Search

Phenotypic plasticity can mask population genetic differentiation, reducing the predictability of trait-environment relationships. In short-lived plants, reproductive traits may be more genetically determined due to their direct impact on fitness, whereas vegetative traits may show higher plasticity to buffer short-term perturbations. Combining a multi-treatment greenhouse experiment with global field observations for the short-lived Plantago lanceolata, we 1) disentangled the genetic and plastic responses of functional traits to a set of environmental drivers and 2) assessed the utility of trait-environment relationshisps inferred from observational data for predicting genetic differentiation. Reproductive traits showed distinct genetic differentiation that was highly predictable from observational data, but only when correcting traits for differences in their (labile) biomass component. Vegetative traits showed higher plasticity and contrasting genetic and plastic responses, leading to unpredictable trait patterns. Our study suggests that genetic differentiation may be inferred from observational data only for the traits most closely related with fitness.

Genetic differentiation and phenotypic plasticity jointly shape intraspecific trait variation, but their roles differ among traits. In short- lived plants, reproductive traits may be more genetically determined due to their impact on fitness, whereas vegetative traits may show higher plasticity to buffer short- term perturbations. Combining a multi- treatment greenhouse experiment with observational field data throughout the range of a widespread short- lived herb, Plantago lanceolata, we (1) disentangled genetic and plastic responses of functional traits to a set of environmental drivers and (2) assessed how genetic differentiation and plasticity shape observational trait– environment relationships. Reproductive traits showed distinct genetic differentiation that largely determined observational patterns, but only when correcting traits for differences in biomass. Vegetative traits showed higher plasticity and opposite genetic and plastic responses, masking the genetic component underlying field- observed trait variation. Our study suggests that genetic differentiation may be inferred from observational data only for the traits most closely related to fitness.

AimTo assess if and how species’ range size relates to range structure, if the observed geographic range properties can be retrieved from predicted maps based on species distribution modeling, and whether range properties are predictable from biogeophysical factors.LocationEuropeTime periodCurrentMajor taxa studied813 vascular plant species endemic to EuropeMethodsWe quantified the size and spatial structure of species’ geographic ranges and compared ranges currently occupied with those predicted by species distribution models (SDMs). SDMs were constructed using complete occurrence data from the Atlas Florae Europaeae and climatic, soil and topographic predictors. We used landscape metrics to characterize range size, range division and patch shape structure, and analysed the phylogenetic, geographic and ecological drivers of species’ range size and structure using phylogenetic generalized least squares (pGLS).ResultsRange structure metrics were mostly decoupled from species’ range size. We found large differences in range metrics between observed and predicted ranges, in particular for species with intermediate observed range size and occupied area, and species with low and high observed patch size distribution, geographic range filling, patch shape complexity and geographic range fractality. Elevation heterogeneity, proximity to continental coasts, Southerly or Easterly geographic range positions and narrow ecological niche breadth constrained species’ observed range size and range structure to different extents. The strength and direction of the relationships differed between observed and predicted ranges.Main conclusionsSeveral range structure metrics, in addition to range size, are needed to adequately describe and understand species’ ranges. Species’ range structure can be well explained by geophysical factors and species niche width, albeit not consistently for observed and predicted ranges. As range structure can have important ecological and evolutionary consequences, we highlight the need to develop better predictive models of range structure than provided by current SDMs, and we identify the kinds of species for which this is most necessary.

Summary Weed species loss due to intensive agricultural land use has raised the need to understand how traditional cropland management has sustained a diverse weed flora. We evaluated to what extent cultivation practices and environmental conditions affect the weed species composition of a small-scale farmland mosaic in Central Transylvania (Romania). We recorded the abundance of weed species and 28 environmental, management and site context variables in 299 fields of maize, cereal and stubble. Using redundancy analysis, we revealed 22 variables with significant net effects, which explained 19.2% of the total variation in species composition. Cropland type had the most pronounced effect on weed composition with a clear distinction between cereal crops, cereal stubble and maize crops. Beyond these differences, the environmental context of croplands was a major driver of weed composition, with significant effects of geographic position, altitude, soil parameters (soil pH, texture, salt and humus content, CaCO3, P2O5, K2O, Na and Mg), as well as plot location (edge vs. core position) and surrounding habitat types (arable field, road margin, meadow, fallow, ditch). Performing a variation partitioning for the cropland types one by one, the environmental variables explained most of the variance compared with crop management. In contrast, when all sites were combined across different cropland types, the crop-specific factors were more important in explaining variance in weed community composition.

