Multiple soil factors explain eutrophication signals in the understory vegetation of temperate forests

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Prepared by Marina Roth, Hans-Gerhard Michiels, Heike Puhlmann, Carina Sucker & Markus Hauck

Vegetation field survey in a typical low-productive oak forest on acidic soil without signs of eutrophication. The photograph shows one of the study sites located in the Black Forest, southwest Germany.
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New Special Collection on “Grasslands of Asia” launched by VCS

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By Jürgen Dengler (Chief Editor of Vegetation Classification and Survey), Alireza Naqinezhad and Arkadiusz Nowak

Stipetum lipskyi in Veshan Valley in western Pamir-Alai, Tajikistan. Photo credit: A. Nowak

The Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (www.edgg.org) and IAVS’ gold open access journal “Vegetation Classification and Survey” are proud to launch a joint Special Collection dedicated to “Grasslands of Asia”.…

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New Special Collection on “African vegetation studies” launched by VCS

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By Reginald Tang Guuroh (Chair of the IAVS African Reginal Section) and Jürgen Dengler (Chief Editor of the Vegetation Classification and Survey)

Savanna at the foot of Mt. Elgon, Kenya, Africa. Photo credit: J. Dengler

The new IAVS African Regional Section and IAVS’ gold open access journal “Vegetation Classification and Survey” are proud to launch a joint Special Collection dedicated to “African vegetation studies”.…

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Tree invasion in secondary grasslands diminishes herbaceous biomass and diversity: A study of mechanisms behind the process

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By Antonella Ferraina, Cecilia D. Molina, Noemí Mazía, Gervasio Piñeiro, Isabel Miranda & Enrique José Chaneton

Experimental design used to evaluate the effect of tree invasion and shading on grasslands. Photo credit: Antonella Ferraina

Woody-plant invasion in grasslands is a global problem widely reported during the last decade.…

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Fire-triggered flowering is the dominant post-fire strategy in a tropical savanna

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Heloiza L. Zirondi, Mark K. J. Ooi & Alessandra Fidelis

Lippia horridula, a forb species flowering within two weeks after the fire at the study site in Central Brazil. Photo credit: Heloiza L. Zirondi.

In many vegetation types across the globe where fire is present, plants have adaptations to the fire regime to survive and reproduce.…

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Frost-driven lower treelines in Angola and their implications for tropical forest–grassland mosaics

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Prepared by Manfred Finckh, Janika Wendefeuer & Paulina Meller

The transition of ecotone grasslands to grasslands at the confluence of the Río Cusseque and its western tributary, Río Sovi. Our network of temperature data loggers yielded the lowest temperatures in this area, where the nocturnal flows of cold air from both valley systems converged.
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Linking functional diversity, trait composition, invasion, and environmental drivers in boreal wetland plant assemblages

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Brandon Allen and his colleagues summarized the results from a recent paper in the Journal of Vegetation Science (https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.13073) illustrating the complex relationships between functional diversity, terrestrial invaders, and the surrounding environment in boreal wetlands. Read more about these relationships at the ABMI blog.…

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A rapid method to quantify small-scale vegetation patch structure to complement conventional quadrat surveys

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Prepared by Liam Butler & Roy Sanderson

View across Redesdale in North East England, UK. Photo credit: Liam Butler.

The standard vegetation quadrat is probably the most common method to survey plant communities, and thousands of scientific papers have been published in which some field data was collected via quadrats.…

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