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Microclimate research gained renewed interest over the last decade and its importance for many ecological processes is increasingly being recognized. Consequently, the call for high-resolution microclimatic temperature grids across broad spatial extents is becoming more pressing to improve ecological models. Here, we provide a new set of open-access bioclimatic variables for microclimate temperatures of European forests at 25 × 25 m2 resolution. ISSN:1354-1013 ISSN:1365-2486

Species’ environmental niches are conventionally modelled using coarse-grained macroclimate data. These data are known to deviate substantially from local, near-ground and proximal conditions (i.e., the microclimate), especially so below forests canopies. Here we aimed to assess the impact of using gridded microclimate data instead of gridded macroclimate data on the performance of species distribution models (SDMs), as well as on the predicted geographical distribution and the derived species response curves of 140 forest specialist plant species across Europe over the 2000-2020 period. We performed a comparative study between SDMs constructed with different sets of bioclimatic predictors to separately test the effect of using (i) proximal climate data instead of conventional macroclimatic data and (ii) high-resolution proximal climate data rather than coarse-gridded macroclimatic data. Therefore, we challenged SDMs with: (1) a macroclimatic dataset at a spatial resolution of 1 km × 1 km; (2) an aggregated microclimatic dataset matching the same resolution of 1 km × 1 km; and (3) a microclimatic dataset at a much finer spatial resolution of 25 m × 25 m. We found significant differences in model performance, indicating that microclimate-based SDMs outperform both their macroclimatic and aggregated counterparts. Most importantly, this study makes clear that macroclimate-based SDMs tend to introduce a systematic bias into the perceived species response curves. Additionally, macroclimatic data is unable to identify warm and cold refugia beyond the range edges of species’ distributions. We thus conclude that microclimate-based SDMs are a crucial tool to gain peculiar insights regarding biodiversity conservation, which is needed to align management actions and prioritize conservation efforts.

The article “Self-Government Activities of Professional Chambers” is focused on the exercising of self-government by professional chambers as public corporations, especially on its legislation and application in conditions of Czech Republic. The article presents professional chambers in the Czech Republic, which are based on compulsory membership. The article also deals with the issue of compensation when there is damage caused by professional chambers. Finally, attention is paid also to statutory regulations as a form of abstract acts published by professional chambers.

Ladakh (Jammu & Kashmir State, NW. India) is a region in the Trans-Himalaya between the Great Himalayan Range in the south and the eastern Karakoram in the north, at the southwestern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. Its flora, vegetation, ecology and climatic conditions were thoroughly studied by the late Leoš Klimeš. As regards the genus Taraxacum (Compositae-Crepidinae), Ladakh was an almost unexplored area. L. Klimeš accumulated an ample material (50 Ladakh species are exclusively based on his material), either as field samples or as cultivated specimens; together with further recent collections of other collectors, cultivated by JK & JŠ, and the historical herbarium material, it forms a basis for the present monograph. It presents a taxonomic treatment of all Taraxacum species documented from Ladakh, including notes on ecology and distribution, and notes on dandelions from adjacent regions, mainly Gilgit-Baltistan, Spiti, Lahaul and the cis-Himalayan Kashmir. Each species is characterized by a full description, photographs of involucre, capitulum and achenes, whenever available; species are arranged systematically in sections, the latter also with descriptions and identification keys including all the taxa from Ladakh and adjacent areas. Treatments of five sections include all or almost all of their members. Distribution maps and a complete list of specimens studied are given for all Ladakh dandelions. A comprehensive introduction in the vegetation of Ladakh, general features of the genus Taraxacum and the history of its exploration are also provided. As regards the Taraxacum diversity, the broader region covered by the present monograph includes representatives of one third of the world sectional diversity. One hundred and twenty one taxa, belonging to 19 sections, are given a full tratment in the monograph, including those from adjacent regions (the latter, 46 species, also with full descriptions and illustrations); the Ladakh proper harbours 76 taxa in 17 sections, one of which is described as new. Fifty one taxa are described as new for science, 42 from Ladakh, 9 from other regions. For all species, the mode of reproduction is given (mostly inferred from indirect indicators). Only seven species were found at least partly sexual (five of them outside the limits of the Ladakh proper); all the other taxa exhibit agamospermy. Ladakh and adjacent regions of Pakistan and India rank among the regions with the highest sectional and morphological Taraxacum diversities.

