What are the impact of settlement?5 answersSettlements play a crucial role in human development and environmental impact. They serve as spaces for cultural growth and social interaction, influenced by socio-cultural factors. Urban settlements need to cater to residents' needs for a harmonious environment, including green spaces and recreational areas, to ensure well-being and satisfaction. However, new settlement designs aimed at enhancing social interactions have shown negative impacts on land cover and land use transformation, compromising environmental goals in the Brazilian Amazon. Moreover, rapid urban sprawl in areas like the northern shore of Lake Ontario has led to significant soil loss, water contamination, and ecological disruptions, highlighting the detrimental effects of settlement expansion on natural ecosystems. Settlements, therefore, have multifaceted impacts on society, the environment, and overall urban development.
Why does climate impact species distribution?5 answersClimate impacts species distribution due to its ability to alter habitats and environmental conditions, influencing the survival and range of various species. Climate change can lead to shifts in temperature, precipitation patterns, and other factors, affecting the availability of suitable habitats for different species. For example, studies on invasive plants and their biological control agents show how climate change can disrupt historical community assemblages and impact species interactions. Similarly, research on amphibians in West African savannahs demonstrates how future climate change can lead to the loss or gain of suitable habitats for different species. Understanding these impacts is crucial for conservation efforts and predicting how species distributions may change over time in response to climate fluctuations.
Does gradient affects distribution of marine life ?5 answersEnvironmental gradients play a crucial role in shaping the distribution of marine life. Studies have shown that genetic, climatic, and biotic interaction gradients contribute to prediction errors in marine species distribution models (SDMs). Additionally, the transition from the North Sea to the Baltic Sea represents a genetic and ecological break, with species exhibiting population structure and adaptation to different salinity conditions. Furthermore, marine biodiversity increases towards the tropics, with temperature gradients influencing fish abundance and diversity, while nutrient gradients affect invertebrates, highlighting the impact of environmental factors on species distribution. Trait-based approaches have revealed that spatial variability in marine community traits is influenced by gradients in temperature, primary productivity, fishing effort, and depth, emphasizing the complex responses of multi-taxa communities to environmental changes. Sediment characteristics like size, organic content, and salinity also influence the distribution of copepod species in marine environments.
Can species distribution models incorporate land use trends?5 answersSpecies distribution models (SDMs) can incorporate land use trends to improve their predictive power and accuracy. Land use legacies, such as historical agricultural land use, can be included as variables in SDMs to account for their influence on present-day species distributions. Incorporating land use variables in SDMs can help identify suitable areas that are not occupied by species due to land use legacies, leading to more accurate predictions. Additionally, including land use changes in SDMs can help understand the impacts of human development on bird communities and biodiversity patterns. By considering year-specific land use data, SDMs can better capture the dynamic nature of species distributions and avoid mismatches between species locations and predictor variables. Furthermore, incorporating human-induced factors, such as wildfire history and ecological restoration practices, along with climate and topographic variables, can improve the fit of SDMs and predict species distributions more accurately.
What are the factors that influence the distribution of a particular bird species?5 answersThe distribution of bird species is influenced by a combination of climatic and non-climatic factors, as well as species interactions. Climatic factors, such as temperature and precipitation, play a role in determining the range of bird species, with some species shifting their distributions in response to climate change. Non-climatic factors, including biotic interactions, demography, dispersal, and habitat heterogeneity, also influence species distributions. Additionally, the topography of an area, such as altitude and degree of slope, can affect species distribution. Furthermore, the presence of other species and their interactions can impact the distribution of a particular bird species. Incorporating these factors into species distribution models can improve our understanding of the determinants of bird species distributions and enhance our ability to predict future consequences of climate change.
How does land cover change affect the spatial distribution of carnivores and livestock?5 answersLand cover change can affect the spatial distribution of carnivores and livestock. The study by Saizen et al. found that the spatial association of livestock in Mongolia remained relatively stable, except for goats which showed a significant change in their spatial association. Another study by Morais et al. used remote sensing to analyze land cover change in the Caatinga biome and found that the classification model was effective in identifying places with vegetation that was most affected and susceptible to degradation. Niemi et al. emphasized that land cover represents the physical properties of the land surface, while land use by humans modifies natural land cover and requires more detailed information for accurate detection. Chhabra et al. highlighted that local changes in land-use/cover can significantly affect the Earth System functioning and human livelihoods. Zvoleff et al. stated that land use change may affect land cover, and changing land cover may similarly affect land use, making land use and cover change a multidisciplinary field of study.