north-central shores, sites up to 10 km inland had less than 10 days per year warmer than 20°C, a threshold identified for boreal forest transition. An understanding of the extent of lake-mediated cooling on adjacent forests can better inform the risk to disjunct species, inland forests, and vegetation transition models on Lake Superior's north shore.