Category: Plain language summary

Observer-driven pseudoturnover in vegetation monitoring is context-dependent but does not affect ecological inference

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Prepared by Steffen Boch, Helen Küchler, Meinrad Küchler, Angéline Bedolla, Klaus T. Ecker, Ulrich H. Graf, Tobias Moser, Rolf Holderegger & Ariel Bergamini

Photo of a permanent 10 m2 vegetation plot marked with Swiss flags located in the Canton of Valais (Photo credit: S.
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Increasing abundance of an invasive C4 grass is associated with larger community changes away than at home

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Prepared by Alida A. Hábenczyus, Csaba Tölgyesi, Róbert Pál, András Kelemen, Eszter Aradi, Zoltán Bátori, Judit Sonkoly, Edina Tóth, Nóra Balogh & Péter Török

Maps and photographs of the localities of the surveyed sites in the native (North American) and the non-native (Hungarian) ranges of Sand Dropseed.
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Are historical land use patterns and chemical soil characteristics complementary for assessing the restoration potential of Nardus grassland?

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By Frederik Van Daele, Thierry Onkelinx, Kris Verheyen, Hans Van Calster, Maud Raman, Jasper Van Ruijven & Luc De Keersmaeker

The presence of a species-rich Nardus grassland adjacent to the ancient forest of Halle in Flanders (northern Belgium) is explained by the land-use and management history of the site.
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Degradation influences equilibrium and non-equilibrium dynamics in rangelands: implications in resilience and stability

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By Dardo R. López, Laura Cavallero, Priscila Willems, Brandon T. Bestelmeyer & Miguel A. Brizuela

Photo of the Patagonian steppes where the study was carried out located in Pilcaniyeu (Rio negro province, Argentina). Photo credit: Dardo López.

Our work focused on the study of the ecological resilience of alternative states in steppes of Patagonia (Argentina).…

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Short-term effects of experimental goose grazing and warming differ in three low-Arctic coastal wetland plant communities

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Prepared by Ryan T. Choi, Matteo Petit Bon, A. Joshua Leffler, Katharine C. Kelsey, Jeffrey M. Welker & Karen H. Beard

Experimental goose grazing and summer warming elicit compositional changes in three distinct low-Arctic coastal wetland plant communities of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska.
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Functional traits and propagule pressure explain changes in the distribution and demography of non-native trees in Spain

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By Carlos Lara-Romero, Paloma Ruiz-Benito & Pilar Castro-Díez

Old plantation of Australian blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus) in Cíes Island (National Park of the Atlantic Islands, Galicia, Spain). Photo credit: Pilar Castro-Díez.

Non-native tree species (NNT) have been planted worldwide to provide different types of benefits, from resources, such as wood, tannins, or fiber, to ornamental assets.…

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Coping with changing plant-plant interactions in restoration ecology: Effect of species, site, and individual variation

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Prepared by Pedro J. Garrote, Antonio R. Castilla & Jose M. Fedriani

The Mediterranean dwarf palm (Chamaerops humilis) spreads along the typical landscape of study sites in Doñana National Park (south-western Spain). (Photo credit: Pedro J. Garrote)

Most ecological interactions can usually be positive, negative, or neutral, depending on the balance between benefits and costs for their participants.…

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Secondary succession on landslides in submontane forests of central Taiwan: Environmental drivers and restoration strategies

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By Chien-Fan Chen, Ching-Feng Li, Chu-Mei Huang, Huan-Yu Lin & David Zelený

Sampling of spontaneously recovered vegetation after landslide disturbance in Central Taiwan, East Asia. A 20 m × 20 m plot was set up within the landslide area to investigate the species composition and environmental variables.
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Spatial patterns in neighbourhood effects on woody plant selection and bark stripping by deer in a lowland alluvial forest

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Prepared by Jan Holík & David Janík

A pond inside the Ranšpurk forest reserve, Czech Republic. The reserve is a unique remnant of old-growth forests in this region with management practices excluded in 1949. Because of the site location within a deer enclosure, a fence was erected in 1992 to protect it against deer herbivory.
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Fine-grain beta diversity in Palaearctic open vegetation: variability within and between biomes and vegetation types

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By Iwona Dembicz, Jürgen Dengler, François Gillet, Thomas J. Matthews, Manuel J. Steinbauer, Sándor Bartha, Juan Antonio Campos, Pieter De Frenne, Jiri Dolezal, Itziar Garcia-Mijangos, Riccardo Guarino, Behlül Güler, Anna Kuzemko, Alireza Naqinezhad, Jalil Noroozi, Robert K. Peet, Massimo Terzi & Idoia Biurrun

Sampling of a standard “EDGG Biodiversity Plots” in a meso-xeric pasture in Armenia, which was used in this study to derive fine-grain beta-diversity data.
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