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opencc-zeroDec 2015View details →

Data from: Mediating water temperature increases due to livestock and global change in high elevation meadow streams of the Golden Trout Wilderness

Rising temperatures due to climate change are pushing the thermal limits of many species, but how climate warming interacts with other anthropogenic disturbances such as land use remains poorly understood. To understand the interactive effects of climate warming and livestock grazing on water temperature in three high elevation meadow streams in the Golden Trout Wilderness, California, we measured riparian vegetation and monitored water temperature in three meadow streams between 2008 and 2013, including two "resting" meadows and one meadow that is partially grazed. All three meadows have been subject to grazing by cattle and sheep since the 1800s and their streams are home to the imperiled California golden trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss aguabonita). In 1991, a livestock exclosure was constructed in one of the meadows (Mulkey), leaving a portion of stream ungrazed to minimize the negative effects of cattle. In 2001, cattle were removed completely from two other meadows (Big Whitney and Ramshaw), which have been in a "resting" state since that time. Inside the livestock exclosure in Mulkey, we found that riverbank vegetation was both larger and denser than outside the exclosure where cattle were present, resulting in more shaded waters and cooler maximal temperatures inside the exclosure. In addition, between meadows comparisons showed that water temperatures were cooler in the ungrazed meadows compared to the grazed area in the partially grazed meadow. Finally, we found that predicted temperatures under different global warming scenarios were likely to be higher in presence of livestock grazing. Our results highlight that land use can interact with climate change to worsen the local thermal conditions for taxa on the edge and that protecting riparian vegetation is likely to increase the resiliency of these ecosystems to climate change.

FIGURE 5 in A new species of four-eyed frog genus Pleurodema Tschudi, 1838 (Anura: Leiuperidae) from the rock meadows of Espinhaço range, Brazil

FIGURE 5. Pond at "Campos Rupestres" (rocky meadows), the habitat of Pleurodema alium sp. nov. at the type locality, Municipality of Grão Mogol, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Photograph by L.B. Nascimento.

FIGURE 3 in A new species of four-eyed frog genus Pleurodema Tschudi, 1838 (Anura: Leiuperidae) from the rock meadows of Espinhaço range, Brazil

FIGURE 3. Adult female of Pleurodema alium sp. nov. photographed in life (unvouchered photo; Photograph by L.B. Nascimento).

FIGURE 2 in A new species of four-eyed frog genus Pleurodema Tschudi, 1838 (Anura: Leiuperidae) from the rock meadows of Espinhaço range, Brazil

FIGURE 2. Detail of the palmar morphology of (A) Pleurodema diplolister (MNRJ 12002; topotype, adult male) and (B) Pleurodema alium sp. nov. (MCNAM 7169; holotype, adult male).

FIGURE 1 in A new species of four-eyed frog genus Pleurodema Tschudi, 1838 (Anura: Leiuperidae) from the rock meadows of Espinhaço range, Brazil

FIGURE 1. Pleurodema alium sp. nov. (A) Dorsal and (B) ventral views of holotype, MCNAM 7169, adult male, SVL 36.1 mm.

FIGURE 4 in A new species of four-eyed frog genus Pleurodema Tschudi, 1838 (Anura: Leiuperidae) from the rock meadows of Espinhaço range, Brazil

FIGURE 4. Map with known geographic distribution of Pleurodema diplolister (circles) and Pleurodema alium sp. nov (star = type-locality; square = record from M. Solé unpublished data).

FIGURE 4 in Nuclear markers support the mitochondrial phylogeny of Vipera ursinii – renardi complex (Squamata: Viperidae) and species status for the Greek meadow viper

FIGURE 4. Species tree of the Vipera ursinii–renardi complex (with V. berus as outgroup) as inferred in *BEAST based on two mitochondrial and three nuclear loci (A); species-tree cloudogram of the complex based on 27 000 post-burn-in trees resulting from 3 runs of *BEAST, each producing 10,000 trees from which 10% was discarded as burn-in. Higher colour densities represent higher levels of certainty. Maximum clade credibility tree is superimposed upon the cloudogram in bold violet (B). Values of posterior probabilities are given. This figure is published in colour in the online version, the colours of the branches correspond with the colour of mitochondrial lineages in Fig. 2A.

