Search

In the face of global pollinator decline, extensively managed grasslands play an important role in supporting stable pollinator communities. However, different types of extensive management may promote particular plant species and thus particular functional traits. As the functional traits of flowering plant species (e.g., flower size and shape) in a habitat help determine the identity and frequency of pollinator visitors, they can also influence the structures of plant−pollinator interaction networks (i.e., pollination networks). The aim of this study was to examine how the type of low‐intensity traditional management influences plant and pollinator composition, the structure of plant−pollinator interactions, and their mediation by floral and insect functional traits. Specifically, we compared mown wooded meadows to grazed alvar pastures in western Estonia. We found that both management types fostered equal diversity of plants and pollinators, and overlapping, though still distinct, plant and pollinator compositions. Wooded meadow pollination networks had significantly higher connectance and specialization, while alvar pasture networks achieved higher interaction diversity at a standardized sampling of interactions. Pollinators with small body sizes and short proboscis lengths were more specialized in their preference for particular plant species and the specialization of individual pollinators was higher in alvar pastures than in wooded meadows. All in all, the two management types promoted diverse plant and pollinator communities, which enabled the development of equally even and nested pollination networks. The same generalist plant and pollinator species were important for the pollination networks of both wooded meadows and alvar pastures; however, they were complemented by management‐specific species, which accounted for differences in network structure. Therefore, the implementation of both management types in the same landscape helps to maintain high species and interaction diversity., We studied whether mown and grazed grasslands have different pollination network structures. We found higher network‐level connectance and specialization in mown sites and higher network‐level interaction diversity in the grazed sites. The same generalist plants and pollinators were important for the pollination networks of both mown and grazed sites; however, they were complemented by management‐specific species, which accounted for differences in network structure.

We present PADAPT 1.0, the Pannonian Database of Plant Traits which relies on regional data sources and integrates existing data and new measurements on a wide range of traits and attributes of the plant species of the Pannonian Biogeographical Region and makes it freely accessible atwww.padapt.eu. The current version covers the species of the region occurring in Hungary (cc. 90% of the region’s flora) and consists of 126,337 records on 2745 taxa. There are 53 plant attributes in PADAPT 1.0 organised in six major groups: (i) Habitus and strategy, (ii) Reproduction, (iii) Kariology, (iv) Distribution and conservation, (v) Ecological indicator values, and (vi) Leaf traits. By including species of the eastern part of Europe not covered by other databases, PADAPT can facilitate studying the flora and vegetation of the eastern part of the continent. Data collection will continue in the future and the PADAPT team welcomes researchers interested in contributing with data. The main task before an updated version of the database is to include species of the Pannonian region not covered by the current version. In conclusion, although data coverage is far from complete, PADAPT meets the longstanding need for a regional database of the Pannonian flora.

Major dimensions of plant ecological strategies have been widely studied bringing forward the concept of ‘economic spectra’ of plants. Sexual reproductive traits, ‘floral traits’, have been largely neglected in this context, despite their strong link to fitness. Here, we aimed at integrating floral traits into the dimensionality of plant form and function so far dominated by vegetative traits. We used principal component analyses and constructed trait networks to assess the correlation structure of leaf, belowground, plant size-related, and floral traits. We studied forbs within two independent datasets; one compiled from central European trait databases and one sampled in the Austrian Alps. Floral traits defined the second dimension of trait variability within both datasets, while plant size determined the first dimension. Floral traits were largely independent from the leaf economic spectrum. Flower size, however, positively scaled with plant size and leaf size. Mating system was the most well-connected trait across modules of plant tissue/organ types. The independence of floral traits was consistent also after accounting for phylogenetic relationships between species. Floral traits explained a unique part of the variation in plant form and function and thus, likely play a distinctive ecological role within the whole plant economic spectrum., The study was financially supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (GACR 22-32198S). AE-V and LG received support by the long-term research development project number RVO 67985939 of the Czech Academy of Sciences. FB was supported by the Spanish Plan Nacional de I+D+i (project PGC2018-099027-B-I00). Data collection was partially funded by the Austrian Science Fund (P29142-B29).

