@article {Lutolf2009Scenariobased,
	title = {Scenario-based assessment of future land use change on butterfly species distributions},
	journal = {Biodiversity and Conservation},
	volume = {18},
	number = {5},
	year = {2009},
	month = {May},
	pages = {1329{\textendash}1347},
	abstract = {Abstract\&nbsp;\&nbsp;Species distribution models (SDMs) are increasingly used to predict environmentally induced range shifts of habitats of plant and animal species. Consequently SDMs are valuable tools for scientifically based conservation decisions. The aims of this paper are (1) to identify important drivers of butterfly species persistence or extinction, and (2) to analyse the responses of endangered butterfly species of dry grasslands and wetlands to likely future landscape changes in Switzerland. Future land use was represented by four scenarios describing: (1) ongoing land use changes as observed at the end of the last century; (2) a liberalisation of the agricultural markets; (3) a slightly lowered agricultural production; and (4) a strongly lowered agricultural production. Two model approaches have been applied. The first (logistic regression with principal components) explains what environmental variables have significant impact on species presence (and absence). The second (predictive SDM) is used to project species distribution under current and likely future land uses. The results of the explanatory analyses reveal that four principal components related to urbanisation, abandonment of open land and intensive agricultural practices as well as two climate parameters are primary drivers of species occurrence (decline). The scenario analyses show that lowered agricultural production is likely to favour dry grassland species due to an increase of non-intensively used land, open canopy forests, and overgrown areas. In the liberalisation scenario dry grassland species show a decrease in abundance due to a strong increase of forested patches. Wetland butterfly species would decrease under all four scenarios as their habitats become overgrown.},
	keywords = {conservation, decline, extinction, extirpation, landuse},
	doi = {10.1007/s10531-008-9541-y},
	url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10531-008-9541-y},
	author = {L{\"u}tolf, Michael and Bolliger, Janine and Kienast, Felix and Guisan, Antoine}
}
@article {PalaciosVargas2007Litter,
	title = {Litter and soil arthropods diversity and density in a tropical dry forest ecosystem in Western Mexico},
	journal = {Biodiversity and Conservation},
	volume = {16},
	number = {13},
	year = {2007},
	month = {December},
	pages = {3703{\textendash}3717},
	abstract = {Abstract\&nbsp;\&nbsp;The composition and temporal changes of edaphic microarthropods in both litter layer and soil were analyzed in a tropical dry forest ecosystem in Western Mexico. Sampling was carried out from June 1991 to July 1992 in two small watersheds at the Chamela Biological Station (Jalisco State, Mexico). At each watershed 10 random cores samples, 11\&nbsp;cm in diameter and 5\&nbsp;cm depth, were taken monthly from each biotope from an area of 100\&nbsp;m2. Fauna was extracted by Berlese-Tullgren funnels and preserved in 75\% ethanol. The total abundance of arthropods was 96,338 specimens, belonging to 33 taxa. Numerically dominant groups were Prostigmata, Cryptostigmata, Collembola and Mesostigmata, which constituted 92.6\% of the total abundance. The effect of current monthly precipitation and temperature on density of total Arthropoda and different Orders was also investigated. Precipitation and temperature were significantly correlated with Collembola and Mesostigmata densities and also with total arthropod. The seasonal variation in the amount of litterfall was also significantly related to the abundance of arthropod in the litter layer biotope.},
	keywords = {arthropods, dry, forest, litter, monitoring, sampling},
	doi = {10.1007/s10531-006-9109-7},
	url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10531-006-9109-7},
	author = {Palacios-Vargas, J. G. and Casta{\~n}o-Meneses, G. and G{\'o}mez-Anaya, J. A. and Mart\'{\i}nez-Yrizar, A. and Mej\'{\i}a-Recamier, B. E. and Mart\'{\i}nez-S{\'a}nchez, J.}
}
@article {RidderQuestioning,
	title = {Questioning the ecosystem services argument for biodiversity conservation},
	journal = {Biodiversity and Conservation},
	year = {Submitted},
	abstract = {Abstract\&nbsp;\&nbsp;One of the central justifications for the conservation of biodiversity is the notion that species diversity is essential for the maintenance of ecosystem services. However, an important observation overlooked by proponents of this argument is that most ecosystem services are provided not by whole ecosystems, but by any group of species that fulfils certain basic functional criteria. Distinguishing between services that are resilient in response to species decline, and those that are not, is a far less challenging task than identifying the precise influence on ecosystem functioning of rare species. Conservationists have been almost unanimous in their failure to acknowledge this distinction between resilient and sensitive ecosystem services. Not only does this threaten the credibility of conservation science, but also increases the likelihood that natural area management becomes hijacked by the demand that ecosystem service provision be made the dominant management criteria.},
