Article
Agronomy
Loc Van Nguyen, Daniel Bertero, Dinh Thai Hoang, Nguyen Viet Long
Summary: Soil moisture stress poses a serious environmental limitation to crop productivity, with roots being the first organ to sense changes in soil moisture. Understanding variation in root development responses to drought is crucial for assessing plant's drought tolerance. Variability in drought tolerance indices and root growth responses were observed in a diverse set of 30 quinoa genotypes, with some genotypes exhibiting drought-tolerant phenotypes. The analysis of interrelations between genotypes' root traits, drought tolerance, and geographical origins provides insights for further studies on mechanisms behind quinoa root adaptation to drought.
JOURNAL OF AGRONOMY AND CROP SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Bernardo M. Flores, Milena Holmgren
Summary: Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of wildfires across the tropics, risking tropical forests shifting into an open vegetation state, especially in floodplains. A recent study in the Amazon basin found that repeatedly burnt forests fail to regenerate and can be replaced by white-sand savanna ecosystems within 40 years, with soil degradation and topsoil erosion as key factors driving the ecosystem shift.
Article
Forestry
Morgane Dendoncker, Simon Taugourdeau, Christian Messier, Caroline Vincke
Summary: The resilience of the woody vegetation in Sahelian savannas to drought and grazing has decreased since the 1970s. Functional redundancy and response diversity of 80% of functional groups have declined, endangering the persistence of ecosystem functions. Local topography strongly influences these indices. Key species that require protection to ensure the persistence of ecosystem functions were identified.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Tianliang Jiang, Xiaoling Su, Vijay P. Singh, Gengxi Zhang
Summary: The study introduced the concept of ecological drought and utilized the SEWDI to monitor ecological drought in Northwestern China. Findings revealed that ecological drought events in the 21st century were more severe in terms of affected area, duration, frequency, and severity, with a westward migration. Thermal conditions played a dominant role in influencing vegetation health during ecological drought events.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xiaoxuan Li, Konrad Wessels, John Armston, Steven Hancock, Renaud Mathieu, Russell Main, Laven Naidoo, Barend Erasmus, Robert Scholes
Summary: This study validated the accuracy of GEDI's RH98orb in different vegetation conditions. It found that GEDI accurately estimates canopy height between 3 and 15 meters, but may have lower accuracy in leaf-off conditions. The study also highlighted the need for more complex waveform deconvolution to estimate the height of shrubs below 2.34 meters.
REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Mingze Sun, Xiangyi Li, Hao Xu, Kai Wang, Nazhakaiti Anniwaer, Songbai Hong
Summary: This study assesses the response of vegetation to droughts in China from 2001 to 2018 using soil moisture data and satellite-observed vegetation index. By identifying drought thresholds, the study finds that droughts have significant impacts on vegetation growth in China, with variations in threshold levels across different regions. The study also highlights the influence of agricultural irrigation on drought thresholds for croplands. In the future, China is expected to face increasing ecological drought risks in certain regions.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xinrong Zhu, Hongyan Liu, Chongyang Xu, Lu Wu, Liang Shi, Feng Liu
Summary: Soil properties play a significant role in separating climate drought stress from vegetation water constraint in global drylands, with sand content being the most important soil property.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Waira S. Machida, Leticia Gomes, Pamela Moser, Isabela B. Castro, Sabrina C. Miranda, Manoel C. da Silva-Junior, Mercedes M. C. Bustamante
Summary: Research shows that woody vegetation has largely recovered eight years after one fire event, while the vegetation structure remains relatively stable after two consecutive fire events over eight years, with growth only seen after 14 years without fire.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Zhibin Liu, Junyue Zhu, Jianyang Xia, Kun Huang
Summary: This study evaluates the drought resistance and resilience of global vegetation productivity using long-term satellite observations, and finds a significant decline in drought resistance but no significant change in resilience. Temperature and soil moisture are identified as the main factors affecting drought resistance. Earth system models underestimate the historical drought resistance and resilience, and project further decline in the future.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Yi Zhang, Wei Liu, Siming He