SummaryEcological theory posits that temporal stability patterns in plant populations are associated with differences in species’ ecological strategies. However, empirical evidence is lacking about which traits, or trade-offs, underlie species stability, specially across different ecosystems.To address this, we compiled a global collection of long-term permanent vegetation records (>7000 plots from 78 datasets) from a wide range of habitats and combined this with existing trait databases. We tested whether the observed inter-annual variability in species abundance (coefficient of variation) was related to multiple individual traits and multivariate axes of trait variations (PCoA axes).We found that species with greater leaf dry matter content and seed mass were consistently more stable over time (lower variability in species abundance) although other leaf traits played a significant role as well, albeit weaker. Using multivariate axes did not improve predictions by specific traits.Our results confirm existing theory, providing compelling empirical evidence on the importance of specific traits, which point at ecological trade-offs in different resource use and dispersal strategies, on the stability of plant populations worldwide.

Analysing temporal patterns in plant communities is extremely important to quantify the extent and the consequences of ecological changes, especially considering the current biodiversity crisis. Long-term data collected through the regular sampling of permanent plots represent the most accurate resource to study ecological succession, analyse the stability of a community over time and understand the mechanisms driving vegetation change. We hereby present the LOng-Term Vegetation Sampling (LOTVS) initiative, a global collection of vegetation time-series derived from the regular monitoring of plant species in permanent plots. With 79 data sets from five continents and 7,789 vegetation time-series monitored for at least 6 years and mostly on an annual basis, LOTVS possibly represents the largest collection of temporally fine-grained vegetation time-series derived from permanent plots and made accessible to the research community. As such, it has an outstanding potential to support innovative research in the fields of vegetation science, plant ecology and temporal ecology., The authors acknowledge institutional support as follows. Nicola J. Day: Te Apārangi Royal Society of New Zealand (Rutherford Postdoctoral Fellowship). Jiří Danihelka: Czech Science Foundation (project no. 19-28491X) and Czech Academy of Sciences (project no. RVO 67985939). Francesco de Bello: Spanish Plan Nacional de I+D+i (project PGC2018-099027-B-I00). Eric Garnier: La Fage INRA experimental station. Tomáš Herben: GAČR grant 20-02901S. Anke Jentsch: German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (grant 031B0516C - SUSALPS) and Oberfrankenstiftung (grant OFS FP00237). Norbert Juergens: German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (grant 01LG1201N - SASSCAL ABC). Frédérique Louault and Katja Klumpp: AnaEE-France (ANR-11-INBS-0001). Robin J. Pakeman: Strategic Research Programme of the Scottish Government's Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division. Meelis Pärtel: Estonian Research Council (PRG609) and European Regional Development Fund (Centre of Excellence EcolChange). Josep Peñuelas: Spanish Government (grant PID2019-110521GB-I00), Fundación Ramon Areces (grant ELEMENTAL-CLIMATE), Catalan Government (grant SGR 2017-1005), and European Research Council (Synergy grant ERC-SyG-2013-610028, IMBALANCE-P). Ute Schmiedel: German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Promotion numbers 01LC0024, 01LC0024A, 01LC0624A2, 01LG1201A, 01LG1201N). Hana Skálová: GAČR grant 20-02901S. Karsten Wesche: International Institute Zittau, Technische Universität Dresden. Susan K. Wiser: New Zealand Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment’s Strategic Science Investment Fund. Ben A. Woodcock: NERC and BBSRC (NE/N018125/1 LTS-M ASSIST - Achieving Sustainable Agricultural Systems). Enrique Valencia: Program for attracting and retaining talent of Comunidad de Madrid (no. 2017-T2/AMB-5406) and Community of Madrid and Rey Juan Carlos University (Young Researchers R&D Project. Ref. M2165 – INTRANESTI). Truman P. Young: National Science Foundation (LTREB DEB 19-31224).

