| 1. |
- Mozgeris, Gintautas, et al.
(författare)
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Future projection for forest management suggests a decrease in the availability of nesting habitats for a mature-forest-dwelling raptor
- 2021
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Ingår i: Forest Ecology and Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 0378-1127 .- 1872-7042. ; 491
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The demand for timber, bioenergy feedstock and other forest products, leading to intensified forest harvesting, is expected to increase in the coming decades. A reduction in the delivery of forest ecosystem services and, specifically, biodiversity, including the provision of habitats for mature-forest-dwelling raptors, has been attributed to the intensification of forest exploitation. Therefore, in order to adopt adequate conservation measures to create a timely buffer against the consequences of increased harvesting, it is critically important to understand how the availability of nesting habitats for protected species will fluctuate in the future landscape. In this study, using the LandSim tool, we modelled the dynamics of the forests and nesting habitat availability for the forest-nesting raptor, the lesser spotted eagle Clanga pomarina, for the next 50 years in eastern Lithuania, Central Europe. Our findings indicate that the share of forests available for final harvesting is expected to increase rapidly in the coming decades due to a large amount of forest stands reaching a mature age, if current forest management practices, despite them being considered as relatively conservative, are continued. As a consequence, the availability of nesting habitats will constantly decrease in nesting territories, as well as elsewhere in the landscape, in the coming decades. We suggest that species conservation strategies should not only incorporate directly targeted measures to protect nest sites from destruction and disturbance, but also, at the very least, preserve a sufficient amount of nesting habitats in areas inhabited by eagle pairs and, at best, at the landscape scale.
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| 2. |
- Mörtberg, Ulla, et al.
(författare)
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Sustainability assessment of forest bioenergy options - integrating biodiversity components
- 2019
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Forest management tends to intensify in many countries due to climate change mitigation, which require more forest bioenergy as substitution for fossil fuel. However, the intensified forestry may be detrimental to biodiversity, especially for species dependent on old forest habitat. In order to simultaneously assess production of forest bioenergy feedstock and habitat potential for biodiversity, we developed the Landscape simulation and Ecological Assessment (LEcA) tool, linking simulation of forest growth and management (LandSim), a yield calculator, and a habitat assessment model. The aim was to integrate production of forest bioenergy feedstock, industrial wood, and biodiversity tied to mature and old forest, in a sustainability assessment of forest bioenergy options. The study area was the country of Lithuania where two forest management scenarios were applied, business-as-usual (BAU) and intensive-forestry (INT). The landscape simulation was run for a 100 years period with 5 year time steps. Forest biodiversity was represented by area of old forest as well as nesting habitat for two model species, Lesser Spotted Eagle (Clanga pomarina) preferring forest edges, and Black Stork (Ciconia nigra) preferring interior forest. The results showed that forest bioenergy yields may be higher in the INT scenario during the first decades of the simulation period, but in the long run will only be slightly higher compared to the BAU scenario. However, the impacts on the habitat of the forest birds would be considerable, where the habitat area would be 14% smaller for C. pomarina and 17% smaller for C. nigra, in the INT scenario compared to BAU. The landscape simulation showed that there may be conflicts between sustainability objectives related to climate change mitigation and biodiversity, and that intensive forestry may not necessarily be an effective mitigation measure. The model results has potential to inform policy and planning concerning several sustainability aspects.
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| 3. |
- Mörtberg, Ulla, 1960-, et al.
