Threats, biodiversity drivers and restoration in temperate floodplain forests related to spatial scales

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60460709%3A41330%2F23%3A97299" target="_blank" >RIV/60460709:41330/23:97299 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158743" target="_blank" >http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158743</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158743" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158743</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Threats, biodiversity drivers and restoration in temperate floodplain forests related to spatial scales

Original language description

Floodplain forests offer a diversity of habitats and resources for a very wide range of plant and animal species. They also offer many benefits to humankind and are considered essential to the mitigation of the effects of climate change. Nevertheless, throughout the world they are suffering the most intense of anthropogenic pressures so are, of all ecosystems, among the most endangered. Here, we bring together and synthesise existing ecological understanding of the mechanisms underlying the high heterogeneity and diversity of temperate floodplain forests and of the pressures threatening their high biological value due to habitat homogenisation. Floodplain forests depend on the periodic disturbances under which they evolved, including fluvial dynamics, traditional management practices and the activities of herbivores. However, they have been heavily degraded by climate change, invasion of exotic species, river-flow regulation, landscape fragmentation, eutrophication and the cessation of traditional management. We can now observe two general trends in temperate floodplain forests: (1) Due to intensive landscape exploitation, they are now more open and thus prone to the spread of competitive species, including of invasive exotics and (2) Due to the cessation of traditional management, along with modified hydrological conditions, they are composed of species in the later successional stages (i.e., more shade-tolerant and mesic) while light-demanding species are quickly vanishing. Restoration practices have brought about contrasting results when restoration of floodplains to their natural states has been problematic. This is likely because of interplay between various natural and artificial processes not previously taken into proper consideration. We would like to draw attention to the fact that restoration projects or the preservation of existing floodplain forest ecosystems should combine the restoration of watercourses with the mitigation of other important threats acting at different scales of the landscape (spread of invasive species, eutrophication of watersheds and inappropriate forest management).

Czech name

—

Czech description

—

Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10619 - Biodiversity conservation

Project

Result was created during the realization of more than one project. More information in the Projects tab.

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2023

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Science of the Total Environment

ISSN

0048-9697

e-ISSN

0048-9697

Volume of the periodical

854

Issue of the periodical within the volume

158743

Country of publishing house

NL - THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS

Number of pages

19

Pages from-to

1-19

UT code for WoS article

000867707800013

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85138139973