Article
Ecology
Richard J. Hazell, Krystof Chmel, Jan Riegert, Luda Paul, Brus Isua, Graham S. Kaina, Pavel Fibich, Kenneth Molem, Alan J. A. Stewart, Mika R. Peck, George D. Weiblen, Vojtech Novotny
Summary: The study compared diversity patterns of plant and bird communities at both local and regional scales in a lowland rainforest in Papua New Guinea. It found that bird communities exhibited similar species accumulation patterns at different spatial scales, while plant species richness was lower in smaller plots. With increased distance between samples, similarity in species composition remained constant but similarity in dominance structure decreased gradually. This suggests that a 50 ha plot can provide an accurate representation of broader-scale diversity for birds, and a relatively good representation for woody plants.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Vojtech Abraham, Petr Kunes, Ondrej Vild, Eva Jamrichova, Zuzana Pleskova, Barbora Werchan, Helena Svitavska-Svobodova, Jan Rolecek
Summary: This study explored the relationship between pollen records and plant diversity, finding a significant positive correlation between pollen richness and plant diversity. It validates the use of pollen as a tool for reconstructing plant diversity in the past.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Mahdieh Ebrahimi, Morteza Saberi
Summary: This research investigates the association between the succession and restoration of degraded land in the southeast of Iran with artificial Calligonum forests. The study found that vegetation significantly increased over time, with the highest values observed in the 30-year site. Soil nutrient values also increased significantly during succession, while acidity and electrical conductivity remained relatively stable. The research highlights the importance of planting native species and the succession of vegetation in preserving the environment and increasing carbon and nitrogen pools in degraded lands.
FRONTIERS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Leana Gooriah, Shane A. Blowes, Alban Sagouis, Julian Schrader, Dirk N. Karger, Holger Kreft, Jonathan M. Chase
Summary: The study demonstrates that island size significantly influences species richness and evenness in the island species-area relationship (ISAR), supporting the view of disproportionate effects on larger relative to smaller islands.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Studies
Mouldi Gamoun, Mounir Louhaichi
Summary: Natural rangelands in Tunisia's Tataouine province have a diverse botanical composition with 40% of species being palatable and over 13% being used in traditional and modern medicine.
Article
Ecology
Elizabeth A. LaRue, Jonathan A. Knott, Grant M. Domke, Han Y. H. Chen, Qinfeng Guo, Masumi Hisano, Christopher Oswalt, Sonja Oswalt, Nicole Kong, Kevin M. Potter, Songlin Fei
Summary: The study shows that the physical structure of vegetation is closely related to ecosystem function, and structural diversity is a robust predictor of forest productivity. It consistently outperforms species diversity as a predictor across different climate conditions in North America. Moreover, structural diversity captures variation in size and can be used to measure realized niche space, making it a better surrogate of niche occupancy. This study highlights the importance of using structural diversity as a metric for restoration and management decisions to maximize ecosystem productivity and carbon sequestration.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Michael Glaser, Stefan Dullinger, Dietmar Moser, Johannes Wessely, Milan Chytry, Zdenka Lososova, Irena Axmanova, Christian Berg, Jana Buerger, Serge Buholzer, Fabrizio Buldrini, Alessandro Chiarucci, Swen Follak, Filip Kuezmic, Stefan Meyer, Petr Pysek, Nina Richner, Urban Silc, Siegrid Steinkellner, Alexander Wietzke, Franz Essl
Summary: This study investigated changes in vascular plant species in Central European arable fields and their edges from 1930 to 2019. The results showed a small decline in overall species occupancy, but a more pronounced species turnover. Species with environmental preferences for nutrient-rich sites with neutral pH increased in occupancy, while species typical for arable fields decreased. No response to climate change was observed, and there was a decrease in archaeophytes and native species and an increase in neophytes.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2024)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Tomasz H. Szymura, Henok Kassa, Grzegorz Swacha, Magdalena Szymura, Adam Zajac, Zygmunt Kacki
Summary: Recognition of species richness spatial patterns is important for conservation and theoretical studies. This study presents a new data set of vascular plant species richness in Poland based on a grid of 10 x 10 km squares, created using data from two sources. The analysis of 2,160 species in 3,283 squares provides valuable statistics for each square and enables theoretical analysis and better planning for nature conservations.
Article
Ecology
Shane A. Blowes, Gergana N. Daskalova, Maria Dornelas, Thore Engel, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Anne E. Magurran, Ines S. Martins, Brian McGill, Daniel J. McGlinn, Alban Sagouis, Hideyasu Shimadzu, Sarah R. Supp, Jonathan M. Chase
Summary: This study investigates the interrelationships between changes in abundance, evenness, and richness in biodiversity metrics. The research shows that richness changes maximally when abundance and evenness change in the same direction. Site-to-site differences in abundance, evenness, and richness are often decoupled, while changes in species richness and relative abundance are strongly correlated for assemblages varying through time. The study suggests that understanding the interdependencies between changing abundance, evenness, and richness can provide new insights into biodiversity change in the Anthropocene.