Summary: This study investigates the impact of plant age on morphological traits, peak pullout force of the root system, tensile force, tensile strength, and elastic modulus of a single root, as well as the interplay between vegetation and stream processes.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Valentina Bau', Alistair G. L. Borthwick, Paolo Perona
Summary: This study examines the irreversibility of river floodplains to recover their status, which may be explained by the dynamics of riparian water-tolerant plant roots. The developed model provides a quantitative tool for predicting the impact of changing flow regimes on long-term river floodplain dynamics.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Yong Zhou, Barbara Bomfim, William J. J. Bond, Thomas W. W. Boutton, Madelon F. F. Case, Corli Coetsee, Andrew B. B. Davies, Edmund C. C. February, Emma F. F. Gray, Lucas C. R. Silva, Jamie L. L. Wright, A. Carla Staver
Summary: A case study in South Africa combined with a synthesis of global data on tropical savannas shows that grasses contribute more than half of the soil organic carbon (SOC) across these regions. The assumption that increasing tree cover leads to significant gains in SOC may not reflect the actual changes, as SOC in savannas is also derived from grasses. The study highlights the substantial contribution of grasses to SOC and the uncertainty in SOC responses to increasing tree cover in tropical savannas.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Xinrong Zhu, Hongyan Liu, Yunyun Li, Boyi Liang
Summary: Precipitation is the primary source of water for vegetation, and a new parameterized calculation method was proposed to describe the relationship between precipitation and vegetation in China. Soil texture and depth to bedrock were found to influence the water storage capacity of soil, impacting the redistribution of local precipitation for vegetation growth. Soil properties such as high clay content and certain thickness were favorable for stored precipitation fraction for vegetation growth. Neglecting the effect of soil water storage capacity may lead to inaccuracies when simulating the impact of future climate change on vegetation growth.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Zhen Weng, Jun Niu, Huade Guan, Shaozhong Kang
Summary: This study employs a 3-dimensional clustering identification method to capture drought events and their characteristics in vegetated regions of China during 1982-2018. The study reveals that drought events are concentrated in spring and summer, and different types of drought events have different impacts on vegetation drought. The impacts of moisture deficit and high temperature on vegetation also show significant seasonal difference and contradictory trends.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Liangliang Jiang, Wenli Liu, Bing Liu, Ye Yuan, Anming Bao
Summary: The frequency and severity of drought events have increased due to global warming, leading to vegetation degradation. This study quantified the spatiotemporal patterns of drought events and their impact on vegetation sensitivity in China. The results showed regional variations in drought severity and vegetation response, with the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Northeast China being more sensitive to drought. Drought events affected the length and timing of the growing season, with implications for vegetation degradation.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Carol X. Garzon-Lopez, Eduardo Medina Barcenas, Alejandro Ordonez, Patrick A. Jansen, Stephanie A. Bohlman, Han Olff
Summary: Recruitment limitation, which refers to the failure of a species to establish new individuals at an available site, is an important determinant of plant community structure. It is caused by three mechanisms: lack of seed sources, failure of seed dispersal, and failure of seed establishment. This study evaluated the relative importance of these mechanisms in three co-occurring tree species and found that seed predation was the most critical factor affecting recruitment. The ability of seeds to establish varied among species and was influenced by conspecific and heterospecific densities across different spatial scales.
Article
Ecology
Ralph J. M. Temmink, Gregory S. Fivash, Laura L. Govers, Janne Nauta, Beatriz Marin-Diaz, Peter M. J. M. Cruijsen, Karin Didderen, Emma Penning, Han Olff, Jannes H. T. Heusinkveld, Leon P. M. Lamers, Wouter Lengkeek, Marjolijn J. A. Christianen, Valerie C. Reijers, Tjeerd J. Bouma, Tjisse van der Heide
Summary: Coastal ecosystems worldwide are degrading rapidly, prompting a new life cycle informed restoration approach to be tested on a large scale using blue mussel reefs as a model. Results showed that temporary use of biodegradable structures successfully enhanced mussel biomass formation, but technical challenges were encountered at larger scales, emphasizing the need for testing under extreme conditions before upscaling.
