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Low tortoise abundances in pine forest plantations in forest-shrubland transition areas
In the transition between Mediterranean forest and the arid subtropical shrublands of the southeastern Iberian Peninsula, humans have transformed habitat since ancient times. Understanding the role of the original mosaic landscapes in wildlife species and the effects of the current changes as pine f...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Public Library of Science
2017
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5342264/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28273135 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0173485 |
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author | Rodríguez-Caro, Roberto C. Oedekoven, Cornelia S. Graciá, Eva Anadón, José D. Buckland, Stephen T. Esteve-Selma, Miguel A. Martinez, Julia Giménez, Andrés |
author_facet | Rodríguez-Caro, Roberto C. Oedekoven, Cornelia S. Graciá, Eva Anadón, José D. Buckland, Stephen T. Esteve-Selma, Miguel A. Martinez, Julia Giménez, Andrés |
author_sort | Rodríguez-Caro, Roberto C. |
collection | PubMed |
description | In the transition between Mediterranean forest and the arid subtropical shrublands of the southeastern Iberian Peninsula, humans have transformed habitat since ancient times. Understanding the role of the original mosaic landscapes in wildlife species and the effects of the current changes as pine forest plantations, performed even outside the forest ecological boundaries, are important conservation issues. We studied variation in the density of the endangered spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca) in three areas that include the four most common land types within the species’ range (pine forests, natural shrubs, dryland crop fields, and abandoned crop fields). Tortoise densities were estimated using a two-stage modeling approach with line transect distance sampling. Densities in dryland crop fields, abandoned crop fields and natural shrubs were higher (>6 individuals/ha) than in pine forests (1.25 individuals/ha). We also found large variation in density in the pine forests. Recent pine plantations showed higher densities than mature pine forests where shrub and herbaceous cover was taller and thicker. We hypothesize that mature pine forest might constrain tortoise activity by acting as partial barriers to movements. This issue is relevant for management purposes given that large areas in the tortoise’s range have recently been converted to pine plantations. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5342264 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2017 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-53422642017-03-29 Low tortoise abundances in pine forest plantations in forest-shrubland transition areas Rodríguez-Caro, Roberto C. Oedekoven, Cornelia S. Graciá, Eva Anadón, José D. Buckland, Stephen T. Esteve-Selma, Miguel A. Martinez, Julia Giménez, Andrés PLoS One Research Article In the transition between Mediterranean forest and the arid subtropical shrublands of the southeastern Iberian Peninsula, humans have transformed habitat since ancient times. Understanding the role of the original mosaic landscapes in wildlife species and the effects of the current changes as pine forest plantations, performed even outside the forest ecological boundaries, are important conservation issues. We studied variation in the density of the endangered spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca) in three areas that include the four most common land types within the species’ range (pine forests, natural shrubs, dryland crop fields, and abandoned crop fields). Tortoise densities were estimated using a two-stage modeling approach with line transect distance sampling. Densities in dryland crop fields, abandoned crop fields and natural shrubs were higher (>6 individuals/ha) than in pine forests (1.25 individuals/ha). We also found large variation in density in the pine forests. Recent pine plantations showed higher densities than mature pine forests where shrub and herbaceous cover was taller and thicker. We hypothesize that mature pine forest might constrain tortoise activity by acting as partial barriers to movements. This issue is relevant for management purposes given that large areas in the tortoise’s range have recently been converted to pine plantations. Public Library of Science 2017-03-08 /pmc/articles/PMC5342264/ /pubmed/28273135 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0173485 Text en © 2017 Rodríguez-Caro et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Rodríguez-Caro, Roberto C. Oedekoven, Cornelia S. Graciá, Eva Anadón, José D. Buckland, Stephen T. Esteve-Selma, Miguel A. Martinez, Julia Giménez, Andrés Low tortoise abundances in pine forest plantations in forest-shrubland transition areas |
title | Low tortoise abundances in pine forest plantations in forest-shrubland transition areas |
title_full | Low tortoise abundances in pine forest plantations in forest-shrubland transition areas |
title_fullStr | Low tortoise abundances in pine forest plantations in forest-shrubland transition areas |
title_full_unstemmed | Low tortoise abundances in pine forest plantations in forest-shrubland transition areas |
title_short | Low tortoise abundances in pine forest plantations in forest-shrubland transition areas |
title_sort | low tortoise abundances in pine forest plantations in forest-shrubland transition areas |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5342264/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28273135 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0173485 |
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