International audience; Species turnover is ubiquitous. However, it remains unknown whether certain types of species are consistently gained or lost across different habitats. Here, we analysed the trajectories of 1827 plant species over time intervals of up to 78 years at 141 sites across mountain summits, forests, and lowland grasslands in Europe. We found, albeit with relatively small effect sizes, displacements of smaller- by larger-ranged species across habitats. Communities shifted in parallel towards more nutrient-demanding species, with species from nutrient-rich habitats having larger ranges. Because these species are typically strong competitors, declines of smaller-ranged species could reflect not only abiotic drivers of global change, but also biotic pressure from increased competition. The ubiquitous component of turnover based on species range size we found here may partially reconcile findings of no net loss in local diversity with global species loss, and link community-scale turnover to macroecological processes such as biotic homogenisation.

International audience; A central challenge of today's ecological research is predicting how ecosystems will develop under future global change. Accurate predictions are complicated by (a) simultaneous effects of different drivers, such as climate change, nitrogen deposition and management changes; and (b) legacy effects from previous land use. We tested whether herb layer biodiversity (i.e. richness, Shannon diversity and evenness) and functional (i.e. herb cover, specific leaf area [SLA] and plant height) responses to environmental change drivers depended on land-use history. We used resurvey data from 192 plots across nineteen European temperate forest regions, with large spatial variability in environmental change factors. We tested for interactions between land-use history, distinguishing ancient and recent (i.e. post-agricultural) forests and four drivers: temperature, nitrogen deposition, and aridity at the regional scale and light dynamics at the plot-scale. Land-use history significantly modulated global change effects on the functional signature of the herb layer (i.e. cover, SLA and plant height). Light availability was the main environmental driver of change interacting with land-use history. We found greater herb cover and plant height decreases and SLA increases with decreasing light availability in ancient than in recent forests. Furthermore, we found greater decreases in herb cover with increased nitrogen deposition in ancient forests, whereas warming had the strongest decreasing effect on the herb cover in recent forests. Interactive effects between land-use history and global change on biodiversity were not found, but species evenness increased more in ancient than in recent forests. Synthesis. Our results demonstrate that land-use history should not be overlooked when predicting forest herb layer responses to global change. Moreover, we found that herb layer composition in semi-natural deciduous forests is mainly controlled by local canopy characteristics, regulating light levels at the forest floor, and much less by environmental changes at the regional scale (here: warming, nitrogen deposition and aridity). The observed disconnect between biodiversity and functional herb layer responses to environmental changes demonstrates the importance of assessing both types of responses to increase our understanding of the possible impact of global change on the herb layer.

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 piecewise structural equation modelling, we determine the main drivers of understorey biomass and nutrient stocks in these forests and examine potential direct and indirect effects of global-change drivers. Tree cover, tree litter quality and differences in former land use were the main drivers of understorey biomass and nutrient stocks, via their influence on understorey light and nitrogen availability and soil acidity. Other global-change drivers, including climate and nitrogen deposition, had similar indirect effects, but these were either weak or only affecting nutrient concentrations, not stocks. Synthesis. We found that direct effects of global-change drivers on understorey biomass and nutrient stocks were absent. The indirect effects of global change, through influencing resource availability and growing conditions at the forest floor, were found to be less important than the effects of overstorey cover and composition. These results suggest that understorey biomass and nutrient stocks might respond less to global change in the presence of a dense overstorey, highlighting the buffering role of the overstorey in temperate forests.