FIGURE 1 in Nuclear markers support the mitochondrial phylogeny of Vipera ursinii – renardi complex (Squamata: Viperidae) and species status for the Greek meadow viper

FIGURE 1. Sampled localities inside the approximate distribution area of Vipera ursinii–renardi complex in Europe. Circles indicate sampling localities of Vipera ursinii–renardi complex, and triangles show the sampling of outgroup taxa. A diamond indicates the type locality of Vipera graeca stat. nov. This figure is published in colour in the online version, the colour of the patches corresponds to the colour of mitochondrial lineages in Fig. 2A.

FIGURE 2 in Nuclear markers support the mitochondrial phylogeny of Vipera ursinii – renardi complex (Squamata: Viperidae) and species status for the Greek meadow viper

FIGURE 2. (A) Current mitochondrial Bayesian phylogenetic hypothesis of Vipera ursinii–renardi complex based on CYT B dataset of Ferchaud et al. (2012) and Zinenko et al. (2015); (B) Phylogenetic reconstruction of the concatenated dataset (mtDNA+nDNA genes) obtained in MrBayes/Maximum likelihood (see Table 1). Sequences of Vipera berus (Vbbe-HU, Vbbo-AL, Vbni-RO) included as outgroup are not shown. Bayesian posterior probabilities/bootstrap pseudoreplicates are shown at nodes; (C) SplitsTree phylogenetic network (Huson & Bryant 2006) of the dataset for five mitochondrial and nuclear loci sequenced in the present study using the neighbornet algorithm. Asterisks in Fig. 2C indicate both phased sequences in one branch. Numbers along the edges are the bootstrap support values from 1000 replicates. The scale bar indicates one substitution per one hundred nucleotide positions. Taxon names of the phylogenetic network correspond with the Table 1. Inset shows a male Greek Meadow Viper from Dhëmbel Mountains, Albania.

FIGURE 3 in Nuclear markers support the mitochondrial phylogeny of Vipera ursinii – renardi complex (Squamata: Viperidae) and species status for the Greek meadow viper

FIGURE 3. Nuclear allele networks of the three analysed nuclear loci. Circle sizes are proportional to the number of samples/ sequences, small black circles indicate hypothetical haplotypes (alleles). This figure is published in colour in the online version, the colour of the circles in the network corresponds to the colour of mitochondrial lineages in Fig. 2A.

opencc-zeroNov 2021View details →

Root traits and soil microorganisms as drivers of plant-soil feedbacks within the sub-arctic tundra meadow

Plant-soil feedback (PSF) can influence the composition of various soil microorganisms (antagonistic and mutualistic), which can have reciprocal effects on plants. At the same time, we do not understand the effects of fine root traits in moderating microbial-driven PSF. We therefore conducted a greenhouse study to aid in understanding the relationship between root traits, soil community composition (PLFAs and high-throughput sequencing data) and plant-soil feedback (PSF). These data therefore include datasets with fine root traits, raw sequence reads from high-throughput sequencing for soil fungi, phospholipid fatty acid data and biomass data after the plant-soil feedback study.

opencc-zeroJan 2022View details →

Relative species abundance successfully predicts nestedness and interaction frequency of monthly pollination networks in an alpine meadow

Plant-pollinator networks have been repeatedly reported as cumulative ones that are described with >1 years observations. However, such cumulative networks are composed of pairwise interactions recorded at different periods, and thus may not be able to reflect the reality of species interactions in nature (e.g., early-flowering plants typically do not compete for shared pollinators with late-flowering plants, but they are assumed to do so in accumulated networks). Here, we examine the monthly sampling structure of an alpine plant-pollinator bipartite network over a two-year period to determine whether relative species abundance and species traits better explain the network structure of monthly networks than yearly ones. Although community composition and species abundance varied from one month to another, the monthly networks (as well as the yearly networks described with annual pooled data) had a highly nested structure, in which specialists directly interact with generalist partners. Moreover, relative species abundance predicted the nestedness in both the monthly and yearly networks and accounted for a statistically significant percentage of the variation (i.e., 20%-44%) in the pairwise interactions of monthly networks, but not yearly networks. The combination of relative species abundance and species traits (but not species traits only) showed a similar prediction power in terms of both network nestedness and pairwise interaction frequencies. Considering the previously recognized structural pattern and associated mechanisms of plant-pollinator networks, we propose that relative species abundance may be an important factor influencing both nestedness and interaction frequency of pollination networks.

