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opencc-by-4.0Jan 2022View details →

Myzus persicae electrical penetration graph (EPG) live plant colonisation videos

Myzus persicae electrical penetration graph (EPG) traces with images of a single aphid colonising an Arabidopsis thaliana Col-0 leaf. The merged images and EPG traces show the process of plant colonisation ending in M. persicae phloem feeding as a video. Uploaded is also the script (written in the R programming language) to merge the EPGSystems analysis software 'EPG Stylet+a' exported, tabular EPG traces with camera images.

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2021View details →

Tables S1 and S2. Structural Diversity, Biosynthesis, and Function of Plant Falcarin-type Polyactylenic Lipids

Table S1. Compounds and structures used to generate structural similarity network in Figure 2. Table S2. List of functional FAD2s used to generate Figures 4 and 5.

opencc-zeroJan 2022View details →

Data from: Foliar herbivory creates subtle soil legacy effects that alter future herbivores via changes in plant community biomass allocation

Plants leave legacy effects in the soil they grow in, which can drive important vegetation processes, including productivity, community dynamics and species turnover. Plants at the same time also face continuous pressure posed by insect herbivores. Given the intimate interactions between plants and herbivores in ecosystems, plant identity and herbivory are likely to interactively shape soil legacies. However, the mechanisms that drive such legacy effects on future generations of plants and associated herbivores are little known. In a greenhouse study, we exposed ten common grasses and non-leguminous forbs individually to insect herbivory by two closely related noctuid caterpillars, Mamestra brassicae and Trichoplusia ni (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) or kept them free of herbivores. We then used the soil legacies created by these plant individuals to grow a plant community composed of all ten plant species in each soil, and exposed these plant communities to M. brassicae. We measured conditioning plant biomass, soil respiration and chemistry of the conditioned soils, as well as individual plant, plant community and herbivore biomass responses. At the end of the conditioning phase, soils with herbivore legacies had higher soil respiration, but only significantly so for M. brassicae. Herbivore legacies had minimal impacts on community productivity. However, path models reveal that herbivore-induced soil legacies affected responding herbivores through changes in plant community shoot: root ratios. Soil legacy effect patterns differed between functional groups. We found strong plant species and functional group-specific effects on soil respiration parameters, which in turn led to plant community shifts in grass: forb biomass ratios. Soil legacies were negative for the growth of plants of the same functional group. Synthesis: We show that insect herbivory, plant species and their functional groups, all incur soil microbial responses that lead to subtle (herbivory) or strong (plants and their functional group) effects in response plant communities and associated polyphagous herbivores. Hence, even though typically ignored, our study emphasizes that legacies of previous insect herbivory in the soil can influence current soil-plant-insect community interactions.

opencc-zeroJan 2022View details →

GIbase 1.0 Green Infrastructure plant species in England and Scotland

1. The contributions of constructed Green Infrastructure (GI) to biodiversity are often used to justify urban development projects, yet in many cases these contributions have been difficult to quantify. 2. As a result, a wide range of GI features are designed and implemented, often without knowledge of whether these features contribute meaningfully to biodiversity or if there are biosecurity risks presented by their design or procurement. Our understanding of design practices could be significantly improved if researchers and policy makers were able to draw upon a data resource that recorded the specifications used in development projects and facilitated easy access to them. 3. In the UK, Planning Portals act as substantial and untapped repositories of grey literature, containing highly detailed data with a diverse spatial coverage, recording the diversity and extent of existing habitats and specifications for proposed species assemblages. However, they are difficult to navigate or query, making it challenging to use these resources to gain macro-level insights from the data held within the portals. 4. In this paper, we present Plant GI 1.0, a new dataset that incorporates plant specifications from development projects across England and Scotland along with trait data associated with each species. 5. To test whether these data could be used to inform policy makers and researchers about current procurement and planting practices, we assessed the proposed GI features that are submitted by developers to Local Planning Authorities as part of the planning process, and then carried out fieldwork to record the extent to which these specifications were delivered.

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2020View details →

Extraction, Chemical Characterization and Antioxidant Activity of Bioactive Plant Extracts

Recording of the talk “Extraction, chemical characterization and antioxidant activity of bioactive plant extracts”, presented by Beatriz Nunes Silva at the 1st International Electronic Conference on Food Science and Functional Foods; MDPI Foods. Online virtual meeting (10-25 Nov 2020).

opencc-by-4.0Mar 2022View details →

Genetic and epigenetic differentiation across intertidal gradients in the foundation plant Spartina alterniflora

This record contains supplementary information for the article "Genetic and epigenetic differentiation across intertidal gradients in the foundation plant Spartina alterniflora". It contains the barcodes (barcodes.txt), the reference contigs (contigs.fasta.gz), the annotation of the reference contigs (mergedAnnot.csv.gz), the SNPs (snps.vcf.gz), the methylation data (methylation.txt.gz), and the experimental design (design.txt). All data are unfiltered. All reads are available on SRA (PRJNA798549). Note that the barcode sequences and the control nucleotide were already removed from the demultiplexed files (hence, for each sample, reads are also split into "watson" and "crick" based on the control nucleotide).