Article
Entomology
Fredy Palacino-Rodriguez, Ana Paola Martinez-Falcon, Alex Cordoba-Aguilar
Summary: Although odonate insect collections in Colombia have increased in recent years, it is unknown whether the inventory list is complete. Analysis using rarefaction curves indicated varying degrees of completeness for different regions and departments, with some areas having scarce collections. Odonates are mainly found in the Andes and Orinoquia regions, highlighting the importance of sampling in protected areas and under-sampled localities.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TROPICAL INSECT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Chenqi He, Leqi Fang, Xinyu Xiong, Fan Fan, Yangang Li, Luoshu He, Xiaoli Shen, Sheng Li, Chengjun Ji, Jiangling Zhu
Summary: The study found that environmental heterogeneity regulates SAR curves sampled from different starting locations through spatial distribution of plant life forms, and sampling location plays an important role in shaping the forms of SAR curves.
Article
Ecology
Riccardo Testolin, Fabio Attorre, Peter Borchardt, Robert F. Brand, Helge Bruelheide, Milan Chytry, Michele De Sanctis, Jiri Dolezal, Manfred Finckh, Sylvia Haider, Andreas Hemp, Ute Jandt, Michael Kessler, Andrey Yu Korolyuk, Jonathan Lenoir, Natalia Makunina, George P. Malanson, Daniel B. Montesinos-Tubee, Jalil Noroozi, Arkadiusz Nowak, Robert K. Peet, Gwendolyn Peyre, Francesco Maria Sabatini, Jozef Sibik, Petr Sklenar, Steven P. Sylvester, Kiril Vassilev, Risto Virtanen, Wolfgang Willner, Susan K. Wiser, Evgeny G. Zibzeev, Borja Jimenez-Alfaro
Summary: The study assesses global patterns of plant species richness in alpine ecosystems, finding peak regional richness near the equator and mid-latitudes, influenced by alpine area, isolation, and soil pH variation. Community richness peaks in mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, linked to macroclimate, historical factors, and other spatially structured factors. These results emphasize hotspots of species richness at mid-latitudes, suggesting the diversity of alpine plants is related to regional idiosyncrasies and historical prevalence.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Dula Wakassa Duguma, Elizabeth Law, Girma Shumi, Patricia Rodrigues, Feyera Senbeta, Jannik Schultner, David J. Abson, Joern Fischer
Summary: The aim of this study was to model woody plant species richness in southwestern Ethiopia and predict the impact of future land-use changes on biodiversity. The results showed that scenarios focused on mining and food production would lead to significant biodiversity loss, while a scenario prioritizing gain over grain could maintain biodiversity relative to the baseline. Only the scenario combining coffee and conservation showed positive changes in biodiversity in the long term.
Article
Agronomy
Jose Ramon Arevalo, Juan A. Encina-Dominguez, Cristina Gonzalez-Montelongo, Miguel Mellado, Arturo Cruz-Anaya
Summary: Grasslands and pastures are widely studied for their geographic variation, species richness, ecological functioning, and economic importance. The impact of grassland management on species diversity has contradictory results, but scale is a crucial factor. Analyzing the effects of cattle grazing on species richness in a protected area in northern Mexico, the study found significant differences in plant species increase between grazed and excluded plots, highlighting the potential of excluding grazing in certain areas for promoting plant species diversity.
Article
Ecology
Jeanne Portier, Florian Zellweger, Juergen Zell, Iciar Alberdi Asensio, Michal Bosela, Johannes Breidenbach, Vladimir Seben, Rafael O. Wueest, Brigitte Rohner
Summary: This study aims to establish a methodological framework for comparing species richness (SR) across plot-based inventories with different plot sizes. The researchers used National Forest Inventory (NFI) data from Norway, Slovakia, Spain, and Switzerland to build sample-based rarefaction curves and correct for environmental heterogeneity, enabling reliable SR comparisons between inventories. The method successfully corrected for heterogeneity and offers an opportunity to harmonize pan-European SR monitoring.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Pavel Novak, Wolfgang Willner, Idoia Biurrun, Hamid Gholizadeh, Thilo Heinken, Ute Jandt, Jozef Kollar, Maria Kozhevnikova, Alireza Naqinezhad, Viktor Onyshchenko, Remigiusz Pielech, Valerijus Rasomavicius, Pavel Shirokikh, Kiril Vassilev, Thomas Wohlgemuth, Martin Vecera, Milan Chytry
Summary: This study aims to establish a unified classification system for oak-hornbeam forests in a large geographical range. Based on a dataset of vegetation plots, we classified the forests into nine alliances and provided descriptions of their species composition, distribution, ecology, and syntaxonomy. This study is of great importance for nature conservation, habitat monitoring, and biodiversity and ecological research.
