Category: Plain language summary

Reindeer trampling promotes vegetation changes in tundra heathlands: results from a simulation experiment

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By Dagmar D. Egelkraut, Hélène S. A. Barthelemy & Johan Olofsson

Our study site in Nordreisa, northern Norway. Photo credit: Dagmar Egelkraut

The photo above shows a beautiful rolling hillside in the north of Norway. It also shows a fence; those who look more closely might notice a distinct difference between the vegetation on one side of the fence compared to the other.…

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Where does the forest come back from? Soil and litter seed banks and the juvenile bank as sources of vegetation resilience in a semiarid Neotropical forest

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By María Lucrecia Lipoma, Valentina Fortunato, Lucas Enrico & Sandra Díaz

Above: Litter sample collection for the identification of seeds in the litter seed bank. Bellow: Juvenile plant bank of the dominant woody species of the ecosystem of the Chaco forest, Aspidosperma quebracho-blanco.
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Epiphyll specialization for leaf and forest successional stages in a tropical lowland rainforest

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Prepared by Anna Mežaka, Maaike Y. Bader, Noris Salazar Allen & Glenda Mendieta-Leiva

Lichen, liverwort, algae and fungi patches on an old leaf of Xylopia macrantha. Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Photo credit: Anna Mežaka.

Forest gaps in tropical rainforests contribute to habitat heterogeneity and vascular plant diversity.…

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Trait‐based numerical classification of mesic and wet grasslands in Poland

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Prepared by Attila Lengyel, Grzegorz Swacha, Zoltán Botta-Dukát & Zygmunt Kącki

Both management and environmental factors are important drivers of the variation between trait-based types of mesic grasslands in Poland. Location: Sudety Mountains, Poland. Photo credit: Zygmunt Kącki.

The use of numerical classification methods and vegetation plot databases opened new avenues towards the understanding of vegetation patterns on broad spatial scales.…

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Trade-offs between fire hazard reduction and conservation in a Natura 2000 shrub–grassland mosaic

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By Vasco Silva, Filipe X. Catry, Paulo M. Fernandes, Francisco C. Rego & Miguel N. Bugalho

Vasco Silva (the first author of the paper) surveying the habitats dominated by gorse shrublands of Ulex jussiaei and grasslands of Stipa gigantea in Sintra mountain, western coast of Portugal, before the prescribed fire execution.
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Spatial patterns of tree recruitment in a montane Hawaiian wet forest after cattle removal and pig population control

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Prepared by Thomas Ibanez & Patrick J. Hart

Scattered trees (Metrosideros polymorpha, Myrtaceae) in Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, Island of Hawaiʻi, U.S. Photo credit: Patrick J. Hart.

As on many remote tropical islands, the natural ecosystems of Hawai’i have greatly suffered from the introduction of ungulates such as cattle, pigs and goats.…

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Trait divergence of woody species in relation to affinity for termite mounds in Upper Katanga (DR Congo)

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Prepared by Fidèle Cuma Mushagalusa, David Bauman, Mylor Ngoy Shutcha & Pierre Meerts

Termite mound displaying its specialised tree community, contrasted with respect to the tree species of the surrounding woodland. The picture was taken in the Mikembo Sanctuary (Upper Katanga, DR Congo).
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Seed production and dispersal limit treeline advance in the Pyrenees

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Prepared by Alba Anadon-Rosell, Marc Talavera, Josep M. Ninot, Empar Carrillo & Enric Batllori

Seed trap (indicated with a black arrow) at the krummholz zone, study site Dellui, Central Pyrenees (Spain). Photo credit: Enric Batllori.

Alpine treelines represent the upper altitudinal limit of the forest in mountain regions.…

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