Author: David Zeleny

Palaearctic Grasslands 50 is published

Posted on September 2, 2021September 2, 2021 by David Zeleny

The post provided by Idoia Biurrun (Chief Editor of Palaearctic Grasslands)

The new issue of Palaearctic Grasslands, EDGG’s scientific journal and magazine is out, and you can read the complete issue here. It contains 38 pages full of nice photos, many of them included in appealing photo stories and glimpses of grasslands.…

Beyond species richness and community composition: using plant functional diversity to measure restoration success in jarrah forest

Posted on August 22, 2021August 22, 2021 by David Zeleny

Prepared by Rachel Standish, Aaron Gove, Andrew Grigg and Matthew Daws

Restoration ecologists on a newly restored mine site in the jarrah forest bioregion. Reference jarrah forest in the background. Photo credit: Richard J. Hobbs.

Ecological restoration has matured as a science and a practice since its inception in the 1980s.…

Traditional cattle grazing can maintain functional diversity of oriental beech forests

Posted on August 7, 2021August 7, 2021 by David Zeleny

The post provided by Zahed Shakeri, Daniel Simberloff, Markus Bernhardt-Römermann and Rolf Lutz Eckstein

Cows resting in a summer camp at an altitude of about 2300 meters in Talish, Iran. Photo credit: Mohammad Aminpour.

This post refers to the article The impact of livestock grazing and canopy gaps on species pool and functional diversity of ground flora in the Caspian beech forests of Iran by Shakeri et al.,…

Vegetation Classification and Survey (VCS) in the second quarter of 2021

Posted on August 5, 2021August 5, 2021 by David Zeleny

By Jürgen Dengler (on behalf of all VCS Chief Editor)

Vegetation in four different biomes. Photo credit: Jürgen Dengler.

Vegetation Classification and Survey (VCS) has published six contributions in the second quarter of 2021.

Our Editors’ Choice Paper is by Hunter et al.…

GrassPlot marathon: the long way towards the first benchmarks of plant species richness of Palaearctic grasslands

Posted on August 4, 2021August 4, 2021 by David Zeleny

The post provided by Idoia Biurrun, Iwona Dembicz, Jürgen Dengler and Remigiusz Pielech

Nested-plot sampling in an alpine grassland (*Elyno-Seslerietea*) in Grisons (Switzerland) (Photo credit: Jürgen Dengler)

This post refers to the article Benchmarking plant diversity of Palaearctic grasslands and other open habitats by Biurrun et al.…

Enjoying tranquility – Development of ground vegetation after cessation of management in forests on loamy soils in Flanders (Belgium)

Posted on July 13, 2021August 4, 2021 by David Zeleny

Prepared by Kris Vandekerkhove, Arno Thomaes, Luc De Keersmaeker, Peter Van de Kerckhove, Thierry Onkelinx, Hans Van Calster & Kris Verheyen

A view on one of the investigated set-asides: an old mixed oak forest in Meerdaalwoud (close to Leuven, Belgium). Notice the dense layer of spring flowers.

New insights into small-scale species-area relationships and beta diversity due to the GrassPlot database

Posted on July 7, 2021July 7, 2021 by David Zeleny

The post provided by Jürgen Dengler, Iwona Dembicz, Jinghui Zhang & Idoia Biurrun

Sampling of a nested plot in a meso-xeric grassland in Northern Spain (Photo credit: Juan Antonio Campos).

This post refers to the articles “Fine-grain beta diversity of Palaearctic grassland vegetation” by Dembicz et al.…

Plant quality and primary productivity modulate plant biomass responses to the joint effects of grazing and fertilization in a mesic grassland

Posted on June 23, 2021June 23, 2021 by David Zeleny

Prepared by Sofía Campana & Laura Yahdjian

(a) Experimental exclosures used in the study site (Flooding Pampa, Argentina) to evaluate the effect of domestic grazing. Plant biomass accumulates inside the exclosure (left) in comparison with the grazed grassland (right). (b) Mobile cage used to estimate cattle consumption and aboveground net primary productivity in the grazed grassland.

Scale-dependent patterns and drivers of plant diversity in steppe grasslands of the Central Alborz Mts., Iran

Posted on June 23, 2021June 23, 2021 by David Zeleny

Prepared by Amir Talebi, Farideh Attar, Alireza Naqinezhad, Iwona Dembicz & Jürgen Dengler

A thorn-cushion community in the alpine zone of Mt. Damavand at 3400 m a.s.l., dominated by *Onobrychis cornuta*. Photo credit by Amir Talebi.

More than half of the Iranian plateau is covered by mountains, of which the highest point reaches more than 5000 m a.s.l.…

ausplotsR: A new R package to download and analyse vegetation and soil data collected by Australia’s most comprehensive ecosystem monitoring program

Posted on June 22, 2021June 22, 2021 by David Zeleny

This post was provided by Samantha Munroe

TERN monitoring plot locations as generated within the *ausplotsR* package coded by percent fractional green cover. Image credit: Munroe et al. (2021).

This Behind the paper post refers to the article “ausplotsR: An R package for rapid extraction and analysis of vegetation and soil data collected by Australia’s Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network” by Samantha Munroe et al.…