ECOLOGICAL ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Ralph J. M. Temmink, Marloes van den Akker, Casper H. A. van Leeuwen, Yvonne Thole, Han Olff, Valerie C. Reijers, Stefan T. J. Weideveld, Bjorn J. M. Robroek, Leon P. M. Lamers, Elisabeth S. Bakker
Summary: Wetlands provide crucial services for human societies, and wetland restoration is essential for enhancing ecosystem integrity. Forward-looking restoration projects can improve natural values, but also face challenges in management, such as determining the direction of new ecosystem development and dealing with potential pressures.
ECOLOGICAL ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Beatriz Marin-Diaz, Laura L. Govers, Daphne van der Wal, Han Olff, Tjeerd J. Bouma
Summary: Salt marshes with erosion-resistant topsoil play a crucial role in reducing breach dimensions if dikes fail. The presence of a top layer with high organic content, high water content, and low bulk density contributes to the erosion resistance of salt marshes. The fine root density is a key factor in predicting erosion resistance. It is recommended to use fine-grained sediments or a mixture of sand with silt or clay for future marsh creations.
ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Inger K. de Jonge, Michiel P. Veldhuis, Anton Vrieling, Han Olff
Summary: Determining the drivers of aboveground net primary production (ANPP) is a crucial goal in ecosystem ecology. This study tested methods for estimating herbaceous productivity in savanna ecosystems, comparing different spectral greenness indices and their relationship to field-measured ANPP. The results showed that a satellite-based model including average NDVIs and its rate of change predicted herbaceous ANPP reasonably well, but the predictive accuracy was improved when using a camera trap-derived vegetation greenness index. The study also highlighted the importance of fine temporal resolution in capturing vegetation responses to rainfall events.
REMOTE SENSING IN ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Michiel P. Veldhuis, Ricardo Martinez-Garcia, Vincent Deblauwe, Vasilis Dakos
Summary: This study confirms the theoretical prediction that regular vegetation patterns are associated with critical slowing down and reduced resilience in dryland ecosystems. Using remote sensing data and theoretical simulations, the researchers found that as vegetation patterns transition from gaps to labyrinths to spots, the system shows slower responses, increased temporal autocorrelation, and reduced variance. However, this transition exhibits non-linear behavior, especially when patterns change configuration.
Article
Ecology
Chenguang Gao, Peter M. van Bodegom, T. Martijn Bezemer, Michiel P. Veldhuis, Riccardo Mancinelli, Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia
Summary: The impact of soil communities on the response of plant communities to drought remains unclear. Field experiments manipulating soil communities from different successional stages found that later-successional soil biota did not improve the resistance and recovery of plant communities to drought. The presence of soil pathogens in later-successional soil inocula may have impeded plant growth after drought. The sensitivity of individual species and functional groups to drought was idiosyncratic and did not explain the overall composition of the plant community.
Review
Ecology
Inger K. de Jonge, Michiel P. Veldhuis, J. Hans C. Cornelissen, Matty P. Berg, Han Olff
Summary: The metamicrobiome is a concept that studies carbon and nutrient recycling in ecosystems. Mutualistic associations between microbes, plants, and animals reduce the sensitivity of recycling pathways to global change, allowing continued recycling of plant matter even in unfavorable conditions. Understanding the structure and functioning of the metamicrobiome is important for understanding environmental change.
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Kasper J. Meijer, Oscar Franken, Tjisse van der Heide, Sander J. Holthuijsen, Wim Visser, Laura L. Govers, Han Olff
Summary: In soft-bottom marine ecosystems, the variation of bedforms, induced by wind- and tidal-driven hydrodynamics, plays an important role in determining the occurrence of different macrozoobenthic species. By characterizing bedform variation using high-resolution single-beam data, a Terrain Ruggedness Index (TRI) can be calculated and used as a predictor of hydrodynamic parameters and macrozoobenthic species distribution. This approach provides valuable information for distinguishing between natural dynamics and anthropogenic disturbances, contributing to marine management and conservation decision-making.
