Category: Plain language summary

Rapid Change and Thermophilization of Summit Plant Communities in the Central Eastern Alps (Italy)

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Prepared by Friederike Westrich

Schema of vegetation change across the summits FAG (Faglmugl), SBG (Schafberg), DWO (Da Wöllane), and KAS (Kasererwartl) in the Texel Group, Italy, from 2003 to 2024, showing changes in total species richness on each summit and the relationship between species increase on the highest summit and mean growing-season soil temperature across aspects (Fieldwork scheme modified after Pauli et al.
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Local context matters: site-dependent functional and ecological responses to woody encroachment

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Prepared by Sara Sánchez-Carmona, Juan Antonio Campos, Itziar García-Mijangos & Asun Berastegi

Grassland–shrubland mosaic at one of the sampling sites, Valderejo Natural Park, in the northern Iberian Peninsula. Grassland coexists with shrub species such as Juniperus communis subsp. nana, which forms rounded and flattened patches.
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Climatically Driven Stability in the Alpine/Moorland Boundary on Three Mountains in Southwest Lutruwita/Tasmania 1986–2020

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Prepared by Jamie Kirpatrick, Jayne Balmer, Mick Brown, Jenny Styger, and Jennie Whinam

View of the Tasmanian south coast from the field site on Mount Counsel. Photo credit: Jenny Styger

Climate warming is often expected to push alpine vegetation uphill as lowland species move higher and cold‑adapted plants lose ground.…

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A comparative study of lichen and bryophyte communities on sandstone and ultramafic bedrocks along a maritime gradient in central California

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Prepared by Michael Mulroy and Nishanta Rajakaruna

Left: quadrat from a coastal sandstone rock outcrop in San Luis Obispo County. We found 14 lichen species, including the yellow cobblestone lichen, Acarospora socialis. Right: the rock nipple lichen, Thelomma mammosum, grows among mosses and other lichens on a coastal serpentinite outcrop in San Luis Obispo County.
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Road Disturbance Shapes the Functional Composition of Native Plant Species but Not That of Non-Natives in the Arid Andes

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Prepared by María Alisa Alvarez, Lohengrin A. Cavieres, Valeria Aschero, Lorena de Jesús Bonjour & Agustina Barros

Members of the PIBAS-CONICET team (Plants, Invasions, and Biodiversity of the Andes) collecting plant leaves at the highest elevation points surveyed for this project in Cordón del Plata Provincial Park.
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From Disturbance to Recovery: Unveiling the Role of Goats and Ecological Drivers on Vegetation Dynamics of Trindade Island, South Atlantic, Brazil

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Prepared by Felipe Zuñe, Márcia Gonçalves Rogério, Ruy José Válka Alves & Nílber Gonçalves da Silva

Vegetation recovery on Trindade Island over three decades. Left: the island with severely reduced vegetation in 1994 (photo by Ruy José Valká Alves). Right: the same landscape in 2024, showing substantial regrowth of native plant cover (photo by Márcia Gonçalves Rogério).
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Large boulders provide refuge for browse-sensitive species and reveal a legacy of overbrowsing and shifting baselines

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Prepared by Gillian G. Revenis, Ryan Utz, Rose-Marie Muzika, Thomas P. Diggins, and Walter P. Carson

Large boulder with nearby deer fence included in our sampling for our study in the Huron Mountains Club Forest, US. Photo credit: Gillian Revenis

Throughout the Eastern United States, white-tailed deer populations have risen far beyond historical sizes.…

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Floristic patterns in the Andes of northern Patagonia’s forests, Argentina: towards integrating ecological responses with expert-based and unsupervised classification methods

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Prepared by Natalia Zoe Joelson, Alois Simon, Friedemann von Lampe, Gabriel Ángel Loguercio, Stefan Zerbe, Christoph Leuschner, and Helge Walentowski

Different communities found in northern Patagonia, Argentina. Images show typical examples of: A) Broadleaved montane forest: Humid, evergreen forests found in wetter western areas, with dense tree coverage of Nothofagus dombeyi, B) Mixed montane forest: Mid-elevation evergreen forests adapted to moderate rainfall with a mix of broadleaved N.
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