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
Soil Science
Camelia Algora, Inaki Odriozola, Zander Rainier Human, Sandra Awokunle Holl, Petr Baldrian, Ruben Lopez-Mondejar
Summary: Bacteria play critical roles in decomposing biomass in soil ecosystems, and different types of biopolymers attract different bacterial communities, indicating the presence of substrate-specific guilds. Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes are dominant phyla in all guilds, and bacteria from other phyla also inhabit specific biopolymers. The diversity and abundance of bacteria are associated with different biopolymers, with some biopolymers having low bacterial counts. Bacterial isolations confirmed their involvement in the decomposition of specific biopolymers.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Denise Rupprecht, Birgit Jedrzejek, Norbert Hoelzel
Summary: This study found that maintaining calcareous grasslands requires both traditional land-use forms such as sheep grazing and an understanding of the potential contribution of wild animals to conservation management of open habitats.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Salvador Zarco-Perello, Nestor E. Bosch, Scott Bennett, Mat A. Vanderklift, Thomas Wernberg
Summary: Global warming has led to the expansion of tropical herbivores and a tropicalization of temperate marine ecosystems, resulting in difficulties for kelp recovery. Tropical herbivores exert strong top-down control on turf seaweed and kelp.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Samuel P. Reed, Alejandro A. Royo, Alexander T. Fotis, Kathleen S. Knight, Charles E. Flower, Peter S. Curtis
Summary: High browsing pressure from white-tailed deer during stand initiation can have a long-term impact on stand and canopy structure, leading to lower species diversity and tree density, resulting in taller and less dense canopies. Considering the legacy of ungulate herbivory on canopy structure may inform both land management and our understanding of ecological function.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Simon Chollet, Morgane Maillard, Juliane Schorghuber, Sue J. Grayston, Jean-Louis Martin
Summary: The presence of large herbivores, such as deer, in temperate forests can significantly affect litter decomposition by reducing litter quality and changing decomposer communities. This reduction in litter quality led to a decrease in carbon and nitrogen loss, highlighting the importance of understanding the impact of deer populations on nutrient cycling in ecosystems.
Article
Ecology
Samuel P. Reed, Dustin R. Bronson, Jodi A. Forrester, Leah M. Prudent, Anna M. Yang, Austin M. Yantes, Peter B. Reich, Lee E. Frelich
Summary: Despite the large body of theory concerning multiple disturbances, few attempts have been made to test the interactions between disturbances. This study investigated the linkages between earthworm invasion, canopy gap creation, and white-tailed deer browsing in North American temperate forests. The findings revealed that earthworm invasion is linked to the presence of deer and gap-creating disturbances, providing new insights in multiple disturbance theory and forest management.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Fiona Jevon, Alexander Polussa, Ashley K. Lang, J. William Munger, Stephen A. Wood, William R. Wieder, Mark A. Bradford
Summary: Aboveground litter production in forests is a crucial pathway for carbon and nutrient cycling, which is influenced by factors such as aboveground tree productivity, plant functional group, and climate. Climate and seasonality play a significant role in litter production, and there are notable differences in litter production between coniferous and deciduous forests.
Article
Forestry
Rong Zhao, Yu Zhu, Zijun Mao, Weiping Gu, Hongguang Zhang, Fuqiang Long, Tao Sun
Summary: Decomposition of plant roots and their related fungal mutualists plays a crucial role in ecosystem material cycles. Fine roots, which are the main source of soil organic carbon (SOC) storage, decompose at different rates depending on the types of mycorrhizal fungi. In this study, the decomposition of fine roots in different mycorrhizal species was investigated in a temperate forest. Results showed that decomposition was faster among arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) species compared to ectomycorrhizal (EM) species. Initial aluminum and manganese concentrations were found to be the best predictors for fine root decomposition, along with other traits such as cellulose concentration, carbon:nitrogen ratio, and lignin:N ratio for AM species, and phosphorus, calcium, and non-structural carbohydrate concentrations for EM species. The initial concentrations of sodium, iron, non-structural carbohydrates, cellulose, and hemicellulose were also important predictors of fine root decomposition across the studied tree species.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ashley D. Keiser, Robert Warren, Timothy Filley, Mark A. Bradford
Summary: Photodegradation contributes to similar leaf litter mass loss rates in mesic environments and drylands, despite water limitations in the latter. Our study in the Southern Appalachian Mountains showed that during the non-growing season, exposure to maximum solar radiation led to decreased proportions of oxidized lignin relative to other carbon compounds in leaf litter. This phenomenon was particularly strong on south-facing slopes with higher solar radiation levels.