APPLIED VEGETATION SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Remy Beugnon, Wensheng Bu, Helge Bruelheide, Andrea Davrinche, Jianqing Du, Sylvia Haider, Matthias Kunz, Goddert von Oheimb, Maria D. D. Perles-Garcia, Mariem Saadani, Thomas Scholten, Steffen Seitz, Bala Singavarapu, Stefan Trogisch, Yanfen Wang, Tesfaye Wubet, Kai Xue, Bo Yang, Simone Cesarz, Nico Eisenhauer
Summary: This study conducted in a Chinese subtropical forest experiment revealed a strong positive correlation between soil microbial biomass and soil carbon concentrations. It was found that an increase in tree productivity and tree root diameter led to an increase in soil carbon concentration, while an increase in litterfall C:N content resulted in a decrease in soil carbon concentration. Tree functional traits also modulated microenvironmental conditions, with significant consequences for soil microbial biomass.
ECOLOGICAL MONOGRAPHS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
George P. Malanson, Riccardo Testolin, Elizabeth R. Pansing, Borja Jimenez-Alfaro
Summary: The relative importance of area and environmental heterogeneity in explaining species diversity has been examined through empirical studies and simulations. It was found that environmental heterogeneity played a larger role, especially at smaller spatial scales.
JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Igor V. V. Bartish, Salome Bonnefoi, Abdelkader Ainouche, Helge Bruelheide, Mark Bartish, Andreas Prinzing
Summary: Plant lineages differ in species richness globally, regionally, and locally. Whole-genome characteristics (WGCs) such as chromosome number and ploidy level may explain these differences through speciation or extinction. This study investigates the relationships between WGCs and species richness in a regional flora and local plant communities.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Andreas Schuldt, Xiaojuan Liu, Francois Buscot, Helge Bruelheide, Alexandra Erfmeier, Jin-Sheng He, Alexandra-Maria Klein, Keping Ma, Michael Scherer-Lorenzen, Bernhard Schmid, Thomas Scholten, Zhiyao Tang, Stefan Trogisch, Christian Wirth, Tesfaye Wubet, Michael Staab
Summary: Carbon-focused climate mitigation strategies are important in forests, but we need better understanding of their impact on biodiversity. A study using a large dataset from subtropical forests found that aboveground carbon was not strongly related to multitrophic diversity, while total carbon including belowground carbon was a significant predictor. Relationships were nonlinear and strongest for lower trophic levels. Tree species richness and stand age influenced these relationships, suggesting long-term forest regeneration is effective in reconciling carbon and biodiversity targets. This highlights the need to carefully evaluate the biodiversity benefits of climate-oriented management.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Thore Engel, Helge Bruelheide, Daniela Hoss, Francesco M. Sabatini, Jan Altman, Mohammed A. S. Arfin-Khan, Erwin Bergmeier, Tomas Cerny, Milan Chytry, Matteo Dainese, Juergen Dengler, Jiri Dolezal, Richard Field, Felicia M. Fischer, Dries Huygens, Ute Jandt, Florian Jansen, Anke Jentsch, Dirk N. Karger, Jens Kattge, Jonathan Lenoir, Frederic Lens, Jaqueline Loos, Ulo Niinemets, Gerhard E. Overbeck, Wim A. Ozinga, Josep Penuelas, Gwendolyn Peyre, Oliver Phillips, Peter B. Reich, Christine Roemermann, Brody Sandel, Marco Schmidt, Franziska Schrodt, Eduardo Velez-Martin, Cyrille Violle, Valerio Pillar
Summary: This study evaluates the effects of dominance and niche partitioning on biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) relationships in grassland systems worldwide. The results indicate that dominance effects, related to the traits of the dominant species, have a significant impact on BEF relationships, while functional diversity (FD) does not affect primary productivity (NDVI).
