Category: Plain language summary

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

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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.
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Could the environment limit dispersal between Sunda and Sahul?

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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.…

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

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

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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”.…

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

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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.…

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Habitat type and island identity as drivers of community assembly in an archipelago

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By Alessandro Chiarucci, Fabrizio Buldrini, Marco Cervellini, Riccardo Guarino, Marco Caccianiga, Bruno Foggi, Daniele Viciani, Lorenzo Lazzaro, Laura Casella, Pierangela Angelini, Bruno Enrico Leone Cerabolini, Salvatore Pasta, Mirko Enea & Piero Zannini

A Mediterranean mountain heath with Genista desoleana Vals. on top of Monte Capanne, Elba Island (1089 m a.s.l.).
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Patch-level facilitation fosters high-Andean plant diversity at regional scales

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By Sabrina S. Gavini, Cecilia Ezcurra & Marcelo A. Aizen

Cushion plant harboring other plant species at Catedral mountain close to the summit, San Carlos de Bariloche, Rio Negro, Argentina. Photo credit: Sabrina S. Gavini.

The alpine ecosystem is one of the most stressful environments in the world due to the extreme abiotic conditions to which organisms are subject to.…

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

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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.
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