An approach to measuring biodiversity and its use in analysing the effect of nitrogen deposition on woodland butterfly populations in the Netherlands

doi:10.3832/ifor0487-002

The current use of the term biodiversity is problematic in that it is frequently reduced to a paradigm of species richness through the interpretation of the CBD definition that identifies variability as the operative factor. Species richness actually conveys the least amount of information of all of the possible indices that could be used so a data treatment process has been established whereby taxonomic groups that have been sampled in a well-structured way can yield data that can be far more informative. An example using “biodiversity quality” indices for macrofungi following entry into a bespoke computer programme (Fungib) shows that these data can be established and they are capable of being assessed for statistical difference either between sites or over time. A case study showing how this approach can provide information on the mechanism whereby nitrogen deposition affects butterflies is given. It is clear that this approach can be of considerable use in establishing progress towards achieving the 2010 target of reducing the rate of loss of biodiversity by 2010 established by the CBD.

Keywords

Biodiversity quality, Butterflies, Macrofungi, Nitrogen critical load

Authors’ address

(1)

Water and Environmental Management Research Centre, Department of Civil Engineering, Queen’s Building, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TR (United Kingdom)

(2)

Ecosulis Ltd, The Rickyard Newton St Loe, Bath BA2 9BT (United Kingdom)

(3)

NAGREF-FRI, GR-570 06, Vassilika (Greece)

Corresponding author

A Feest
A.Feest@bristol.ac.uk

Citation

Feest A, Spanos K (2009). An approach to measuring biodiversity and its use in analysing the effect of nitrogen deposition on woodland butterfly populations in the Netherlands. iForest 2: 46-48. - doi: 10.3832/ifor0487-002

Academic Editor

Marcus Schaub

Paper history

Received: Mar 29, 2008
Accepted: Dec 09, 2008

First online: Jan 21, 2009
Publication Date: Jan 21, 2009
Publication Time: 1.43 months

Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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