Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Marcin K. Dyderski, Andrzej M. Jagodzinski
Summary: The impact of invasive trees on the diversity of understory vascular plants varies, with higher alpha diversity in Robinia pseudoacacia forests and higher beta diversity in Quercus rubra forests. Forests invaded by Prunus serotina or Robinia pseudoacacia have higher alien species richness and lower beta diversity, while beta diversity is higher in Quercus rubra forests compared to native forests.
BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
S. Govaert, P. Vangansbeke, H. Blondeel, E. De Lombaerde, K. Verheyen, P. De Frenne
Summary: The study found that climate change, light addition, and enhanced nitrogen inputs can affect forest understorey plants, with some generalist species benefiting from warming and light addition, potentially leading to biotic homogenization.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Cecilia Barouillet, Valentin Vasselon, Francois Keck, Laurent Millet, David Etienne, Didier Galop, Damien Rius, Isabelle Domaizon
Summary: Ciliate communities in lakes have experienced a decline in beta-diversity in recent times, especially in lowland lakes facing local human pressures. Changes in benthic ciliates are consistent with the increase in deep water anoxia. Sedimentary DNA analysis proves the potential of ciliates as new paleoindicators, offering insights into long-term changes in aquatic ecosystems.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Carlos Martinez-Nunez, Ricardo Martinez-Prentice, Vicente Garcia-Navas
Summary: Unveiling the processes that shape biodiversity patterns is crucial for ecology. Land-use diversity is considered an important environmental factor that promotes species richness. This study found strong support for the hypothesis that land-use diversity predicts bird taxonomic and functional richness globally.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Julien Beguin, Steeve D. Cote, Mark Vellend
Summary: This study investigates the effects of white-tailed deer on the diversity and composition of understorey plant communities in recently logged boreal forests. The results show that deer have significant impacts on plant community composition and successional trajectories, but these impacts vary depending on time and space scales. Deer act as both a direct filter and a suppressor of dominant plant species, but the magnitude of these processes differs between tree and non-tree vegetation layers. The study highlights the importance of long-term research in understanding temporal community trends and challenges managers to consider different community properties and scales when making decisions.
Article
Forestry
Umar Aftab Abbasi, Eskil Mattsson, Sarath Premalal Nissanka, Arshad Ali
Summary: Forests play a crucial role in global biogeochemical cycles, but local species diversity is decreasing and communities are becoming more homogenized. This study examined the effects of regional and local environmental factors and biotic processes on aboveground biomass (AGB) in tropical forests. The results showed that soil fertility and climatic water availability influenced local and regional biotic processes. Stand structural heterogeneity promoted species alpha-diversity but decreased beta-diversity. Species alpha-diversity and stand structural heterogeneity positively influenced AGB, while taxonomic and functional beta-diversity had negative effects on AGB.
JOURNAL OF FORESTRY RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Rafal Kowalczyk, Tomasz Kaminski, Tomasz Borowik
Summary: The study found that the increased visitation by European bison in open habitats significantly reduced the density and volume of woody vegetation, affecting tree encroachment. The combined visitation by other ungulates did not have an impact on the density or volume of woody vegetation. Smaller meadows tended to have higher density of woody vegetation.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Akira S. Mori, Forest Isbell, Marc W. Cadotte
Summary: Biodiversity changes can have serious consequences for ecosystem functionality. This study introduces different methods to assess the relationship between diversity and multifunctionality, focusing on redundancy/uniqueness and the influence of the number and identity of functions. The results highlight the importance of retaining high levels of diversity in managed assemblages and emphasize the need to unravel the hierarchical roles of biodiversity. Understanding the relationship between biodiversity and multifunctionality is crucial for both theory and practice.