Analysing temporal patterns in plant communities is extremely important to quantify the extent and the consequences of ecological changes, especially considering the current biodiversity crisis. Long-term data collected through the regular sampling of permanent plots represent the most accurate resource to study ecological succession, analyse the stability of a community over time and understand the mechanisms driving vegetation change. We hereby present the LOng-Term Vegetation Sampling (LOTVS) initiative, a global collection of vegetation time-series derived from the regular monitoring of vascular plants in permanent plots. With 79 datasets from five continents and 7789 vegetation time-series monitored for at least six years and mostly on an annual basis, LOTVS possibly represents the largest collection of temporally fine-grained vegetation time-series derived from permanent plots and made accessible to the research community. As such, it has an outstanding potential to support innovative research in the fields of vegetation science, plant ecology and temporal ecology.

Heat tolerance of photosystem II (PSII) was examined in Siberian flag (Iris sibirica L.) living in different microhabitats of a non-forested enclosed depression surface (doline) on the Bükk-plateau. Although the microclimatic parameters of the habitats with different facing sites show sharp contrasts, there was no significant difference between the heat tolerance of PSII in leaves of I. sibirica growing in these expositions neither in dark- nor in light-adapted state.

Functional and phylogenetic diversity (FD and PD respectively) of the resident community are expected to exert a key role in community resistance to colonization by surrounding species, and their establishment success. However, few studies have explored this topic experimentally or evaluated the interactive effects of these diversity measures. We implemented a diversity experiment to disentangle the role of FD and PD by sowing mixtures of 6 species, drawn from a pool of 19 species naturally coexisting in central European mesic meadows. The mixtures were designed to cover four independent combinations of high and low FD and PD. Species covers were estimated in spring and late summer over two growing seasons. We then assessed the establishment success of colonizers as a function of their mean traits and phylogenetic distance to the resident (i.e. sown) communities, as well as the resistance of the resident communities to natural colonizers as a function of their functional and phylogenetic structure. Results generally indicated a temporal shift regarding which trait values made a colonizer successful, from an acquisitive strategy in early stages to a more conservative trait syndrome in later stages. FD decreased community resistance to natural colonization. However, PD tempered this effect: with high PD, FD was not significant, suggesting complementary information between these two components of biodiversity. On average, colonizing species were more functionally distant from the resident species in sown communities with high functional diversity, i.e. those that were more colonized. Synthesis. Our results confirm an interplay between FD and PD during community assembly processes, namely resistance to colonizers, suggesting that these two descriptors of biodiversity only partially overlap in their contribution to the overall ecological structure of a community. The hypothesis that higher FD increases resistance through a more complete use of resources was challenged. Results rather suggested that greater FD could provide an unsaturated functional trait space allowing functionally unique species to occupy it., The study was supported by Czech Science Foundation grant GA16‐15012S. C.P.C. was supported by a Marie Curie Intra‐European Fellowship within the European Commission 7th Framework Programme (TANDEM; project 626392) and the Estonian Research Council (project PSG293). E.V. was funded by the 2017 program for attracting and retaining talent of Comunidad de Madrid (no. 2017‐T2/AMB‐5406).

