Open inland sand ecosystems harbour a specialised flora and fauna and are among the most endangered habitats in Central Europe. Land-use changes and lack of habitat dynamics are acknowledged as significant drivers for habitat loss and degradation. It is imperative for nature conservation to obtain criteria such as community structure and biodiversity of model groups to assess the conservation value of threatened habitats. By investigating the correlation between ground spider assemblages and habitat structure, the study aimed to find out the indicator potential of spiders in order to promote conservation objectives and management strategies for open inland sand ecosystems. Non-metric multidimensional scaling revealed four habitat groups with distinct spider assemblages that clearly reflected the whole variety of habitat structure types within the study area. Species distribution was constrained by biotic and abiotic gradients while the ecological traits of spiders differed significantly among the groups. Generalised linear models showed that abundances of particular species were significantly correlated with environmental factors and habitat structure, making them thus suitable as focal species to assess natural habitat modifications as well as success of management efforts. Based on these findings, we derived major aims for successful habitat management of inland sand ecosystems taking into account also the needs of arthropod conservation. Management should include both small and large reserves when aiming for higher levels of disturbance, and sand dynamics to prevent increasing scrub encroachment and to create a larger number of early succession stages.

Ground spider assemblages as indicators for habitat structure in inland sand ecosystems.

1. The evaluation of restoration measures is an important task of conservation biology. Inland sand dunes and dry, oligotrophic grasslands have become rare habitat types in large parts of Central Europe and their restoration and management is of major importance for the preservation of many endangered plant and insect species. Within such habitats, it is important to restore key ecosystem services, such as pollination networks. As wild bees are the most important pollinators in many ecosystems, they represent a suitable key group to evaluate restoration measures. Furthermore, the recent decline of many bee species and the potential ecological and economic consequences are currently topics of strong scientific interest. 2. We studied the succession of bee communities in response to restoration measures of sand dunes and sand grasslands and compared these communities with those of old sand dune complexes. 3. Our results show that wild bees respond rapidly to restoration measures indicated by a high species richness and abundance. The community structure of bees at restoration sites converged only slightly to those of the target sites. A higher similarity was found between bee communities at the restoration sites (sand dunes and grasslands), indicating that their close proximity was an important determinant of species overlap. Environmental factors such as the number of entomophilous plant species and moisture had a strong influence on wild bee species composition. 4. Synthesis and applications. The restoration of inland sand dune complexes provides opportunities for colonization by a diverse wild bee community. Although it is difficult to establish a given target community, restoration measures gave rise to a high pollinator diversity and abundance, suggesting that community function can be re-established.

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2009.01701.x

Restoration of riverine inland sand dune complexes: implications for the conservation of wild bees.

The Ems estuary has constantly changed over the past centuries both from man-made and natural influences. On the time scale of thousands of years, sea level rise has created the estuary and dynamically changed its boundaries. More recently, storm surges created the Dollard sub-basin in the 14th -15th centuries. Beginning in the 16th century, diking and reclamation of land has greatly altered the surface area of the Ems estuary, particularly in the Dollard. These natural and anthropogenic changes to the surface area of the Ems altered the flow patterns of water, the tidal characteristics, and the patterns of sediment deposition and erosion. Since 1945, reclamation of land has halted and the borders of the Ems estuary have changed little. Sea level rise has continued, and over the past 40 years the rate of increase in mean high water (MHW) along the German coast has accelerated to 40 cm/ century. Climate has varied on a decadal time scale due to long-term variations in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), which controls precipitation, temperature, and the direction and magnitude of winds. Between 1960 and 1990 the most intense variation in the NAO index on record was observed. As a result the magnitude and frequency of storm surges increased, and mean wave heights increased at 1-2 cm/year. Currently the NAO index—and therefore storminess—is trending downwards. Over the longer term, global warming models predict an average temperature rise of 2 degrees Celsius over the next century. A doubling of CO2 is expected to increase sea level by 30 cm, while the significant wind speed and wave heights in the North Sea are predicted to increase by 50 cm/s and 50 cm, respectively. Beginning in the late 1950’s, dredging activity and construction measures in harbours and shipping channels greatly altered the physical processes in the Ems. Deepening and streamlining the Ems River and shipping channel between the 1960s and 1990s decreased the hydraulic roughness and increased the tidal range in the river above Emden by as much as 1.5 m. At the turbidity maximum between Emden and Papenburg, concentrations of sediment are currently between 1-2 orders of magnitude larger than in the 1950’s, and fluid mud layers of several meters thickness occur. Other man-made changes, such as gas pipelines and the expansion of harbours, have often caused significant, but more localized, changes to the estuary.