Land management practices directly impact on the occurrence and condition of natural capital stocks, which can be measured using species diversity and abundance metrics. Species identity and abundance drive ecosystem service supply, either through effects of local diversity and/or through the presence of service providing species. However, the influence of management practices on the provision of ecosystem services is not adequately understood. We grouped grassland plant species into six groups according to desirable attributes (palatability and nutritional value to livestock; medicinal or aromatic compounds; nectar production; pollen production; nitrogen fixation; and endemic and red listed species), which we recognise as ecosystem service ‘provider groups’, and tested the influence of three land management practices (abandonment of mowing, grazing, and mowing) on diversity and abundance within these groups in upland temperate grasslands of Transylvania (Romania). All three management practices favoured at least one provider group, but hay making in upland grasslands favoured more provider groups than abandonment of mowing or grazing. The effects of management on diversity and abundance within several provider groups diverged from the effects on overall species diversity and abundance. Management, through changes in species composition, favours certain provider groups, and hence ecosystem services, over others. The provider group approach is more useful than overall species diversity metrics for assessing the provision of ecosystem services from landscapes and can be used to inform the development of agri-environment schemes and conservation policies aimed at meeting priorities for ecosystem service provision.

Plant population responses are key to understanding the effects of threats such as climate change and invasions. However, we lack demographic data for most species, and the data we have are often geographically aggregated. We determined to what extent existing data can be extrapolated to predict population performance across larger sets of species and spatial areas. We used 550 matrix models, across 210 species, sourced from the COMPADRE Plant Matrix Database, to model how climate, geographic proximity and phylogeny predicted population performance. Models including only geographic proximity and phylogeny explained 5–40% of the variation in four key metrics of population performance. However, there was poor extrapolation between species and extrapolation was limited to geographic scales smaller than those at which landscape scale threats typically occur. Thus, demographic information should only be extrapolated with caution. Capturing demography at scales relevant to landscape level threats will require more geographically extensive sampling.\ud

A Frivaldszky-bibircsvirág a Délkeleti-Kárpátok orchideaflórájának egyik ritkasága, amelynek fajneve híres Balkán kutatónk, Frivaldszky Imre (1799–1870) emlékét őrzi. Hegyvidéki lápokon, vízszivárgós, üde helyeken fordul elő a Balkán-félsziget hegyvidékein (Bulgária, Románia, Görögország, Macedónia, Montenegró, Albánia). A fajra a Kárpátokban először Heuffel János bukkant rá a Szárkő-hegységben. Habár a fajt Simonkai 1874-ben gyűjtötte a Retyezátban (Zenóga- és Bukura-tó), a példánya (BP33967) azonosságában bizonytalan volt, ezért az a halvány bibircsvirág (Gymnadenia albida) alá sorolva szerepel monográfiájában. Azóta több helyről előkerült a Retyezátból, így a Peleaga-havasról, a Zănoaga-, Zănoguţa-, Ana- és Bucura-tavak mellől és a Judele-völgyből, továbbá a Szárkő-hegység egy-két pontjáról is. Az utolsó szerzőnek a faj egy öt évtizeddel korábbi, csupán egy fitocönológiai tabellában dokumentált előfordulását sikerült megerősítenie a Hargita hegységben (Keleti-Kárpátok). Ez a lelőhely a faj areájának északi határán helyezkedik el, ezért növényföldrajzi szempontból igazán fontos adat. A közlemény bemutatja a faj felfedezésének történetét és jelenleg ismert elterjedését és veszélyeztetettségi státuszát a Kárpátokban, továbbá a Hargita hegységi élőhelyét.

Global change has made it important to understand the factors that shape species' distributions. Central to this area of research is the question of whether species' range limits primarily reflect the distribution of suitable habitat (i.e. niche limits) or arise as a result of dispersal limitation. Over-the-edge transplant experiments and ecological niche models are commonly used to address this question, yet few studies have taken advantage of a combined approach for inferring the causes of range limits. Here, we synthesise results from existing transplant experiments with new information on the predicted suitability of sites based on niche models. We found that individual performance and habitat suitability independently decline beyond range limits across multiple species. Furthermore, inferences from transplant experiments and niche models were generally concordant within species, with 31 out of 40 cases fully supporting the hypothesis that range limits are niche limits. These results suggest that range limits are often niche limits and that the factors constraining species' ranges operate at scales detectable by both transplant experiments and niche models. In light of these findings, we outline an integrative framework for addressing the causes of range limits in individual species.

