Land-use determines the distribution of large branchiopods in climatically homogeneous northern Pannonia
Large branchiopods are key biota of temporary pools in Central European lowlands. Due to land use changes, they are among the most threatened aquatic invertebrates in Europe. The lack of information on the main drivers of species distribution hinders effective protection and conservation prioritisat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Global Ecology and Conservation |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989424005043 |
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| author | Alžbeta Devánová Jan Sychra Johannes Wessely Franz Essl Andrej Mock Michal Horsák Tobias Schernhammer |
| author_facet | Alžbeta Devánová Jan Sychra Johannes Wessely Franz Essl Andrej Mock Michal Horsák Tobias Schernhammer |
| author_sort | Alžbeta Devánová |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Large branchiopods are key biota of temporary pools in Central European lowlands. Due to land use changes, they are among the most threatened aquatic invertebrates in Europe. The lack of information on the main drivers of species distribution hinders effective protection and conservation prioritisation. We selected eight branchiopod species with representative data on their occurrence in the northern Pannonia to identify the most important drivers of their distribution and to predict their distribution in unexplored temporary pools across the Pannonian region of southern Slovakia, south-eastern Czech Republic, and eastern Austria. Data on pool size and isolation, soil characteristics, land use and climate were used to generate species distribution models using five modelling techniques and ensemble predictions. The distribution of species was mainly affected by the proportion of arable land within the pool (e.g. Triops cancriformis, Leptestheria dahalacensis), land use (e.g. Eubranchipus grubii, Lepidurus apus) and distance from the river (e.g. Branchinecta ferox and Chirocephalus carnuntanus). Wetland size and habitat isolation were also important for some species, mainly for Branchipus schaefferi and Imnadia yeyetta, respectively. As we focused on a climatically homogeneous area, climatic conditions only had the most important effect on the distribution of species that have their distribution limit in northern Pannonia (B. ferox, C. carnuntanus, I. yeyetta). Overall, the diversity of large branchiopods increased with pool size, while decreased with distance to a river and habitat isolation. As some distribution patterns emerged repeatedly in the models, the effective protection can be simplified to consider species that require contrasting conditions. Particular attention should be paid to ephemeral wetlands on arable land, crucial habitats for large branchiopods, yet lacking any protection. Our results can contribute to better conservation of large branchiopods by facilitating surveys of species in understudied areas and improving the knowledge on the species environmental niches. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-687bc5d21c9f4df1a77d9009eb1e3db2 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2351-9894 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Global Ecology and Conservation |
| spelling | doaj-art-687bc5d21c9f4df1a77d9009eb1e3db22024-12-16T05:36:11ZengElsevierGlobal Ecology and Conservation2351-98942024-12-0156e03300Land-use determines the distribution of large branchiopods in climatically homogeneous northern PannoniaAlžbeta Devánová0Jan Sychra1Johannes Wessely2Franz Essl3Andrej Mock4Michal Horsák5Tobias Schernhammer6Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, Brno 61137, Czech Republic; Corresponding author.Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, Brno 61137, Czech RepublicDivision of Conservation Biology, Vegetation Ecology and Landscape Ecology, Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, Rennweg 14, Vienna 1030, AustriaDivision of BioInvasions, Global Change and Macroecology, Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, Rennweg 14, Vienna 1030, AustriaInstitute of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, Šrobárova 2, Košice 04154, SlovakiaDepartment of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, Brno 61137, Czech RepublicDivision of BioInvasions, Global Change and Macroecology, Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, Rennweg 14, Vienna 1030, AustriaLarge branchiopods are key biota of temporary pools in Central European lowlands. Due to land use changes, they are among the most threatened aquatic invertebrates in Europe. The lack of information on the main drivers of species distribution hinders effective protection and conservation prioritisation. We selected eight branchiopod species with representative data on their occurrence in the northern Pannonia to identify the most important drivers of their distribution and to predict their distribution in unexplored temporary pools across the Pannonian region of southern Slovakia, south-eastern Czech Republic, and eastern Austria. Data on pool size and isolation, soil characteristics, land use and climate were used to generate species distribution models using five modelling techniques and ensemble predictions. The distribution of species was mainly affected by the proportion of arable land within the pool (e.g. Triops cancriformis, Leptestheria dahalacensis), land use (e.g. Eubranchipus grubii, Lepidurus apus) and distance from the river (e.g. Branchinecta ferox and Chirocephalus carnuntanus). Wetland size and habitat isolation were also important for some species, mainly for Branchipus schaefferi and Imnadia yeyetta, respectively. As we focused on a climatically homogeneous area, climatic conditions only had the most important effect on the distribution of species that have their distribution limit in northern Pannonia (B. ferox, C. carnuntanus, I. yeyetta). Overall, the diversity of large branchiopods increased with pool size, while decreased with distance to a river and habitat isolation. As some distribution patterns emerged repeatedly in the models, the effective protection can be simplified to consider species that require contrasting conditions. Particular attention should be paid to ephemeral wetlands on arable land, crucial habitats for large branchiopods, yet lacking any protection. Our results can contribute to better conservation of large branchiopods by facilitating surveys of species in understudied areas and improving the knowledge on the species environmental niches.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989424005043ConservationLarge branchiopodsPannonian ecoregionSpecies distribution modelsTemporary wetlands |
| spellingShingle | Alžbeta Devánová Jan Sychra Johannes Wessely Franz Essl Andrej Mock Michal Horsák Tobias Schernhammer Land-use determines the distribution of large branchiopods in climatically homogeneous northern Pannonia Global Ecology and Conservation Conservation Large branchiopods Pannonian ecoregion Species distribution models Temporary wetlands |
| title | Land-use determines the distribution of large branchiopods in climatically homogeneous northern Pannonia |
| title_full | Land-use determines the distribution of large branchiopods in climatically homogeneous northern Pannonia |
| title_fullStr | Land-use determines the distribution of large branchiopods in climatically homogeneous northern Pannonia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Land-use determines the distribution of large branchiopods in climatically homogeneous northern Pannonia |
| title_short | Land-use determines the distribution of large branchiopods in climatically homogeneous northern Pannonia |
| title_sort | land use determines the distribution of large branchiopods in climatically homogeneous northern pannonia |
| topic | Conservation Large branchiopods Pannonian ecoregion Species distribution models Temporary wetlands |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989424005043 |
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