Riparian Vegetation Conversion to an Oil Tea Plantation: Impacts on Small Mammals at the Community, Population, and Individual Level
Riparian vegetation is crucial for maintaining terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity, but it is threatened by land-use activities. To assess the ecological impacts of riparian vegetation conversion to an oil tea (<i>Camellia oleifera</i>) plantation, we quantified the responses of small m...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Forests |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/6/1169 |
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| author | Lei-Lei Zhang Yun-Sheng Tang Yu-Jue Wang Jia-Neng Wang Zheng Wang Bao-Wei Zhang Wen-Wen Chen Ying Pan Xin-Sheng Chen |
| author_facet | Lei-Lei Zhang Yun-Sheng Tang Yu-Jue Wang Jia-Neng Wang Zheng Wang Bao-Wei Zhang Wen-Wen Chen Ying Pan Xin-Sheng Chen |
| author_sort | Lei-Lei Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Riparian vegetation is crucial for maintaining terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity, but it is threatened by land-use activities. To assess the ecological impacts of riparian vegetation conversion to an oil tea (<i>Camellia oleifera</i>) plantation, we quantified the responses of small mammals in two natural habitats (mature forest and flood-meadow) and in <i>Camellia</i> forests at the community, population, and individual level. We found that the community diversity was similar between <i>Camellia</i> forests and mature forests, but higher than the flood-meadow. Meanwhile, the community composition differed across three habitats, with <i>Camellia</i> forests favoring habitat generalist species. At the population level, <i>Camellia</i> forests and flood-meadow had a similar population density, which were higher than mature forests. At the individual level, <i>Rattus nitidus</i> was less sensitive to this conversion, but the body condition index of <i>Niviventer confucianus</i> was higher in <i>Camellia</i> forests than in mature forests, and <i>Apodemus agrarius</i> in <i>Camellia</i> forests had more ectoparasite load than in the flood-meadow, indicating a species-specific response to the impacts of oil tea plantation. Our study highlights that the occurrence of habitat generalist species and high ectoparasite loads may threaten regional biodiversity and increase the risk of parasite transmission with enlarging the oil tea plantation area within riparian zones. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:28:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f97c27ed88654ad39049151a8fe13af7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4907 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:28:12Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Forests |
| spelling | doaj.art-f97c27ed88654ad39049151a8fe13af72023-11-18T10:27:19ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072023-06-01146116910.3390/f14061169Riparian Vegetation Conversion to an Oil Tea Plantation: Impacts on Small Mammals at the Community, Population, and Individual LevelLei-Lei Zhang0Yun-Sheng Tang1Yu-Jue Wang2Jia-Neng Wang3Zheng Wang4Bao-Wei Zhang5Wen-Wen Chen6Ying Pan7Xin-Sheng Chen8School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, ChinaSchool of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, ChinaSchool of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, ChinaSchool of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, ChinaCollege of Biology and Environmental Science, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, ChinaSchool of Life Sciences, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, ChinaSchool of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, ChinaYunnan Key Laboratory for Plateau Mountain Ecology and Restoration of Degraded Environments, School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, ChinaSchool of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, ChinaRiparian vegetation is crucial for maintaining terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity, but it is threatened by land-use activities. To assess the ecological impacts of riparian vegetation conversion to an oil tea (<i>Camellia oleifera</i>) plantation, we quantified the responses of small mammals in two natural habitats (mature forest and flood-meadow) and in <i>Camellia</i> forests at the community, population, and individual level. We found that the community diversity was similar between <i>Camellia</i> forests and mature forests, but higher than the flood-meadow. Meanwhile, the community composition differed across three habitats, with <i>Camellia</i> forests favoring habitat generalist species. At the population level, <i>Camellia</i> forests and flood-meadow had a similar population density, which were higher than mature forests. At the individual level, <i>Rattus nitidus</i> was less sensitive to this conversion, but the body condition index of <i>Niviventer confucianus</i> was higher in <i>Camellia</i> forests than in mature forests, and <i>Apodemus agrarius</i> in <i>Camellia</i> forests had more ectoparasite load than in the flood-meadow, indicating a species-specific response to the impacts of oil tea plantation. Our study highlights that the occurrence of habitat generalist species and high ectoparasite loads may threaten regional biodiversity and increase the risk of parasite transmission with enlarging the oil tea plantation area within riparian zones.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/6/1169<i>Camellia oleifera</i>riparian areascommunity compositionpopulation dynamicsbody conditionectoparasite |
| spellingShingle | Lei-Lei Zhang Yun-Sheng Tang Yu-Jue Wang Jia-Neng Wang Zheng Wang Bao-Wei Zhang Wen-Wen Chen Ying Pan Xin-Sheng Chen Riparian Vegetation Conversion to an Oil Tea Plantation: Impacts on Small Mammals at the Community, Population, and Individual Level Forests <i>Camellia oleifera</i> riparian areas community composition population dynamics body condition ectoparasite |
| title | Riparian Vegetation Conversion to an Oil Tea Plantation: Impacts on Small Mammals at the Community, Population, and Individual Level |
| title_full | Riparian Vegetation Conversion to an Oil Tea Plantation: Impacts on Small Mammals at the Community, Population, and Individual Level |
| title_fullStr | Riparian Vegetation Conversion to an Oil Tea Plantation: Impacts on Small Mammals at the Community, Population, and Individual Level |
| title_full_unstemmed | Riparian Vegetation Conversion to an Oil Tea Plantation: Impacts on Small Mammals at the Community, Population, and Individual Level |
| title_short | Riparian Vegetation Conversion to an Oil Tea Plantation: Impacts on Small Mammals at the Community, Population, and Individual Level |
| title_sort | riparian vegetation conversion to an oil tea plantation impacts on small mammals at the community population and individual level |
| topic | <i>Camellia oleifera</i> riparian areas community composition population dynamics body condition ectoparasite |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/6/1169 |
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