Search

Copyright of Hladnikia is the property of Botanical Society of Slovenia / Botanicno Drustvo Slovenije and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Aims: Arable habitats (i.e. fields, orchards, vineyards, and their fallows) were created by humans and have been essential elements in Central European landscapes for several millennia. In recent decades, these habitats have been drastically altered by changes in land use as well as agricultural practices and, more recently, by climate change. These changes have precipitated substantial changes in vegetation and their spatial and temporal trajectories have not yet been exhaustively studied. Here, we present the AgriWeedClim database — a new resource of vegetation plot (relevé) data of arable habitats in Central Europe. Location: Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Hungary, Northern Italy, Slovenia, Croatia. Methods: Vegetation plot data were obtained from large repositories (e.g. European Vegetation Archive), specialized regional databases, colleagues and the literature. Data were then checked for completeness and standardized (e.g. taxonomy, nomenclature, crop types). Species were assigned native, archaeophyte (i.e. alien species introduced before c. 1492 CE) or neophyte (i.e. alien species introduced after c. 1492 CE) status. Results: The AgriWeedClim database version 1.0 contains georeferenced data from 32,889 vegetation plots sampled from 1916 to 2019. Conclusions: We provide an overview of this new resource and present example analyses to show its content and possible applications. We outline potential research questions including analysis of patterns and causes of vegetation changes in arable habitats from the early 20th century to the present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questions: Two scientific disciplines, vegetation science and weed science, study arable weed vegetation, which has seen a strong diversity decrease in Europe over the last decades. We compared two collections of plot‐based vegetation records originating from these two disciplines. The aim was to check the suitability of the collections for joint analysis and for addressing research questions from the opposing domains. We asked: are these collections complementary? If so, how can they be used for joint analysis? Location: Europe. Methods: We compared 13 311 phytosociological relevés and 13 328 records from weed science, concerning both data collection properties and the recorded species richness. To deal with bias in the data, we also analysed different subsets (i.e., crops, geographical regions, organic vs conventional fields, center vs edge plots). Results: Records from vegetation science have an average species number of 19.0 ± 10.4. Metadata on survey methodology or agronomic practices are rare in this collection. Records from weed science have an average species number of 8.5 ± 6.4. They are accompanied by extensive methodological information. Vegetation science records and the weed science records taken at field edges or from organic fields have similar species numbers. The collections cover different parts of Europe but the results are consistent in six geographical subsets and the overall data set. The difference in species numbers may be caused by differences in methodology between the disciplines, i.e., plot positioning within fields, plot sizes, or survey timing. Conclusion: This comparison of arable weed data that were originally sampled with a different purpose represents a new effort in connecting research between vegetation scientists and weed scientists. Both collections show different aspects of weed vegetation, which means the joint use of the data is valuable as it can contribute to a more complete picture of weed species diversity in European arable landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report presents the European Weed Vegetation Database, a new database of vegetation plots documenting short-lived vegetation of arable and ruderal habitats from Europe and Macaronesia. The database comprises the phytosociological classes Papaveretea rhoeadis, Sisymbrietea, Chenopodietea and Digitario sanguinalis-Eragrostietea minoris. It is a gap-focused database containing mainly plots of this vegetation from the areas not yet represented in the European Vegetation Archive (EVA), to facilitate its accessibility for researchers to answer various questions. As of the end of 2018, it contained 24,734 plots, predominantly from Southern Europe. The data can be used for phytosociological studies, various kinds of interdisciplinary research as well as for studies for agronomy, nature management and biodiversity conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied changes in vascular plant species occurring in Central European (Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Hungary, Northern Italy, Slovenia and Croatia) arable fields and their edges from 1930 to 2019. To correct for bias in the data, we used occupancy modeling to analyze changes in the occupancy, i.e., distribution ranges sizes, of the 359 most common species in the AgriWeedClim database. We used ecological indicator values, native versus alien (archaeophyte, neophyte) status, and species affinity to arable habitats to assess changes in the occupancy of species with different environmental preferences and biogeographic origins. We found only a small decline in overall species occupancy over time, with a median occupancy change of −0.1 %, possibly due to the exclusion of rare species from modeling. Species turnover was more pronounced, with 72 species decreasing to less than half of their initial occupancy and 77 species more than doubling their initial occupancy. Species with environmental preferences for nutrient-rich sites with neutral pH increased in occupancy whereas species typical for arable fields decreased. No response to climate change (i.e., increased occupancy of thermophilous or drought-tolerant species) was detected. Archaeophytes and native species decreased whereas neophytes increased in occupancy. Taken together, results suggest that the biodiversity of arable fields is changing largely in response to anthropogenic habitat changes. • We used occupancy modeling to analyze biodiversity trends in arable fields. • Anthropogenic land use change has caused biodiversity change. • Neophyte species are expanding their range. • Typical arable species are in decline in Central Europe. • The changes foreshadow extinctions as well as biotic homogenization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]