Category: Plain language summary

Reed bed vegetation structure and plant species diversity depend on management type and the time period since last management

Posted on by

Prepared by Line Holm Andersen, Petri Nummi, Simon Bahrndorff, Cino Pertoldi, Kristian Trøjelsgaard, Torben Linding Lauridsen, Jeppe Rafn, Cecilie M. Skak Frederiksen, Mads P. Kristjansen & Dan Bruhn

Line Holm Andersen using the pinpoint analysis in the recently cut down reed bed.
… Continue reading

Long-term vegetation changes in Nardus grasslands indicate eutrophication, recovery from acidification, and management change as the main drivers

Posted on by

By Cord Peppler-Lisbach, Nils Stanik, Natali Könitz & Gert Rosenthal

Flowering aspect in spring of species-rich Nardus grasslands in one of the re-survey plots that maintained its high biodiversity level (Rhön Mountains, Central Germany). Photo credit: Nils Stanik.

The environment around us changes continuously and almost everywhere.…

Continue reading

Using species abundance and phylogeny conjointly to approach vegetation classification. A case-study on Macaronesia’s woody vegetation

Posted on by

Prepared by Jorge Capelo

Summer aspect of Euphorbia berthelotii community, without leaves. La Gomera, the Canaries. Photo credit: Jorge Capelo.

Classification aims to identify distinct and coherent groupings within vegetation. Modern approaches use a statistical analysis of data obtained from plot surveys in the field, most importantly species identity and abundance.…

Continue reading

The germination niche of coastal dune species as related to their occurrence along a sea-inland gradient

Posted on by

Prepared by Silvia Del Vecchio, Edy Fantinato, Mauro Roscini, Alicia T.R. Acosta, Gianluigi Bacchetta & Gabriella Buffa

Distribution of the target species and of the main environmental factors from the sea to inland. (Source of the image: Acosta & Ercole, 2015, ISPRA, Serie Rapporti, 215/2015; modified by Silvia Del Vecchio.)
… Continue reading

The impact of seed deficiency on productivity and on negative drought effect in semi-natural grassland

Posted on by

Prepared by Andreas Stampfli & Michaela Zeiter

Colored ringlets which helped to distinguished recruits from established plants. (Photo credit: Andreas Stampfli.)

During severe droughts grassland herbs dehydrate, they either persist or die. The composition of vegetation after drought is determined by species which re-sprout from protected tissue or recruit from seed.…

Continue reading

Plant dispersal strategies in primary succession on the Tolbachinsky Dol volcanic Plateau (Russia)

Posted on by

By Anton Korablev, Vadim Smirnov, Valentina Neshataeva, Igor Kuzmin & Timofey Nekrasov

Pioneer plants establishing in volcanic ash and scoria fields disturbed by the eruption in 1975, Tolbachinskii Dol Volcanic Plateau, Kamchatka, Russia. (A historical remark: this place could be a point of the field excursion to Kamchatka during 63rd IAVS Symposium in Vladivostok, that has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)
… Continue reading

Effects of white-tailed deer exclusion on the plant community composition of an upland tallgrass prairie ecosystem

Posted on by

Prepared by Kathryn J. Bloodworth, Mark E. Ritchie & Kimberly J. Komatsu

Twenty-two-year-old deer exclusion fences at the Konza Prairie Biological Station in northeastern Kansas, USA. Photo credit: Kimberly Komatsu.

Grasslands make up approximately 40% of the Earth’s ice-free land surface, and they support diverse plant and animal communities that provide many ecological services.…

Continue reading

Grazing by wild red deer maintains characteristic vegetation of semi-natural open habitats: Evidence from a three-year exclusion experiment

Posted on by

By Friederike Riesch, Bettina Tonn, Hans Georg Stroh, Marcus Meißner, Niko Balkenhol & Johannes Isselstein

Wild red deer grazing in a semi-natural grassland in Grafenwöhr military training area, Bavaria, Germany. See the experimental grazing exclosure in the foreground. Photo credit: Marcus Meißner.
… Continue reading