| title: | Valuable habitats of rivers as elements of ecological networks and systems increasing biodiversity |
|---|---|
| reg no: | ETF5794 |
| project type: | Estonian Science Foundation research grant |
| subject: |
1.11. Natural Geography (incl Meteorology, Geophysics) |
| status: | accepted |
| institution: | TU Faculty of Biology and Geography |
| head of project: | Valdo Kuusemets |
| duration: | 01.01.2004 - 31.12.2006 |
| description: | The value of rivers can be estimated by the extent of natural conditions of the river valley, the state of the riparian communities, the human impact and the land use of the riparian communities, the extent of riparian buffer zones. In case of cultural landscapes, it is important to ensure this kind of river parts in needed extent and with needed density that could be habitats for many different species. The main objective of the projects is to investigate: 1. How is the biodiversity dependent on the nature of riparian plant communities and landuse. The objective is to find relations how diversity of plants and insects are related to the riparian landscape diversity and land use, and to find best solutions for creating and maintaining riparian communities. 2. Which is the role of buffer zones as connecting corridors for migration of different species from one core area or habitat to another. The objective is to investigate the relations between the insect migration and riparian plant communities. 3. How does the presens of rare species as clouded apollo (Parnassius mnemosyne) and dragonfly (Ophiogomphus cecilia) depend on the state and composition of riparian plant communities. The objective is to investigate requirements of these insect species for the habitat. 4. What are the relations between pollinators and the composition of plant communities and landscape structure. The objective is to find relations between the environmental requirements of pollinators and landscape structure. As the result of the study, it is possible to find relations between findings of different insect species and plant communities, the dependence of biodiversity on the riparian habitat types and their land use. The relations between biodiversity, landuse and landscape indexes, the role of rivers as ecological corridors and the impact of landuse to the fragmentation of species populations will be found. |
| project group | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| no | name | institution | position | |
| 1. | Valdo Kuusemets | TU Faculty of Biology and Geography | senior researcher | |
| 2. | Kristiina Liimand | Tartu Ülikool | spetsialist | |
| 3. | Jaan Luig | Tartu Ülikool | tegevdirektor | |
| 4. | Kadri Meier | Tartu Ülikool | doktorant | |