0000000000082170
AUTHOR
Tinja Pitkämäki
Road verges provide alternative habitats for some, but not all, meadow plants
Questions Agricultural intensification has led to the decline of biodiverse meadows and other semi-natural grasslands. Road verges offer potential alternative habitats for meadow species, but they may not be suitable for all meadow species due to different soil properties, frequent disturbances, pollution or suboptimal management. Are the communities of vascular plants and bryophytes similar or dissimilar to those in mown or grazed meadows? What kind of species are associated with road verges, mown meadows or grazed meadows? How do the habitat types differ in their soil conditions and disturbance intensity? Location The study was conducted on 36 sites in Central Finland. Methods We compared…
Road verges provide alternative habitats for some, but not all, meadow plants
Questions Agricultural intensification has led to the decline of biodiverse meadows and other semi-natural grasslands. Road verges offer potential alternative habitats for meadow species, but they may not be suitable for all meadow species due to different soil properties, frequent disturbances, pollution or suboptimal management. Are the communities of vascular plants and bryophytes similar or dissimilar to those in mown or grazed meadows? What kind of species are associated with road verges, mown meadows or grazed meadows? How do the habitat types differ in their soil conditions and disturbance intensity? Location The study was conducted on 36 sites in Central Finland. Methods We compared…
Contrasting responses of vascular plants and bryophytes to present and past connectivity in unmanaged grasslands
AbstractThe area of semi-natural grasslands has decreased dramatically causing many grassland specialist species to persist in small habitat fragments. Furthermore, ecological communities once shaped by disturbances related to traditional agriculture now face the impacts of modern agriculture and urbanization. Many of the species have become endangered due to the combined effects of habitat destruction and degradation. We studied the responses of vascular plants and bryophytes to present and past connectivity in semi-natural grasslands, while accounting for the effects of local environmental conditions. We conducted vegetation surveys in 33 fragmented, unmanaged dry grasslands in Southwest …
Bryophyte diversity in semi-natural grasslands : the effects of habitat quantity and quality
Edeltäneiden vuosisatojen maatalouskäytännöt loivat elinympäristöjä, joihin tänä päivänä viitataan perinnebiotooppeina. Siirtymä moderniin maatalouteen on muiden maankäytön muutosten ohella vähentänyt näitä biologisesti, kulttuurisesti ja sosiaalisesti arvokkaita elinympäristöjä murto-osaan entisestä. Perinnebiotoopeille tyypillinen avoimuus, vähäravinteisuus ja säännölliset häiriöt tekevät niistä biologisesti monimuotoisia elinympäristöjä. Perinnebiotooppien pinta-alan pienenemisen ja pirstoutumisen seurauksena on ollut useiden lajien uhanalaistuminen. Jäljellä olevien perinnebiotooppien laatua uhkaa etenkin hoidon riittämättömyys. Sammalet ovat kooltaan pieniä ja ekologialtaan riippuvaisi…
Cloud water interception of epiphytic bryophytes in a Peruvian upper montane cloud forest: an experimental approach
Epiphytic plants account for high proportion of biomass in tropical montane rain forests. In high-elevation cloud forests, where frequent fog passes through the canopy, the majority of this epiphytic biomass consists of bryophytes1. Together with physiological adaptations for water absorption and storage, bryophytes' abundance implies a regulatory role in the forest water cycle. Epiphytic bryophytes capture rain and fog droplets, potentially increasing water availability, and stabilize forest microclimate by slowly releasing the accumulated moisture. Their ecological impact on forest hydrology has been especially attributed to cloud water interception (CWI) during dry seasons2, but few stud…