Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies

Linking biotic interactions to species stability

The paper identifies a simple metric, self-regulation loss (SL), that predicts species stability in ecological communities despite their complexity.

Mountain roads across the globe significantly alter local soil microclimates

This study quantifies global microclimatic differences between mountain roadsides and adjacent vegetation, finding warmer daytime and colder nighttime soil temperatures, with implications for biodiversity.

Warming and species richness weaken eco-phenotypic feedback loop in long-term natural ecosystems.

This study shows that warming and species richness reduce eco-phenotypic feedback, while mean body size increases it, using long-term ecosystem data.

Global Convergence of Plant Functional Trait Composition in the Anthropocene

The paper quantifies global shifts in plant functional trait composition due to human introductions, finding convergence toward smaller, more acquisitive, and shorter-lived assemblages.

A checklist of alien taxa for South Africa

This paper presents a comprehensive checklist of alien taxa in South Africa, including over 6000 taxa with metadata, aiming to track alien species and inform management decisions.

Warming and resource enrichment decouple growth from enzymatic investment, shifting the competitive balance between native and invasive plants

This study examines how warming and resource enrichment affect growth and enzymatic investment in invasive and native plants, revealing shifts in competitive dynamics under global change.

A quantitative approach to species occupancy across communities: the co-occurrence-occupancy curve

The paper quantifies species co-occurrence propensity using a new index, demonstrating its application across different ecological systems.

Biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning: disentangling the roles of biomass and effect trait expression

The paper disentangles biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning by separating impacts on total biomass and effect trait expression using a novel decomposition framework applied to three ecosystem functions in grassland plants.

Specialists drive biodiversity scaling in symbiotic relationships

This study shows that specialist symbionts drive biodiversity scaling in host-symbiont networks and may account for most threatened species.

The biogeography of evolutionary radiations on oceanic archipelagos

This study examines how geo-environmental factors influence species richness in oceanic archipelagos across different taxa and regions.

Using resurvey data to predict changes in ecosystem functioning across protected and unprotected coastal dunes

The paper uses resurvey data and BEF relationships to hindcast past ecosystem functioning in protected and unprotected coastal dunes, finding that only strict protection maintains stable functions.

Trait misalignment risk in North American forests under climate change

The paper quantifies the risk of functional misalignment in North American forests under future climate conditions using trait-based analysis of forest inventory data.

Trait dimensionality in experimental and natural ecological communities

The paper estimates trait dimensionality in plant communities and finds it often exceeds species richness, suggesting many traits contribute to coexistence.

Computer method of biocenotic zoning

The paper describes a computer method for dividing territories or water areas into homogeneous zones based on community structure and provides examples and challenges in its application.

Community assembly explains invasion differences between two contrasting forest types

The paper examines how community assembly rules explain differences in plant invasion between two forest types on Long Island, finding that introduced species are more common in nutrient-rich soils.

Elevational Shifts in Tropical Tree Leaf Traits: Interactions Between Soil, Climate, Light, and Phylogeny

This study examines elevational shifts in tropical tree leaf traits across Mount Cameroon, revealing nonlinear trait responses shaped by climate, soil, light, and phylogeny.

Nutrient heterogeneity emerges from dynamical abiotic-biotic feedback in a spatially explicit plant-herbivore occupancy model

This study shows that biotic-abiotic feedbacks can generate nutrient spatial heterogeneity in a plant-herbivore model through varying dispersal, foraging, and recycling behaviors.

Differential kin interactions between invasive and native plants: evidence from Alternanthera philoxeroides and its native congener

This study compares kin interactions between invasive and native plants, finding invasive plants experience reduced kin competition, which may aid their spread.

NordicTraits: imputed species-level functional trait dataset for vascular plants of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden

NordicTraits provides a comprehensive, imputed functional trait dataset for vascular plants in Nordic countries, enabling ecological research on plant strategies and environmental responses.

Spatial autocorrelation of species diversity and distributions in time and across spatial scales

The paper assesses spatial autocorrelation in bird species distributions and diversity across multiple regions and time periods, finding that finer spatial grains show stronger autocorrelation and that range dynamics are driven by long-distance dispersal and population vulnerability.

Similar Won't Make It: Coexistence, Habitat Availability and Suboptimal Restoration

The paper shows that suboptimal habitat restoration can disrupt species coexistence by favoring some species and leading to competitive exclusion, while also identifying restoration favoring endangered species as a conservation tool.

Bridging the gaps between field-based ecology and remote sensing to estimate plant functional diversity: a systematic review

This paper reviews the integration of field-based ecology and remote sensing to estimate plant functional diversity, identifying conceptual and methodological gaps and opportunities for convergence.

Shifting baselines increase the risk of misinterpreting biodiversity trends

The paper shows that shifting baselines can lead to underestimating biodiversity loss due to changes in species composition over time, particularly in smaller forests.

Phenology of 50 tree species across 9 years in a South Asian tropical rainforest indicates complex influence of climate, traits, and phylogeny

The paper examines phenological patterns of 50 tree species over 9 years in a tropical rainforest, finding that climate strongly influences leafing and flowering, while phylogeny affects fruiting timing.

Temporal span of biodiversity monitoring mediates the effects of area and environment

The paper shows that the duration of biodiversity sampling (temporal span) significantly affects species richness patterns, interacts with environmental factors, and influences hotspot locations.

Accelerating species loss in southern boreal understories as early warning sign of functional erosion

The paper shows that species loss in southern boreal understories has slowed functional diversity gains, highlighting functional erosion risks despite stable taxonomic diversity.

Distinct but interacting functional filters of aridity and grazing shape Mediterranean mountain grasslands

The paper examines how aridity and grazing independently and interactively shape plant functional traits in Mediterranean mountain grasslands using mixed models and functional diversity analyses.

Rationales for microbial conservation: A quantitative global assessment

This paper quantitatively assesses microbial conservation by analyzing 33,297 effect sizes, identifying key threats and showing the insufficiency of current conservation efforts.

Global Trends and Hotspots in Grassland Root Functional Traits Research (2000-2025)

This study analyzes global trends and research hotspots in grassland root functional traits from 2000 to 2025 using bibliometric methods and identifies six key research areas.

Predicting missing links in food webs using stacked models and species traits

The paper develops a stacked model to predict missing links in food webs using species traits and network structure, showing high accuracy on synthetic and real-world data.