opencc-zeroFeb 2022View details →

The Little Yellow and its guild in tropical meadows

Many butterfly species have benefitted from the expansion of their open grassland habitat. One of these is the little yellow, Eurema lisa, a widespread species occurring in North America in Florida and the Gulf states, throughout Central America south to Panama, the Caribbean Islands, and Bermuda. I examined the guild of meadow butterflies in a dairy pasture system in the Dominican Republic over a six-month period, surveyed possible nectar sources, and investigated the behavior of the little yellow within this guild. Twenty-three species of insect pollinated forbs were recorded. Thirty-three species of meadow butterflies were found in this habitat, and seven species of woodland edge butterflies transited the meadows in crossing between woodland patches. The little yellow nectared mostly on Sphagneticola trilobata, and divided its time nearly equally between nectar foraging flights and active, nonstop flight. It engaged in ascending flights with conspecifics and heterospecific congeners.

opencc-zeroFeb 2022View details →

Evaluating the success of upland hay meadow restoration in the North Pennines, UK, using green hay transfer

1. Traditionally managed mesotrophic species-rich upland hay meadows conforming to the National Vegetation Classification (NVC) MG3b, are one of the rarest grassland types in the UK, with substantial declines in botanical diversity over the last 50 years. Intensive spring grazing, earlier cut dates and increases in soil fertility causes a decline in characteristic positive indicator species in MG3b meadows, shifting communities from species-rich MG3b, to NVC MG6 meadows, and finally to species-poor NVC MG7 meadows. 2. The North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Partnership's Hay Time project aimed to improve the knowledge of upland hay meadows, and to investigate the success of seed addition of key positive indicator species. A landscape-scale restoration programme was undertaken between 2006 and 2012, harvesting seed from 82 species-rich donor meadows and spreading seed onto 89 receptor meadows (2282ha). Seed was harvested as green hay, using two types of donors: an MG6 donor (classed as restoration, with species such as Rhinanthus minor), or using an MG3b donor (classed as enhancement, with species such as Geranium sylvaticum). All 89 meadows were monitored, with a baseline botanical survey, and a repeat survey three to five years after seed addition. In addition, 41 meadows that did not have seed addition were monitored (controls). 3. Species-richness, diversity and floristic composition improved in 77 meadows three to five years after seed addition. Eighteen plant species had an increase in frequency in the receptor meadows but did not increase in frequency in the control meadows. The most successful were eight positive indicators which were annuals or fast-growing perennial plants (Anthoxanthum odoratum, Euphrasia spp., Myosotis discolor, Plantago lanceolata, Ranunculus acris, R. minor, Trifolium dubium and Trifolium pratense). However, rarer characteristic MG3b plants such as Alchemilla spp., G. sylvaticum, and Cirsium heterophyllum showed little signs of establishing. 4. Botanical evidence is demonstrating that seed addition using green hay is a successful way of restoring meadows to an MG6 community. What is now needed is an effective method to establish characteristic MG3b plants. Hand-collecting seeds and establishing plug plants, alongside seed addition and maintaining traditional management practises is one possible way forward.

opencc-zeroFeb 2022View details →

Data from: Increased annual methane uptake driven by warmer winters in an alpine meadow

Pronounced non-growing season warming and changes in soil freeze-thaw (F-T) cycles can dramatically alter net methane (CH4) exchange rates between soils and the atmosphere. However, the magnitudes and drivers of warming impacts on CH4 uptake in different stages of the F-T cycle are poorly understood in cold alpine ecosystems, which have been found to be a net sink of atmospheric CH4. Here, we reported a year-round ecosystem daily CH4 uptake in an alpine meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau after a five-year warming experiment that included a control, a low-level warming treatment (+2.4℃ at 5 cm soil depth), and a high-level warming treatment (+4.5℃ at 5 cm soil depth). We found that warming shortened the F-T cycle under the low-level warming and soils did not freeze under the high-level warming. Although both warming treatments increased the mean CH4 uptake rate, only the high-level warming significantly increased annual CH4 uptake compared to the control. The warming-induced stimulation of CH4 uptake mainly occurred in the cold season, which was mostly during spring thaw under low-level warming and during the frozen winter under high-level warming due to a longer period with thawed soil. We also found that warming significantly stimulated daily CH4 uptake mainly by reducing near-surface soil water content in the warm season, whereas both soil water content and temperature controlled daily CH4 uptake in different ways during the autumn freeze, frozen winter, and spring thaw periods of the control. Our study revealed a strong warming effect on CH4 uptake during the entire F-T cycle in the alpine meadow, especially the unfrozen winter. Our results also suggested the important roles of soil pH, available phosphorus, and methanotroph abundance in regulating annual CH4 uptake in response to warming, which should be incorporated into biogeochemical models for accurately forecasting CH4 fluxes under future climate scenarios.

