Category: Plain language summary

Niche differentiation, competition or habitat filtering? Mechanisms explaining co-occurrence of plant species on wet meadows of high conservation value

Posted on February 14, 2021February 14, 2021 by David Zeleny

Prepared by Patryk Czortek, Anna Orczewska & Marcin K. Dyderski

Plant species typically occurring in *Molinia* meadows in the study site (Natura 2000 Special Area of Conservation “Łąki Dąbrowskie” (S Poland): (a) *Iris sibirica*, (b) *Gentiana pneumonanthe*, (c) *Gladiolus imbricatus*, (d), *Betonica officinalis*, (e) *Inula salicina*, and (f) *Trollius europaeus* (typical of the *Calthion* alliance).

SylvanSeeds, a seed germination database for temperate deciduous forests

Posted on January 25, 2021January 25, 2021 by David Zeleny

Prepared by Eduardo Fernández-Pascual

Temperate deciduous forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains, North Carolina, USA. Photo credit: Eduardo Fernández-Pascual.

Seeds in nature are able to detect the environment and the season they are in and use this information to time their germination.…

Plant communities, populations and individuals have distinct responses to short-term warming and neighbour biomass removal in two montane grasslands

Posted on January 24, 2021January 24, 2021 by David Zeleny

By Travis Britton, Mark J. Hovenden, Meagan Porter, Rose Brinkhoff, Anna Flittner & Margaret M. Mayfield

Experimental warming chamber with a *Ranunculus nanus* flower in the foreground at Silver Plains field site, Tasmania, Australia (42.090254, 147.087945). Photo credit: Travis Britton.

Understanding how plant communities respond to environmental change is critical in the face of projected climate change.…

Heterogeneity decreases as time since fire increases in a South American grassland

Posted on January 8, 2021January 8, 2021 by David Zeleny

Prepared by Luis López-Mársico, Felipe Lezama & Alice Altesor

In a sub‐humid Uruguayan grassland community, dominated by a tall tussock grass (*Saccharum angustifolium*), a large amount of standing dead biomass accumulates. Patchy and asynchronous field burns are a traditional practice among ranchers to removes above‐ground biomass of the dominant species and to promote tender forage for the livestock.

Could the environment limit dispersal between Sunda and Sahul?

Posted on December 23, 2020December 23, 2020 by David Zeleny

Prepared by Liam A. Trethowan

Dry riverbed and drought-prone forest of Sumbawa. Photo credit: Liam A. Trethowan.

The West (Sunda) and East (Sahul) of the Southeast Asian archipelago used to be much further apart. As the Asian and Australian plates came together, the islands we see today uplifted and the plant communities began to form.…

Long-term exclosure of sheep-grazing from an ancient wood: vegetation change after a sixty-year experiment

Posted on December 7, 2020December 7, 2020 by David Zeleny

Prepared by Ian Rotherham & Ondřej Vild

The area in front of the fence has been heavily grazed at least since the 18th century. The area behind the fence was protected from domesticated stock since 1955. Yarncliff Wood, Peak District National Park, England.

Sampling multi-scale and multi-taxon plant diversity data in the subalpine and alpine habitats of Switzerland: Report on the 14th EDGG Field Workshop

Posted on November 12, 2020November 12, 2020 by David Zeleny

By Jürgen Dengler, Beata Cykowska-Marzencka, Timon Bruderer, Christian Dolnik, Patrick Neumann, Susanne Riedel, Hallie Seiler, Jinghui Zhang & Iwona Dembicz

Sampling an acidic subalpine grassland at Alp Glivers, canton of Grisons, Switzerland, with the nested-plot methodology of EDGG. Photo credit: Jürgen Dengler.

Endozoochory of the same community of plants lacking fleshy fruits by storks and gulls

Posted on October 29, 2020October 29, 2020 by David Zeleny

By Víctor Martín-Vélez, Ádám Lovas-Kiss, Marta I. Sánchez and Andy J. Green

Sampling bird faeces and regurgitates from a dyke alongside recently harvested ricefields in Doñana, south-west Spain. Photo credit: Andy J. Green.

We teach our children that seeds disperse in different manners according to their morphology, and how only those inside berries and other fleshy fruits are able to disperse inside birds, a process known as “endozoochory”.…

Environmental variables driving species composition in Subarctic springs in the face of climate change

Posted on October 20, 2020October 20, 2020 by David Zeleny

Prepared by Tara K. Miller, Einar Heegaard, Kristian Hassel & Jutta Kapfer

A spring in Kvannfjellet in Balsfjord county, Norway. Photo credit: Jutta Kapfer.

Springs are important ecosystems to support biodiversity. They are fed by groundwater and are critical for maintaining high biodiversity because of the specific and stable habitat conditions they provide: high water quality, consistent temperatures, and low seasonal variability.…