Category: Plain language summary

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

Posted on February 10, 2020February 10, 2020 by David Zeleny

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.

Spatial patterns of tree recruitment in a montane Hawaiian wet forest after cattle removal and pig population control

Posted on January 31, 2020January 31, 2020 by David Zeleny

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.…

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

Posted on January 30, 2020January 30, 2020 by David Zeleny

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).

Seed production and dispersal limit treeline advance in the Pyrenees

Posted on January 29, 2020January 30, 2020 by David Zeleny

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.…

Not in the eye of the beholder: climate change effects on alpine plant communities

Posted on January 25, 2020January 30, 2020 by David Zeleny

Prepared by Andreas Futschik, Manuela Winkler, Klaus Steinbauer, Andrea Lamprecht, Sabine B. Rumpf, Peter Barančok, Andrej Palaj, Michael Gottfried & Harald Pauli

Vegetation changes between 1994 (left panel), 2004 (middle) and 2014 (right) in a plot on Schrankogel, Austria (Central Alps).

Plant indicators for Folic Histosols in mountain forests of the Calcareous Alps

Posted on January 21, 2020January 30, 2020 by David Zeleny

Prepared by Michelangelo Olleck, Birgit Reger & Jörg Ewald

“Black beauty on the white rock”: The soil profile of a Folic Histosol (Wetterstein Mountains, southern Germany, at an altitude of 1,850 m a. s. l.) shows the typical dark brown to black forest floor overlying white calcareous bedrock.

Classification of the Hyrcanian forest vegetation, northern Iran

Posted on January 19, 2020January 30, 2020 by David Zeleny

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.…

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

Posted on December 6, 2019January 30, 2020 by David Zeleny

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?…

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

Posted on October 9, 2019January 30, 2020 by David Zeleny

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