QUESTIONS: The majority of theories of trait‐based plant community assembly have been developed and tested predominantly in terrestrial ecosystems. Studies investigating the functional trait composition of aquatic plant communities and their relation to environmental determinants remain scarce. Macrophytes are essential components of aquatic ecosystems, and a more detailed knowledge of their trait‐based assembly is crucial for their management. We identified how plant functional traits respond to environmental gradients in streams and rivers. LOCATION: Danube River Catchment, Hungary. METHODS: We studied the processes governing community assembly along major environmental gradients related to carbon‐ and nutrient‐limiting factors as well as physical strain. We used six continuous traits (leaf area, specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, seed weight, seed shape, woodiness) and calculated community‐weighted mean and standardised effect size of functional diversity for each community. We then used stepwise regression analyses for each trait along the environmental gradients to test which environmental factors explain the changes in community‐weighted mean and functional diversity. All analyses were conducted for aquatic (hydato‐helophyte) and riverbank species separately. RESULTS: We found that the effect of environmental filtering significantly increased toward higher pH, indicating the response of functional traits to carbon limitation. Our results showed trait convergence among riverbank species in rivers with higher productivity. Larger functional diversity (i.e., trait divergence) among hydato‐helophyte species suggests an increase in the diversity of resource acquisition strategies under higher productivity. CONCLUSIONS: Here, we have shown that the functional trait distribution of aquatic and riverbank plant communities responds to major environmental drivers related to nutrient and carbon availability. The understanding of how community assembly mechanisms varied along environmental gradients might be useful when proposing future management and restoration plans and actions towards the conservation of the aquatic vegetation in streams and rivers.

The stability of ecological communities is critical for the stable provisioning of ecosystem services, such as food and forage production, carbon sequestration, and soil fertility. Greater biodiversity is expected to enhance stability across years by decreasing synchrony among species, but the drivers of stability in nature remain poorly resolved. Our analysis of time series from 79 datasets across the world showed that stability was associated more strongly with the degree of synchrony among dominant species than with species richness. The relatively weak influence of species richness is consistent with theory predicting that the effect of richness on stability weakens when synchrony is higher than expected under random fluctuations, which was the case in most communities. Land management, nutrient addition, and climate change treatments had relatively weak and varying effects on stability, modifying how species richness, synchrony, and stability interact. Our results demonstrate the prevalence of biotic drivers on ecosystem stability, with the potential for environmental drivers to alter the intricate relationship among richness, synchrony, and stability., We were supported by US NSF Grants DEB-8114302, DEB8811884, DEB-9411972, DEB-0080382, DEB-0620652, DEB-1234162, and DEB0618210; the Nutrient Network (https://nutnet.org/) experiment from NSF Research Coordination Network Grant NSF-DEB-1042132; the New Zealand National Vegetation Survey Databank; and Institute on the Environment Grant DG-0001-13. Data (Dataset 56, SI Appendix, Supplementary Text S4) owned by NERC Database Right/Copyright NERC. Further support was provided by the Jornada Basin Long-Term Ecological Research project, Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve, and the University of Minnesota. The Rothamsted Long-term Experiments National Capability is supported by UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Grant BBS/E/C/000J0300 and the Lawes Agricultural Trust. This research was funded by Czech Science Foundation Grant GACR16-15012S and Czech Academy of Sciences Grant RVO 67985939. E.V. was funded by 2017 Program for Attracting and Retaining Talent of Comunidad de Madrid Grant 2017-T2/AMB-5406.

Under global change, how biological diversity and ecosystem services are maintained in time is a fundamental question. Ecologists have long argued about multiple mechanisms by which local biodiversity might control the temporal stability of ecosystem properties. Accumulating theories and empirical evidence suggest that, together with different population and community parameters, these mechanisms largely operate through differences in functional traits among organisms. We review potential trait-stability mechanisms together with underlying tests and associated metrics. We identify various trait-based components, each accounting for different stability mechanisms, that contribute to buffering, or propagating, the effect of environmental fluctuations on ecosystem functioning. This comprehensive picture, obtained by combining different puzzle pieces of trait-stability effects, will guide future empirical and modeling investigations., This study is the result of an international workshop financed by the Valencian government in Spain (Generalitat Valenciana, reference AORG/2018/) and was supported by Spanish Plan Nacional de I+D+i (project PGC2018-099027-B-I00). E.V. was supported by the 2017 program for attracting and retaining talent of Comunidad de Madrid (no. 2017-T2/ AMB-5406).

