Search results for " Succession"
showing 10 items of 346 documents
The Effects of Peatland Restoration on Water-Table Depth, Elemental Concentrations, and Vegetation: 10 Years of Changes
2010
We studied the effects of restoration on water-table depth (WTD), element concentrations of peat and vegetation composition of peatlands drained for forestry in southern Finland. The restoration aimed to return the trajectory of vegetation succession toward that of undisturbed systems through the blockage of ditches and the removal of trees. Permanent plots established on a bog and a fen were sampled 1 year before, and 1, 2, 3, and 10 years after the restoration. The restoration resulted in a long-term rise of the water-table in both peatlands. Ten years after restoration, the mineral element concentrations (Ca, K, Mg, Mn, and P) of peat corresponded to those reported from comparable pristi…
Floristic and Vegetation Changes on a Small Mediterranean Island over the Last Century
2021
A synthetic and updated overview about the vascular flora and vegetation of the Island of Capo Passero (SE-Sicily) is provided. These data issue from two series of field surveys—the first carried out between 1997 and 2000, and the second between 2005 and 2019 and mostly focused on refining and implementing vegetation data. The current islet’s flora consists of 269 taxa, of which 149 (58%) are annual plants. The Mediterranean species are largely prevailing, 108 (40%) of which have a strictly Mediterranean biogeographical status. The comparison with a species list published in 1919 and updated in 1957 suggest that, despite the overall prevalence of anemochorous taxa, the vertebrate fauna repr…
Vegetation changes in boreo–nemoral forest stands depending on soil factors and past land use during an 80 year period of no human impact
2016
Information on the long-term changes in plant communities that occur without human interference is limited, due to insufficient studies where vegetation can be resurveyed. In 1912, a strict nature protection reserve, with non-intervention management, was established on Moricsala Island in Latvia, located in the boreo–nemoral forest zone. Prior to establishment of the nature reserve, part of the island area was used for agriculture. The island is now covered almost entirely by forest dominated by Quercus robur L. and Tilia cordata Mill. on sandy soils. Resurvey was conducted in 2011 in 17 plots in which tree layers and the understory vegetation had been described in 1930. The plots were cla…
A multi-proxy long-term ecological investigation into the development of a late Holocene calcareous spring-fed fen ecosystem (Raganu Mire) and boreal…
2021
Abstract The calcareous substrate of spring-fed fens makes them unique islands of biodiversity, hosting endangered, vulnerable, and protected vascular plants. Hence, spring-fed fens ecosystems require special conservation attention because many of them are destroyed (e.g. drained, forested) and it is extremely difficult or even impossible to restore the unique hydrogeological and geochemical conditions enabling their function. The long-term perspective of paleoecological studies allows indication of former wetland ecosystem states and provides understanding of their development over millennia. To examine the late Holocene dynamics of a calcareous spring-fed fen (Raganu Mire) ecosystem on th…
Post-fire beetle succession in a biodiversity hotspot: Białowieża Primeval Forest
2020
Abstract Fires can heavily impact forest ecosystems but fire consequences for animal communities at burned and control sites are rarely investigated in natural forests. Here we present a 10-year study of post-fire beetle succession in natural ecosystem of Bialowieza Primeval Forest, Poland, being a hotspot for beetle fauna. We sampled beetles at burned and unburned (control) sites and compared local alpha and regional gamma diversity between treatments and over time. In total, 27,958 individuals belonging to 630 beetle species were recorded. Average species richness (alpha diversity) and density per sample was higher in burned forest than in control sites, and this difference was especially…
Cryptogams signify key transition of bacteria and fungi in Arctic sand dune succession
2019
SummaryPrimary succession models focus on aboveground vascular plants. However, the prevalence of mosses and lichens, i.e. cryptogams, suggests they play a role in soil successions. Here, we explore whether effects of cryptogams on belowground microbes can facilitate progressive shifts in sand dune succession.We linked aboveground vegetation, belowground bacterial and fungal community, and soil chemistry in six successional stages in Arctic inland sand dunes: bare sand, grass, moss, lichen, ericoid heath and mountain birch forest.Compared to the bare sand and grass stages, microbial biomass and the proportion of fungi increased in the moss stage, and later stage microbial groups appeared de…
Assessing coastal habitats with Juniperus sp. pl. in the Iberian Peninsula and on the Balearic Islands
2021
Coastal habitats with Juniperus sp. pl. represent the mature stage in the ecological succession of dune ecosystems. Maritime junipers (Juniperus macrocarpa), prickly junipers (J. navicularis) and c...
Lichen communities on Populus tremula are affected by the density of Picea abies
2021
Questions Aspen (Populus tremula) is declining in the old‐growth forests of boreal Fennoscandia. This threatens the numerous taxa that are dependent on old aspens, including many epiphytic lichens. Potential methods to aid epiphytic lichens on aspen are centered around treatments which affect the density of Norway spruce (Picea abies). In this study, we investigated how epiphytic lichen communities on aspen are affected by the variation of spruce density in the immediate vicinity of the focal aspen. Location Southern boreal forests in Finland. Methods We recorded the occurrence of lichens from 120 aspens in 12 semi‐natural forest sites. We used spruce basal area as the measure for spruce de…
Symbiosis between river and dry lands: phycobiont dynamics on river gravel bars
2020
AbstractRiver gravel bars are dynamic and heterogeneous habitats standing on transition between aquatic and terrestrial environment. Periodical flooding, low nutrient content, frost, missing safe sites, drought, and heat on the ground surface significantly influence life in these habitats. Mutualistic symbiosis may be a successful strategy for organisms to survive and to proliferate under harsh conditions. The lichen genus Stereocaulon was selected as a model symbiotic system among the organisms living on river gravel bars. The aim of our work was to determine effect of this dynamic environment on a phycobiont (i.e., green eukaryotic photobiont) community structure. We analysed 147 Stereoca…
Large Blooms of Bacillales (Firmicutes) Underlie the Response to Wetting of Cyanobacterial Biocrusts at Various Stages of Maturity.
2018
ABSTRACT Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) account for a substantial portion of primary production in dryland ecosystems. They successionally mature to deliver a suite of ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, water retention and nutrient cycling, and climate regulation. Biocrust assemblages are extremely well adapted to survive desiccation and to rapidly take advantage of the periodic precipitation events typical of arid ecosystems. Here we focus on the wetting response of incipient cyanobacterial crusts as they mature from “light” to “dark.” We sampled a cyanobacterial biocrust chronosequence before (dry) and temporally following a controlled wetting event and used high-throug…