Plant dispersal strategies in primary succession on the Tolbachinsky Dol volcanic Plateau (Russia)

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By Anton Korablev, Vadim Smirnov, Valentina Neshataeva, Igor Kuzmin & Timofey Nekrasov

Pioneer plants establishing in volcanic ash and scoria fields disturbed by the eruption in 1975, Tolbachinskii Dol Volcanic Plateau, Kamchatka, Russia. (A historical remark: this place could be a point of the field excursion to Kamchatka during 63rd IAVS Symposium in Vladivostok, that has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)
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Effects of white-tailed deer exclusion on the plant community composition of an upland tallgrass prairie ecosystem

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Prepared by Kathryn J. Bloodworth, Mark E. Ritchie & Kimberly J. Komatsu

Twenty-two-year-old deer exclusion fences at the Konza Prairie Biological Station in northeastern Kansas, USA. Photo credit: Kimberly Komatsu.

Grasslands make up approximately 40% of the Earth’s ice-free land surface, and they support diverse plant and animal communities that provide many ecological services.…

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Grazing by wild red deer maintains characteristic vegetation of semi-natural open habitats: Evidence from a three-year exclusion experiment

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By Friederike Riesch, Bettina Tonn, Hans Georg Stroh, Marcus Meißner, Niko Balkenhol & Johannes Isselstein

Wild red deer grazing in a semi-natural grassland in Grafenwöhr military training area, Bavaria, Germany. See the experimental grazing exclosure in the foreground. Photo credit: Marcus Meißner.
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A new vegetation-plot database for the coastal forests of Kenya

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By Maria Fungomeli, Anthony Githitho, Fabrizio Frascaroli, Saidi Chidzinga, Marcus Cianciaruso & Alessandro Chiarucci

Kaya Kambe sacred forest, Kenya. Photo credit: Steve Okoko Ashikoye.

After two years of intense research work as a collaboration between the University of Bologna and the National Museums of Kenya, we produced the first standardised data set of the coastal forests of Kenya.…

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The perspective of unmanned aerial systems in forest management: Do we really need such details?

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Prepared by Jan Komárek

Detection of forest stands and identification of its parameters (e.g. height, species group, health status). Photo credit: Jan Komárek.

Traditional methods of terrestrial field survey and measurements at forests are by a majority of landowners still considered to be the most reliable source of tree information.…

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Fine-grained sediment deposition alters the response of plant CSR strategies on the gravel bars of a highly regulated river

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Prepared by Philippe Janssen, Hervé Piégay & André Evette

Along the Rhone, gravel bars with a high proportion of subsoil fine sediments at low elevation benefit stress-tolerant species such as Lythrum salicaria (Photo credit: Philippe Janssen).

Flow regulation by dams profoundly changes the functioning of river ecosystems.…

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