/pdf/hydrodynamics-and-morphology-in-the-ems-dollard-estuary-2efxy4qn02.pdf

Hydrodynamics and morphology in the Ems/Dollard estuary: review of models, measurements, scientific literature and the effects of changing conditions

To assess the impact of Quercus acuta, a dominant species in the evergreen broad-leaved forests of Japan, and its habitat shifts as a result of climate change, we predicted the potential habitats under the current climate and two climate change scenarios using a random forest (RF). The presence/absence records of Q. acuta were extracted from the Phytosociological Releve Data Base as response variables, and four climatic variables (warmth index, WI; minimum temperature of the coldest month, TMC; summer precipitation, PRS; and winter precipitation, PRW) were used as predictor variables. The mean decrease in the Gini criterion revealed that WI was the most influential factor followed by TMC. The RF revealed a considerable increase in potential habitats (PHs) under the climate change scenarios for 2081–2100 (RCM20, 180,141 km2; MIROC, 175,635 km2) relative to the current climate (150,542 km2). The land use variables were used for masking PH. The PH masked by land use (PHLU) was approximately half of the PH under the current conditions (74,567 km2). Under the climate change scenarios and 1 km migration options, the PHLU were not increased relative to its value under the current conditions. The distribution of Q. acuta was restricted by the northward shift in northern Honshu, but expanded as a result of the upward shift into the mountain areas of Western Japan. Habitat fragmentation reduced the ability of migration to respond to climate change in the lowland areas of Japan.

Assessing the impact of land use and climate change on the evergreen broad-leaved species of Quercus acuta in Japan

Fish-Habitat Relationships and the Effectiveness of Habitat Restoration

In Germany, sand ecosystems are among the endangered habitats, particularly the open and the ecotone-rich forms including open oak and pine woodland. A practicable nature conservation concept has to take into account the often anthropo-zoogenically caused dynamics of sand ecosystems. The conservation of these ecosystems is problematic, as they form dynamic systems which lose relevance for species and habitat conservation if they are not used or if they are intensively used or fertilized.

Inland Sand Ecosystems: Dynamics and restitution as a consequence of the use of different grazing systems

Question: What relationship exists between productivity, plant species richness and livestock diet? Are the results dependent on scale? Location: A sheep-grazed Koelerio-Corynephoretea sandy habitat of the northern upper Rhine (Germany) as a low productivity model system. Methods: The investigation was carried out for three years at a fine scale (2 m2) and for two years at a broad scale (79 m2). Productivity was measured by means of weighed above-ground phytomass for fine scale and colour-infrared (CIR) aerial photographs of the same system for fine and broad scales. For both scales, total numbers of vascular plant species and numbers of endangered vascular plant species were extracted from current vegetation releves. Additionally, we obtained data on livestock diet (grazed phytomass, crude protein content). Results: Statistical analyses show an influence of the year on all variables; relationships between variables are not significant in every year. Species richness and number of endangered species are negatively related to productivity at fine scale while crude protein content and grazed phytomass are positively related to productivity. At the broad scale the diversity-productivity relationship shows a ʻhumpʼ with highest species numbers in middle pioneer stages; numbers of endangered species are highest in all pioneer stages. Conclusions: We found a strong impact of scale and year on the diversity-productivity relationship. It is inappropriate to analyse only small plots (2 m 2 ), and it is necessary to study different years. This vegetation complex is dependent on grazing impact; thus there is an inversely proportional relationship between nature conservation value (high diversity) and livestock nutrition.

