Using historical woodland creation to construct a long-term, large-scale natural experiment: the WrEN project.

Natural experiments have been proposed as a way of complementing manipulative experiments to improve ecological understanding and guide management. There is a pressing need for evidence from such studies to inform a shift to landscape-scale conservation, including the design of ecological networks. Although this shift has been widely embraced by conservation communities worldwide, the empirical evidence is limited and equivocal, and may be limiting effective conservation. We present principles for well-designed natural experiments to inform landscape-scale conservation and outline how they are being applied in the WrEN project, which is studying the effects of 160 years of woodland creation on biodiversity in UK landscapes. We describe the study areas and outline the systematic process used to select suitable historical woodland creation sites based on key site- and landscape-scale variables - including size, age, and proximity to other woodland. We present the results of an analysis to explore variation in these variables across sites to test their suitability as a basis for a natural experiment. Our results confirm that this landscape satisfies the principles we have identified and provides an ideal study system for a long-term, large-scale natural experiment to explore how woodland biodiversity is affected by different site and landscape attributes. The WrEN sites are now being surveyed for a wide selection of species that are likely to respond differently to site- and landscape-scale attributes and at different spatial and temporal scales. The results from WrEN will help develop detailed recommendations to guide landscape-scale conservation, including the design of ecological networks. We also believe that the approach presented demonstrates the wider utility of well-designed natural experiments to improve our understanding of ecological systems and inform policy and practice.

Combined effect of concentrations of algal food (Chlorella vulgaris) and salt (sodium chloride) on the population growth of Brachionus calyciflorus and Brachionus patulus (Rotifera).

Salinity is an important variable influencing the density and diversity of rotifers. Studies on salt tolerance of rotifers have so far concentrated on euryhaline species while very little information is available on non-euryhaline taxa. In the present work, we have evaluated the combined effects of Chlorella vulgaris and sodium chloride on the population growth of two freshwater rotifers B. calyciflorus and B. patulus. A 24 hr acute tolerance test using NaCl revealed that B. calyciflorus was more resistant (LC50 = 3.75 +/- 0.04 g l-1) than B. patulus (2.14 +/- 0.09 g l-1). The maximal population density (mean +/- standard error) for B. calyciflorus in the control at 4.5 x 10(6) cells ml-1 (algal level) was 80 +/- 5 ind. ml-1, which was nearly a fifth of the one for B. patulus (397 +/- 7 ind. ml-1) under comparable conditions. Data on population growth revealed that regardless of salt concentration, the density of B. calyciflorus increased with increasing food levels, while for B. patulus, this trend was evident only in the controls. Regardless of salt concentration and algal food level, the day of maximal population density was lower (4 +/- 0.5 days) for B. calyciflorus than for B. patulus (11 +/- 1 day). The highest rates of population increase (r values) for B. calyciflorus and B. patulus were 0.429 +/- 0.012 and 0.367 +/- 0.004, respectively, recorded at 4.5 x 10(6) cells ml-1 of Chlorella in the controls. The protective role of algae in reducing the effect of salt stress was more evident in B. calyciflorus than B. patulus.

Combined effect of concentrations of algal food (Chlorella vulgaris) and salt (sodium chloride) on the population growth of Brachionus calyciflorus and Brachionus patulus (Rotifera)

Salinity is an important variable influencing the density and diversity of rotifers. Studies on salt tolerance of rotifers have so far concentrated on euryhaline species while very little information is available on non-euryhaline taxa. In the present work, we have evaluated the combined effects of Chlorella vulgaris and sodium chloride on the population growth of two freshwater rotifers B. calyciflorus and B. patulus. A 24 hr acute tolerance test using NaCl revealed that B. calyciflorus was more resistant (LC50 = 3.75 +/- 0.04 g l-1) than B. patulus (2.14 +/- 0.09 g l-1). The maximal population density (mean +/- standard error) for B. calyciflorus in the control at 4.5 x 10(6) cells ml-1 (algal level) was 80 +/- 5 ind. ml-1, which was nearly a fifth of the one for B. patulus (397 +/- 7 ind. ml-1) under comparable conditions. Data on population growth revealed that regardless of salt concentration, the density of B. calyciflorus increased with increasing food levels, while for B. patulus, this trend was evident only in the controls. Regardless of salt concentration and algal food level, the day of maximal population density was lower (4 +/- 0.5 days) for B. calyciflorus than for B. patulus (11 +/- 1 day). The highest rates of population increase (r values) for B. calyciflorus and B. patulus were 0.429 +/- 0.012 and 0.367 +/- 0.004, respectively, recorded at 4.5 x 10(6) cells ml-1 of Chlorella in the controls. The protective role of algae in reducing the effect of salt stress was more evident in B. calyciflorus than B. patulus.