Category: Plain language summary

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

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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.…

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

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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.…

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

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

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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.…

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

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

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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.…

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

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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.
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A new vegetation-plot database for the coastal forests of Kenya

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By Maria Fungomeli, Anthony Githitho, Fabrizio Frascaroli, Saidi Chidzinga, Marcus Cianciaruso & Alessandro Chiarucci

Kaya Kambe sacred forest, Kenya. Photo credit: Steve Okoko Ashikoye.

After two years of intense research work as a collaboration between the University of Bologna and the National Museums of Kenya, we produced the first standardised data set of the coastal forests of Kenya.…

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