Where Land and Water Meet: Making Amphibian Breeding Sites Attractive for Amphibians
| Autor: | Océane Siffert, Jérôme Pellet, Petra Ramseier, Ursina Tobler, Ariel Bergamini, Benedikt R. Schmidt |
|---|---|
| Přispěvatelé: | University of Zurich |
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2022 |
| Předmět: |
habitat suitability
Ecological Modeling conservation habitat persistence Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) 10127 Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies 570 Life sciences biology 590 Animals (Zoology) pond amphibian monitoring protected area occupancy temporary pond terrestrial habitat ecology Nature and Landscape Conservation |
| Zdroj: | Diversity; Volume 14; Issue 10; Pages: 834 |
| DOI: | 10.5167/uzh-221789 |
| Popis: | The protection of wetlands is a cornerstone in the conservation of pond-breeding amphibians. Because protected wetlands are rarely natural areas, but are often man-made, at least in Europe, it is important that they are well managed to fulfill their intended function. Appropriate management requires knowledge of the ecology of the species, particularly habitat requirements. Here, we combine species monitoring data and habitat mapping data in an analysis where our goal was to describe the factors that determine the occupancy of amphibian species in federally protected amphibian breeding sites. As expected, every species had its own habitat requirements, often a combination of both a terrestrial and aquatic habitat (i.e., landscape complementation). In most species, occupancy was strongly positively affected with the amount of aquatic habitat, but predicted occupancy probabilities were low because the amount of aquatic habitat was low in most sites. The area or proportion of ruderal vegetation also had positive effects on multiple species, while other types of terrestrial habitat (e.g., meadows) led to low occupancy probabilities. The total area of the protected breeding sites was never included in a final model and connectivity was important only for one species (Triturus cristatus). The latter finding implies that the quality of the landscape between breeding sizes is more important than distance per se, while the former implies that the area of some specific habitats within breeding sites is crucial for high occupancies. Thus, increasing the amount of aquatic habitats and likewise terrestrial habitats within protected areas would make them more likely to achieve their conservation objectives. Our study is an example of how the joint analysis of monitoring data and habitat data (based on mapping in the field) can lead to evidence-based suggestions on how to improve conservation practice. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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