Questions. Compensatory dynamics are described as one of the main mechanisms that increase community stability, e.g., where decreases of some species on a year‐to‐year basis are offset by an increase in others. Deviations from perfect synchrony between species (asynchrony) have therefore been advocated as an important mechanism underlying biodiversity effects on stability. However, it is unclear to what extent existing measures of synchrony actually capture the signal of year‐to‐year species fluctuations in the presence of long‐term directional trends in both species abundance and composition (species directional trends hereafter). Such directional trends may lead to a misinterpretation of indices commonly used to reflect year‐to‐year synchrony. Methods. An approach based on three‐term local quadrat variance (T3) which assesses population variability in a three‐year moving window, was used to overcome species directional trend effects. This “detrending” approach was applied to common indices of synchrony across a worldwide collection of 77 temporal plant community datasets comprising almost 7,800 individual plots sampled for at least six years. Plots included were either maintained under constant “control” conditions over time or were subjected to different management or disturbance treatments. Results. Accounting for directional trends increased the detection of year‐to‐year synchronous patterns in all synchrony indices considered. Specifically, synchrony values increased significantly in ~40% of the datasets with the T3 detrending approach while in ~10% synchrony decreased. For the 38 studies with both control and manipulated conditions, the increase in synchrony values was stronger for longer time series, particularly following experimental manipulation. Conclusions. Species’ long‐term directional trends can affect synchrony and stability measures potentially masking the ecological mechanism causing year‐to‐year fluctuations. As such, previous studies on community stability might have overemphasised the role of compensatory dynamics in real‐world ecosystems, and particularly in manipulative conditions, when not considering the possible overriding effects of long‐term directional trends., We thank multiple entities for the financial support necessary to obtain the different databases: the U.S. National Science Foundation under grant numbers DEB‐8114302, DEB‐8811884, DEB‐9411972, DEB‐0080382, DEB‐0620652, DEB‐1234162, DEB‐9707477, DEB‐0316402, DEB‐08‐16453, and DEB‐12‐56034, DEB‐0618210, the Nutrient Network (http://www.nutnet.org) experiment from the National Science Foundation Research Coordination Network (NSF‐DEB‐1042132), the New Zealand National Vegetation Survey Databank, the Spanish MINECO (Project CGL2014‐53789‐R), the Madrid Regional Government (Projects REMEDINAL‐3 and REMEDINAL‐TE), the European Research Council Synergy grant 610028 (IMBALANCE‐P), the Institute on the Environment (DG‐0001‐13), the SOERE‐ACBB financed through French National Agency for Research (ANAEE‐F, ANR‐11‐INBS‐0001), the Estonian Research Council (IUT 20‐28, IUT 20‐29), Czech Science Foundation (GAČR 17‐05506S and 19‐28491X), the European Regional Development Fund (Centre of Excellence EcolChange), the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU) for a grant to the NABU Hamburg (management experiment Calamagrostis epigejos), and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research within the framework of the project BIOTA Southern Africa (promotion numbers 01LC0024, 01LC0024A and 01LC0624A2), Task 159 of SASSCAL (promotion number 01LG1201) and the Scottish Government's Rural and Environmental Science and Analytical Services division. Acknowledgement Data owned by NERC© Database Right/Copyright NERC. Further support was provided by the Jornada Basin Long‐Term Ecological Research (LTER) project, Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve and the University of Minnesota. We also thank the Lawes Agricultural Trust and Rothamsted Research for data from the e‐RA database. The Rothamsted Long‐term Experiments National Capability (LTE‐NCG) is supported by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Grant BBS/E/C/000J0300) and the Lawes Agricultural Trust.

Aims: Floral traits are frequently studied in population biology and evolutionary ecology but are rarely considered in functional trait-based studies focusing on the assembly of communities. We address this gap in trait-based community assembly by synthesizing the existing literature on processes driving floral and pollination-related trait patterns at community scales. We highlight limitations of the field due to lack of data and suggest potential directions of future research. Methods: We conducted a systematic literature search collating studies that investigated floral traits in the context of plant community assembly, which allowed us to synthesize the current state of the art and point out important gaps in our knowledge. Conclusions: The literature review shows that including pollination-related traits in community assembly studies can shed new light on species coexistence patterns not accounted for by other types of traits. The synthesis presented here shows the diversity of approaches and existing techniques which can generate a step forward in this open field of research. What currently seems to hinder comprehensive analyses of floral traits at community levels is the lack of data, particularly in existing large repositories for traits worldwide, as well as a gap in linking modern coexistence theory with floral traits., Akademie Věd České Republiky. Grant Number: RVO 67985939 Grantová Agentura České Republiky. Grant Number: GACR 16‐15012S

