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Georgiadis NM, Dimitropoulos G, Avanidou K, Bebeli P, Bergmeier E, Dervisoglou S, Dimopoulos T, Grigoropoulou D, Hadjigeorgiou I, Kairis O, Kakalis E, Kosmas K, Meyer S, Panitsa M, Perdikis D, Sfakianou D, Tsiopelas N, Kizos T. Farming practices and biodiversity: Evidence from a Mediterranean semi-extensive system on the island of Lemnos (North Aegean, Greece). J Environ Manage 2022; 303:114131. [PMID: 34838379 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.114131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2021] [Revised: 11/16/2021] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The management of agroecosystems affects biodiversity at all levels from genetic to food-web complexity. Low-input farming systems support higher levels of genetic, species and habitat diversity than high-input, industrial ones. In Greece, as in other Mediterranean countries, the role of traditional farming practices has been underlined in studies concerning conservation in agricultural landscapes. With this study, we aim to provide evidence for the potential of semi-extensive farming for biodiversity conservation at landscape-scale, focusing on Lemnos, a medium-sized island in the North Aegean. Evidence was gathered by species- and community-level local-scale surveys on various trophic levels (vascular plants, arthropods, birds). The surveys took place in 2018 and 2019 in 25 sampling areas comprising 106 plots of 100 m2 (vascular plants, arthropods) and 57 points where bird species were recorded. The plots were classified into three landscape types: mosaic agriculture, mixed rangelands and uniform rangelands. The relevés of Lemnos farmlands were assigned to plant communities of 18 phytosociological alliances, grouped into 12 classes. The most abundant arthropods were Coleoptera, Chilopoda, and Hymenoptera, followed by Opiliones and Isopoda, while 133 different bird species were recorded in total, including the recording for the first time on the island of five species. Farming on Lemnos is rather extensive compared to most agricultural landscapes of Europe. Our approach has demonstrated that, given the geographic characteristics of the area, the measured data reveal very high biodiversity. Our explorative findings suggest that moderate seasonal grazing, the mixed habitat mosaic with ecotones, fallow and stubble fields at the landscape scale, and the small size of fields, the kinds of crop, and farm-scale crop diversification, like mixed cultivation and crop rotation, are key practices supporting this diversity. These explorative findings are considered as a first step providing the baseline for future assessments. A wider effort, for systematic evaluation of the impacts of farming practices to biodiversity, is required, as part of a subsidized agri-environmental scheme and/or through a market-oriented product certification system for the area.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - George Dimitropoulos
- Mediterranean Institute for Nature and Anthropos (MedINA), 10671, Athens, Greece.
| | - Kalliopi Avanidou
- University of the Aegean, Department of Geography, University Hill, Mytilini, 81100, Greece.
| | - Penelope Bebeli
- Agricultural University of Athens, Department of Plant Breeding and Biometry, Iera Odos 75, Athens, 11855, Greece.
| | - Erwin Bergmeier
- University of Goettingen, Albrecht-von-Haller-Institute of Plant Sciences, Department Vegetation and Phytodiversity Analysis, Untere Karspüle 1a, 37073, Göttingen, Germany.
| | - Sofia Dervisoglou
- Laboratory of Agricultural Zoology and Entomology, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, 118 55, Athens, Greece.
| | - Thymios Dimopoulos
- Mediterranean Institute for Nature and Anthropos (MedINA), 10671, Athens, Greece.
| | | | - Ioannis Hadjigeorgiou
- Department of Animal Science, Agricultural University of Athens, 75 Iera Odos, Athens, 11855, Greece.
| | - Orestis Kairis
- Laboratory of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, Athina, 118 55, Greece.
| | - Eletherios Kakalis
- University of Patras, Department of Biology, Division of Plant Biology, GR-26504, Rio, Greece.
| | - Konstantinos Kosmas
- Laboratory of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, Athina, 118 55, Greece.
| | - Stefan Meyer
- University of Goettingen, Albrecht-von-Haller-Institute of Plant Sciences, Department Vegetation and Phytodiversity Analysis, Untere Karspüle 1a, 37073, Göttingen, Germany.
| | - Maria Panitsa
- University of Patras, Department of Biology, Division of Plant Biology, GR-26504, Rio, Greece.
| | - Dionisios Perdikis
- Laboratory of Agricultural Zoology and Entomology, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, 118 55, Athens, Greece.
| | - Danae Sfakianou
- Mediterranean Institute for Nature and Anthropos (MedINA), 81400, Lemnos, Greece.
| | - Nikos Tsiopelas
- Hellenic Ornithological Society (HOS), Themistokleous 80, GR 10681, Athens, Greece.
| | - Thanasis Kizos
- University of the Aegean, Department of Geography, University Hill, Mytilini, 81100, Greece.
