The importance of residual ecological legacies for extinction debts in managed forests

剩余生态遗产对于管理森林灭绝债务的重要性

• 批准号: RGPIN-2015-03826
• 负责人: Work, Timothy
• 金额: $ 1.53万
• 依托单位: Université du Québec à Montréal
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=612595
• 关键词: importance; residual; ecological; legacies; extinction

Habitat loss is the principal cause of species loss in boreal forests and many other ecosystems. However, recent theoretical advances suggest these impacts may be greatly underestimated and species loss may continue far into the future through a process called extinction debt. Despite this dire prediction, there are few empirical examples of extinction debt that provide the information necessary to predict when and which species will go extinct. As a consequence, it is unclear whether extinction debts will translate into long-term losses in ecosystem functions (‘functional debt’) and what kinds of conservation or restoration efforts could limit or reverse these losses. Here, I present an integrated research program that will determine the likelihood, extent and duration of extinction debts following large-scale removal of deadwood by intensive harvesting and biomass removal in boreal forests. Through this research program I will train more than 12 HQPs. I will also provide a conceptually and experimentally unique approach based on direct measurement of colonization-extinction dynamics of deadwood-associated insects and fungi in individual deadwood habitats and across replicated, increasingly impacted landscapes. I will capitalize on three ongoing experiments where habitat loss occurred at different times thus providing a chronosequence of landscapes that spans 15 years and where the effects of extinction debt can be measured directly. I will then use empirical estimates of colonization-extinction dynamics to parametrize extinction debt models and evaluate the risks of long-term species loss under a large number of realistic, management scenarios. By focusing on communities and food webs in deadwood and their role in decomposition and carbon storage, I will further extend any long-term impacts of extinction debt to larger ecosystem impacts related to a functional debt. This framework presents a novel means to integrate conservation and restoration ecology through explicit consideration of colonization-extinction dynamics. With this information we can ‘customize’ mitigation strategies that favour specific types of deadwood depending on the condition of the larger landscape. I also provide a means to unify deadwood management with notions of ecological resilience. This information is essential for land-managers, conservation stakeholders and policy makers who are currently planning guidelines and binding legislation for intensive biomass removal based on limited (if any) ecological information.

栖息地丧失是北方森林和许多其他生态系统中物种损失的主要原因。但是，最近的理论进步表明，这些影响可能被低估了，并且通过称为延长债务的过程，物种损失可能会持续到未来。尽管有这个方向的预测，但延期债务的经验例子很少，这些实例提供了预测何时以及哪些物种将灭绝的必要信息。结果，尚不清楚延期债务是否会转化为生态系统功能（“功能债务”）的长期损失，哪些保护或恢复工作可以限制或扭转这些损失。 在这里，我提出了一项综合研究计划，该计划将通过大规模收获和在北方森林中的大量收获和生物量去除大规模清除枯木后的可能性，程度和持续时间。通过该研究计划，我将培训超过12个HQP。我还将基于对单个枯木栖息地以及越来越多地影响越来越受影响的景观的直接测量枯木相关的绝缘和真菌的定殖渗透动态的概念和实验独特的方法。我将利用三个正在进行的实验，在不同的时间发生栖息地丧失，从而提供了跨越15年的景观的调节仪，并且可以直接测量扩展甲板的影响。然后，我将使用定殖延伸动力学的经验估计来参数化扩展甲板模型，并评估大量现实的管理场景下的长期物种损失的风险。通过专注于Deadwood的社区和食物网及其在分解和碳存储中的作用，我将进一步扩展扩展甲板的任何长期影响到与功能甲板相关的更大生态系统的影响。 该框架提出了一种新颖的手段，可以通过明确考虑殖民化渗透动态来整合保护和恢复生态。借助此信息，我们可以“自定义”缓解策略，这些策略根据较大景观的状况而有利于特定类型的枯木类型。我还提供了一种用生态弹性概念统一枯木管理的方法。此信息对于目前正在计划基于有限（如果有）生态信息的强化生物质删除的土地经理，保护利益相关者和政策制定者至关重要的。