opencc-by-4.0Apr 2022View details →

2019-2020 AR station alpine meadow ecosystem tower-based observation spectra, GPP and meteorological data

This is the dataset used in the Investigating the Performance of Red and Far-Red SIF for Monitoring GPP of Alpine Meadow Ecosystems paper. The dataset contains canopy red and far-red SIF data, GPP data, NDVI data, photosynthetically active radiation(PAR) data, temperature(Ta) data, and vapor pressure deficit(VPD) data during the 2019 and 2020 growing seasons in the alpine meadow ecosystem at the AR site(100.4643 E, 38.0473 N, altitude 3033 m).

opencc-zeroApr 2022View details →

Microbial community from species rich meadow supports plant specialists during meadow restoration

Soil properties and soil microbial communities can greatly affect plant communities, especially in disturbed ecosystems. However, their relative contribution to the final effect on plants has rarely been assessed. We manipulated the soil microbial community in microcosms by inoculating sterilized soils originating from preserved species-rich meadow and a restored meadow with a high and low diversity of microbial inoculum (manipulated by dilution of microbial community extract) from those soils in full factorial manner, yielding eight treatments (2 soil origins × 2 inoculum sources × 2 levels of inoculum diversity). In general, the biomass of plant meadow specialists (Filipendula vulgaris, Phleum phleoides, and Prunella grandiflora) was greater with the preserved meadow inoculum than with the restored meadow inoculum but tended to be greater in the restored meadow soil than in the preserved meadow soil. Two meadow generalists (Festuca rubra, and Centaurea jacea) were not significantly affected by soil origin, inoculum source, or inoculum diversity, but third generalist Plantago media produced greater biomass in the preserved meadow soil than in the restored meadow soil. Total aboveground biomass was not affected by the treatments, but total belowground biomass was greater with microbial inoculum from the preserved meadow than from the restored meadow, and this increase was greater in the restored meadow soil than in the preserved meadow soil. Our results indicate strong responses of the preserved meadow specialists to the soil microbial community, which may explain why they are rare in the meadows that were restored following agricultural use.

opencc-zeroApr 2022View details →

Restoring function: positive responses of carbon and nitrogen to 20 years of hydrologic restoration in montane meadows

Montane meadows are highly productive ecosystems that contain high densities of soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N). However, anthropogenic disturbances that lead to channel incision and disconnected floodplain hydrology have altered the C balance of many meadows, converting them from net C sinks to net sources of C to the atmosphere. Restoration efforts designed to reconnect floodplain hydrology may slow rates of soil C loss from degraded meadows and restore conditions for C sequestration and N immobilization, yet questions remain about the long-term impact of such efforts. Here, we used a 22-year meadow restoration chronosequence to measure the decadal impact of hydrologic restoration on above- and belowground C and N stocks and concentrations. Increases in herbaceous vegetation biomass preceded changes in soil C stocks, with the largest gains occurring belowground. Root biomass (0-15 cm) increased at a rate of 270.3 g m-2 y-1 and soil C stocks (0-15 cm) increased by 232.9 g C m-2 y-1 across the chronosequence. Increases in soil C concentration (2.99 g C kg-1 y-1) were tightly coupled with increases in soil N concentration (0.21 g N kg-1 y-1) and soil C:N did not vary with time since restoration. Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy results show that the fraction of labile aliphatic C-H and carboxylate C-O (COO) compounds in the soil increased with age of restoration and were positively correlated with soil C and N concentration. Our results demonstrate that restoration of floodplain hydrology in montane meadows has significant impacts on belowground C and N stocks, soil C and N concentration, and soil C chemistry within the first two decades following restoration.

opennotspecifiedApr 2022View details →

FIGURE 9 in Two new species of sea cucumbers (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) from the seagrass meadow of Penang, Malaysia

FIGURE 9. Ossicles of Acaudina spinifera sp. nov. USMCRC-Echi 029. A–B. Spinose doughnut-shaped bodies from dorsal body wall; C. Spinose perforated plates from dorsal body wall; D. Spinose sub-spherical bodies from dorsal body wall; E. Spinose perforated plates from caudal region body wall; F. Spinose sub-spherical bodies from caudal region body wall; G. Rosettes from caudal region body wall; H. Rosette-like rods from caudal region body wall; I. Thick rounded rods from caudal region body wall; J. Dumbbell-shaped rod from caudal region body wall; K. Rosette in tentacle.