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Nourani E, Bohrer G, Becciu P, Bierregaard RO, Duriez O, Figuerola J, Gangoso L, Giokas S, Higuchi H, Kassara C, Kulikova O, Lecomte N, Monti F, Pokrovsky I, Sforzi A, Therrien JF, Tsiopelas N, Vansteelant WMG, Viana DS, Yamaguchi NM, Wikelski M, Safi K. The interplay of wind and uplift facilitates over-water flight in facultative soaring birds. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20211603. [PMID: 34493076 PMCID: PMC8424339 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.1603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2021] [Accepted: 08/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Flying over the open sea is energetically costly for terrestrial birds. Despite this, over-water journeys of many birds, sometimes hundreds of kilometres long, are uncovered by bio-logging technology. To understand how these birds afford their flights over the open sea, we investigated the role of atmospheric conditions, specifically wind and uplift, in subsidizing over-water flight at a global scale. We first established that ΔT, the temperature difference between sea surface and air, is a meaningful proxy for uplift over water. Using this proxy, we showed that the spatio-temporal patterns of sea-crossing in terrestrial migratory birds are associated with favourable uplift conditions. We then analysed route selection over the open sea for five facultative soaring species, representative of all major migratory flyways. The birds maximized wind support when selecting their sea-crossing routes and selected greater uplift when suitable wind support was available. They also preferred routes with low long-term uncertainty in wind conditions. Our findings suggest that, in addition to wind, uplift may play a key role in the energy seascape for bird migration that in turn determines strategies and associated costs for birds crossing ecological barriers such as the open sea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elham Nourani
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Germany
| | - Gil Bohrer
- Department of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering, The Ohio State University, USA
| | - Paolo Becciu
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, and Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Israel
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
| | | | - Olivier Duriez
- Centre for Evolutionary and Functional Ecology, Montpellier University-CNRS, France
| | - Jordi Figuerola
- Department of Wetland Ecology, Estación Biológica de Doñana, Spain
| | - Laura Gangoso
- Department of Wetland Ecology, Estación Biológica de Doñana, Spain
- Department of Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Sinos Giokas
- Department of Biology, University of Patras, Greece
| | - Hiroyoshi Higuchi
- Research and Education Centre for Natural Sciences, Keio University, Japan
| | | | - Olga Kulikova
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Germany
- Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of the Biological Problems of the North, Russia
| | - Nicolas Lecomte
- Canada Research Chair in Polar and Boreal Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Moncton, Canada
| | - Flavio Monti
- Department of Physical Sciences, Earth and Environment, University of Siena, Italy
| | - Ivan Pokrovsky
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Germany
- Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of the Biological Problems of the North, Russia
- Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia
| | | | | | | | - Wouter M. G. Vansteelant
- Department of Wetland Ecology, Estación Biológica de Doñana, Spain
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Duarte S. Viana
- German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Germany
- Leipzig University, Germany
| | - Noriyuki M. Yamaguchi
- Graduate School of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Nagasaki University, Japan
- Organization for Marine Science and Technology, Nagasaki University, Japan
| | - Martin Wikelski
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Germany
| | - Kamran Safi
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Germany
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Kassara C, Gangoso L, Mellone U, Piasevoli G, Hadjikyriakou TG, Tsiopelas N, Giokas S, López-López P, Urios V, Figuerola J, Silva R, Bouten W, Kirschel ANG, Virani MZ, Fiedler W, Berthold P, Gschweng M. Current and future suitability of wintering grounds for a long-distance migratory raptor. Sci Rep 2017; 7:8798. [PMID: 28821735 PMCID: PMC5562895 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-08753-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2016] [Accepted: 07/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Conservation of migratory species faces the challenge of understanding the ecological requirements of individuals living in two geographically separated regions. In some cases, the entire population of widely distributed species congregates at relatively small wintering areas and hence, these areas become a priority for the species’ conservation. Satellite telemetry allows fine tracking of animal movements and distribution in those less known, often remote areas. Through integrating satellite and GPS data from five separated populations comprising most of the breeding range, we created a wide habitat suitability model for the Eleonora’s falcon on its wintering grounds in Madagascar. On this basis, we further investigated, for the first time, the impact of climate change on the future suitability of the species’ wintering areas. Eleonora’s falcons are mainly distributed in the north and along the east of Madagascar, exhibiting strong site fidelity over years. The current species’ distribution pattern is associated with climatic factors, which are likely related to food availability. The extent of suitable areas for Eleonora’s falcon is expected to increase in the future. The integration of habitat use information and climatic projections may provide insights on the consequences of global environmental changes for the long-term persistence of migratory species populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina Kassara
- Department of Biology, University of Patras, GR-26500, Patras, Greece.
| | - Laura Gangoso
- Computational Geo-Ecology Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Ugo Mellone
- Vertebrates Zoology Research Group, CIBIO Research Inst., University of Alicante, ES-03690, San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, Spain
| | - Gvido Piasevoli
- Public Institute for the Protected Natural Values Management in the County of Split and Dalmatia, Prilaz braće Kaliterna 10, HR-21000, Split, Croatia
| | | | - Nikos Tsiopelas
- Hellenic Ornithological Society, Themistokleous str. 80, 10681, Athens, Greece
| | - Sinos Giokas
- Department of Biology, University of Patras, GR-26500, Patras, Greece
| | - Pascual López-López
- Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia, C/Catedrático José Beltrán 2, ES-46980, Paterna, Valencia, Spain
| | - Vicente Urios
- Vertebrates Zoology Research Group, CIBIO Research Inst., University of Alicante, ES-03690, San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, Spain
| | - Jordi Figuerola
- Department of Wetland Ecology, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, 41092, Seville, Spain
| | - Rafa Silva
- Department of Wetland Ecology, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, 41092, Seville, Spain
| | - Willem Bouten
- Computational Geo-Ecology Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | | | - Munir Z Virani
- The Peregrine Fund, 5668 West Flying Hawk Lane, Boise, Idaho, 83709, USA
| | - Wolfgang Fiedler
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Am Obstberg 1, D-78315, Radolfzell, Germany
| | - Peter Berthold
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Am Obstberg 1, D-78315, Radolfzell, Germany
| | - Marion Gschweng
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Am Obstberg 1, D-78315, Radolfzell, Germany.,Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, D-89069, Ulm, Germany.,Concepts for Conservation, Schäferweg 6, 89143, Blaubeuren, Germany
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