The construction of roads near protected forest areas alters ecosystem function by creating habitat fragmentation and through several direct and indirect negative effects such as increased pollution, animal mortality through collisions, disturbance caused by excessive noise and wind turbulence. Noise in particular may have strong negative effects on animal groups such as frogs and birds, that r...

Urbanization constitutes one of the most aggressive drivers habitat and biodiversity loss worldwide. However, studies focused on determining response local to urbanization are still scarce, especially in tropical ecosystems. Urban ecosystems characterized by low biological productivity which turn leads a reduction biodiversity. responses should be species dependent. For instance, changes availa...

A habitat-change model was used to compare past, present, and future land cover and management practices to assess potential impacts of alternative agricultural practices on wildlife in two agricultural watersheds, Walnut Creek and Buck Creek, in central Iowa, USA. This approach required a habitat map for each scenario based on soil type and land cover, a list of resident species, and an estima...

Many species of mature forest-nesting birds ("forest birds") undergo a pronounced shift in habitat use during the post-fledging period and move from their forest nesting sites into areas of early-successional vegetation. Mortality is high during this period, thus understanding the resource requirements of post-fledging birds has implications for conservation. Efforts to identify predictors of a...

It is a globally important challenge to meet increasing demands for resources and, at the same time, protect biodiversity and ecosystem services. Farming is usually regarded as a major threat to biodiversity due to its expansion into natural areas. We compared biodiversity of bees and wasps between heterogeneous small-scale farming areas and protected forest in northern coastal Belize, Central ...

Agricultural expansion and intensification are major threats to global biodiversity, ecological functions, and ecosystem services. The rapid expansion of oil palm in forested tropical landscapes is of particular concern given their high biodiversity. Identifying management approaches that maintain native species and associated ecological processes within oil palm plantations is therefore a prio...

Roberge, J.-M. 2006. Umbrella species as a conservation planning tool: an assessment using resident birds in hemiboreal and boreal forests. Doctor’s dissertation. ISSN 1652-6880, ISBN 91-576-7133-8. In northern Europe, a long history of anthropogenic land use has led to profound changes within forest ecosystems. One of the proposed approaches for conservation and restoration of forest biodivers...

_________________________________________ Epiphytic lichen communities are included in the national Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) program because they help us assess resource contamination, biodiversity, and sustainability in the context of forest health. In 1996, field crews collected lichen samples on 141 field plots systematically located across all forest ownership groups in Idaho. Results...