The interrelationship between productivity, plant species richness and livestock diet: a question of scale?

Sandgebiete in der hessischen Oberrheinebene : Untersuchungsflächen und Untersuchungsansatz des BMBF-Projektes "Sandökosystem im Binnenland"

Extensive alluvial pasture landscapes with high biodiversity were for centuries characteristic of the northwestern German lowland plains, but for 50 years nearly all have been replaced by intensive agricultural management systems. As part of a rehabilitation project an alluvial pasture landscape along the River Hase (Ems river basin) was to be redeveloped. The dikes were set back and soil and sand were rearranged, creating a wetland-river dune complex low in nutrients. Hardly any plant species were present in the seed bank. Without any further assistance mainly hydrochoric wetland plant species were expected to colonize the area, whereas anemo- and zoochoric river dune plant species and those of dry grassland growing today only on fragmented sites would not be in a position to reach the rehabilitated area in the near future. Therefore, the areas have been inoculated with diaspores from mown and raked plant material taken from special source areas (Spergulo-Corynephoretum, Diantho-Armerietum). Results after two vegetation periods indicate that the plant species composition at the inoculated plots develop in the desired direction in contrast to non-inoculated plot. A long-term cattle grazing scheme was set up to prevent vegetation succession and guarantee a dynamic system of pioneer communities.

Rehabilitation of alluvial landscapes along the river Hase (Ems river basin, Germany)

Abstract. Monitoring mining impact has become increasingly important as the awareness of safety and environmental protection is rising. Our project Integrated Mining Impact Monitoring (i2Mon), funded by European Commission – Research Fund for Coal and Steel, intends to monitor the mining-induced impact, in particular, ground movement. The monitoring system comprises terrestrial measurement and remote sensing: levelling, GPS, LiDAR scanning, UAV survey, and SAR interferometry. The aim is to launch an interactive GIS-based platform as an early warning and decision making service for mining industry. This study has developed a scheme based on advanced SAR interferometry to monitor the ground movement over an extensive area at millimetre level. The first test site is a deactivated open-pit mine in Cottbus, Germany owned by Lausitz Energie Bergbau AG. The whole area was reclaimed into a post-mining lake and must be monitored for the safety. The second test site is located in Poland, where the underground mining operated by POLSKA GRUPA GÓRNICZA began in June 2021. We have monitored the in-situ ground movement carefully as part of the influenced area covers the human settlement. The ground movement of our test sites was analysed from Sentinel-1 images. The crucial parameters include stepwise movement series, instantaneous velocities and accelerations, and significance index. In addition, six corner reflectors along with sensors like GPS were installed across the region in Cottbus. They were observed in the Sentinel-1 series and the GPS readings will be used for validation. Finally, all the data will be integrated into DMT’s platform – SAFEGUARD.


INTEGRATED MINING IMPACT MONITORING (EU-PROJECT I2MON) FOR OPEN-PIT AND UNDERGROUND MINES

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of {limit} columns in the table. Remove at least 1 column to add or create another one.

K. Zimmermann

Author Tools

Chat about Author

Papers

Inland Sand Ecosystems: Dynamics and restitution as a consequence of the use of different grazing systems

The interrelationship between productivity, plant species richness and livestock diet: a question of scale?

Sandgebiete in der hessischen Oberrheinebene : Untersuchungsflächen und Untersuchungsansatz des BMBF-Projektes "Sandökosystem im Binnenland"

Rehabilitation of alluvial landscapes along the river Hase (Ems river basin, Germany)

INTEGRATED MINING IMPACT MONITORING (EU-PROJECT I<sup>2</sup>MON) FOR OPEN-PIT AND UNDERGROUND MINES