In order to reverse the decline of imperilled species, we need to know what is threatening their survival. Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA) is intended to provide for the protection and recovery of species listed under the Act. Threats to SARA-listed species must be documented in recovery strategies, which also define recovery goals and critical habitat. We reviewed finalized recovery strategies for 146 species to determine the major threats to these species and whether designation of critical habitat or the relative ambition of recovery goals is associated with the nature of threats. We then compared our findings to the threats described in reports prepared by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), the independent body which prepares status reports for all imperilled species (including those not listed under SARA). Human disturbance, in particular due to recreation, was the most frequently listed threat in recovery strategies, followed by invasive species and residential and commercial development. Threats differed among taxonomic groups and broad habitat types, but there was no evidence that low ambition of recovery goals or failure to designate critical habitat were correlated with particular threats. However, species with certain threats, including biological resource use, were less likely either to be listed under SARA and/or to have a finalized recovery strategy once listed. Documenting threat-based differences in the recovery process is an important first step toward ensuring that SARA results in timely and effective measures to recover all listed species.

Invasive plant species are human-introduced, nonnative, and damaging. They can restructure natural habitats, change community composition, disrupt food webs, and degrade ecosystem services. Global climatic changes are often thought to exacerbate invasions (1), but no consensus exists over the generality of this phenomenon (2). As a consequence, anticipating areas of high invasion risk or decreased impact in the future is still uncertain. By combining experimental biogeography with demographic models, Merow et al. (3) develop climate driven process-based models to predict population growth or decline under current and future climate scenarios for two established and damaging invasive plant species in New England, United States. They find that one invasive species will likely perform better, whereas the other will do worse in areas that are currently occupied. Forecasting the distribution and performance of invasive species under a changing climate comes with particular challenges. Invasive species have not had time to colonize all favorable habitats available in the nonnative range. This nonequilibrium situation is problematic for correlative species distribution models, which may then use incomplete occurrences in the nonnative range as inputs for predicting suitable climatic conditions. However, predictions can be improved by using occurrence data from the native range (4). A more concerning challenge is that invasives may be able to establish in environmental conditions the species has not encountered in the native range (4⇓⇓–7), even if those conditions occur but are unoccupied in the native range (6). Niche … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: buckleyy{at}tcd.ie. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1

We modelled the effect of habitat heter- ogeneity on the abundance of the submediterranean Saponaria bellidifolia, a red list species in Romania. The study was designed at two scales: 100 and 0.5 m 2 . At larger scale, generalized additive models and canonical correspondence analysis were used to model the density of ramets, whereas at microscale, binomial logistic regression was employed to model the species' occurrence. S. bellidifolia abundance responded sensitively to habitat type (classified as ''grassy'', ''rocky'' and ''scree''), rather than to microclimatic variables. At both scales, habitat type was the best predictor of ramet abundance, followed by slope and vegetation cover. At 0.5 m 2 , soil depth was also a good predictor of species occurrence. The data revealed that screes are the most suitable habitats for hosting relatively large populations of this rare species, because of occasional natural disturbances and presumably lower interspecific competition.

Tredennick et al. criticize one of our statistical analyses and emphasize the low explanatory power of models relating productivity to diversity. These criticisms do not detract from our key findings, including evidence consistent with the unimodal constraint relationship predicted by the humped-back model and evidence of scale sensitivities in the form and strength of the relationship. Fil: Pither, Jason. University of British Columbia; Canadá Fil: Fraser, Lauchlan H.. Thompson Rivers University; Canadá Fil: Jentsch, Anke. University of Bayreuth; Alemania Fil: Sternberg, Marcelo. Tel Aviv University; Israel Fil: Zobel, Martín. University of Tartu; Estonia Fil: Cahill, James. University of Alberta; Canadá Fil: Cabido, Marcelo Ruben. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina Fil: Díaz, Sandra Myrna. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina Fil: Enrico, Lucas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina Fil: Carlyle, Cameron N.. University of Alberta; Canadá Fil: Chelli, Stefano. University of Camerino; Italia Fil: Cserg, Anna Maria. The University of Dublin; Irlanda Fil: Ensing, David. Queen’s University; Canadá Fil: Fidelis, Alessandra. Universidade Estadual Paulista; Brasil Fil: Garris, Heath W.. Thompson Rivers University; Canadá Fil: Henry, Hugh A. L.. University of Western Ontario; Canadá Fil: Höhn, Maria. Corvinus University of Budapest; Hungría Fil: Klironomos, John. University of British Columbia; Canadá Fil: Koorem, Kadri. University of Tartu; Estonia Fil: Lawrence Lodge, Rachel. University of Otago; Nueva Zelanda Fil: Manning, Peter. Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung; Alemania Fil: Mitchell, Randall J.. University of Akron; Estados Unidos Fil: Moora, Mary. University of Tartu; Estonia Fil: Pillar, Valerio D.. Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil Fil: Stotz, Gisela C.. University of Alberta; Canadá Fil: Sugiyama, Shu-ichi. Hirosaki University; Japón Fil: Szentes, Szilárd. Szent István University; Hungría Fil: Tungalag, Radnaakhand. National University of Mongolia; Mongolia Fil: Undrakhbold, Sainbileg. Free University of Bozen-Bolzano; Italia Fil: Wellstein, Camila. Free University of Bozen-Bolzano; Italia Fil: Zupo, Talita. Universidade Estadual Paulista; Brasil