Data from: Plant life history traits rather than soil legacies determine colonisation of soil patches in a multi-species grassland

Interactions between plants and soil biota are increasingly shown to play critical roles in plant species co-existence processes. Plant species co-existence is thought to be promoted via biotic legacies that plant species leave behind in the soil after a plant disappears. These soil legacies are hypothesised to supress colonisation success when the preceding plant is of the same species, that is, when a plant species encounters its own, species-specific soil antagonists. However, colonisation of vacant spots in plant communities is in the first place determined by the ability of plants to reach such vacant locations. We currently lack an understanding of the explicit role of soil legacy effects and their relative contribution to colonisation processes in plant communities consisting of plant species inherently differing in colonisation ability. In experimental, outdoor plant communities consisting of eight grassland species, we tested the effect of five differently conditioned soil patches on plant species colonisation success over three consecutive growing seasons. We found that colonisation success was largely determined by the species' reproductive strategy, lateral spread and growth rate, and not by the plant species that conditioned the soil patch. Fast spreading, clonal plant species reached the soil patches first and initially attained the highest biomass inside the patch. One year later, slower spreading plant species colonised the patch via seedlings. Species with intrinsically high growth rates attained the highest biomass, decreasing biomass of the initial colonisers. While subtle differences between conditioned soil patches did occur, these were not strong enough to overcome the inherent differences in colonisation ability between the various plant species. Synthesis: Our results reject the hypothesis that colonisation of vacant soil patches in plant communities is strongly affected by the legacy that is left behind by the preceding plant species. Instead, plant species life history strategy plays a prominent role, driving sequential plant species replacements. Based on our results and recent accounts in literature we present a conceptual model for local cyclic dynamics in grassland communities, where soil legacy plays a role in affecting the performance of established plant species rather than colonisation of vacant patches.

Herbaceous perennial ornamental plants can support complex pollinator communities

Human-designed landscapes can host diverse pollinator communities, and the availability of floral resources is central to supporting insect biodiversity in highly modified environments. However, some urban landscapes have relatively few pollinator-attractive plant species and management in urban environments rarely considers the function of these plants in generating and supporting a stable ecological community. Evaluations of 25 cultivars within five commercially popular herbaceous perennial ornamental plant genera (Agastache, Echinacea, Nepeta, Rudbeckia, and Salvia) revealed variation in the total and proportional abundance of visitors attracted. These varieties supported multiple pollinator functional groups, however bees were the primary visitors to in this system. Cultivars were assessed according to their function within a plant-pollinator network. Comparisons of artificial networks created with the six most attractive and six least attractive cultivars demonstrated that a planting scheme using the most attractive cultivars would attract nearly four times as many bee species, including several specialists and rare species. Plant diversity in the landscape was correlated with abundance and diversity of pollinator visitors, demonstrating that community context shapes a plant's relative attractiveness to pollinators. We conclude that herbaceous perennial cultivars can support an abundance and diversity of pollinator visitors, however, planting schemes should take into consideration the effects of cultivar, landscape plant diversity, floral phenology, floral area, and contribution to a stable ecological community.

Changes in the structure of seed dispersal networks when including interaction outcomes from both plant and animal perspectives

Interaction frequency is the most common currency in quantitative ecological networks, although interaction quality can also affect benefits provided by mutualisms. Here, we evaluate if interaction quality can modify network topology, species' role and whether such changes affect community vulnerability to species loss. We use a well-examined study system (bird-lizard and fleshy-fruited plants in the 'thermophilous' woodland of the Canary Islands) to compare network and species-level metrics from a network based on fruit consumption rates (Interaction Frequency, IF), against networks reflecting functional outcomes: a Seed Dispersal Effectiveness network (SDE) quantifying recruitment, and a Fruit Resource Provisioning network (FRP), accounting for the nutrient supply of fruits. Nestedness decreased in the FRP and the SDE networks, due to the lack of association between fruit consumption rates and (1) nutrient content, and (2) recruitment at the seed deposition sites, respectively. The FRP network showed lower niche overlap due to resource use complementarity among frugivores. Interaction evenness was lower in the SDE network, in response to a higher dominance of lizards in the recruitment of heliophilous species. Such changes, however, did not result in enhanced vulnerability against extinctions. At the plant species level, strength changed in the FRP network in frequently consumed or highly nutritious species. The number of effective partners decreased for species whose seeds were deposited in unsuitable places for recruitment. In frugivores, strength was consistent across networks (SDE vs IF), showing that consumption rates outweighed differences in dispersal quality. In the case of lizards, the increased importance of nutrient-rich species resulted in a higher number of effective partners. Our work shows that although frequency strongly impacts interaction effects, accounting for quality improves our inferences about interaction assembly and species role. Thus, future studies including interaction outcomes from both partners' perspectives will provide valuable insights about the net effects of mutualistic interactions.

