Author: David Zeleny

Effects of initial functional-group composition on assembly trajectory in savanna restoration

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Prepared by André G. Coutinho, Monique Alves, Alexandre B. Sampaio, Isabel B. Schmidt & Daniel L. M. Vieira

Results of active restoration in Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, Goiás, Brazil (14°7’2.54″ S 47°38’30.36″ W). The area on the left side (A) was restored by direct seeding, leading to a vegetation structure more similar to a native Cerrado.
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Drivers of species richness and community integrity of small forest patches in an agricultural landscape

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Prepared by Krista Takkis, Tiiu Kull, Tiit Hallikma, Piia Jaksi, Karin Kaljund, Karin Kauer, Thea Kull, Olavi Kurina, Mart Külvik, Kaire Lanno, Malle Leht, Jaan Liira, Indrek Melts, Hannes Pehlak, Janar Raet, Kaarel Sammet, Kalev Sepp, Ülo Väli & Lauri Laanisto

Studied forest patches within the agricultural landscape in northeast Estonia.
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Increased rainfall and nitrogen alter colonization and extinction during postgrazing steppe succession

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Prepared by Hong-Wei Yu & Wei-Ming He

Photos of the field experiment, northeastern Inner Mongolia, China: (a) Rainfall collectors and irrigation pipes at the beginning of the experiment, and (b) watered and fertilized experimental plots. Photo credit: Wei-Ming He.

Steppes are among the most important grassland types, and a high proportion of steppes have suffered from overgrazing.…

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Book review: Metacommunity Ecology by Leibold & Chase (2018) – linking biogeography with community ecology

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The post provided by Borja Jiménez-Alfaro

Travelling with the family may also be a good time to read this book. Here in the Camargue Biosphere Reserve (France), a biogeographical hub for ecological communities in Europe. Photo credit: Borja Jiménez-Alfaro

In the last years, I have been looking at different views for understanding the spatial patterns of plant communities.…

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Which results of the standard test for community weighted mean approach are too optimistic?

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Prepared by David Zelený

The relationship between the average height of understory herbs (CWM of species height) and the amount of light passing through the forest canopy (quantified by visually estimated cover of trees and shrubs at each site). If the analysis based on the CWM approach was done by a standard parametric test, the result is highly significant (P<0.001).
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This is not a pine: a fieldwork story

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The post provided by Emilie Champagne

One of my field assistant (Lorraine Lessard) carefully recording browsing in a 4 m2 plot, in Outaouais (Québec, Canada). Photo credit: Emilie Champagne.

This post refers to the article Forage diversity, type and abundance influence winter resource selection by white‐tailed deer by Emilie Champagne, André Dumont, Jean‐Pierre Tremblay and Steeve D.…

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In the quest of designing grassland communities resistant to invasions during ecological restoration

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The post provided by Florencia A. Yannelli

Controlled conditions in greenhouse experiments enable us to test a plethora of hypotheses in community or invasion ecology by reducing the effect confounding factors. Photo credit: Florencia Yannelli.

This post refers to the article Seed density is more effective than multi‐trait limiting similarity in controlling grassland resistance against plant invasions in mesocosms by Yannelli et al.…

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Slow recovery of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant community after fungicide application: An eight-year experiment

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Prepared by Hana Pánková, Tomáš Dostálek, Kristýna Vazačová & Zuzana Münzbergová

Study site – dry grassland in the central part of the Czech Republic. Photo credit: Hana Pánková.

Dry grasslands represent one of the most species-rich communities in Europe with a high occurrence of rare species.…

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