Words apart:Standardizing forestry terms and definitions across European biodiversity studies

Forest biodiversity studies conducted across Europe use a multitude of forestry terms,often inconsistently.This hinders the comparability across studies and makes the assessment of the impacts of forest management on biodiversity highly context-dependent.Recent attempts to standardize forestry and stand description terminology mostly used a top-down approach that did not account for the perspectives and approaches of forest biodiversity experts.This work aims to establish common standards for silvicultural and vegetation definitions,creating a shared conceptual framework for a consistent study on the effects of forest management on biodiversity.We have identified both strengths and weaknesses of the silvicultural and vegetation information provided in forest biodiversity studies.While quantitative data on forest biomass and dominant tree species are frequently included,information on silvicultural activities and vegetation composition is often lacking,shallow,or based on broad and heterogeneous classifications.We discuss the existing classifications and their use in European forest biodiversity studies through a novel bottom-up and top-driven review process,and ultimately propose a common framework.This will enhance the comparability of forest biodiversity studies in Europe,and puts the basis for effective implementation and monitoring of sustainable forest management policies.The standards here proposed are potentially adaptable and applicable to other geographical areas and could be extended to other forest interventions.

Irrecoverable carbon in mountains and the global mitigation potential of agroforestry and increased tree cover in mountain agricultural systems

Agroforestry has many benefits suited to mountain agricultural systems.This paper seeks to understand and quantify the mitigation potential of multifunctional agroforestry systems,and the potential for increased tree cover in mountains.The potential of agroforestry approaches for protecting irrecoverable carbon in mountains providing alternative,sustainable,and biodiversity-friendly livelihood options for local mountain communities is explored.A substantial portion(29%)of global'irrecoverable carbon'is found in mountains,representing irreplaceable ecosystems,biodiversity,and globally significant ecosystem services,under unprecedented environmental and demographic pressures,and rapidly changing climatic conditions.This'premium'mountain carbon supports high levels of biodiversity,including many of the last remaining large mammal species on the planet.Increasing tree cover within agricultural landscapes in mountains can provide sustainable,biodiversity-friendly development options that support environmental and biodiversity conservation.Estimates of existing and decadal change of above-and below-ground biomass on agricultural land within mountainous regions are modeled based up IPCC Tier 1 estimates.Two scenarios are evaluated to estimate carbon sequestration potential of increasing tree cover on agricultural land:1)incremental change and 2)a systemic change to agroforestry.Estimates of above-and below ground biomass carbon were combined with the tree cover analysis to estimate the change in biomass.Global increases(0.5−0.7 PgC for incremental change;1.1−2.7 PgC for systematic change)highlight the mitigation potential within mountain agricultural systems.A 10%increase in tree cover on all agricultural land within mountain regions is estimated to sequester 3 PgC.

Incorporating physiological knowledge into correlative species distribution models minimizes bias introduced by the choice of calibration area

Correlative species distribution models(SDMs)are important tools to estimate species’geographic distribution across space and time,but their reliability heavily relies on the availability and quality of occurrence data.Estimations can be biased when occurrences do not fully represent the environmental requirement of a species.We tested to what extent species’physiological knowledge might influence SDM estimations.Focusing on the Japanese sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus within the coastal ocean of East Asia,we compiled a comprehensive dataset of occurrence records.We then explored the importance of incorporating physiological knowledge into SDMs by calibrating two types of correlative SDMs:a naïve model that solely depends on environmental correlates,and a physiologically informed model that further incorporates physiological information as priors.We further tested the models’sensitivity to calibration area choices by fitting them with different buffered areas around known presences.Compared with naïve models,the physiologically informed models successfully captured the negative influence of high temperature on A.japonicus and were less sensitive to the choice of calibration area.The naïve models resulted in more optimistic prediction of the changes of potential distributions under climate change(i.e.,larger range expansion and less contraction)than the physiologically informed models.Our findings highlight benefits from incorporating physiological information into correlative SDMs,namely mitigating the uncertainties associated with the choice of calibration area.Given these promising features,we encourage future SDM studies to consider species physi-ological information where available.

Plot investigation on rill flow resistance due to path tortuosity

The path tortuosity t is an indicator of rill morphology accounting for the deviation of the thalweg from a straight alignment.The effect of t on flow resistance has been little investigated for rills.This paper reports the results of a plot investigation aimed to establish the suitable accuracy of the rill thalweg measurement to determine the tortuosity parameter and to test the reliability of a theoretical flow resistance law.Four rills were incised in clay soil(CS)and clay-loam soil(LS)and shaped by a clear flow discharge.The three-dimensional Digital Terrain Models were created by the Structure from Motion technique.For rills on LS,an approximate thalweg was tracked by photo-interpretation,and a specific calculation routine was applied to identify the cross sections with a constant spacing d.The actual rill thalweg was obtained as the line joining the lowest points of these cross-sections.Among the different tested d values,d=0.075 m was chosen to determine t.For both CS and LS,the Darcy-Weisbach friction factorffeatured a non-monotonic relation with t,which was explained as the result of three additive components due to bed roughness,sediment transport,and localized energy losses due to curves.The effect of the former two components onff contrasts that of the third,resulting in a linearly decreasing f-t relationship and constant flow velocity for the three lowest tortuosity values,and an increased friction factor and reduced flow velocity for the highest tortuosity value.The flow resistance law was positively tested,and the predicted friction factor was dependent on t.

Same place, different time, head up: Multiple antipredator responses to a recolonizing apex predator

Prey adjust their antipredator behavioral tactics to minimize the risk of an encounter with predators.Spatiotemporal responses of prey to pred-ators have been reported,but the nature of antipredator response is not ubiquitous and it is the object of increasing interest,especially consid-ering the recent recovery of large carnivores in Europe,and the potential for behavioral antipredator responses to elicit consequences at the ecosystem level.We have tested multiple antipredator responses by fallow deer Dama dama to wolf Canis lupus in a Mediterranean protected area recently recolonized by this apex predator.Through intensive camera trapping,we tested for temporal and spatial association between predator and prey,and we have also studied deer vigilance in forest habitats where focal observations are usually impossible.Wolf detection rates were spatially associated with those of fallow deer.Accordingly,no evidence was found for fallow deer avoiding sites with higher predator detection rates.Temporal activity patterns were significantly different between the 2 species,with the wolf being mainly nocturnal whereas fallow deer was active especially during daylight.A comparison with a preliminary study strongly suggests an increase in the diurnal activity of fallow deer along with the stabilization of wolf presence in the area.Both the rate and the duration of vigilance of female fallow deer increased with the local frequency of wolf activity.We suggest an antipredator response based on temporalrather than spatialavoidance,as well as increasedvigilance.