(författare)
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Sustainability assessment of intensified forestry - Forest bioenergy pathways versus forest biodiversity targeting forest birds
- 2021
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Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 13:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Intensified forestry can be seen as a solution to climate change mitigation and securing energy supply, increasing the production of forest bioenergy feedstock as a substitution for fossil fuels. However, it may come with detrimental impacts on forest biodiversity, especially related to older forests. The aim of this study was to assess the sustainability of intensified forestry from climate-energy and biodiversity perspectives, targeting forest bird species. For this purpose, we applied the Landscape simulation and Ecological Assessment (LEcA) tool to the study area of Lithuania, having high ambitions for renewables and high forest biodiversity. With LEcA, we simulated forest growth and management for 100 years with two forest management strategies: Business As Usual (BAU) and Intensive forestry (INT), the latter with the purpose to fulfil renewable energy goals. With both strategies, the biomass yields increased well above the yields of the reference year, while the biodiversity indicators related to forest bird habitat to different degrees show the opposite, with lower levels than for the reference year. Furthermore, Strategy INT resulted in small-to-no benefits in the long run concerning potential biomass harvesting, while substantially affecting the biodiversity indicators negatively. The model results have the potential to inform policy and forest management planning concerning several sustainability goals simultaneously.
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| 4. |
- Väli, Ulo, et al.
(författare)
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Microsatellites and single nucleotide polymorphisms in avian hybrid identification : a comparative case study
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Avian Biology. - 0908-8857 .- 1600-048X. ; 41:1, s. 34-49
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The correct identification of hybrids is essential in avian hybridisation studies, but selection of the appropriate set of genetic markers for this purpose is at times complicated. Microsatellites and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are currently the most commonly used markers in this field. We compare the efficiency of these two marker types, and their combination, in the identification of the threatened avian species, the greater spotted eagle and the lesser spotted eagle, as well as hybrids between the two species. We developed novel SNP markers from genome-wide distributed 122 candidate introns using only sympatric samples, and tested these markers successfully in 60 sympatric and allopatric spotted eagles using Bayesian model-based approaches. Comparatively, only one out of twelve previously described avian nuclear intron markers showed significant species-specific allele frequency difference, thus stressing the importance of selecting the proper markers. Twenty microsatellites outperformed selected nine SNPs in species identification, but were poorer in hybrid detection, whereas the resolution power of ten microsatellites remained too low for correct assignment. A combination of SNPs and microsatellites resulted in the most efficient and accurate identification of all individuals. Our study shows that the use of various sets of markers could lead to strikingly different assignment results, hybridisation studies may have been affected by too low a resolution power of used markers, and that an appropriate set of markers is essential for successful hybrid identification.
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| 5. |
- Väli, Ülo, et al.
(författare)
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Widespread hybridization between the Greater Spotted Eagle Aquila clanga and the Lesser Spotted Eagle Aquila pomarina (Aves: Accipitriformes) in Europe
- 2010
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Ingår i: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0024-4066 .- 1095-8312. ; 100:3, s. 725-736
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Hybridization is a significant threat for endangered species and could potentially even lead to their extinction. This concern applies to the globally vulnerable Greater Spotted Eagle Aquila clanga, a species that co-occurs, and potentially interbreeds, with the more common Lesser Spotted Eagle Aquila pomarina in a vast area of Eastern Europe. We applied single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and microsatellite markers in order to study hybridization and introgression in 14 European spotted eagle populations. We detected hybridization and/or introgression in all studied sympatric populations. In most regions, hybridization took place prevalently between A. pomarina males and A. clanga females, with introgression to the more common A. pomarina. However, such a pattern was not as obvious in regions where A. clanga is still numerous. In the course of 16 years of genetic monitoring of a mixed population in Estonia, we observed the abandonment of A. clanga breeding territories and the replacement of A. clanga pairs by A. pomarina, whereby on several occasions hybridization was an intermediate step before the disappearance of A. clanga. Although the total number of Estonian A. clanga × A. pomarina pairs was twice as high as that of A. clanga pairs, the number of pairs recorded yearly were approximately equal, which suggests a higher turnover rate in interbreeding pairs. This study shows that interspecific introgressive hybridization occurs rather frequently in a hybrid zone at least 1700-km wide: it poses an additional threat for the vulnerable A. clanga, and may contribute to the extinction of its populations.
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