REMOTE SENSING IN ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Yuting Deng, Maria Carolina T. D. Belotti, Wenlong Zhao, Zezhou Cheng, Gustavo Perez, Elske Tielens, Victoria F. Simons, Daniel R. Sheldon, Subhransu Maji, Jeffrey F. Kelly, Kyle G. Horton
Summary: This study used data from the US weather radar network to investigate the relationship between the timing of aerial insectivores' roosting behavior and phenology. The results showed that the phenology has advanced by 2.26 days per decade at the regional scale, and this advancement is associated with changes in air temperature.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Janne Nauta, Marjolijn J. A. Christianen, Ralph J. M. Temmink, Gregory S. S. Fivash, Beatriz Marin-Diaz, Valerie C. Reijers, Karin Didderen, Emma Penning, Annieke C. W. Borst, Jannes H. T. Heusinkveld, Maarten Zwarts, Peter M. J. M. Cruijsen, Nadia Hijner, Wouter Lengkeek, Leon P. M. Lamers, Tjisse van Der Heide, Tjeerd J. J. Bouma, Daphne van Der Wal, Han Olff, Laura L. L. Govers
Summary: Reef-forming species are degrading rapidly worldwide, and restoration efforts using artificial reefs are becoming popular. This study assesses the effectiveness of biodegradable artificial reefs as habitat for reef-forming species through food web network analysis.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Maria Carolina T. D. Belotti, Yuting Deng, Wenlong Zhao, Victoria F. Simons, Zezhou Cheng, Gustavo Perez, Elske Tielens, Subhransu Maji, Daniel Sheldon, Jeffrey F. Kelly, Kyle G. Horton
Summary: In this study, a machine learning pipeline and human supervision were used to identify and label swallow and martin roost locations. The research found that roosts formed consistently in the same geographic area over two decades and that more persistent roosts also gathered more birds. These findings have important implications for ecosystem and conservation efforts.
REMOTE SENSING IN ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2023)
Article
Ornithology
Marc Gilles, Rienk W. Fokkema, Peter Korsten, Barbara A. Caspers, Tim Schmoll
Summary: Preen oil, secreted by the uropygial gland, may contribute to body odor in birds. This study aims to characterize the chemical composition of preen oil and investigate its role in sexual signaling and chemical communication. The researchers analyzed the preen oil of European Pied Flycatchers and found evidence of sex differences, changes across breeding stages, and similarity between pair mates. The results suggest a potential function of preen oil in sexual signaling and indicate the importance of understanding avian odors in mate choice and sexual selection.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Beatriz Marin-Diaz, Daphne van Der Wal, Leon Kaptein, Pol Martinez-Garcia, Christopher H. Lashley, Kornelis de Jong, Jan Willem Nieuwenhuis, Laura L. Govers, Han Olff, Tjeerd J. Bouma
Summary: Salt marshes can provide important coastal defense by reducing wave loading and run-up levels during storms. The development of salt marshes in the Dutch Wadden Sea is related to the bathymetry of the tidal-flat foreshore, and wave run-up onto dikes depends on foreshore bathymetry, the presence of marshes, marsh vegetation properties, tidal range, and wind exposure.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Yuhong Li, Theunis Piersma, Jos C. E. W. Hooijmeijer, Ruth A. Howison
Summary: Agricultural intensification has negatively impacted farmland biodiversity, including breeding birds. This study investigated the habitat selection and home range size of Black-tailed Godwits in relation to land-use intensity in the entire Netherlands. The results showed that godwits selected areas with lower land-use intensity at the landscape scale, and their core range size increased with higher land-use intensity.
ECOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS AND EVIDENCE
(2023)