**5. Acknowledgment**

272 Biodiversity Loss in a Changing Planet

relationship and the seasonal dynamics of bird assemblages within four research plots

The average density of breeding bird assemblages in reference stand was much higher than in the plot with extracted wood and wildfire plot. The assemblages on the not extracted plot had the highest average density. The structure of the breeding bird assemblages was most influenced by the portion of the not disturbed forest stands in the plot, number of live standing trees, proportion of dead wood in form of twig heaps, proportion of lying dead wood, and proportion of stones/stone fields in research plots*.* Kocian et al. (2005) presume that the activity of birds plays an especially significant role in foresting and restoration of forest in the Tatras, as some species (jay, nuthatch nutcracker) propagate natural wood

The use of forest fragmentation indices in the analysis of forest landscapes offers a great potential for integration of spatial pattern information in the landscape-ecological management processes, but requires understanding of the limitations and correct interpretation of results. Further monitoring of forest fragmentation based on remote sensing data together with the terrestrial monitoring of natural vegetation development and dynamics of indicative plant and animal species is necessary to realize the possible revitalization activities and to mitigate negative effects of the calamity windstorm in the

Natural forest fragmentation is not a new phenomenon in the Tatras. Windthrows have repeatedly happened in this region in the past (Zielonka et al*.,* 2009) although in a much smaller scale. Urbanization connected with the human-induced deforestation also played an important role in the past because of tourism. The main difference between the old practices and the current deforestation is the difference in scale and rate of increase. In the past, small patches of pastures or damaged forest appeared in the large forested landscape and they quickly grew back upon abandonment. What happened during the bora windstorm in 2004 in the Tatra National Park was precisely the opposite: remnant forest patches were left in the

Anthropogenic disruption of the natural development of the Tatra forest in the past caused that the status of the forest before the calamity did not correspond to the natural development at all. Wood species composition and structure on the greater part of the affected area were not proper for the place. The majority of growths were mature and resembled an economic forest prepared for harvesting. The growths consisted of slender and tall trees with high-situated crowns, which are unstable and highly susceptible to the wind and snow threats. Reasonable and consistent management should insist on growths of different species and age on small areas, which will ensure ecological stability and functionality of forest in an acceptable time horizon and simultaneously provide optimal biotopes for all naturally occurring species. Revitalization of forest affected by the

assigned by the management of the Tatra National Park. Reference stand, not affected by windstorm calamity

species, such as beech, Swiss pine and hazel.

"sea" of the degraded forest landscape.

 Plot with extracted wood Post wild-fire plot Not extracted plot

Tatra region.

**4. Conclusion** 

This paper is one of the outputs of the VEGA Grant Agency Project No 2/0018/10 "Timespatial analysis of land use: dynamics of changes, fragmentation and stability assessments by application of the CORINE land cover data layers", pursued at the Institute of Geography of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. Author thanks to K2 Studio for the photographs.

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**0**

**13**

*USA*

**Modern Methods of Estimating Biodiversity from**

Communities of species are often sampled using so-called "presence-absence" surveys, wherein the apparent presence or absence of each species is recorded. Whereas counts of individuals can be used to estimate species abundances, apparent presence-absence data are often easier to obtain in surveys of multiple species. Presence-absence surveys also may be more accurate than abundance surveys, particularly in communities that contain highly

A problem with presence-absence data is that observations are usually contaminated by zeros that stem from errors in detection of a species. That is, true zeros, which are associated with the absence of a species, cannot be distinguished from false zeros, which occur when species are present in the vicinity of sampling but not detected. Therefore, it is more accurate to describe apparent presence-absence data as detections and non-detections, but this terminology is

Estimates of biodiversity and other community-level attributes can be dramatically affected by errors in detection of each species, particularly since the magnitude of these detection errors generally varies among species (Boulinier et al. 1998). For example, bias in estimates of biodiversity arising from errors in detection is especially pronounced in communities that contain a preponderance of rare or difficult-to-detect species. To eliminate this source of bias, probabilities of species occurrence and detection must be estimated simultaneously using a statistical model of the presence-absence data. Such models require presence-absence surveys to be replicated at some – but not necessarily all – of the locations selected for sampling. Replicate surveys can be obtained using a variety of sampling protocols, including repeated visits to each sample location by a single observer, independent surveys by different observers, or even spatial replicates obtained by placing clusters of quadrats or transects within a sample location. Information in the replicated surveys is crucial because it allows species occurrences to be estimated without bias by using a model-based specification of the observation process, which accounts for the errors in detection that are manifest as false zeros. Several statistical models have been developed for the analysis of replicated, presence-absence data. Each of these models includes parameters for a community's incidence matrix (Colwell

**1. Introduction**

mobile species.

seldom used in ecology.

Robert M. Dorazio1, Nicholas J. Gotelli2 and Aaron M. Ellison<sup>3</sup>

<sup>2</sup>*University of Vermont, Department of Biology, Burlington, Vermont* <sup>3</sup>*Harvard University, Harvard Forest, Petersham, Massachusetts*

<sup>1</sup>*U.S. Geological Survey, Southeast Ecological Science Center, Gainesville, Florida*

**Presence-Absence Surveys**

Zipperer, W., C. (1993). Deforestation patterns and their effects on forest patches. *Landscape Ecology,* Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 177–184, ISSN 1572 - 9761