Plant functional traits are now frequently used instead of species identity to identify how plant species co-exist in assemblages. One notion is that species inhabiting the same environment have more characteristics in common than species from different habitats, leading to different prevailing dominant traits along environmental gradients, and also to a lesser diversity of traits in habitats that impose a stronger filter on these traits. Though such patterns have been demonstrated for different environmental drivers and different traits, studies using easily available traits connected to above ground processes (i.e. traits of the leaf-height-seed, or LHS, strategy scheme) are largely overrepresented in these analyses. Here we combined data on clonal and bud bank traits, representing the ability to reproduce and spread vegetatively, with LHS trait data and examined how these traits varied in relation to the vegetational composition of 29 Central-European habitat types. Our analysis focused on determining whether clonal/bud bank or LHS traits play an important role for environmental filtering along gradients approximated by Ellenberg indicator values (EIV) across these habitats. Our results show that clonal and bud bank traits are at least as – if not more – important for the differentiation of the 29 habitat types. Overall, diversity and dominance of clonal and bud bank traits was more strongly correlated with gradients of light availability, temperature, moisture, soil reaction, and nutrient availability across these habitats than it was the case for traits of the leaf-height-seed scheme. Our results call for a stronger integration of belowground traits into the functional traits approach in plant ecology and for an extension of efforts to collect such data.

Trait‐based approaches are widely used in community ecology and invasion biology to unravel underlying mechanisms of vegetation dynamics. Although fundamental trade‐offs between specific traits and invasibility are well described among terrestrial plants, little is known about their role and function in aquatic plant species. In this study, we examine the functional differences of aquatic alien and native plants stating that alien and native species differ in selected leaf traits. Our investigation is based on 60 taxa (21 alien and 39 native) collected from 22 freshwater units of Hungarian and Italian lowlands and highlands. Linear mixed models were used to investigate the effects of nativeness on four fundamental traits (leaf area, leaf dry matter content, specific leaf area, and leaf nitrogen content), while the influence of growth‐form, altitude, and site were employed simultaneously. We found significantly higher values of leaf areas and significantly lower values of specific leaf areas for alien species if growth‐form was included in the model as an additional predictor.We showed that the trait‐based approach of autochthony can apply to aquatic environments similar to terrestrial ones, and leaf traits have relevance in explaining aquatic plant ecology whether traits are combined with growth‐forms as a fixed factor. Our results confirm the importance of traits related to competitive ability in the process of aquatic plant invasions. Alien aquatic plants can be characterized as species producing soft leaves faster. We argue that the functional traits of alien aquatic plants are strongly growth‐form dependent. Using the trait‐based approach, we found reliable characteristics of aquatic plants related to species invasions, which might be used, for example, in conservation management.

Jelen közleményünk annak a sorozatnak a második része, melynek célja a Magyarország edényes növényfajainak elterjedési atlasza térképeinek kiegészítése, főként aktuális előfordulási adatokkal. Ezúttal 612 edényes taxon előfordulási adatait közöljük az ország szinte egész területéről (mintegy 283 flóratérképezési kvadrátból), de legnagyobb számban az Északi-középhegységből. Az adatok között ritkább őshonos taxonok (e.g. Antennaria dioica, Bupleurum pachnospermum, Carex rostrata, Ceratocephala testiculata, Cicuta virosa, Cirsium boujartii, Epipactis moravica, Lycopsis arvensis, Parnassia palustris, Pyrus nivalis, Rumex kerneri, Rumex pulcher, Silene nemoralis, Stellaria alsine, Teucrium botrys, Vicia lutea), ritka, vagy legalábbis adathiányos idegenhonos fajok (például Nonea lutea, Panicum dichotomiflorum, Silybum marianum) mellett országosan elterjedt, de többé-kevésbé alulreprezentált fajok (például Eragrostis minor, Heliotropium europaeum, Saxifraga tridactylites) esetében is közöljük az Atlasz térképeihez képest újnak bizonyuló lelőhelyeket. Közleményünk számottevően hozzájárul a Ranunculus illyricus és a Spergula pentandra nyírségi, valamint a Senecio vernalis hazai elterjedésének ismeretéhez.