The article contributes to a vigorous debate on the significance of lifelong education and learning held at the political, practical and academic levels, especially concerning approaches of international organizations ( UNESCO in this case). It represents one of the attempts to restore the thoughts of the philosopher, which may serve as valuable sources of inspiration at the time of transitions and crises of a globalized world. The author’s explicit orientation is on ideas that have long been embraced by UNESCO’s education policy. He views them through a lens that is significantly influenced by Comenius. His philosophy is presented as a strong argument to affirm as well as a reason to partially revisit UNESCO’s position. The article builds on a combination of theoretical inquiry and critical analysis of policy documents. In his work, Comenius formulated key and timeless arguments in favour of a universal approach to education throughout the human lifespan, and he also justified why education is a prerequisite for the ability to act rightly and correct what is wrong. Comenius emphasised the ability “to understand right, to act rightly” as dependent on wisdom, and universal education as a pathway to the wisdom. Consequently, according to Comenius, universalism is bound to appreciate such forms of education that in basic features correspond to the ideal of Bildung. It is argued that what UNESCO refers to as universalism is not genuine universalism because it does not fully appreciate education as a source of inner cultivation – one of the prerequisites of acting rightly.

Forest microclimates differ from regional macroclimates because forest canopies affect energy fluxes near the ground. However, little is known about the environmental drivers of understorey temperature heterogeneity and its effects on species assemblages, especially at landscape scales. We aimed to identify which temperature variables best explain the landscape-scale distribution of forest vegetation and to disentangle the effects of elevation, terrain attributes and canopy cover on understorey temperatures. We measured growing season air temperature, canopy cover and plant community composition within 46 plots established across a 400-km2 area in Czech Republic. We linked growing season maximum, mean and minimum temperatures with elevation, canopy cover and topographic proxies for heat load, topographic position, soil moisture and cold air drainage, and created fine-scale topoclimatic maps of the region. We compared the biological relevance of in situ measured temperatures and temperatures derived from fine-scaled topoclimatic maps and global WorldClim 2 maps. Maximum temperature was the best predictor of understorey plant species composition. Landscape-scale variation in maximum temperature was jointly driven by elevation and terrain topography ( $$R_{{{\text{adj}}.}}^{2}$$ = 0.79) but not by canopy cover. Modelled maximum temperature derived from our topoclimatic maps explained significantly more variation in plant community composition than WorldClim 2 grids. Terrain topography creates landscape-scale variation in maximum temperature, which in turn controls plant species assembly within the forest understorey. Maximum temperature is therefore an important but neglected microclimatic driver of species distribution across landscapes.

Climate measurements are needed at a scale at which organisms live and die. Currently available climate sensors, however, are not well suited for long-term field measurements at such a scale. We have therefore developed a new temperature and moisture logger, the Temperature-Moisture-Sensor (TMS), which we designed for a wide range of ecological applications. The device mimics a small herbaceous plant. Its belowground part houses a patented, proprietary soil moisture sensor working on the time-domain transmission principle. Air, surface and soil temperatures are measured simultaneously by three independent sensors. The TMS data logger has a large memory and long battery life, so it is suitable for taking long-term microclimate measurements in the field. With a data acquisition interval of 15 min, it has sufficient memory to last for almost 15 years. We have thoroughly tested the TMS logger both in the laboratory and in demanding field conditions ranging from tropical rain forests of Africa to high-elevation cold deserts of the Himalayas. The device has provided microclimate measurements in a wide range of environmental conditions and has also performed well in controlled laboratory settings. The key added value of the TMS logger is that it concurrently measures soil moisture as well as soil, surface and air temperature at a biologically relevant scale. It is also able to continuously measure the microclimate for several years even in the most extreme conditions. The device can therefore be used to build extensive tailored field measurement networks providing crucial data about microclimate conditions shaping biological processes in the face of climate change.

