IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/envsyd/v36y2016i3d10.1007_s10669-016-9604-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ownership property size, landscape structure, and spatial relationships in the Edwards Plateau of Texas (USA): landscape scale habitat management implications

Author

Listed:
  • Edith González Afanador

    (Universidad Nacional de Colombia)

  • Michael E. Kjelland

    (Texas A&M University
    Conservation, Genetics & Biotech, LLC
    U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center)

  • X. Ben Wu

    (Texas A&M University)

  • Neal Wilkins

    (Texas A&M University)

  • William E. Grant

    (Texas A&M University)

Abstract

The present research focused on using spatial analysis to determine relationships among land ownership property sizes and landscape structure, with a focus on conservation management implications. Indices and metrics of ownership property sizes and landscape structure were calculated for 20 km buffer areas around 31 North American Breeding Bird Survey transects, 12 located within the Edwards Plateau ecoregion and 18 in contiguous ecoregions. The number of bird species observed at each transect provided a measure of avian species richness associated with land cover classes for each respective transect (González in Urban influence on diversity of avifauna in the Edwards Plateau of Texas: effect of property sizes on rural landscape structure, Texas A&M University, 2005). Spatial correlations were calculated between each pair of the landscape indices. Spatial analysis identified a “threshold of habitat fragmentation” for the 500 acre (ac) ownership property size. Significant spatial correlations among variables showed that property sizes lower than 500 ac produced habitat fragmentation represented by a decrease in mean patch size (MN) and proximity among habitat patches (Index PROX). Spatial analysis also made possible the prioritization of ecological sub-regions of the Edwards Plateau for conservation or restoration. The Live Oak-Mesquite Savannah showed the highest average ownership property size (7305 ac) and the highest values of patch richness. Based on the results, management in the Live Oak-Mesquite Savannah sub-region should focus on the conservation of land mosaic diversity to assure native avian species turnover (Whittaker 1972). In Balcones Canyon Lands, 64 % of land was covered by farms smaller than 500 ac and the overall average ownership property size was above the threshold of fragmentation (1440 ac), implying that management policies there should focus both on habitat conservation and on restoration. In contrast, 71 % of land in the Lampasas Cut Plains was covered by farms smaller than 500 ac, and average ownership property size was very close to the fragmentation threshold (625 ac). Consequently, the results indicate that management in the Lampasas Cut Plains sub-region should focus on habitat restoration (e.g., corridors that connect isolated habitat patches). In general, the threshold of ownership property size, 500 ac, is important for conservation planning because below that threshold of property size, habitat patch size begins to decrease and the distance between equivalent patches of habitat increases. Isolated patches act as islands within a sea of less suitable habitat which produce negative effects on biodiversity. Identifying the spatial characteristics indicative of habitat fragmentation, or the likelihood thereof, is an important issue for conservation planning in places with urban sprawl influence.