To estimate the extent to which the allometric variability in Aquilegia nigricans ssp. subscaposa individuals is adaptive, we measured some morphometric traits of this rare endemic in a lowland grassland and oak – beech forest, and in a high plateau grassland. We expected light and elevation to be the main environmental factors responsible for the observed morphologic variation. Plant size was generally greater under shade conditions. The mean lengths of leaf petioles and basal leaflets were significantly greater, and the number of basal leaves significantly smaller in the forest understory. No morphometric traits differed significantly and solely between high and low elevation populations. Plant canopy development and fertility measures showed no clear responses to different light and altitudinal conditions. Significant differences in occurrence of the shapes of the first stem leaf were only detected between the populations in the most contrasting conditions: open montane grasslands and lowland ...

We asked if the genetic diversity of Saponaria bellidifolia (a habitat specialist plant) and the species diversity of its habitat are driven by parallel landscape level processes in an island-like system of limestone outcrops in the Carpathian Mountains. We tested the relationship of these two diversity levels at local and regional geographic scales. Local genetic and species diversity showed parallel patterns influenced by the number of plant communities. Likewise, at regional level there was strong evidence for parallel equilibrial dynamics of genotypes and species. However, a superimposed matrix effect enhanced the regional species diversity only. Genetic diversity of habitat specialist organisms and species diversity of these limestone outcrop islands on mainland are modulated by parallel landscape-level processes at different geographic scales, and mechanisms may be identified at very high spatial resolutions.

11 páginas, 5 figuras, 2 tablas.-- El PDf es la versión pre-print., Four populations of Saponaria bellidifolia situated at the species’ northern range periphery (Apuseni Mountains, southeastern Carpathians) were monitored over a period of 5 years. They were chosen to represent different habitat types (rocky, fixed screes, open screes and grassy), disturbance regime (fire), and population sizes (categorized as large and small). The reproductive effort was quantified, and matrix models were used to describe the population dynamics and to assess population viability. Saponaria bellidifolia had very stable population dynamics in the harsh and stable abiotic conditions of the outcrops where populations occur. Habitat conditions exerted a notable influence on the species’ population reproductive performance, growth rate, and vital rates, whereas population size and climate did not have a clear-cut effect on the dynamics of the species. Saponaria bellidifolia maintains viable populations in the southeastern Carpathians, at its northern range periphery., This paper is a part of the first author’s PhD thesis and was partially financed by Domus Hungarica Scientiarum et Artium, Hungary, and also by the Spanish Ministry of Science (project CGL2006-08507 to MBG).

Traditional haymaking has created exceptionally high levels of plant species diversity in semi-natural grasslands of the Carpathian Mountains (Romania), the maintenance of which is jeopardized by recent abandonment and subsequent vegetation succession. We tested the hypothesis that the different life history strategies of dominant grasses cause different patterns of diversity loss after abandonment of traditional haymaking in two types of meadow. Although diversity loss rate was not significantly different, the mechanism of loss depended on the life history of dominant species. In meadows co-dominated by competitive stress-tolerant ruderals, diversity loss occurred following the suppression of dominant grasses by tall forbs, whereas in meadows dominated by a stress-tolerant competitor, diversity loss resulted from increased abundance and biomass of the dominant grass. We conclude that management for species conservation in abandoned grasslands should manipulate the functional turnover in communities where the dominant species is a weaker competitor, and abundance and biomass of dominant species in communities where the dominant species is the stronger competitor.