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- Greiser, Caroline, 1987-, et al.
(författare)
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Archive value : measuring the palaeo-information content of peatlands in a conservation and compensation perspective
- 2018
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Ingår i: International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management. - : Informa UK Limited. - 2151-3732 .- 2151-3740. ; 14:1, s. 209-220
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The value of peatlands as archives for vegetation, landscape, climate, and human history is well known, but often neglected in conservation planning. Archive value is the potential to satisfy future (yet unknown) demands for information about the past. This study aims at assessing the comparative archive value of a set of peatlands, to identify the most similar alternatives for three peatlands and to estimate the archive loss in case of their destruction. Representative cores from 49 peatlands in the region were assessed with respect to age, depth, resolution, (in)completeness, evenness, and diversity of substrates, peat accumulation status, and thickness of every single substrate type. After using cluster analysis to identify archive types and the relatedness among peatlands, the archive value of each peatland was expressed as a proportion of the total regional archive. We found candidates for compensating the three threatened peatlands, but also identified other archives of high conservation interest according to our criteria. The outcomes appeared rather robust but were determined by the criteria, resolution, and algorithms chosen. This work presents a first step towards developing an objective and consistent evaluation procedure of peatland archives, allowing the archive value to be considered in conservation and management decisions.
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| 2. |
- Hegde, Narasimha, et al.
(författare)
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A preliminary assessment of landscape features and cultural practices of sacred fresh water swamps in the central Western Ghats, India
- 2018
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Ingår i: Wetlands Ecology and Management. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0923-4861 .- 1572-9834. ; 26:1, s. 49-61
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sacred areas are the oldest form of habitat protection, and many of these areas contribute to biodiversity conservation. While sacred groves have received considerable scholarly attention, little is known about fresh water swamps in the Western Ghats, India and sacred swamps have largely been ignored. This paper provides a first overview testing the conjecture that sacred swamps have physical features that distinguish them from non-sacred swamps. We assessed 110 fresh water swamps in the district of Uttara Kannada, Central Western Ghats, India, through extensive field surveys. Out of them 11 swamps are 'sacred' according to local testimony. Swamps are found in wet evergreen and evergreen forest types, but sacred swamps occur only in the wet evergreen forests. Sacred swamps differ significantly from non-sacred swamps with respect to size and shape, distance to the nearest road, human settlement, and commercial orchard, and population density within a radius of 500 m. This shows that preferentially swamps close to settlements, orchards and roads have been declared as sacred, probably to regulate the continuing provision of relevant ecosystem services. While we find a variety of deities associated with these sacred swamps, the practices associated with sacred swamp status and management are essentially the same across belief groups. However, the conservation practice is at risk due to migration dynamics.
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