1.Floral deception is widespread in orchids, with more than one third of the species being pollinated this way. The evolutionary success of deceptive orchids is puzzling, as species employing this strategy are thought to have low reproductive success (less flowers yielding fruits) because of low pollination rates. However, direct measurements of total seed production in orchids – which is a better measure of reproductive success – are scarce due to the extremely small size of their seeds. 2.Here, we quantified seed numbers in 1,015 fruits belonging to 48 orchid species from the Pannonian ecoregion (central Europe) and obtained fruit-set and thousand-seed weight data for these species from the literature. We used phylogenetic comparative methods to test the hypothesis that deceptive species should compensate for their lower fruit-set by having either more flowers, larger seeds or more seeds in a fruit. 3.Similarly to previous studies, we found that deceptive orchids have substantially lower fruits-set than nectar-rewarding ones. Also, we found that deceptive species have more seeds in a fruit but not more flowers or larger seeds compared to nectar-rewarding ones. Based on our results, deceptive species compensate for their lower fruit-set by having higher seed numbers per fruit. As a consequence, their seed numbers per shoot do not differ from that of nectar-rewarding ones. 4.Together with other benefits of deceptive pollination (e.g. lower energy expenditure due to the lack of nectar production and higher genetic variability due to decreased probability of geitonogamous pollination), our results can explain why deceptive strategies are so widespread in the orchid family. 5.Synthesis. Our results indicate that deceptive orchids can compensate for their lower fruit-set by having more (but not larger) seeds in a fruit than rewarding species. These findings highlight possible ways in which plants can increase their reproductive success in face of pollinator limitation. We emphasize that fruit-set in itself is an inappropriate measure of the reproductive success of orchids – the total number of seeds per shoot is a much better approximation.

The importance of studies based on plant functional traits is indicated by the huge number of papers (more than 5000) published in the last 15 years in this topic. In community ecology the recent trend of studying organisms on the functional- rather than on the taxonomic level is quite significant. In this review we attempted to summarise the applicability of functional plant traits commonly used in ecological studies. We discussed the levels of functional categorisation, described the different plant strategies based on functional traits and emphasised the usage of standardised measurements. The most outstanding trait databases are introduced here, showing their availability, content and specialities. This review is intended as an introduction to the topic and can later be completed by papers elaborating on how plant functional traits are used in theoretical and applied plant ecology.

Background and aims: Dolines are small- to large-sized bowl-shaped depressions of karst surfaces. They may constitute important microrefugia, as thermal inversion often maintains cooler conditions within them. This study aimed to identify the effects of large- (macroclimate) and small-scale (slope aspect and vegetation type) environmental factors on cool-adapted plants in karst dolines of East-Central Europe. We also evaluated the potential of these dolines to be microrefugia that mitigate the effects of climate change on cool-adapted plants in both forest and grassland ecosystems. • Methods: We compared surveys of plant species composition that were made between 2007 and 2015 in 21 dolines distributed across four mountain ranges (sites) in Hungary and Romania. We examined the effects of environmental factors on the distribution and number of cool-adapted plants on three scales: (1) regional (all sites); (2) within sites and; (3) within dolines. Generalized linear models and non-parametric tests were used for the analyses. • Key Results: Macroclimate, vegetation type and aspect were all significant predictors of the diversity of cool-adapted plants. More cool-adapted plants were recorded in the coolest site, with only few found in the warmest site. At the warmest site, the distribution of cool-adapted plants was restricted to the deepest parts of dolines. Within sites of intermediate temperature and humidity, the effect of vegetation type and aspect on the diversity of cool-adapted plants was often significant, with more taxa being found in grasslands (versus forests) and on north-facing slopes (versus south-facing slopes). • Conclusions: There is large variation in the number and spatial distribution of cool-adapted plants in karst dolines, which is related to large- and small-scale environmental factors. Both macro- and microrefugia are therefore likely to play important roles in facilitating the persistence of cool-adapted plants under global warming. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