Ecological research heavily relies on coarse-gridded climate data based on standardized temperature measurements recorded at 2 m height in open landscapes. However, many organisms experience environmental conditions that differ substantially from those captured by these macroclimatic (i.e. free air) temperature grids. In forests, the tree canopy functions as a thermal insulator and buffers sub-canopy microclimatic conditions, thereby affecting biological and ecological processes. To improve the assessment of climatic conditions and climate-change-related impacts on forest-floor biodiversity and functioning, high-resolution temperature grids reflecting forest microclimates are thus urgently needed. Combining more than 1200 time series of in situ near-surface forest temperature with topographical, biological and macroclimatic variables in a machine learning model, we predicted the mean monthly offset between sub-canopy temperature at 15 cm above the surface and free-air temperature over the period 2000-2020 at a spatial resolution of 25 m across Europe. This offset was used to evaluate the difference between microclimate and macroclimate across space and seasons and finally enabled us to calculate mean annual and monthly temperatures for European forest understories. We found that sub-canopy air temperatures differ substantially from free-air temperatures, being on average 2.1°C (standard deviation ± 1.6°C) lower in summer and 2.0°C higher (±0.7°C) in winter across Europe. Additionally, our high-resolution maps expose considerable microclimatic variation within landscapes, not captured by the gridded macroclimatic products. The provided forest sub-canopy temperature maps will enable future research to model below-canopy biological processes and patterns, as well as species distributions more accurately. ispartof: GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY vol:27 issue:23 pages:6307-6319 ispartof: location:England status: published

Questions: Light availability at the forest floor affects many forest ecosystem processes, and is often quantified indirectly through easy-to-measure stand characteristics. We investigated how three such characteristics, basal area, canopy cover and canopy closure, were related to each other in structurally complex mixed forests. We also asked how well they can predict the light-demand signature of the forest understorey (estimated as the mean Ellenberg indicator value for light [“EIVLIGHT”] and the proportion of “forest specialists” [“%FS”] within the plots). Furthermore, we asked whether accounting for the shade-casting ability of individual canopy species could improve predictions of EIVLIGHT and %FS. Location: A total of 192 study plots from nineteen temperate forest regions across Europe. Methods: In each plot, we measured stand basal area (all stems >7.5 cm diameter), canopy closure (with a densiometer) and visually estimated the percentage cover of all plant species in the herb (7 m). We used linear mixed-effect models to assess the relationships between basal area, canopy cover and canopy closure. We performed model comparisons, based on R2 and the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), to assess which stand characteristics can predict EIVLIGHT and %FS best, and to assess whether canopy shade-casting ability can significantly improve model fit. Results: Canopy closure and cover were weakly related to each other, but showed no relation with basal area. For both EIVLIGHT and %FS, canopy cover was the best predictor. Including the share of high-shade-casting species in both the basal-area and cover models improved the model fit for EIVLIGHT, but not for %FS. Conclusions: The typically expected relationships between basal area, canopy cover and canopy closure were weak or even absent in structurally complex mixed forests. In these forests, easy-to-measure structural canopy characteristics were poor predictors of the understorey light-demand signature, but accounting for compositional characteristics could improve predictions.

The Topographic Wetness Index (TWI) is a commonly used proxy for soil moisture. The predictive capability of TWI is influenced by the flow-routing algorithm and the resolution of the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) that TWI is derived from. Here, we examine the predictive capability of TWI using 11 flow-routing algorithms at DEM resolutions 1-30 m. We analyze the relationship between TWI and field-quantified soil moisture using statistical modeling methods and 5,200 study plots with over 46 000 soil moisture measurements. In addition, we test the sensitivity of the flow-routing algorithms against vertical height errors in DEM at different resolutions. The results reveal that the overall predictive capability of TWI was modest. The highest r(2) (23.7%) was reached using a multiple-flow-direction algorithm at 2 m resolution. In addition, the test of sensitivity against height errors revealed that the multiple-flow-direction algorithms were also more robust against DEM errors than single-flow-direction algorithms. The results provide field-evidence indicating that at its best TWI is a modest proxy for soil moisture and its predictive capability is influenced by the flow-routing algorithm and DEM resolution. Thus, we encourage careful evaluation of algorithms and resolutions when using TWI as a proxy for soil moisture.

Bertrand et al . question our interpretation about warming effects on the thermophilization in forest plant communities and propose an alternative way to analyze climatic debt. We show that microclimate warming is a better predictor than macroclimate warming for studying forest plant community responses to warming. Their additional analyses do not affect or change our interpretations and conclusions.

