Verlässliche Daten über unsere Lebens­grundlage

Maddalena, T., & Marchesi, P. (2012). Approfondimento delle conoscenze sulla distribuzione del Topo selvatico alpino (Apodemus alpicola Heinrich, 1952) nel Cantone Ticino (Svizzera). Bollettino della Società ticinese di Scienze naturali 100: 131-132.

Der starke Rückgang der Trockenwiesen ist eine der Hauptursachen für die Bedrohung vieler spezialisierter Tagfalterarten in der Schweiz. Mittlerweile stehen Trockenwiesen und -weiden von nationaler Bedeutung unter gesetzlichem Schutz. Die zu schützenden Trockenwiesen wurden dabei auf Basis von Vegetationsaufnahmen ausgewählt - ohne Berücksichtigung von faunistischen Daten. Ziel unserer Untersuchung war es, zu prüfen, inwiefern das Inventar auch jene Gebiete abdeckt, welche für den Erhalt von spezialisierten Tagfalterarten besonders bedeutend sind. Mit Hilfe von Daten aus dem schweizerischen Biodiversitätsmonitoring wurden die maßgeblichen Umweltvariablen für das Vorkommen typischer Tagfalterarten der Trockenwiesen bestimmt. Die Verteilung der Tagfalter-Hot-Spots wurde mittels Habitatmodellen modelliert und deren Übereinstimmung mit der Lage der gesetzlich geschützten Trockenwiesen verglichen. Die so modellierte Verteilung der Hot Spots zeigte, dass diese überdurchschnittlich oft mit den gesetzlich geschützten Trockenwiesen zusammenfallen. Somit können auch die typischen Tagfalterarten vom Schutz der Trocken-wiesen profitieren.

Huwyler, S., Plattner, M., & Roth, T. (2012). Modellierung der Tagfaltervielfalt im Schweizer Alpenraum: Mehr als ein Drittel der Tagfalter-Hot-Spots liegt in gesetzlich geschützten Trockenwiesen. Natur und Landschaft 87 (7): 298-304.

The current system of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management provides very indirect information about the state of biodiversity as it includes very few indicators for biodiversity monitoring. Five arguments are provided in support of such monitoring for the purposes of evaluating sustainable forest management. Criteria for choosing the taxons to monitor based on the monitoring goals are proposed. Finally, emphasis is placed on a number of crucial technical points relating to how the monitoring system is set up: sampling plan, choice of permanent or non-permanent plots, the compromise between spatial and temporal replication of the points, thoughts on the ecological variables to be recorded alongside the targeted biodiversity. These reflections are based on a number of examples of direct monitoring of interspecific forest biodiversity in France and abroad. Implementing monitoring systems of this type should help improve interpretation of pressure and response indicators and in devising new indicators for the state of biodiversity in the context of sustainable forest management indicators.

Gosselin, F., Gosselin, M., & Paillet, Y. (2012). Suivre l’état de la Biodiversité forestière: Pourquoi? Comment? Rev. For. Fr. LXIV: 683-700

Butterflies (Lepidoptera) have been suggested for environmental monitoring of genetically modified organisms (GMO) due to their suitability as ecological indicators, and because of the possible adverse impact of the cultivation of current transgenic crops. A critical point is the sampling effort to be invested in such a monitoring. Here, we estimated the required sample size necessary to monitor potential effects of genetically modified crops on butterflies (Lepidoptera).

We used data from two Swiss long-term butterfly monitoring surveys applying the common transect count method. The two monitoring surveys differed in several basic aspects such as geographical area covered, landscape context and sampling intensity. We carried out prospective power analyses in order to estimate the required sample size to detect effects of differing magnitude on mean species number, total individual abundance, mobility classes of butterflies and selected individual species.

The required sample size decreased substantially when effect sizes above 10% were estimated. For example, a sample size of 79 transects would be sufficient to detect changes of 30% in total individual abundance for both survey types. Detecting effects on mean species number would need much less transects. Considerably more samples would be needed to analyze the abundance of single species. Several options are presented to increase statistical power or reduce required sample size, respectively. Also, we recommend to pool species to different mobility classes, and/or analyze patch occupancy of species instead of their individual abundance.

The transect count approach is a suitable method for butterfly monitoring, both on a local as well as on a landscape scale. Consequently, both types of Swiss butterfly monitoring schemes are basically suitable for GMO monitoring. If transects are short and restricted to intensely used landscape, even non-professional field workers may yield data sufficient for effective monitoring, which might be relevant with respect to involved costs.

Lang, A., & Bühler, C. (2012). Estimation of required sampling effort for monitoring the possible effects of transgenic crops on butterflies: Lessons from long-term monitoring schemes in Switzerland. Ecological Indicators, 13(1), 29–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2011.05.004