Article
Ecology
Charles A. Martin, Raphael Proulx, Mark Vellend, Lenore Fahrig
Summary: This study examined the effects of vegetation cover and land-cover variance on biodiversity, finding a transition from low to high variance with decreasing vegetation cover. It predicted a unimodal relationship between species richness and anthropization, indicating a threshold where the positive effects of land-cover variance are outweighed by the negative effects of vegetation cover loss. Identifying these thresholds could be crucial for setting conservation targets at a landscape scale.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Victor Cazalis
Summary: The impact of human activities on species richness is debated, with studies suggesting both negative and positive effects. The response of species richness to human pressure varies between regions and can be classified into different trajectories. Moderate human pressure may lead to an increase in species richness, but above a certain threshold, it results in a steep decline. Anthropophilic and non-native species may continue to increase even at high pressure levels.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Stephen J. Murphy, Liza S. Comita
Summary: The Janzen-Connell Hypothesis predicts that natural enemies limit the population sizes of abundant species, maintaining local community diversity. This study found that large mammalian herbivores can drive conspecific negative density dependence in temperate tree seedlings. Further research on large mammals in other systems is important for understanding forest diversity maintenance globally.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Qilong Tian, Xiaoping Zhang, Haijie Yi, Yangyang Li, Xiaoming Xu, Jie He, Liang He
Summary: Large-scale afforestation is a natural way to address climate challenges, but there is insufficient evidence on the relationship between plant diversity and soil carbon sequestration mechanisms during long-term vegetation restoration. Therefore, we conducted a comparative study on plant diversity and soil carbon sequestration characteristics during 150 years of temperate vegetation restoration to provide a comprehensive assessment. Our results indicate that woody plant diversity has a positive effect on carbon sequestration.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Carolyn R. Cornell, Ya Zhang, Daliang Ning, Naijia Xiao, Pradeep Wagle, Xiangming Xiao, Jizhong Zhou
Summary: This study found that conventional tilled cropland increased the complexity and stability of soil microbial communities, compensating for the loss of biodiversity due to agricultural disturbance. These findings suggest that agricultural practices can impact species interactions, leading to changes in ecosystem function.
Article
Ecology
Cristina Gasperini, Kurt Bollmann, Jorg Brunet, Sara A. O. Cousins, Guillaume Decocq, Karen De Pauw, Martin Diekmann, Sanne Govaert, Bente J. Graae, Per-Ola Hedwall, Giovanni Iacopetti, Jonathan Lenoir, Sigrid Lindmo, Camille Meeussen, Anna Orczewska, Quentin Ponette, Jan Plue, Pieter Sanczuk, Fabien Spicher, Thomas Vanneste, Pieter Vangansbeke, Florian Zellweger, Federico Selvi, Pieter De Frenne
Summary: This study assessed the edge effects on the soil seed bank of temperate forests in Europe and found that seed density and species richness were higher at forest edges compared to interiors, but the richness of forest specialist species did not decline from the interior to the edge.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Romain Jaeger, Sylvain Delagrange, Isabelle Aubin, Gilles Joanisse, Patricia Raymond, David Rivest
Summary: In temperate hardwood forests, increased intensity of soil and canopy disturbances can lead to an increase in species richness, but may also have detrimental effects on soil properties and the diversity of understory plant communities 20 years after disturbance.
ANNALS OF FOREST SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Andy J. Green, Christophe Baltzinger, Adam Lovas-Kiss
Summary: Plant dispersal syndromes are often used to predict dominant dispersal mechanisms, but the classical syndromes may not accurately reflect the actual dispersal events. Endozoochory and epizoochory syndromes may not be helpful in predicting which plants non-frugivores disperse, or by which mechanism, and more empirical research is needed to understand the relationship between plant traits and dispersal mechanisms.
Article
Ecology
Laura Chevaux, Anders Marell, Christophe Baltzinger, Vincent Boulanger, Serge Cadet, Richard Chevalier, Nicolas Debaive, Yann Dumas, Marion Gosselin, Frederic Gosselin, Agnes Rocquencourt, Yoan Paillet
Summary: Conventional conservation policies in Europe rely on passive restoration of natural forest dynamics and require complementary conservation efforts in managed forests to achieve biodiversity targets. We studied forest reserves and adjacent managed forests in European France and found that stand structure and browsing pressure have direct and opposite effects on herbaceous plant species diversity, while increasing canopy cover has a negative effect. High stand density has a positive effect on bryophyte diversity, and forest management abandonment mainly affects understory plant communities indirectly through changes in vertical stand structure.
ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Julien Barrere, Catherine Collet, Sonia Said, Denis Bastianelli, Helene Verheycen, Heloise Courtines, Arnaud Bonnet, Jules Segrestin, Vincent Boulanger
Summary: With the increase in large herbivore populations in northern hemisphere forests, browsing has become a major factor in forest regeneration dynamics. This study examines the impact of browsing on oak saplings and investigates the underlying morphological and chemical traits. The findings show that browsing influences oak sapling attractiveness, but the direction and magnitude of the effect depend on the sapling's growth stage and the number of browsing events.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Juliette Seigle-Ferrand, Pascal Marchand, Nicolas Morellet, Jean-Michel Gaillard, A. J. Mark Hewison, Sonia Said, Yannick Chaval, Hugo Santacreu, Anne Loison, Glenn Yannic, Mathieu Garel
Summary: Understanding the impact of linear landscape features on animal movements is crucial, especially in fragmented habitats. Large herbivores primarily use linear features as landmarks to demarcate their home range, with different patterns observed in mountain species. In highly fragmented landscapes, the costs of memorizing key features and the need for sufficient area to meet vital needs constrain large herbivores. Linear features play a significant role in how these animals perceive and utilize the landscape, with consistent patterns observed across sexes and species.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Maarten J. E. Broekman, Jelle P. Hilbers, Mark A. J. Huijbregts, Thomas Mueller, Abdullahi H. Ali, Henrik Andren, Jeanne Altmann, Malin Aronsson, Nina Attias, Hattie L. A. Bartlam-Brooks, Floris M. van Beest, Jerrold L. Belant, Dean E. Beyer, Laura Bidner, Niels Blaum, Randall B. Boone, Mark S. Boyce, Michael B. Brown, Francesca Cagnacci, Rok Cerne, Simon Chamaille-Jammes, Nandintsetseg Dejid, Jasja Dekker, Arnaud L. J. Desbiez, Samuel L. Diaz-Munoz, Julian Fennessy, Claudia Fichtel, Christina Fischer, Jason T. Fisher, Ilya Fischhoff, Adam T. Ford, John M. Fryxell, Benedikt Gehr, Jacob R. Goheen, Morgan Hauptfleisch, A. J. Mark Hewison, Robert Hering, Marco Heurich, Lynne A. Isbell, Rene Janssen, Florian Jeltsch, Petra Kaczensky, Peter M. Kappeler, Miha Krofel, Scott LaPoint, A. David M. Latham, John D. C. Linnell, A. Catherine Markham, Jenny Mattisson, Emilia Patricia Medici, Guilherme de Miranda Mourao, Bram Van Moorter, Ronaldo G. Morato, Nicolas Morellet, Atle Mysterud, Stephen Mwiu, John Odden, Kirk A. Olson, Aivars Ornicans, Nives Pagon, Manuela Panzacchi, Jens Persson, Tyler Petroelje, Christer Moe Rolandsen, David Roshier, Daniel Rubenstein, Sonia Said, Albert R. Salemgareyev, Hall Sawyer, Niels Martin Schmidt, Nuria Selva, Agnieszka Sergiel, Jared Stabach, Jenna Stacy-Dawes, Frances E. C. Stewart, Jonas Stiegler, Olav Strand, Siva Sundaresan, Nathan J. Svoboda, Wiebke Ullmann, Ulrich Voigt, Jake Wall, Martin Wikelski, Christopher C. Wilmers, Filip Zieba, Tomasz Zwijacz-Kozica, Aafke M. Schipper, Marlee A. Tucker
Summary: This study evaluated habitat suitability data from the IUCN with GPS tracking data for 49 mammal species, showing that the two sources were largely consistent and can be used in macroecological studies. GPS tracking data can also help identify species and habitats for re-evaluation of IUCN habitat suitability.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Philippe Janssen, Richard Chevalier, Michel Chantereau, Remi Dupre, Andre Evette, Damien Hemeray, Anders Marell, Hilaire Martin, Stephane Rodrigues, Marc Villar, Sabine Greulich
Summary: Maintenance operations in regulated rivers can have short-term negative effects on plant richness, but can lead to increased diversity in riparian communities in the years following the work. Flow variations strongly influence temporal changes in species richness, with a peak in biodiversity observed during prolonged summer low water. These maintenance works have allowed the recreation of sandy pioneer habitats exposed to flooding without favoring the installation of invasive alien species, increasing the mosaic of habitats within the Nature Reserve.
RESTORATION ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Phrutsamon Wongnak, Severine Bord, Maude Jacquot, Albert Agoulon, Frederic Beugnet, Laure Bournez, Nicolas Cebe, Adelie Chevalier, Jean-Francois Cosson, Naima Dambrine, Thierry Hoch, Frederic Huard, Nathalie Korboulewsky, Isabelle Lebert, Aurelien Madouasse, Anders Marell, Sara Moutailler, Olivier Plantard, Thomas Pollet, Valerie Poux, Magalie Rene-Martellet, Muriel Vayssier-Taussat, Helene Verheyden, Gwenael Vourc'h, Karine Chalvet-Monfray
Summary: This study investigated the host-seeking activity of Ixodes ricinus nymphs in different climatic types in France and found that this activity is influenced by climate factors and habitat characteristics. The findings can potentially contribute to predicting the risk of Lyme borreliosis.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Forestry