Current analyses and predictions of spatially explicit patterns and processes in ecology most often rely on climate data interpolated from standardized weather stations. This interpolated climate data represents long-term average thermal conditions at coarse spatial resolutions only. Hence, many climate-forcing factors that operate at fine spatiotemporal resolutions are overlooked. This is particularly important in relation to effects of observation height (e.g. vegetation, snow and soil characteristics) and in habitats varying in their exposure to radiation, moisture and wind (e.g. topography, radiative forcing or cold-air pooling). Since organisms living close to the ground relate more strongly to these microclimatic conditions than to free-air temperatures, microclimatic ground and near-surface data are needed to provide realistic forecasts of the fate of such organisms under anthropogenic climate change, as well as of the functioning of the ecosystems they live in. To fill this critical gap, we highlight a call for temperature time series submissions to SoilTemp, a geospatial database initiative compiling soil and near-surface temperature data from all over the world. Currently, this database contains time series from 7,538 temperature sensors from 51 countries across all key biomes. The database will pave the way toward an improved global understanding of microclimate and bridge the gap between the available climate data and the climate at fine spatiotemporal resolutions relevant to most organisms and ecosystem processes. ispartof: GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY vol:26 issue:11 pages:6616-6629 ispartof: location:England status: published

QUESTIONS: Long‐term legacies of historical human activities in temperate forests are increasingly recognised as an important driver of vegetation diversity and composition. To uncover centuries‐old legacies, novel approaches are, however, needed. Here, we combine anthracology of historical charcoal kilns and long‐term vegetation resurveys. We asked whether the historical coppicing oriented on charcoal production affected tree‐species composition and how the forest understorey vegetation changed after the coppicing was abandoned. LOCATION: Temperate broadleaved forests in the Slovak Karst National Park, central Europe. METHODS: To explore the historical forest structure and long‐term changes in tree composition, we sampled charcoal remains from 28 historical kilns, identified the burnt tree taxa and estimated the original diameter of the burnt wood. To analyse the vegetation changes over the last four decades, we resurveyed plant composition of 60 quasi‐permanent plots established in 1975. RESULTS: Historical charcoal burning was associated with coppicing, which decreased Fagus sylvatica dominance and favoured Quercus spp. in the tree layer. Several decades after the abandonment of coppicing, we observed the decline of Quercus spp. and spread of shade‐casting tree species with nutrient‐rich litter. This probably triggered the identified demise of light‐demanding species, the spread of nitrophytes and taxonomic homogenisation of the forest understorey. CONCLUSIONS: The shift from historical coppicing to current high‐forest management was likely a main driver of the observed taxonomic homogenisation and decline of light‐demanding plants, as in other European lowland forests. Long‐term data from charcoal kilns showed, however, that closed‐canopy forests dominated by beech were historically more common and observed changes in vegetation thus represent a natural process. Findings also suggest that coppicing taking place over centuries enhanced diversity of forest understorey vegetation. Our novel approach combining a vegetation resurvey and charcoal kiln anthracology thus uncovered otherwise hidden links between current biological processes and the historical human legacies, with consequent important implications for nature protection and management.

Increasingly available high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) facilitate the use of fine-scale topographic variables as proxies for microclimatic effects not captured by the coarse-grained macroclimate datasets. Species distributions and community assembly rules are, however directly shaped by microclimate and not by topography. DEM-derived topography, sometimes combined with vegetation structure, is thus widely used as a proxy for microclimatic effects in ecological research and conservation applications. However, the suitability of such a strategy has not been evaluated against in situ measured microclimate and species composition. Because bryophytes are highly sensitive to microclimate, they are ideal model organisms for such evaluation. To provide this much needed evaluation, we simultaneously recorded bryophyte species composition, microclimate, and forest vegetation structure at 218 sampling sites distributed across topographically complex sandstone landscape. Using a LiDAR-based DEM with a 1 m resolution, we calculated eleven topographic variables serving as a topographic proxy for microclimate. To characterize vegetation structure, we used hemispherical photographs and LiDAR canopy height models. Finally, we calculated eleven microclimatic variables from a continuous two-year time- series of air and soil temperature and soil moisture. To evaluate topography and vegetation structure as substitutes for the ecological effect of measured microclimate, we partitioned the variation in bryophyte species composition and richness explained by microclimate, topography, and vegetation structure. In situ measured microclimate was clearly the most important driver of bryophyte assemblages in temperate coniferous forests. The most bryophyte-relevant variables were growing degree days, maximum air temperature, and mean soil moisture. Our results thus showed that topographic variables, even when derived from high-resolution LiDAR data and combined with in situ sampled vegetation structure, cannot fully substitute effects of in situ measured microclimate on forest bryophytes.