Article
Forestry
Xingkai Xu, Haohao Wu, Jin Yue, Shuirong Tang, Weiguo Cheng
Summary: The presence of litter and snow cover can affect soil organic matter decomposition and d(13)C values of soil-respired CO2 in forest soils. This study investigated the impacts of light and heavy artificial snow cover on soil heterotrophic respiration and its d(13)C values using soil columns collected from temperate forests in Northeastern China. The results showed that the effects of snow cover on soil heterotrophic respiration and its d(13)C values varied with different seasons and the presence of litter.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Flora Tinya, Bence Kovacs, Andras Bidlo, Balint Dima, Ildiko Kiraly, Gergely Kutszegi, Ferenc Lakatos, Zsuzsa Mag, Sara Marialigeti, Juri Nascimbene, Ferenc Samu, Iren Siller, Gyozo Szel, Peter Odor
Summary: The study explores the environmental drivers affecting multi-taxon biodiversity in forests, revealing the importance of factors such as tree species diversity, stand structure, and microclimate. Different environmental variables have varying influences on different organism groups, with higher tree species diversity contributing to increased overall species richness.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Review
Forestry
Anna Walkiewicz, Adrianna Rafalska, Piotr Bulak, Andrzej Bieganowski, Bruce Osborne
Summary: The litter layer plays a crucial role in influencing the CO2 and CH4 fluxes in forest soils, impacting net greenhouse gas exchange through various mechanisms, and is influenced by litter quality, tree species, climatic conditions, and forest management practices. Future studies will need to consider the effects of different types of forest litter on soil greenhouse gas fluxes globally, taking into account factors such as climate change, insect infestation, shifts in tree species composition, and monoterpene production.
Article
Forestry
Jiayin Feng, Zheng Li, Yuanfeng Hao, Jing Wang, Jingyi Ru, Jian Song, Shiqiang Wan
Summary: Litter and understory play important roles in belowground ecosystems of forests, but their effects on soil microbial communities are still unclear. This study found that removing litter had a stronger impact on soil microbial community compared to removing understory, affecting biomass and composition of bacteria and fungi differently. The results suggest that changes in soil moisture and NH4+-N might be responsible for the inhibitory effects of litter removal on bacterial biomass.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yanchun Liu, Huimin Tian, Shirong Liu, Guoyong Li, Xiaojie Hu
Summary: The mutual effects between different functional type plants in mixed litters during decomposition were found to have asymmetric impacts on nutrient release. The presence of one species in the mixture influenced the nutrient release of other species, highlighting the importance of species-specific effects in leaf litter mixing experiments.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Elisa Castan, Patricia Satti, Marina Gonzalez-Polo, Maria C. Iglesias, Maria J. Mazzarino
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2016)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Carolina I. Calvino, Priscila Edwards, Martina Fernandez, Maria Andrea Relva, Cecilia Ezcurra
BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS
(2018)
Article
Plant Sciences
F. Mazzini, M. A. Relva, L. R. Malizia
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Maria Andrea Relva, Martin A. Nunez, Daniel Simberloff
BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS
(2010)
Article
Soil Science
Marina Gonzalez Polo, Esteban Kowaljow, Elisa Castan, Ophelie Sauzet, Maria Julia Mazzarino
BIOLOGY AND FERTILITY OF SOILS
(2015)
Article
Ecology
M. Noelia Barrios-Garcia, M. Andrea Relva, Thomas Kitzberger
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE RESEARCH
(2012)
Article
Zoology
Mauro N. Tammone, Eileen A. Lacey, Maria A. Relva
JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY
(2012)
Article
Agronomy
Corina Graciano, Eduardo A. Tambussi, Elisa Castan, Juan J. Guiamet
Article
Plant Sciences
Maria Andrea Relva, Christian Lopez Westerholm, Thomas Kitzberger
Article
Ecology
Lucia B. Zamora-Nasca, M. Andrea Relva, Martin A. Nunez
Article
Ecology
Nicolas Ferreiro, Patricia Satti, Elisa Castan, Luciano Alvarez Soria, Maria Julia Mazzarino
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lucia B. Zamora-Nasca, Romina D. Dimarco, Daniela Nassini, Pablo A. Alvear, Ariel Mayoral, Martin A. Nunez, M. Andrea Relva
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2020)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
L. B. Zamora Nasca, M. A. Relva, M. A. Nunez
BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS
(2018)