Category: Plain language summary

Classification of the Hyrcanian forest vegetation, northern Iran

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Prepared by Hamid Gholizadeh, Alireza Naqinezhad & Milan Chytrý

Hyrcanian relict forests of Northern Iran, Javaherdasht area of Gilan province. Photo: Hamid Gholizadeh

The Hyrcanian forests, unlike the arid and semiarid landscape throughout most of Iran, is one of the remnants of ancient natural deciduous forests which form a vegetation belt in the southern shores of the Caspian Sea.…

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Ready for change: seed traits contribute to the high adaptability of mudflat species to their unpredictable habitat

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Prepared by Shyam S. Phartyal, Sergey Rosbakh, Christian Ritz & Peter Poschlod

Recently drained fish ponds making a typical muddy habitat for mudflat plants in southern Germany. Photos credit: Peter Poschlod

Do we fully understand what role regeneration traits play in plant community assembly?…

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Diversity of functional trade-offs enhances survival after fire in Neotropical savanna species

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Prepared by Marina Corrêa Scalon, Fabricius Maia Chaves Bicalho Domingos, Wesley Jonatar Alves da Cruz, Ben Hur Marimon Júnior, Beatriz Schwantes Marimon & Imma Oliveras

Figure 1. Photos representing the four resprouting categories of Cerrado trees after fire: (a) aerial, (b) stem, (c) basal, and (d) underground.
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Bryophyte and macrolichen diversity show contrasting elevation relationships and are negatively affected by disturbances in laurel forests of Madeira island

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Prepared by Steffen Boch, Anabela Martins, Sara Ruas, Susana Fontinha, Palmira Carvalho, Fábio Reis, Ariel Bergamini & Manuela Sim-Sim

The unique laurel forest of Madeira island is a bryophyte and lichen diversity hotspot. Photo credit: Ariel Bergamini.

Madeira Island belongs to the Madeira Archipelago (Portugal) and is located 600 km northwest of the Western African coast in the Atlantic Ocean.…

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Diverging shifts in spring phenology in response to biodiversity loss in a subtropical forest

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Prepared by Yanjun Du, Bo Yang, Si‐Chong Chen & Keping Ma

The first author, Yanjun Du (right), monitoring phenology in one of the experimental plots in the Biodiversity-Ecosystem Functioning Experiment of China (BEF-China), located in Jiangxi Province, China (117°55′E, 29°60′N). Photo credit: Bo Yang.
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Pollination and dispersal trait spectra recover faster than growth form spectrum during the spontaneous succession in sandy old-fields

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Prepared by Edy Fantinato, Judit Sonkoly, Giulia Silan, Orsolya Valkó, Béla Tóthmérész, Balázs Deák, András Kelemen, Tamás Miglécz, Silvia Del Vecchio, Francesca Bettiol, Gabriella Buffa & Péter Török

Forest-steppe mosaic in the Kiskunság sand region, Hungary. Photo credit: Balázs Deák.

The widespread abandonment of agricultural areas and croplands is making large areas available to test techniques for the restoration of grassland habitats.…

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Alien plants alter the growth form ratio and structure of Australian grasslands

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Prepared by Greg R. Guerin, Irene Martín‐Forés, Samantha E.M. Munroe, Ben Sparrow & Andrew J. Lowe

Mokota Conservation Park, a remnant grassland in the mid-north region of South Australia (approximately 160 km north of Adelaide). Photo by Greg Guerin.

Loads of evidence suggests particular invasive weed species wreak havoc in native plant communities by out-competing, or rendering the local environment unsuitable for, natives.…

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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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