Understorey communities can dominate forest plant diversity and strongly affect forest ecosystem structure and function. Understoreys often respond sensitively but inconsistently to drivers of ecological change, including nitrogen (N) deposition. Nitrogen deposition effects, reflected in the concept of critical loads, vary greatly not only among species and guilds, but also among forest types. Here, we characterize such context dependency as driven by differences in the amounts and forms of deposited N, cumulative deposition, the filtering of N by overstoreys, and available plant species pools. Nitrogen effects on understorey trajectories can also vary due to differences in surrounding landscape conditions; ambient browsing pressure; soils and geology; other environmental factors controlling plant growth; and, historical and current disturbance/management regimes. The number of these factors and their potentially complex interactions complicate our efforts to make simple predictions about how N deposition affects forest understoreys. We review the literature to examine evidence for context dependency in N deposition effects on forest understoreys. We also use data from 1814 European temperate forest plots to test the ability of multi-level models to characterize context-dependent understorey responses across sites that differ in levels of N deposition, community composition, local conditions and management history. This analysis demonstrated that historical management, and plot location on light and pH-fertility gradients, significantly affect how understorey communities respond to N deposition. We conclude that species' and communities' responses to N deposition, and thus the determination of critical loads, vary greatly depending on environmental contexts. This complicates our efforts to predict how N deposition will affect forest understoreys and thus how best to conserve and restore understorey biodiversity. To reduce uncertainty and incorporate context dependency in critical load setting, we should assemble data on underlying environmental conditions, conduct globally distributed field experiments, and analyse a wider range of habitat types.

The high-elevation cold deserts in Tibet and Himalaya are rich in soil cyanobacterial communities, which facilitate an initial establishment of vascular plants. During the following succession, the increasing cover of vascular plants modifies light intensity and nutrient availability for soil cyanobacterial community and other soil phototrophs. Despite the importance of soil phototrophic community for ecosystem functioning, surprisingly little is known about the actual interactions between vascular plants and soil phototrophs and about their variation along environmental gradients in high-elevation cold deserts. In this study, we disentangle the direct impact of vascular plants on soil phototrophic community, mainly on cyanobacteria, from indirect ones mediated through modification of soil chemistry and temperature stress along an unprecedented elevational gradient (5200–6000 m a.s.l.) using a combination of conditional inference trees, co-correspondence analysis and variation partitioning. We found that vascular plants and cyanobacteria substantially differ in their response to increasing elevation. While species richness, diversity and abundance of vascular plants decreased with elevation, the species richness, diversity and abundance of cyanobacteria growing below vascular plants did not change with elevation and the richness, abundance and diversity of cyanobacteria from bare soil increased with elevation. Cyanobacteria were generally more abundant and diverse in bare soil than in vegetated soil. This difference was caused mainly by the substantially higher abundance of cyanobacteria from orders Chroococales and Nostocales in bare soils. The diversity of cyanobacteria from vegetated-soil was unrelated to vascular plant cover, but the diversity of cyanobacteria from bare soil strongly declines with increasing plant cover. In vegetated soils, the composition of soil cyanobacterial communities was affected mainly by the species composition of vascular plants. In bare soil, the composition of soil cyanobacterial communities was driven mainly by the soil chemistry and elevation. Cyanobacterial assemblages were also indirectly affected by vascular plants through changes in soil texture and fertility, with finer and more nutrient rich soils hosting less diverse cyanobacterial communities. Our results shed light on the interactions between soil cyanobacteria and vascular plants in the high-elevation cold deserts and disentangle the role of different ecological filters in structuring soil phototrophic communities in the rapidly-warming Himalayas.