| Abstract Detail
Conservation Biology Grundel, Ralph [1], Pavlovic, Noel B. [2], Glowacki, Gary A. [3], Leicht-Young, Stacey A. [1], Potts, Krystalynn J. [1]. Plants as surrogates for animals in the Chicago region. Landscapes are often managed based on goals for vegetation structure and plant diversity with the assumption that increasing plant diversity will produce greater animal diversity. Along a gradient of woody vegetation density and fire frequency, we examined this assumption for twenty-five sites in the Indiana Dunes and surrounding areas of northwest Indiana. In addition to assessing overall herbaceous plus woody plant diversity at these sites, we also assessed diversity of amphibians, bees, birds, butterflies, and reptiles. Plant diversity and richness were significantly, and positively, correlated with diversity and richness of butterflies only. Correlations with bees, birds, and reptiles were not significant. For bees, diversity or richness of plants in flower at the time of a particular bee survey were significantly correlated with bee diversity or richness. Therefore, while diversity of plants, taken across time, might be a poor predictor of diversity of animal taxa, diversity of plants usable by animals at a particular moment in time might more often be a significant predictor of animal diversity at that particular moment. However, the simple assumption that a floristically diverse habitat will correspond to a habitat of great animal diversity is not upheld.
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1 - U. S. Geological Survey, 1100 N. Mineral Springs Rd., Porter, IN, 46304
2 - U.S. Geological Survey, 1100 N. Mineral Springs Road, Porter, IN, 46304
3 - Lake County Forest Preserves, 32492 North Almond Road, Grayslake, IL, 60030
Keywords:
Surrogates
Indicators
Species Richness.
Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Topics
Session: CP02
Location: PDR 4/Hilton
Date: Monday, July 9th, 2007
Time: 8:30 AM
Number: CP02003
Abstract ID:1061 |
