How can forest shading improve biodiversity? This is what a recent study published in the Journal of Applied Ecology hopes to address as a team of researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign investigated how agricultural conservation practices are contributing to ecosystem restoration, specifically regarding forest cover. This study has the potential to help researchers, climate scientists, legislators, and the public better understand forest conservation efforts and the steps that can be taken to enhance them.
For the study, the researchers collected and analyzed environmental DNA (eDNA) from dozens of streams and ecosystem species across various sites in central Illinois to ascertain the impact of riparian buffers on ecosystem biodiversity. Riparian buffers are a type of vegetation located along rivers and streams that improve water quality, reduce erosion, and provide wildlife habitats, just to name a few.
The motivation of this study was due to the drastic decrease in wildlife habitats resulting from transitioning from natural ecosystems to agriculture. In the end, the researchers discovered that regions with full forest shading resulted in tripling biodiversity compared to regions with zero shading. The researchers note that forest shading could greatly contribute to agricultural conservation.
“At one end, we saw grassland species — mice, ground squirrels, killdeer — that are adapted to more disturbed environments,” said Olivia Reves, who is a PhD student at the Czech University of Life Sciences Pragu but conducted the research at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and is lead author of the study. “In the high forest cover sites, it was a totally different set of species. The fact that we saw forest-dependent species, including southern two-lined salamanders, North American river otters, and ruby-throated hummingbirds, really drives home the idea that riparian buffers are beneficial in agricultural landscapes.”
This study demonstrates several important issues and outcomes, specifically regarding enhancing conservation practices while also showing that eDNA can be used as a powerful method for ecological monitoring.
What new insight into forest shading and biodiversity will researchers make in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: Journal of Applied Ecology, EurekAlert!
Featured Image Credit: Eric Larson, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign