Abstract
Context
Although the edge effect is known to be an important factor influencing the recruitment of trees in temperate forests, little is known of its synergistic relationships with landscape and fragment attributes.
Objectives
We investigated how the edge effect on regeneration of oaks (Quercus spp.) varies with respect to fragment geometry, connectivity and landscape composition.
Methods
We recorded oak sapling density along edge-interior gradients in 29 forest fragments at the periphery of Mexico City and examined the data with Generalized Additive Models.
Results
A nonlinear and landscape-mediated edge effect was supported by data, including the interactions of the edge distance with patch connectivity, shape and size. Saplings were more abundant at a distance of ca. 50 m from the edge of small, large and connected patches, but large patches also exhibited reduced recruitment towards the interior of the patch. Conversely, sapling density in simple-shaped or connected patches was lower at the edge, exhibiting linear and concave-down increase trends towards the interior of patches, respectively.
Conclusions
Boundary conditions could be interacting with interior forest conditions, making regeneration more frequent at 50 m from the edge. Shady and cooler sites in large patches may be inhibiting oak regeneration. The activity of acorn-dispersing animals and oak predators may increase in unconnected patches, thus increasing the likelihood of edge effects. These results provide insights into the restoration of temperate forest patches in heterogeneous fragmented landscapes.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Asbjornsen H, Ashton MS, Vogt DJ, Palacios S (2004) Effects of habitat fragmentation on the buffering capacity of edge environments in a seasonally dry tropical oak forest ecosystem in Oaxaca, Mexico. Agric Ecosyst Environ 103(3):481–495
Battaglia LL, Pritchett DW, Minchin PR (2008) Evaluating dispersal limitations in passive bottomland forest restoration. Restor Ecol 16:417–424
Benítez-Malvido J, Gallardo-Vásquez JC, Alvarez-Añorve MY, Avila-Cabadilla LD (2014) Influence of matrix type on tree community assemblages along tropical dry forest edges. Am J Bot 101(5):820–829
Block S, Meave JA (2015) Structure and diversity of oak forests in the El Tepozteco National Park (Morelos, Mexico). Bot Sci 93:429–460
Brooks ME, Kristensen K, van Benthem KJ, Magnusson A, Berg CW, Nielsen A, Skaug HJ, Machler M, Bolker BM (2017) glmmTMB balances speed and flexibility among packages for zero-inflated generalized linear mixed modeling. R J 9(2):378–400
Buckley DS, Sharik TL, Isebrands JG (1998) Regeneration of northern red oak: positive and negative effects of a competitor removal. Ecology 79:65–78
Cadenasso ML, Pickett STA (2000) Linking forest edge structure to edge function: meditation of herbivore damage. J Ecol 88:31–44
Cadenasso ML, Pickett STA, Weathers KC, Jones CG (2003) A framework for a theory of ecological boundaries. Bioscience 53:750–758
Collinge SK, Palmer TM (2002) The influences of patch shape and boundary contrast on insect response to fragmentation in California grasslands. Landscape Ecol 17(7):647–656
Condeso TE, Meentemeyer RK (2007) Effects of landscape heterogeneity on the emerging forest disease sudden oak death. J Ecol 95(2):364–375
Costa A, Madeira M, Santos JL, Plieninger T, Seixas J (2014) Fragmentation patterns of evergreen oak woodlands in Southwestern Iberia: identifying key spatial indicators. J Environ Manage 133:18–26
Edwards DP, Tobias JA, Sheil D, Meijaard E, Laurance WF (2014) Maintaining ecosystem function and services in logged tropical forests. Trends Ecol Evol 29(9):511–520
Ewers RM, Didham RK (2006) Confounding factors in the detection of species responses to habitat fragmentation. Biol Rev 81(01):117–142
Fagan W, Cantrell R, Cosner C (1999) How habitat edges change species interactions. Am Nat 153:165–182
Fletcher RJ Jr, Ries L, Battin J, Chalfoun AD (2007) The role of habitat area and edge in fragmented landscapes: definitively distinct or inevitably intertwined? Can J Zool 85(10):1017–1030
Fonderflick J, Besnard A, Martin JL (2013) Species traits and the response of open-habitat species to forest edge in landscape mosaics. Oikos 122(1):42–51
García-Hernández MD, López-Barrera F, Vásquez-Reyes VM (2016) Microhabitat affects acorn removal in three sympatric and endangered Neotropical oak species. Ecol Res 31(3):343–351
García-Romero A (2001) Evolution of disturbed oak woodlands: the case of Mexico City’s western forest reserve. Geogr J 167(1):72–82
Granados C, Serrano D, García-Romero A (2014) Efecto de borde en la composición y en la estructura de los bosques templados en la Sierra de Monte Alto, Centro de México. Caldasia 36:269–287
Guevara S, Laborde J, Sánchez-Ríos G (2004) Rain forest regeneration beneath the canopy of fig trees isolated in pastures of Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. Biotropica 36:99–108
Hansson L (1998) Local hot spots and their edge effects: small mammals in oak-hazel woodland. Oikos 81(1):55–62
Harper KA, Macdonald SE, Burton PJ, Chen J, Brosofske KD, Saunders SC, Esseen PA (2005) Edge influence on forest structure and composition in fragmented landscapes. Conserv Biol 19(3):768–782
Haynes JK, Cronin TJ (2006) Interpatch movement and edge effects: the role of behavioral responses to the landscape matrix. Oikos 113(1):43–54
Herrmann JD, Carlo TA, Brudvig LA, Damschen EI, Haddad NM, Levey DJ, Orrock JL, Tewksbury JJ (2016) Connectivity from a different perspective: comparing seed dispersal kernels in connected vs. unfragmented landscapes. Ecology 97(5):1274–1282
Hofmeister J, Hošek J, Brabec M, Hédl R, Modrý M (2013) Strong influence of long-distance edge effect on herb-layer vegetation in forest fragments in an agricultural landscape. Perspect Plant Ecol Evol Syst 15(6):293–303
Jones K, Wrigley N (1995) Generalized additive models, graphical diagnostics, and logistic regression. Geogr Anal 27(1):1–18
Justino CEL, Dos Santos EF, Noll FB (2016) Diversity of Tiphiidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) in the fragmented Brazilian semi-deciduous Atlantic Forest. J Insect Conserv 20(3):417–431
Laurance WF, Yensen E (1991) Predicting the effects of fragmented habitats. Biol Conserv 55:77–92
Laurance WF, Nascimento HEM, Laurance SG, Andrade A, Ewers RM, Harms KE, Riberio JE (2007) Habitat fragmentation, variable edge effects, and the landscape-divergence hypothesis. PLoS ONE 2(10):1–8
Lawesa MJ, Jouberta R, Griffithsa ME, Stephane Boudreaua S, Chapmanb CA (2007) The effect of the spatial scale of recruitment on tree diversity in Afromontane forest fragments. Biol Conserv 139:447–456
Lhotka JM, Stringer JW (2013) Forest edge effects on Quercus reproduction within naturally regenerated mixed broadleaf stands. Can J For Res 43(10):911–918
López-Barrera F, Manson RH (2006) Ecology of acorn dispersal by small mammals in montane forests of Chiapas, Mexico. In: Kappelle M (ed) Ecology and conservation of neotropical montane oak forests. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg, pp 165–176
Lopez-Barrera F, Newton A, Manson R (2005) Edge effects in a tropical montane forest mosaic: experimental tests of post-dispersal acorn removal. Ecol Res 20(1):31–40
Maldonado-López Y, Cuevas-Reyes P, Stone GN, Nieves-Aldrey JL, Oyama K (2015) Gall wasp community response to fragmentation of oak tree species: importance of fragment size and isolated trees. Ecosphere 6(3):1–15
Mancke RG, Gavin TA (2000) Breeding bird density in woodlots: effects of depth and buildings at the edges. Ecol Appl 10(2):598–611
McGarigal K, Cushman SA, Ene E (2012) FRAGSTATS v4: spatial pattern analysis program for categorical and continuous maps. University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Mitchell MG, Bennett EM, Gonzalez A (2014) Forest fragments modulate the provision of multiple ecosystem services. J Appl Ecol 51:909–918
Montenegro AL, Vargas O (2008) Caracterización de bordes de bosque alto andino e implicaciones para la restauración ecológica en la Reserva Forestal de Cogua (Colombia). Int J Trop Biol 56:1543–1556
Morán-López T, Fernández M, Alonso CL, Flores-Rentería D, Valladares F, Díaz M (2015) Effects of forest fragmentation on the oak–rodent mutualism. Oikos 124(11):1482–1491
Murcia C (1995) Edge effects in fragmented forests: implications for conservation. Trends Ecol Evol 10:58–62
Nascimento HEM, Andrade A, Camargo J, Laurance WF, Laurance SG, Ribeiro JEL (2006) Effects of the surrounding matrix on tree recruitment in Amazonian forest fragments. Conserv Biol 20:853–860
Öckinger E, Bergman KO, Franzén M, Kadlec T, Krauss J, Kuussaari M, Bommarco R (2012) The landscape matrix modifies the effect of habitat fragmentation in grassland butterflies. Landscape Ecol 27(1):121–131
Ortego J, Bonal R, Muñoz A, Espelta JM (2015) Living on the edge: the role of geography and environment in structuring genetic variation in the southernmost populations of a tropical oak. Plant Biol 17(3):676–683
Pe’er G, Henle K, Dislich C, Frank K (2011) Breaking functional connectivity into components: a novel approach using an individual-based model, and first outcomes. PLoS ONE 6(8):e22355. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0022355
Pérez López P, López Barrera F, García Oliva F, Cuevas Reyes P, González Rodríguez A (2013) Procesos de regeneración natural en bosques de encinos: factores facilitadores y limitantes. Biológicas 1:18–24
Pincheira-Ulbrich J, Rau JR, Peña-Cortés F (2009) Tamaño y forma de fragmentos de bosque y su relacion con la riqueza de especies de árboles y arbustos. Phyton-Int J Exp Bot 78:121–128
Porensky LM, Young TP (2016) Development of edge effects around experimental ecosystem hotspots is affected by hotspot density and matrix type. Landscape Ecol 31:1663. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-016-0344-3
R Core Team (2017) R: a language and environment for statistical computing [Internet]. R Foundation for Statistical Computing 2016
Ramos-Palacios CR, Badano EI, Flores J, Flores-Cano JA, Flores-Flores JL (2014) Distribution patterns of acorns after primary dispersion in a fragmented oak forest and their consequences on predators and dispersers. Eur J For Res 133(3):391–404
Ries L, Fletcher RJ, Battin J, Sisk TD (2004) Ecological responses to habitat edges: mechanisms, models, and variability explained. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 35:491–522
Rubio-Licona L, Romero-Rangel S, Rojas-Zenteno EC (2011) Estructura y composición florística de dos comunidades con presencia de Quercus (Fagaceae) en el estado de México. Revis Chapingo 17:77–90
Ruffell J, Didham RK (2016) Towards a better mechanistic understanding of edge effects. Landscape Ecol 31:2205–2213
Rzedowski GC, Rzedowski J (2005) Flora fanerogámica del Valle de México. Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling (2a–ed–. 1 ed., Vol. 53). Instituto de Ecología y Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad, México
Santibañez-Andrade G, Granados Peláez C, García-Romero A (2018) Defining functional groups and their vulnerability to edge effect in a peri-urban forest in Mexico City. Environ Conserv 20:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892917000595
Sarlöv HI (2001) Approaches to forest edges as dynamic structures and functional concepts. Landsc Res 26:27–43
Saunders DA, Hobbs RJ, Margules CR (1991) Biological consequences of ecosystem fragmentation: a review. Conserv Biol 5:18–32
Strayer DL, Power ME, Fagan WF, Pickett ST, Belnap J (2003) A classification of ecological boundaries. Bioscience 53(8):723–729
Swift TL, Hannon SJ (2010) Critical thresholds associated with habitat loss: a review of the concepts, evidence, and applications. Biol Rev 85(1):35–53
Tischendorf L, Fahrig L (2000) On the usage and measurement of landscape connectivity. Oikos 90:7–19
Vakkari P, Blom A, Rusanen M, Raisio J, Toivonen H (2006) Genetic variability of fragmented stands of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) in Finland. Genetica 127(1–3):231–241
Valencia S (2004) Diversidad del género Quercus (Fagaceae) en México. Bol Soc Bot Mex 75:33–53
Vergara PM, Hahn I (2009) Linking edge effects and patch size effects: importance of matrix nest predators. Ecol Model 220(9):1189–1196
Vergara PM, Smith C, Delpiano CA, Orellana I, Gho D, Vazquez I (2010) Frugivory on Persea lingue in temperate Chilean forests: interactions between fruit availability and habitat fragmentation across multiple spatial scales. Oecologia 164(4):981–991
Villaseñor NR, Blanchard W, Driscoll DA, Gibbons P, Lindenmayer DB (2015) Strong influence of local habitat structure on mammals reveals mismatch with edge effects models. Landscape Ecol 30(2):229–245
Watling JI, Nowakowski AJ, Donnelly MA, Orrock JL (2011) Meta-analysis reveals the importance of matrix composition for animals in fragmented habitat. Global Ecol Biogeogr 20(2):209–217
White GC, Bennetts RE (1996) Analysis of frequency count data using the negative binomial distribution. Ecology 77:2549–2557
Williams-Linera G (1990) Vegetation structure and environmental conditions of forest edges in Panama. J Ecol 78(2):356–373
Wood SN (2017) Generalized additive models: an introduction with R. CRC Press, Boca Raton
Zhang Y, Shi Y, Sichilima AM, Zhu M, Lu J (2016) Evidence on the adaptive recruitment of chinese cork Oak (Quercus variabilis BL): influence on repeated germination and constraint germination by food-hoarding animals. Forests 7(2):47
Zurita G, Pe’er G, Bellocq MI, Hansbauer MM (2012) Edge effects and their influence on habitat suitability calculations: a continuous approach applied to birds of the Atlantic forest. J Appl Ecol 49(2):503–512
Zuur A, Ieno N, Walker N, Saveliev A, Smith G (2009) Mixed effects models and extensions in ecology with r statistics for biology and health. Springer Science and Business Media, New York, pp 271–280
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Autonomous University of Mexico, through DGAPA-PAPIIT project number IN301218. PMV acknowledges FONDECYT 1180978 - CONICYT and Proyecto Fondo Fortalecimiento USA1799 – USACH.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
García-Romero, A., Vergara, P.M., Granados-Peláez, C. et al. Landscape-mediated edge effect in temperate deciduous forest: implications for oak regeneration. Landscape Ecol 34, 51–62 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-018-0733-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-018-0733-x