Rastandeh, A., & Pedersen Zari, M. (2018). A spatial analysis of land cover patterns and its implications for urban avifauna persistence under climate change. Landscape Ecology, 33(3), 455-474. doi:10.1007/s10980-018-0613-4

 

The purpose of this research was to examine the implications of climate change and rapid urbanization on indigenous avifauna in the Southern Hemisphere, particularly in New Zealand. This was achieved by studying the interactions between landscape patterns and ecological processes in order to test the potentials of existing landscape pattern composition and configuration in safeguarding indigenous avifauna. The result of the research, as suggested by the authors, can be used to inform policy making and urban planning on biodiversity conservation.

Four research methods were combined to conduct this thorough analysis. Interviews with six subject-matter experts and literature review provided a scientific basis and background for the analysis, while GIS and FRAGSTATS offered analytical and mathematical evidence. The authors nicely detailed the rationales behind each FRAGSTATS class metrics choice and parameters (if applicable). For example, an edge depth of 50 m was selected to compute the Core Area metrics as it is suggested by experts to minimize edge effects specifically in New Zealand.

The main argument of this research is that the current land cover patterns are unable to safeguard selected species in the face of climate change. This is concluded based on the following key points that are supported by the calculations from FRAGSTATS and maps produced by ArcGIS. First, only 0.27% of the study area effectively provides interior habitats to avifauna in the face of climate change. Interior habitats are core areas of the land cover Indigenous Forest that serves as primary habitat for indigenous avifauna. As exotic species and mammals residing along edges of habitat patches thrive under a higher temperature, the small amount of core area (and high edge density) would mean more competition for avifauna and higher threat to their survival.

Second, relatively low values of connectivity metrics (i.e. COHESION and CONNECT) implied that Indigenous Forests are dysfunctional in terms of facilitating spatial connectivity for avifauna to provide their main ecosystem service: seed dispersal. This, in turn, threatens ecosystem’s regenerative abilities over time in response to climate change. However, the authors suggest that it can be addressed by having better urban planning by creating or preserving ‘stepping stones’, which are small patches of vegetation between primary habitats.

Finally, the authors found that contrary to common belief, the increase in the percentage of green space does not necessarily indicate support for biodiversity. They argued that only less than 30% of urban parkland and open space were considered core habitat favourable for indigenous avifauna. Therefore, the composition and configuration of patches of vegetation, rather than the total area, play a more important role in examining landscape ecology in this research.

While the authors recognized that the ideal way to address their research question was to directly collect data on the ecological processes, it was expected to be extremely time-consuming to accomplish. Hence, they came up with this research method that utilized GIS and FRAGSTATS as an alternative to address the lack of empirical data on the relationships between landscape patterns and ecological processes.

Overall, I would rate this paper a 7 out of 10. The major limitation of this article was that, although the authors claim to have discussed eight implications for avifauna persistence under climate change in their introduction, I found that only half of which were directly related with or closely tied to climate change. Not only was this misleading, but it also severely undermined the validity of the research. Nonetheless, the three abovementioned key points alone formed a strong foundation to answer the research questions and shed light to new directions for landscape architecture and land-use planning practices.

 

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An interesting article for this week’s presentation was the following presented by Alex.

Abouelezz, H. G., Donovan, T. M., Mickey, R. M., Murdoch, J. D., Freemand, M., & Royar, K. (2018). Landscape composition mediates movement and habitat selection in bobcats (Lynx rufus): implications for conservation planning. Landscape Ecology, 33, 1301-1318. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-018-0654-8

The purpose of this paper is to determine the characteristics of bobcat movement, habitat selection, and the environmental covariants influencing these characteristics in Vermont. Bobcats data was collected using GPS collars, which Alex thoroughly explained why it is the most appropriate methodology for this research. I was facinated by the variety of analytical tools adopted in this research, such as the compositional analysis and Hawth’s Tools analysis package, to effectively evaluate species movements. This research is crucial in facilitating the growth and ensuring the survival of bobcats as it informs corridor designs that take into account bobcats’ preferred landscapes and true behaviours.