	keywords = {arguments, biodiversity, conservation, utilitarianism},
	doi = {10.1007/s10531-008-9316-5},
	url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10531-008-9316-5},
	author = {Ridder, Ben}
}
@article {Samways2009Provision,
	title = {Provision of ecosystem services by large scale corridors and ecological networks},
	journal = {Biodiversity and Conservation},
	year = {2009},
	month = {October},
	abstract = {Abstract\&nbsp;\&nbsp;Large scale landscape transformation and contingent habitat loss are among the greatest threats to ecological integrity and ecosystem health. One of the mitigation approaches used to deal with these pressures is to leave interconnected corridors and nodes as remnant ecological networks (ENs) within the transformed landscape. The South African forestry industry has already allocated 500,000\&nbsp;ha, one-third of the plantation holdings, consisting predominantly of natural grassland, as ENs among and within timber plantations. These ENs are intended to maintain structural, compositional and functional biodiversity. However, little scientific research is available on the effectiveness of these huge ENs for biodiversity conservation and maintenance of natural ecosystem function, although initial findings are encouraging. While the local adverse effect of alien plantation trees on functional biodiversity is not in dispute, it is at the scale of the whole landscape where there is much interest in determining how effective these ENs are in maintaining the untransformed portion of the transformed landscape in a close-to-natural state. As these ENs are extensive, species beta diversity is a consideration in addition to alpha diversity. Initial findings reveal diminished ecological integrity in narrow corridors due in part to the adverse edge effect from the alien trees into the margin of the EN. Quality of the ENs is of great importance for maintaining functional diversity, with human disturbance reducing their effectiveness. First findings, and their application to the Framework for Ecosystem Service Provision, suggest that these ENs are significant for biodiversity conservation and for provision of ecosystem services. Nevertheless, still much more research is required on a greater range of taxa, and their interactions, to improve the design of these ENs for ecological and evolutionary processes.},
	keywords = {biodiversity, conservation, networks, policy, science-policy},
	issn = {0960-3115},
	doi = {10.1007/s10531-009-9715-2},
	url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10531-009-9715-2},
	author = {Samways, M. J. and Bazelet, C. S. and Pryke, J. S.}
}
@article {Schmeller2008European,
	title = {European species and habitat monitoring: where are we now?},
	journal = {Biodiversity and Conservation},
	volume = {17},
	number = {14},
	year = {2008},
	month = {December},
	pages = {3321{\textendash}3326},
	abstract = {Abstract\&nbsp;\&nbsp;Biodiversity now is considered a highly valuable material, providing manifold services of high importance for the well-being of humankind. However, biodiversity globally is rapidly diminishing and, despite efforts to halt the loss of biodiversity, positive effects are hardly visible. Biodiversity monitoring, the close observation of our natural environment, is imperative to determine the state and trend of organism populations and their habitats. Therefore, it has become a centrepiece of nature conservation across the globe. However, monitoring activities are not centrally coordinated, differ vastly in their monitoring targets, sampling designs, and human resource needs. This special issue on biodiversity and monitoring presents an overview of the current state of biodiversity monitoring in Europe, gives suggestions for the integration of monitoring data to improve the geographical and taxonomic coverage, deals with general methodological aspects of monitoring biodiversity across different geographic scales, the involvement of the public in monitoring activities, and provides some monitoring case studies. The special issue is aimed to provide recommendations and suggestions for more standardized monitoring approaches, and is mainly based on the findings of the EU-project EuMon.},
	keywords = {biodiversity, methods, monitoring},
	doi = {10.1007/s10531-008-9514-1},
	url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10531-008-9514-1},
	author = {Schmeller, Dirk}
}
