Georeferenced databases are perhaps the most important management tool for nature conservation of the third mil- lennium. We propose a model procedure for georeferenced database development, using the example of the Habitat Biodiversity Data Base (HBDB) in Pollino National Park in Italy. The HBDB scheme is very easy to apply, as one can directly look at species abundance structures and spe- cies occurrences on a georeferenced GIS map. Nature reserve managers will be able to check animal commu- nity structures simply by clicking on habitat polygons, and download community structures of animal and plant species assemblages of a chosen habitat. The availability of time series (annual samples) for the same habitat (site) enhances predictability and allows study of the trends in change in species abundance structures and the planning of surveys or monitoring. Moreover, the database allows the insertion of microhabitats too small to be represented in available GIS maps, such as the small Cychrus popula- tions described in this paper or the today isolated phyto- coenoses with their threatened plant species living in snow patches in the Pollino massif (Tomaselli et al., 2003). This could also improve the analysis and evaluation of the pos- sible increase of habitat fragmentation, as a consequence of increasing thermoxeric conditions of pastures. The HBDB is an experimental scientific tool to explore elevational gradients of diversity or species shifts within a habitat over time. Looking at species changes for sev- eral habitat types in the period 1977–2004, we observed that not all the communities react in the same way to tem- perature changes. Open land habitats, such as meadows and pastures, show pronounced changes in species struc- ture, with a complete substitution of dominant carabid beetles, whereas cooler forest types as the Asyneumati- Fagetum show no substitutions in the dominant species, but thermophilic carabids appear. In other forest types (Aquifolio-Fagetum), species changes may be masked by contemporary changes in forest management (ceased logging, soil recovery) and by the consequent increase in biomass of soil invertebrates.
A georeferenced databank for evaluating the impact of climate change in Sothern Italy mountains
PIZZOLOTTO, Roberto;BRANDMAYR P.
2010-01-01
Abstract
Georeferenced databases are perhaps the most important management tool for nature conservation of the third mil- lennium. We propose a model procedure for georeferenced database development, using the example of the Habitat Biodiversity Data Base (HBDB) in Pollino National Park in Italy. The HBDB scheme is very easy to apply, as one can directly look at species abundance structures and spe- cies occurrences on a georeferenced GIS map. Nature reserve managers will be able to check animal commu- nity structures simply by clicking on habitat polygons, and download community structures of animal and plant species assemblages of a chosen habitat. The availability of time series (annual samples) for the same habitat (site) enhances predictability and allows study of the trends in change in species abundance structures and the planning of surveys or monitoring. Moreover, the database allows the insertion of microhabitats too small to be represented in available GIS maps, such as the small Cychrus popula- tions described in this paper or the today isolated phyto- coenoses with their threatened plant species living in snow patches in the Pollino massif (Tomaselli et al., 2003). This could also improve the analysis and evaluation of the pos- sible increase of habitat fragmentation, as a consequence of increasing thermoxeric conditions of pastures. The HBDB is an experimental scientific tool to explore elevational gradients of diversity or species shifts within a habitat over time. Looking at species changes for sev- eral habitat types in the period 1977–2004, we observed that not all the communities react in the same way to tem- perature changes. Open land habitats, such as meadows and pastures, show pronounced changes in species struc- ture, with a complete substitution of dominant carabid beetles, whereas cooler forest types as the Asyneumati- Fagetum show no substitutions in the dominant species, but thermophilic carabids appear. In other forest types (Aquifolio-Fagetum), species changes may be masked by contemporary changes in forest management (ceased logging, soil recovery) and by the consequent increase in biomass of soil invertebrates.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
