Golf courses and wetland fauna.

Golf courses are often considered to be chemical-intensive ecosystems with negative impacts on fauna. Here we provide evidence that golf courses can contribute to the support and conservation of wetland fauna, i.e., amphibians and macroinvertebrates. Comparisons of amphibian occurrence, diversity of macroinvetebrates, and occurrence of species of conservation concern were made between permanent freshwater ponds surveyed on golf courses around Sweden's capital city, Stockholm, and off-course ponds in nature-protected areas and residential parklands. A total of 71 macroinvertebrate species were recorded in the field study, with no significant difference between golf course ponds and off-course ponds at the species, genus, or family levels. A within-group similarities test showed that golf course ponds have a more homogenous species composition than ponds in nature-protected areas and ponds in residential parkland. Within the macroinvertebrate group, a total of 11 species of odonates were identified, with no difference detected between the categories of ponds, nor any spatial autocorrelation. Significant differences were found between pond categories in the occurrence of five species of amphibians, although anuran occurrence did not differ between ponds. The great crested newt (Triturus cristatus) was significantly associated with golf course ponds, but the smooth newt (Triturus vulgaris) was not. We found no evidence of any correlation between pond size and occurrence of amphibians. Among the taxa of conservation concern included in the sample, all amphibians are nationally protected in Sweden, with the internationally threatened T. cristatus more frequently found in golf course ponds. Among macroinveterbrates of conservation status, the large white-faced darter dragonfly (Leucorrhinia pectoralis) was only detected in golf course ponds, and Tricholeiochiton fagesi (Trichoptera) was only found in one off-course pond. GIS results revealed that golf courses provide over a quarter of all available permanent, freshwater ponds in central greater Stockholm. We assert that golf courses have the potential to contribute to wetland fauna support, particularly in urban settings where they may significantly contribute to wetland creation. We propose a greater involvement of ecologists in the design of golf courses to further bolster this potential.

Taboos and forest governance: informal protection of hot spot dry forest in southern Madagascar.

In the dry forest of southern Madagascar, a region of global conservation priority, formally protected areas are nearly totally absent. We illustrate how the continued existence of unique forest habitats in the Androy region is directly dependent on informal institutions, taboos, regulating human behavior. Qualitative interviews to map and analyze the social mechanisms underlying forest protection have been combined with vegetation analyses of species diversity and composition. Of 188 forest patches, 93% were classified as protected, and in Southern Androy all remaining forest patches larger than 5 ha were protected. Eight different types of forests, with a gradient of social fencing from open access to almost complete entry prohibitions, were identified. Transgressions were well enforced with strong sanctions of significant economic as well as religious importance. Analyses of species diversity between protected and unprotected forests were complicated because of size differences and access restrictions. However, since, for example, in southern Androy >90% of the total remaining forest cover is protected through taboos, these informal institutions represent an important, and presently the only, mechanism for conservation of the highly endemic forest species. We conclude that social aspects, such as local beliefs and legitimate sanctioning systems, need to be analyzed and incorporated along with biodiversity studies for successful conservation.

Incorporating green-area user groups in urban ecosystem management.

We analyze the role of urban green areas managed by local user groups in their potential for supporting biodiversity and ecosystem services in growing city-regions, with focus on allotment areas, domestic gardens, and golf courses. Using Stockholm, Sweden, as an example cityregion, we compile GIS data of its spatial characteristics and relate these data to GIS data for protected areas and "green wedges" prioritized in biodiversity conservation. Results reveal that the three land uses cover 18% of the studied land area of metropolitan Stockholm, which corresponds to more than twice the land set aside as protected areas. We review the literature to identify ecosystem functions and services provided by the three green areas and discuss their potential in urban ecosystem management. We conclude that the incorporation of locally managed lands, and their stewards and institutions, into comanagement designs holds potential for improving conditions for urban biodiversity, reducing transaction costs in ecosystem management, and realizing local Agenda 21.

The value of small size: loss of forest patches and ecological thresholds in southern Madagascar.

Many services generated by forest ecosystems provide essential support for human well-being. However, the vulnerability of these services to environmental change such as forest fragmentation are still poorly understood. We present spatial modeling of the generation of ecosystem services in a human-dominated landscape where forest habitat patches, protected by local taboos, are located in a matrix of cultivated land in southern Madagascar. Two ecosystem services dependent on the forest habitats were addressed: (1) crop pollination services by wild and semidomesticated bees (Apoidea), essential for local crop production of, for example, beans, and (2) seed dispersal services based on the presence of ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta). We studied the vulnerability of these ecosystem services to a plausible scenario of successive destruction of the smallest habitat patches. Our results indicate that, in spite of the fragmented nature of the landscape, the fraction of the landscape presently covered by both crop pollination and seed dispersal services is surprisingly high. It seems that the taboo system, though indirectly and unintentionally, contributes to upholding the generation of these services by protecting the forest patches. Both services are, however, predicted to be very vulnerable to the successive removal of small patches. For crop pollination, the rate of decrease in cover was significant even when only the smallest habitat patches were removed. The capacity for seed dispersal across the landscape displayed several thresholds with habitat patch removal. Our results suggest that, in order to maintain capacity for seed dispersal across the landscape and crop pollination cover in southern Androy, the geographical location of the remaining forest patches is more crucial than their size. We argue that in heavily fragmented production landscapes, small forest patches should increasingly be viewed as essential for maintaining ecosystem services, such as agricultural production, and also should be considered in the ongoing process of tripling the area of protected habitats in Madagascar.