Phylogeography and non-invasive landscape genetics of the European pine marten ("martes martes" L. 1758) : insights into ancient and contemporary processes shaping genetic variation

283 p. : graf., map.

Colonization and development of Oribatida mite communities (Acari: Oribatida) in the forest reclaimed limestone mine dumps

In order to study the colonization and development of moss mites (Oribatida) communities in a Scots pine forest of a reclaimed limestone mine dump in Northern Poland, 3 plots from the dump were chosen. The selected plots differed in age, 5 years old, 35 and 50 years old. From a total of 30 samples 499 mites (Acari) were extracted in Tullgren funnel from which 262 were Oribatida. Abundance (N) was analyzed in all mites and after determining the species of both, juvenile and adult stages of oribatids, the following indices were analyzed: Abundance (N), Dominance (D), Species diversity (S), Species richness (s) and Shannon’s diversity index (H). Regarding to the results obtained; oribatid mites were dominant with the highest abundance in all assemblages (Plot 1: 139 Oribatida /299 Acari. Plot 2: 40/55 and Plot 3: 83/145). Tectocepheus velatus showed a very high dominance (45,99%) in plot 1; the highest value for Shannon’s diversity index belonged to plot 3. On the other hand, juvenile’s percentage was significantly higher than adult’s percentage, especially at plot 2 (95,02%). These results made us to conclude that the high abundance of oribatids in the youngest forest is due to T. velatus’s high abundance and that plot 3 is the best habitat for mites. Finally, the high occurrence of juvenile stages requires keeping on studying the area.

Classifying Ecosystem Services for Economic Valuation: The case of forest water services

30 p.

Economic Assessment of Forest Ecosystem Services Losses: Cost of Policy Inaction

52 p.

Modeling the Links between Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services and Human Wellbeing in the Context of Climate Change: Results from an Econometric Analysis on the European Forest Ecosystems

25 p.

Study and comparison of four forest structures on Mt. Chortiatis (northern Greece)

EL proyecto estudia y analiza la estructura de cuatro bosques en el monte Chortiatis, Grecia.

Landscape Genetics for the Empirical Assessment of Resistance Surfaces: The European Pine Marten (Martes martes) as a Target-Species of a Regional Ecological Network

Coherent ecological networks (EN) composed of core areas linked by ecological corridors are being developed worldwide with the goal of promoting landscape connectivity and biodiversity conservation. However, empirical assessment of the performance of EN designs is critical to evaluate the utility of these networks to mitigate effects of habitat loss and fragmentation. Landscape genetics provides a particularly valuable framework to address the question of functional connectivity by providing a direct means to investigate the effects of landscape structure on gene flow. The goals of this study are (1) to evaluate the landscape features that drive gene flow of an EN target species (European pine marten), and (2) evaluate the optimality of a regional EN design in providing connectivity for this species within the Basque Country (North Spain). Using partial Mantel tests in a reciprocal causal modeling framework we competed 59 alternative models, including isolation by distance and the regional EN. Our analysis indicated that the regional EN was among the most supported resistance models for the pine marten, but was not the best supported model. Gene flow of pine marten in northern Spain is facilitated by natural vegetation, and is resisted by anthropogenic landcover types and roads. Our results suggest that the regional EN design being implemented in the Basque Country will effectively facilitate gene flow of forest dwelling species at regional scale.