Category: Plain language summary

Hedgerow age affects the species richness of herbaceous forest plants

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Prepared by Kathrin Litza & Martin Diekmann

Hedgerows of different ages in the agricultural landscape of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Photo credit: Kathrin Litza.

Hedgerows are narrow strips of wooded habitats that are known to provide refuge habitat for forest species, such as herbaceous forest plants, in agricultural landscapes.…

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Grazing exclusion and vegetation change in an upland grassland with patches of tall herbs

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Prepared by Sarah H. Watts, Anna Griffith & Lindsay Mackinlay

The tall herb community thriving below a section of crags within the fence at Creag an Lochain, Ben Lawers NNR, Scotland. Photo credit: Sarah Watts.

In 2000, an electric deer fence was erected around 180 ha at Creag an Lochain in the Ben Lawers Natural Nature Reserve, Scotland.…

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Geese are overlooked dispersal vectors for vascular plants in archipelago environments

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Prepared by Dirk Hattermann, Markus Bernhardt-Römermann, Annette Otte & Rolf Lutz Eckstein

Species rich vegetation of a rocky shore with geese droppings in the foreground. Photo credit: Dirk Hattermann.

Since plants do not move, they have to adapt to changing environmental conditions on the spot or disperse their seeds by means of wind, water or animals to escape unfavourable conditions.…

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Cushion and shrub ecosystem engineers contribute differently to diversity and functions in alpine ecosystems

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Prepared by Jian-Guo Chen, Xiao-Fang He, Song-Wei Wang, Yang Yang & Hang Sun

Cushion engineers in the alpine ecosystem in south-western China. The two cushion species shown here (Arenaria polytrichoides and Potentilla articulata) can modify the microenvironment and facilitate the colonization and survival of other species.
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Abandonment of traditional saltworks facilitates degradation of halophytic plant communities and Carpobrotus edulis invasion

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Prepared by Rosa M. Chefaoui & Sergio Chozas

Invasion of Carpobrotus edulis on the dykes of abandoned saltworks in Ria Formosa, Portugal. Photo credit: Rosa M. Chefaoui.

In the “Anthropocene” era, in which most ecosystems have been altered by humans, half of the world’s wetlands have been lost.…

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A comparison of phylogenetic and species beta diversity measures describing vegetation assemblages along an elevation gradient

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Prepared by Tammy L. Elliott & T. Jonathan Davies

An alder thicket plant community on Mount Irony, Labrador, Canada. The alder thicket plant community transitions into a boreal forest community at lower elevations. Photo credit: Tammy Elliott.

Plant ecologists have long been interested in describing and delineating plant communities.…

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Detectability of species of Carex varies with abundance, morphology, and site complexity

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Prepared by Jacqueline M. Dennett and Scott E. Nielsen

Carex gynocrates (bog sedge) is a short species with few, thin leaves and a small inflorescence. Sedges with this appearance were the most poorly detected group in our study, whereas tall sedges with wide leaves and a large inflorescence were almost never overlooked.
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Patterns of long-term vegetation change vary between different types of semi-natural grasslands in Western and Central Europe

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Prepared by Martin Diekmann, Christian Andres, Thomas Becker, Jonathan Bennie, Volker Blüml, James M. Bullock, Heike Culmsee, Miriam Fanigliulo, Annett Hahn, Thilo Heinken, Christoph Leuschner, Stefanie Luka, Justus Meißner, Josef Müller, Adrian Newton, Cord Peppler-Lisbach, Gert Rosenthal, Leon J.L. van den Berg, Philippine Vergeer & Karsten Wesche

Common in the past – a semi-natural wet grassland with the now rare and threatened species Senecio aquaticus.
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