Search results for "Productivity"
showing 10 items of 618 documents
Scale- and taxon-dependent patterns of plant diversity in steppes of Khakassia, South Siberia (Russia)
2016
The drivers of plant richness at fine spatial scales in steppe ecosystems are still not sufficiently understood. Our main research questions were: (i) How rich in plant species are the natural steppes of Southern Siberia compared to natural and semi-natural grasslands in other regions of the Palaearctic? (ii) What are the main environmental drivers of the diversity patterns in these steppes? (iii) What are the diversity-environment relationships and do they vary between spatial scales and among different taxonomic groups? We sampled the steppe vegetation (vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens) in Khakassia (Russia) with 39 nested-plot series (0.0001-100-m(2) plot size) and 54 additional 1…
Effects of mowing on fungal endophytes and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in subalpine grasslands
2013
International audience; In French subalpine grasslands, cessation of mowing promotes dominance of Festuca paniculata, which alters plant diversity and ecosystem functioning. One of the mechanisms underpinning such effects may be linked to simultaneous changes in the abundance of fungal symbionts such as endophytes and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. In field conditions, mowing reduced the abundance of the endophyte Neotyphodium sp. in leaves of F. paniculata by a factor of 6, and increased mycorrhizal densities by a factor of 15 in the soil. In greenhouse experiments, the mycorrhizal colonization of Trifolium pratense and Allium porrum increased 3- fold and 3.8- fold respectively in mown vs u…
Non-linear regional weather-growth relationships indicate limited adaptability of the eastern Baltic Scots pine
2021
Abstract Under changing climate, temporal and spatial stability (stationarity) of growth responses of trees to weather and climate, which has often been presumed without explicit testing, is crucial for prediction of productivity and sustainability of forests. However, considering evolutionary adaptation of tree populations to wide spatiotemporal ecological gradients, extrapolation of linear responses, which could be observed in limited parts of the gradients (certain locality), can result in biased results. Accordingly, the plasticity of responses of tree-ring width of the eastern Baltic populations of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) to meteorological conditions across the regional climat…
Drivers of above-ground understorey biomass and nutrient stocks in temperate deciduous forests
2020
The understorey in temperate forests can play an important functional role, depending on its biomass and functional characteristics. While it is known that local soil and stand characteristics largely determine the biomass of the understorey, less is known about the role of global change. Global change can directly affect understorey biomass, but also indirectly by modifying the overstorey, local resource availability and growing conditions at the forest floor. In this observational study across Europe, we aim at disentangling the impact of global-change drivers on understorey biomass and nutrient stocks, from the impact of overstorey characteristics and local site conditions. Using piecewi…
Carbon emission along a eutrophication gradient in temperate riverine wetlands: effect of primary productivity and plant community composition
2016
International audience; 1. Eutrophication increases primary productivity and favours the predominance of floating vegetation in wetlands. Carbon (C) fluxes in wetlands are strongly driven by primary productivity and can differ by vegetation type. However, to the best of our knowledge, the role of eutrophication in C fluxes has rarely been assessed. 2. Consequently, we aimed to measure the seasonal variation in carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) fluxes at six aquatic sites in four temperate wetlands, ranging along a gradient of sediment total phosphorus content, and determine whether C fluxes correlate with above-ground net primary productivity (ANPP) and plant community composition alon…
The flex end-to-end simulator: From concept phase (A/B1) to ground segment and operations (C/D)
2018
ESA's FLEX/Sentinel-3 tandem mission aims at mapping Sun-induced fluorescence (SIF) as a proxy to quantify photosynthetic activity of terrestrial vegetation. Due to the complexity of the mission concept and stringent requirements for the data processing algorithms, ESA developed a Phase A/B1 End-to-End Mission Performance Simulator (E2ES) tool to reproduce the expected mission performance and check the mission and instrument concepts. In the current Phase C/D, the E2ES concept must evolve to consolidate the whole data processing chain, providing an accurate figures of the whole mission error budget and serving as a roadmap for the future development of FLEX Ground Segment. This paper gives …
Large birds travel farther in homogeneous environments
2019
Aim: Animal movement is an important determinant of individual survival, population dynamics and ecosystem structure and function. Nonetheless, it is still unclear how local movements are related to resource availability and the spatial arrangement of resources. Using resident bird species and migratory bird species outside the migratory period, we examined how the distribution of resources affects the movement patterns of both large terrestrial birds (e.g., raptors, bustards and hornbills) and waterbirds (e.g., cranes, storks, ducks, geese and flamingos). Location: Global. Time period: 2003–2015. Major taxa studied: Birds. Methods: We compiled GPS tracking data for 386 individuals across 3…
Effects of environment and sowing time on growth and yield of upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) cultivars in Sicily (Italy)
2020
Cotton is one of the most important industrial crops in the world. Though widely cultivated in Sicily (Italy) in the past, cotton growth on the island has disappeared today due to a complex variety of agronomic, economic and socio-political reasons. In recent years, increased interest in natural fibers worldwide has led to a revival in cotton plants in the Mediterranean area. The aim of this paper was to assess the response of Gossypium hirsutum L. cultivars to different environments and sowing times. Elsa and Juncal were selected from the most promising cotton cultivars regarding earliness and productivity. Plants were tested with three sowing times and in two Sicilian environments. Cotton…
Limnology and Aquatic Microbial Ecology of Byers Peninsula: A Main Freshwater Biodiversity Hotspot in Maritime Antarctica
2019
Here we present a comprehensive review of the diversity revealed by research in limnology and microbial ecology conducted in Byers Peninsula (Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica) during the last two decades. The site constitutes one of the largest ice-free areas within the Antarctic Peninsula region. Since it has a high level of environmental protection, it is less human-impacted compared to other sites within the South Shetland archipelago. The main investigations in Byers Peninsula focused on the physical and chemical limnology of the lakes, ponds, rivers, and wetlands, as well as on the structure of their planktonic and benthic microbial communities, and on the function…
Soft Innovation Resources: Enabler for reversal in GDP Growth in the Digital Economy
2018
While Finland and Singapore have been maintaining world digital leaders position, they demonstrate interlaced contrast: high welfare with low GDP growth in Finland and higher GDP growth with lower welfare in Singapore. This provokes an uncaptured GDP postulate that Finnish wellbeing has developed more than one might conclude by GDP. However, a recent reversal in the GDP growth trend suggests the possibility that uncaptured GDP contributes to remove structural impediments in GDP growth.This paper demonstrates this hypothesis. An empirical analysis elucidating the inside the national accountings and institutional systems revealed that soft innovation resources have substituted for service cap…