The main aim of the present work is to contribute with new data to the distribution maps published recently in Atlas Florae Hungariae. Occurrence data of 297 vascular plant taxa from 247 flora mapping quarter quadrates (CEU) are presented. This floristic paper is somehow unusual because besides the occurrence data of rare or sporadic taxa (e.g. Armoracia macrocarpa (Waldst. et Kit.) Kit. ex Baumg., Samolus valerandi L., Epipactis voethii Robatsch), frequent, but more or less underrepresented taxa (e.g. Ranunculus ficaria L., Viola kitaibeliana Roem. et Schult., Gagea villosa (M. Bieb.) Duby), as well as alien taxa (e.g. Cymbalaria muralis G. Gaertn., B. Mey. et Scherb., Potentilla indica (Andrews) Focke, Tragus racemosus (L.) All.) are also enumerated, since our intention was to fill the – sometimes evident – gaps in the Atlas. The name initials of the author(s) who actually found the given occurrence are presented in brackets at each record.

The reproductive success of orchids is traditionally estimated by determining the fruit-set of individuals. Here, we investigated both the fruit and the seed production of three orchid species and the factors that may affect individual fruit-set, like pollination strategy, individual traits or the annual amount of precipitation. The species [Dactylorhiza sambucina (L.) Soó, Dactylorhiza majalis (Rchb.) P. F. HuntSummerhayes and Platanthera bifolia (L.) L. C. M. Richard] were studied in three consecutive years (2010-2012) in the Bükk Mountains, Hungary. All three species were proved to be non-autogamous by a bagging experiment. Data analyses showed significant differences between seed numbers but not between fruit-sets of species. There was no statistical difference in individual reproductive success between wet and dry years, however, the effect of the annual amount of precipitation is significant on the population level. Comparison of published fruit-set data revealed accordance with our results in P. bifolia, but not in D. sambucina and D. majalis. We assume that the surprisingly high fruit-set values of the two Dactylorhiza species may be due to the fact that the pollination crisis reported from Western European countries is not an actual problem in the Bükk Mountains, Hungary.

The paper introduces the Herbarium Database of Hungarian Orchids which contains all records of orchid (Orchidaceae) specimens stored in the Hungarian herbaria. All data from the herbarium sheets were entered into the database, and secondary data were also added it; including a taxonomic revision in line with current theory. Only unique data was considered, yielding 7,658 records of 55 species from 452 collectors. It covers the whole territory of Hungary, and spans two centuries ranging from 1804 to the present. The temporal frequency of collections shows a peak in the middle of the 20 th century. The most ef fective collectors came from this era, and the name of Rezs˝ Soo and his followers can be mentioned as most prominent. As in other countries, a decline in collection is seen in the last decades of the 20 th century. A geographically uneven coverage of collections was observed, and the such heavily underrepresented regions could be identified with the help of the database. However, the value of collection for scientific purposes is emphasised, as can be readily seen in this database. Taxonomically, seven recently described species could be identified, which were collected before their description under other names more than one century ago. On the other hand, the earlier presence of species now considered to be extinct could be unequivocally proven, as in the case of Malaxis monophyllos. The multiple application of herbaria is illustrated by some examples, reinforcing unambiguously the usefulness of collecting for scientific purposes. Furthermore, new, as yet unforeseen, application of herbarium collections can be expected.