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Stephan Kambach, Francesco Maria Sabatini, Fabio Attorre, Idoia Biurrun, Gerhard Boenisch, Gianmaria Bonari, Andraz Carni, Maria Laura Carranza, Alessandro Chiarucci, Milan Chytry, Juergen Dengler, Emmanuel Garbolino, Valentin Golub, Behluel Gueler, Ute Jandt, Jan Jansen, Anni Jaskova, Borja Jimenez-Alfaro, Dirk Nikolaus Karger, Jens Kattge, Ilona Knollova, Gabriele Midolo, Jesper Erenskjold Moeslund, Remigiusz Pielech, Valerijus Rasomavicius, Solvita Rusina, Jozef Sibik, Zvjezdana Stancic, Angela Stanisci, Jens-Christian Svenning, Sergey Yamalov, Niklaus E. Zimmermann, Helge Bruelheide
Summary: Ecological theory predicts a close relationship between macroclimate and functional traits, but global climatic gradients only weakly correlate with local plant communities' trait composition, suggesting the importance of factors that have been ignored. This study investigates the consistency of climate-trait relationships across European habitats and finds that the predictive power of climate increases with more narrowly defined habitats for certain functional traits, emphasizing the need to consider habitat definition in future predictions of climatic effects on plant communities.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Review
Ecology
Daniel Garcia, Susana Suarez-Seoane, Borja Jimenez-Alfaro, David alvarez, Pedro Alvarez-alvarez, Jose Manuel Alvarez-Martinez, Jose Barquin, Leonor Calvo, Juan Carlos Illera, Paola Laiolo, Ignacio Perez-Silos, Mario Quevedo, Jose Valentin Roces-Diaz, Cristina Santin
Summary: Passive rewilding refers to the spontaneous regeneration of ecosystems after human land use abandonment. It can lead to biodiversity recovery and ecosystem service restoration, but also cause declines in certain species and changes in disturbance regimes. This review integrates current knowledge on the ecological patterns and processes of passive rewilding in the Cantabrian Cordillera, providing a scientific basis for environmental management guidelines.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Borja Jimenez-Alfaro, Liene Aunina, Michele Carbognani, Daniel Dite, Eduardo Fernandez-Pascual, Emmanuel Garbolino, Ondrej Hajek, Petra Hajkova, Tatiana G. Ivchenko, Ute Jandt, Florian Jansen, Tiina H. M. Kolari, Pawel Pawlikowski, Aaron Perez-Haase, Tomas Peterka, Alessandro Petraglia, Zuzana Pleskova, Teemu Tahvanainen, Marcello Tomaselli, Michal Hajek
Summary: Understanding the drivers of biodiversity in palustrine wetlands is challenging due to the combined effects of macroclimate and local edaphic conditions. This study investigates the influence of macroclimate and edaphic factors on three Essential Biodiversity Variables across eight ecologically defined habitats in European fens. The results show that macroclimate primarily shapes geographic distributions and species richness, while edaphic factors are the primary drivers of composition for vascular plants and bryophytes. Climate change is expected to have predictable impacts on European fens, with variations among habitat types and geographic regions.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Francesco Maria Sabatini, Georg Haehn, Karina Speziale, Ana Maria Cingolani, Gabriella Damasceno, Helge Bruelheide
Summary: Monitoring vegetation trends is crucial for understanding the impacts of global change on plant biodiversity. However, in regions like southern Patagonia, there is a lack of vegetation plot time series data. This study extracted and harmonized vegetation survey data from the Transecta project in the 1970s, and created an open-access database to fill this regional gap. The database provides a baseline for assessing the impacts of global change on vegetation in southern Patagonia.
JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE
(2023)
Letter
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alexandra Weigelt, Liesje Mommer, Karl Andraczek, Colleen M. Iversen, Joana Bergmann, Helge Bruelheide, Gregoire T. Freschet, Nathaly R. Guerrero-Ramirez, Jens Kattge, Thom W. Kuyper, Daniel C. Laughlin, Ina C. Meier, Fons van der Plas, Hendrik Poorter, Catherine Roumet, Jasper van Ruijven, Francesco Maria Sabatini, Marina Semchenko, Christopher J. Sweeney, Oscar J. Valverde-Barrantes, Larry M. York, M. Luke McCormack
Letter
Plant Sciences
Eduardo Fernandez-Pascual, Angelino Carta, Sergey Rosbakh, Lydia Guja, Shyam S. Phartyal, Fernando A. O. Silveira, Si-Chong Chen, Julie E. Larson, Borja Jimenez-Alfaro
Article
Ecology
Remy Beugnon, Nico Eisenhauer, Helge Bruelheide, Andrea Davrinche, Jianqing Du, Sylvia Haider, Georg Haehn, Mariem Saadani, Bala Singavarapu, Marie Suennemann, Lise Thouvenot, Yanfen Wang, Tesfaye Wubet, Kai Xue, Simone Cesarz
Summary: Forest ecosystems play a critical role in carbon sequestration. Increasing tree diversity enhances forest productivity and litter decomposition. Tree species richness increases litter decomposition by increasing the species richness and amount of litterfall. Soil microorganisms perform the majority of litter decomposition, and changes in litterfall and microbial activity explain a significant portion of decomposition variance. Litter decomposability is determined by litter functional identity, diversity, and species richness, while tree proximity, biomass, and leaf functional traits drive the spatial distribution of litterfall and subsequently influence litter decomposition. Considering spatial variability in biotic properties improves our understanding of ecosystem functioning.