William Gaudry, Jean-Michel Gaillard, Sonia Said, Anders Marell, Christophe Baltzinger, Agnes Rocquencourt, Christophe Bonenfant
Summary: The study suggests that browsing damage in forests is influenced by a complex interaction between herbivore density, forest understory composition, and relative availability. Browsing intensity increases with both plant availability and roe deer density, especially when plant availability is low.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Review
Forestry
Philippe Balandier, Anders Marell, Bernard Prevosto, Lucie Vincenot
Summary: Plant interactions play a crucial role in forest ecosystem dynamics, with both overstorey and understorey plants influencing each other's growth and development. Competition for light is well-studied, but competition for water and nutrients by overstorey trees has a more significant impact on understorey vegetation. In addition, mycorrhizae and large mammalian herbivores also shape above- and belowground resources and play a role in over- and understorey interactions.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Michal Bogdziewicz, Marie-Claire Aravena Acuna, Robert Andrus, Davide Ascoli, Yves Bergeron, Daniel Brveiller, Thomas Boivin, Raul Bonal, Thomas Caignard, Maxime Cailleret, Rafael Calama, Sergio Donoso Calderon, J. Julio Camarero, Chia-Hao Chang-Yang, Jerome Chave, Francesco Chianucci, Natalie L. Cleavitt, Benoit Courbaud, Andrea Cutini, Thomas Curt, Adrian J. Das, Hendrik Davi, Nicolas Delpierre, Sylvain Delzon, Michael Dietze, Laurent Dormont, William Farfan-Rios, Catherine A. Gehring, Gregory S. Gilbert, Georg Gratzer, Cathryn H. Greenberg, Arthur Guignabert, Qinfeng Guo, Andrew Hacket-Pain, Arndt Hampe, Qingmin Han, Kazuhiko Hoshizaki, Ines Ibanez, Jill F. Johnstone, Valentin Journe, Thomas Kitzberger, Johannes M. H. Knops, Georges Kunstler, Richard Kobe, Jonathan G. A. Lageard, Jalene M. LaMontagne, Mateusz Ledwon, Theodor Leininger, Jean-Marc Limousin, James A. Lutz, Diana Macias, Anders Marell, Eliot J. B. McIntire, Emily Moran, Renzo Motta, Jonathan A. Myers, Thomas A. Nagel, Shoji Naoe, Mahoko Noguchi, Michio Oguro, Hiroko Kurokawa, Jean-Marc Ourcival, Robert Parmenter, Ignacio M. Perez-Ramos, Lukasz Piechnik, Tomasz Podgorski, John Poulsen, Tong Qiu, Miranda D. Redmond, Chantal D. Reid, Kyle C. Rodman, Pavel Samonil, Jan Holik, C. Lane Scher, Harald Schmidt Van Marle, Barbara Seget, Mitsue Shibata, Shubhi Sharma, Miles Silman, Michael A. Steele, Jacob N. Straub, I-Fang Sun, Samantha Sutton, Jennifer J. Swenson, Peter A. Thomas, Maria Uriarte, Giorgio Vacchiano, Thomas T. Veblen, Boyd Wright, S. Joseph Wright, Thomas G. Whitham, Kai Zhu, Jess K. Zimmerman, Magdalna Zywiec, James S. Clark
Summary: This study examines the relationship between tree traits and seed number and size. The findings reveal that traits such as growth rate, adaptability, and environmental requirements are associated with seed number and size. These findings provide important insights into the mechanisms that maintain forest diversity under changing climate.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Thabiso M. Mokotjomela, Sebataolo J. Rahlao, Loyd R. Vukeya, Christophe Baltzinger, Lindokuhle V. Mangane, Christopher K. Willis, Thompson M. Mutshinyalo
Summary: The management of biological invasions is crucial for reducing negative impacts on natural resources and human well-being. This study collected a list of alien plant species from South African National Biodiversity Institute's gardens, identifying 225 species belonging to 73 families. These results provide a baseline database for future comparison studies.
Article
Forestry
Giovanni Trentanovi, Thomas Campagnaro, Tommaso Sitzia, Francesco Chianucci, Giorgio Vacchiano, Christian Ammer, Michal Ciach, Thomas A. Nagel, Miren del Rio, Yoan Paillet, Silvana Munzi, Kris Vandekerkhove, Andres Bravo-Oviedon, Andrea Cutini, Ettore D'Andrea, Pallieter De Smedt, Inken Doerfler, Dimitris Fotakis, Jacob Heilmann-Clausen, Jenyk Hofmeister, Jan Hosek, Philippe Janssen, Sebastian Kepfer-Rojas, Nathalie Korboulewsky, Bence Kovacs, Daniel Kozak, Thibault Lachat, Anders Marell, Radim Matula, Martin Mikolas, Bjorn Norden, Peter Odor, Marko Perovic, Elisabeth Potzelsberger, Peter Schall, Miroslav Svoboda, Flora Tinya, Mariana Ujhazyova, Sabina Burrascano
Summary: Forest biodiversity studies in Europe often use inconsistent forestry terminology, making it difficult to compare studies and assess the impacts of forest management on biodiversity. This study aims to establish common standards for silvicultural and vegetation definitions, providing a shared conceptual framework for consistent research on the effects of forest management on biodiversity.