Suggested Citation

  • Edith González Afanador & Michael E. Kjelland & X. Ben Wu & Neal Wilkins & William E. Grant, 2016. "Ownership property size, landscape structure, and spatial relationships in the Edwards Plateau of Texas (USA): landscape scale habitat management implications," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 36(3), pages 310-328, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:envsyd:v:36:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1007_s10669-016-9604-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s10669-016-9604-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10669-016-9604-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10669-016-9604-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bradley J. Cardinale & J. Emmett Duffy & Andrew Gonzalez & David U. Hooper & Charles Perrings & Patrick Venail & Anita Narwani & Georgina M. Mace & David Tilman & David A. Wardle & Ann P. Kinzig & Gre, 2012. "Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity," Nature, Nature, vol. 486(7401), pages 59-67, June.
    2. Trousdale, William & Gregory, Robin, 2004. "Property evaluation and biodiversity conservation: Decision support for making hard choices," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 279-291, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ying, Zhixia & Liao, Jinbao & Liu, Yongjie & Wang, Shichang & Lu, Hui & Ma, Liang & Chen, Dongdong & Li, Zhenqing, 2017. "Modelling tree-grass coexistence in water-limited ecosystems," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 360(C), pages 387-398.
    2. Zachary A. Collier & James H. Lambert & Igor Linkov, 2016. "Latest journal news and introduction to the September issue of environment systems and decisions," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 36(3), pages 223-224, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yang Liu & Jing Zhao & Xi Zheng & Xiaoyang Ou & Yaru Zhang & Jiaying Li, 2023. "Evaluation of Biodiversity Maintenance Capacity in Forest Landscapes: A Case Study in Beijing, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-23, June.
    2. Bardsley, Douglas K. & Bardsley, Annette M., 2014. "Organising for socio-ecological resilience: The roles of the mountain farmer cooperative Genossenschaft Gran Alpin in Graubünden, Switzerland," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 11-21.
    3. Smith, Helen F. & Sullivan, Caroline A., 2014. "Ecosystem services within agricultural landscapes—Farmers' perceptions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 72-80.
    4. Paul L. G. Vlek & Asia Khamzina & Hossein Azadi & Anik Bhaduri & Luna Bharati & Ademola Braimoh & Christopher Martius & Terry Sunderland & Fatemeh Taheri, 2017. "Trade-Offs in Multi-Purpose Land Use under Land Degradation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-19, November.
    5. Nibedita Mukherjee & Jean Huge & Farid Dahdouh-Guebas & Nico Koedam, 2014. "Ecosystem service valuations of mangrove ecosystems to inform decision making and future valuation exercises," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/217963, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    6. Yiwei Lian & Yang Bai & Zhongde Huang & Maroof Ali & Jie Wang & Haoran Chen, 2024. "Spatio-Temporal Changes and Habitats of Rare and Endangered Species in Yunnan Province Based on MaxEnt Model," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-19, February.
    7. Eva M. Murgado-Armenteros & María Gutierrez-Salcedo & Francisco José Torres-Ruiz, 2020. "The Concern about Biodiversity as a Criterion for the Classification of the Sustainable Consumer: A Cross-Cultural Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-14, April.
    8. Chun-Huo Chiu & Anne Chao, 2014. "Distance-Based Functional Diversity Measures and Their Decomposition: A Framework Based on Hill Numbers," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(7), pages 1-17, July.
    9. Guangdong Li & Chuanglin Fang & James E. M. Watson & Siao Sun & Wei Qi & Zhenbo Wang & Jianguo Liu, 2024. "Mixed effectiveness of global protected areas in resisting habitat loss," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.
    10. Sarah R. Weiskopf & Forest Isbell & Maria Isabel Arce-Plata & Moreno Di Marco & Mike Harfoot & Justin Johnson & Susannah B. Lerman & Brian W. Miller & Toni Lyn Morelli & Akira S. Mori & Ensheng Weng &, 2024. "Biodiversity loss reduces global terrestrial carbon storage," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    11. Shuangshuang Liu & Qipeng Liao & Mingzhu Xiao & Dengyue Zhao & Chunbo Huang, 2022. "Spatial and Temporal Variations of Habitat Quality and Its Response of Landscape Dynamic in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-20, March.
    12. Jennifer M. H. Loch & Linda J. Walters & Melinda L. Donnelly & Geoffrey S. Cook, 2021. "Restored Coastal Habitat Can “Reel In” Juvenile Sportfish: Population and Community Responses in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida, USA," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-22, November.
    13. Jessica Chavez & Vincent Nijman & Desak Ketut Tristiana Sukmadewi & Made Dwi Sadnyana & Sophie Manson & Marco Campera, 2024. "Impact of Farm Management on Soil Fertility in Agroforestry Systems in Bali, Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-15, September.
    14. Guangzi Li & Jun Cai, 2022. "Spatial and Temporal Differentiation of Mountain Ecosystem Service Trade-Offs and Synergies: A Case Study of Jieshi Mountain, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-16, April.
    15. Melathopoulos, Andony P. & Stoner, Alexander M., 2015. "Critique and transformation: On the hypothetical nature of ecosystem service value and its neo-Marxist, liberal and pragmatist criticisms," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 173-181.
    16. Mathieu Bonneau & Régis Sabbadin & Fred A Johnson & Bradley Stith, 2018. "Dynamic minimum set problem for reserve design: Heuristic solutions for large problems," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(3), pages 1-23, March.
    17. Qiujin Chen & Yuqi Zhang & Yin Zhang & Mingliang Kong, 2022. "Examining Social Equity in the Co-Management of Terrestrial Protected Areas: Perceived Fairness of Local Communities in Giant Panda National Park, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-17, September.
    18. Nina Eisenmenger & Stefan Giljum & Stephan Lutter & Alexandra Marques & Michaela C. Theurl & Henrique M. Pereira & Arnold Tukker, 2016. "Towards a Conceptual Framework for Social-Ecological Systems Integrating Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services with Resource Efficiency Indicators," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-15, February.
    19. Hussain, A.M. Tanvir & Tschirhart, John, 2013. "Economic/ecological tradeoffs among ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 116-127.
    20. Schmidt, Stefan & Seppelt, Ralf, 2018. "Information content of global ecosystem service databases and their suitability for decision advice," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 32(PA), pages 22-40.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:envsyd:v:36:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1007_s10669-016-9604-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.