Crane Mason J, Lindenmayer David B, Cunningham Ross B
Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
PLoS One. 2014 Sep 12;9(9):e107178. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0107178. eCollection 2014.
Human activities, particularly agriculture, have transformed much of the world's terrestrial environment. Within these anthropogenic landscapes, a variety of relictual and semi-natural habitats exist, which we term countryside elements. The habitat value of countryside elements (hereafter termed 'elements') is increasingly recognised. We quantify the relative value of four kinds of such 'elements' (linear roadside remnants, native vegetation patches, scattered trees and tree plantings) used by a threatened Australian arboreal marsupial, the squirrel glider (Petaurus norfolcensis). We examined relationships between home range size and the availability of each 'element' and whether the usage was relative to predicted levels of use. The use of 'elements' by gliders was largely explained by their availability, but there was a preference for native vegetation patches and scattered trees. We found home range size was significantly smaller with increasing area of scattered trees and a contrasting effect with increasing area of linear roadside remnants or native vegetation patches. Our work showed that each 'element' was used and as such had a role in the conservation of the squirrel glider, but their relative value varied. We illustrate the need to assess the conservation value of countryside elements so they can be incorporated into the holistic management of agricultural landscapes. This work demonstrates the disproportional value of scattered trees, underscoring the need to specifically incorporate and/or enhance the protection and recruitment of scattered trees in biodiversity conservation policy and management.
人类活动，尤其是农业活动，已经改变了世界上大部分陆地环境。在这些人为景观中，存在着各种各样的残余和半自然栖息地，我们将其称为乡村元素。乡村元素（以下简称“元素”）的栖息地价值日益得到认可。我们量化了澳大利亚一种濒危树栖有袋动物——松鼠滑翔机（Petaurus norfolcensis）所利用的四种此类“元素”（线性路边残余地、原生植被斑块、散生树和人工种植的树木）的相对价值。我们研究了家域大小与每种“元素”的可利用性之间的关系，以及其使用情况是否与预测的使用水平相关。滑翔机对“元素”的利用在很大程度上取决于其可利用性，但它们更偏好原生植被斑块和散生树。我们发现，随着散生树面积的增加，家域大小显著减小，而线性路边残余地或原生植被斑块面积增加则产生相反的效果。我们的研究表明，每种“元素”都被利用，因此在松鼠滑翔机的保护中都发挥着作用，但其相对价值各不相同。我们说明了评估乡村元素保护价值的必要性，以便将其纳入农业景观的整体管理中。这项工作证明了散生树的不成比例的价值，强调了在生物多样性保护政策和管理中特别纳入和/或加强对散生树的保护和补种的必要性。
