Category: Plain language summary

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

Posted on January 8, 2021January 8, 2021 by David Zeleny

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.

Could the environment limit dispersal between Sunda and Sahul?

Posted on December 23, 2020December 23, 2020 by David Zeleny

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.…

Long-term exclosure of sheep-grazing from an ancient wood: vegetation change after a sixty-year experiment

Posted on December 7, 2020December 7, 2020 by David Zeleny

Prepared by Ian Rotherham & Ondřej Vild

The area in front of the fence has been heavily grazed at least since the 18th century. The area behind the fence was protected from domesticated stock since 1955. Yarncliff Wood, Peak District National Park, England.

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

Posted on November 12, 2020November 12, 2020 by David Zeleny

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.

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

Posted on October 29, 2020October 29, 2020 by David Zeleny

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”.…

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

Posted on October 20, 2020October 20, 2020 by David Zeleny

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.…

Why we still need permanent plots for vegetation science

Posted on October 18, 2020 by David Zeleny

Prepared by Francesco de Bello, Enrique Valencia, David Ward & Lauren Hallett

A dedicated researcher (Jan Lepš, Šuspa, with the help of Tereza Dudíková) doing an annual sampling of species frequency in a species rich meadow, Ohrazení, south Bohemia (photo from 2008).

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

Posted on October 9, 2020October 9, 2020 by David Zeleny

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.).

Patch-level facilitation fosters high-Andean plant diversity at regional scales

Posted on October 5, 2020October 5, 2020 by David Zeleny

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.…

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

Posted on September 21, 2020September 21, 2020 by David Zeleny

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