Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies

Goat land degradation reduces richness and reshapes the functional composition of an ant community in a tropical dry forest

This study examines how goat grazing affects ant community richness and functional traits in a tropical dry forest, finding reduced species richness and shifts in functional composition with higher degradation.

Biotic modulators of global change effects on plant communities

The paper develops a framework to understand how biotic interactions modulate global change effects on plant communities and finds herbivores mitigate negative impacts while plant competition has mixed effects.

FennoTraits: Dataset of plant functional traits and community composition in northern European flora

The paper introduces FennoTraits, a dataset of plant functional traits and community composition from northern European flora, highlighting trait patterns and species distribution across seven study areas.

Systematic mapping shows monitoring, evaluation, and engagement are needed to build an evidence base for rewilding

This paper systematically maps monitoring and evaluation practices in rewilding case studies, identifying challenges in data standardization and collaboration to improve evidence-based rewilding.

Unraveling the inverse latitudinal gradient: Environmental and geographic influences on plant diversity in South American coastal lomas

The paper investigates environmental and geographic factors influencing plant diversity in South American coastal lomas, finding an inverse latitudinal gradient shaped by climate, topography, and human impact.

Testing fundamental hypotheses of colonization success in the ferns

This study tests hypotheses about factors driving invasion success in non-native ferns, finding no phylogenetic clustering, conserved climatic niches, smaller genomes in naturalized ferns, and higher ploidal levels in invaders.

Failure to invest below-ground may limit the Northern expansion of invasive knotweed: lessons from a two-phase transplant experiment

This study investigates the factors limiting the northward spread of invasive knotweed through a transplant experiment, finding that low temperatures reduce below-ground biomass and hinder expansion.

Response diversity increases functional stability but decreases diversity and compositional stability of grassland communities

The paper tests the insurance hypothesis by showing that high land-use intensity reduces response diversity, which increases functional stability but decreases species diversity and compositional stability in grassland communities.

Artificial light at night and an invasive snail synergistically enhance the invasion of a non-native macrophyte

The paper investigates how artificial light at night and invasive snails interact to enhance the invasion of a non-native aquatic plant.

Still standing: persistence traits capture belowground plant functions beyond resource exploration and acquisition

The paper integrates belowground plant traits to show persistence strategies are a critical dimension of plant function beyond resource acquisition and exploration.

Mechanisms behind facilitation-competition transition along rainfall gradients

The paper presents a mechanistic framework explaining the facilitation-to-competition transition in plant interactions along rainfall gradients, showing it depends on resource availability and woody density.

Dispersal mediates metapopulation response to local and regional stressors

This study uses a metapopulation simulation to show how dispersal interacts with landscape changes to affect species survival, highlighting the need for large-scale connectivity in conservation.

A global database of insect traits and anthropogenic associations.

The paper introduces AnthropInsect, a database of insect traits and human associations, containing 5867 species across six orders, to support ecological and conservation research.

Disturbance and landscape characteristics interactively drive dispersal strategies in continuous and fragmented metacommunities

This study uses an individual-based simulation model to show how landscape fragmentation and disturbance levels influence community-level dispersal strategies in modified ecosystems.

Trade-offs between averages and intra-individual variation within vegetative, phenological, and floral traits

The paper examines intra-individual variation in plant traits and trade-offs between variation and average trait expression under drought and shading treatments.

Clonal expansion accounts for most post-disturbance proliferation of a dominant temperate liana, Wisteria floribunda, across a fragmented forest landscape

The paper quantifies clonal expansion as the primary mechanism for post-disturbance proliferation of Wisteria floribunda in a fragmented forest landscape.

Beyond community-weighted means: quantifying trait distributions for detecting community assembly patterns

The paper analyzes trait distributions in butterfly communities to detect assembly patterns, finding non-gaussian distributions and deterministic filtering processes in urban areas.

Emerging invasion risks of non-native urban trees in continental Europe under a changing climate

The paper assesses the invasion risk of 34 non-native urban tree species in continental Europe under current and future climate scenarios, identifying high and very high risk species.

Multitrophic interaction networks mediate biodiversity effects on ecosystem multifunctionality

The paper examines how multitrophic species interaction networks influence ecosystem multifunctionality and finds that network structure, including niche overlap and linkage density, significantly affects ecosystem function.

High-intensity sheep grazing impoverishes soil seed banks in sand grasslands

This study finds that high-intensity sheep grazing reduces soil seed bank density and diversity more than cattle grazing in sand grasslands, highlighting the need to avoid high-intensity sheep grazing in conservation management.

Phenotypic plasticity of invasive knotweed across Europe: a distributed common garden experiment

This study examines phenotypic plasticity and population differentiation in Japanese knotweed across Europe using a common garden experiment, finding high plasticity but little local adaptation.

Harmonising distributed tree inventory datasets across India can fill critical gaps in tropical ecology

The paper compiles and analyzes Indian tree inventory data to highlight sampling gaps and promote data standardization for tropical ecology studies.

Consequences of phenological shifts are determined by the number of generations per season

This study shows that phenological shifts affect species coexistence based on the number of generations per season, with more generations reducing priority effect impacts.

Enhancing structural heterogeneity in managed forest landscapes promotes gamma but not beta diversity in understorey plant communities

This study shows that increasing structural heterogeneity in managed forests boosts gamma diversity in understorey plants but not beta diversity, with light niche variation playing a key role.

Seasonal drought timing shapes flowering phenology directly and through biotic interactions

The paper shows that drought timing affects flowering phenology directly and through competition in plant communities.

SSARP: An R Package for Easily Creating Species- and Speciation- Area Relationships Using Web Databases

SSARP is an R package that simplifies creating species-area and speciation-area relationships by integrating data from web databases and providing regression tools.

Climate-driven in-situ trait variation in an annual ruderal grass across Europe

This study examines climate-driven trait variation in Hordeum murinum across Europe, finding that colder and wetter areas support larger plants with heavier seeds, while local vegetation density influences growth and reproductive traits.

Which, when and where traits matter: functional trait-mediated species associations shift with microenvironmental and climatic variation

The paper shows that functional trait-mediated species associations change with environmental variation, affecting coexistence in plant communities.

Unintentional seed dispersal via container-grown garden plants: Seed density and composition vary among exporter countries

The paper examines seed dispersal via container-grown garden plants, finding varying seed density and composition among exporting countries and plant types.

Drivers of individual plant species contributions to β-diversity are scale-dependent

The paper examines how species traits, phylogeny, and introduction status affect β-diversity contributions across different spatial scales using plant community data.