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El Indice de la Biodiversidad Integral: Una ilustración utilizando hormigas en Australia occidental
Author(s) -
Majer J.D.,
Beeston G.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
conservation biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.2
H-Index - 222
eISSN - 1523-1739
pISSN - 0888-8892
DOI - 10.1046/j.1523-1739.1996.10010065.x
Subject(s) - biodiversity , rangeland , clearing , geography , urbanization , vegetation (pathology) , grazing , land use , agroforestry , ecology , agriculture , environmental resource management , environmental science , biology , medicine , finance , pathology , economics , archaeology
Although Western Australia is a relatively unpopulated region, considerable areas of native vegetation have been modified by agricultural clearing, rangeland grazing, urbanization, road construction, and mining. Ant diversity is reduced and community composition changed by each of these land uses. Road construction has the greatest long‐term effect on the alpha diversity of ants, followed by agricultural clearing, mining, urbanization, and rangeland grazing. We present data on the extent of these various land uses in each major Western Australian vegetation association. Then, examples of ant diversity and community composition for each land use are coupled with geographic information system data on the extent of each land use in the various vegetation associations to calculate indices of “biodiversity integrity.” The extent of biodiversity integrity in each region concurs with a subjective opinion of the condition of each unit. Agricultural clearing, followed by rangeland grazing, were found responsible for the greatest loss of ant biodiversity integrity. The findings relate to Australia in general and may serve as a framework for estimating losses of biodiversity integrity in other regions of the world in taxa other than ants.