Parasitic trophic mode of plant host affects the extent of colonization, but does not induce systematic shifts in the composition of foliar endophytic assemblages in temperate meadow ecosystems

1. Foliar endophytic bacteria and fungi are increasingly being recognized as important drivers of plant host phenotype – affecting a wide range of eco-physiological processes. However, we are still lacking fundamental ecosystem-level knowledge about the structure, function, and inter-species interactions in endophytic assemblages associated with plant hosts sharing a common life strategy or ecological specialization. 2. In this study, we chose two groups of plants with contrasting physiology as model systems: parasites and their hosts. We assessed whether plant life history strategy, namely differences in nutrient acquisition and accumulation, plays a role in structuring above-ground microbiomes under field conditions. 3. We focused on the structure, colonization extent, and potential function of foliar endophytic bacteria and fungi in three root hemiparasitic species (Orobanchaceae), one stem holoparasite (Convolvulaceae), and their potential host plants co-occurring in species-rich temperate grassland ecosystems. For this purpose, we combined next generation amplicon sequencing with quantitative real-time PCR, chemical analyses of leaf tissue, and, in the case of bacteria, functional predictions using information deposited in available databases. 4. We found the foliar endophytic assemblages to be diverse, dominated by generalist taxa, but highly similar across all studied species. Despite of the highly contrasting leaf tissue chemistry in the parasitic and non-parasitic plant species, the parasitic trophic mode did not induce systematic shifts in the diversity, composition, or predicted biogeochemical function of the endophytic microbiomes under field conditions. However, compared to their potential hosts, leaves of both hemiparasitic and holoparasitic species harbored significantly lower fungal counts, estimated as ß-actin gene copies ng DNA-1, which suggests that parasitic plants may possess mechanisms to regulate the extent of colonization by endophytic fungi.

Widespread homogenization of plant communities in the Anthropocene

Native biodiversity decline and non-native species spread are major features of the Anthropocene. Both processes can drive biotic homogenization by reducing trait and phylogenetic differences in species assemblages between regions, thus diminishing the regional distinctiveness of biotas and likely have negative impacts on key ecosystem functions. However, a global assessment of this phenomenon is lacking. Here, using a dataset of >200,000 plant species, we demonstrate widespread and temporal decreases in species and phylogenetic turnover across grain sizes and spatial extents. The extent of homogenization within major biomes is pronounced and is overwhelmingly explained by non-native species naturalizations. Asia and North America are major sources of non-native species; however, the species they export tend to be phylogenetically close to recipient floras. Australia, the Pacific and Europe, in contrast, contribute fewer species to the global pool of non-natives, but represent a disproportionate amount of phylogenetic diversity. The timeline of most naturalisations coincides with widespread human migration within the last ~500 years, and demonstrates the profound influence humans exert on regional biotas beyond changes in species richness.

Climate-induced plasticity in leaf traits of riparian plants

Aim: Leaf inputs from riparian vegetation and its decomposition play a key role in energy and nutrients transfer in many stream ecosystems. Instream leaf-litter decomposition is mainly driven by leaf traits. Therefore, understanding and predicting leaf traits variation with current environmental changes and its putative effects on stream food webs is a critical challenge. Most studies have focused on the assumed higher interspecific leaf traits variability, with little research addressing an intraspecific perspective. Location: Andalusia, Spain Methods: We assessed the relative effects of climate and soil on the intraspecific variability in leaf traits of four common woody riparian species in permanent low-order Mediterranean streams along a wide aridity gradient. We used a space-for-time substitution approach to predict leaf traits changes and consequences for stream food webs in a future climate change scenario. Results: We found that climate had a major influence on intraspecific variability of leaf traits, but with opposite patterns depending on plant functional type. Results indicated that leaf quality—linked to palatability and decomposability—of Alnus glutinosa, Salix atrocinerea and Rubus ulmifolius (deciduous/semideciduous) will decrease with the forecasted aridification, whereas that of the evergreen Nerium oleander will increase. Main conclusions: Our findings suggest a decrease of intraspecific leaf-quality in riparian deciduous species with global warming in a relatively short term, which, in a longer term, may add to the forecasted dieback of deciduous species in riparian corridors of temperate climate zones. These forecasted changes have the potential to significantly impair ecosystem functioning of Mediterranean mountain streams currently under deciduous gallery forests.

opencc-by-4.0Feb 2022View details →

The distribution and impact of an invasive plant species (Senecio inaequidens) on a dune building engineer (Calamagrostis arenaria)

These data sets are used to run the analyses in the paper 'The distribution and impact of an invasive plant species (Senecio inaequidens) on a dune building engineer (Calamagrostis arenaria)' by Van De Walle et al., 2022, Neobiota (in progress). The presence/absence data (PA) of Senecio inaequidens in European coastal dunes can be found in 'Senecio_PA.xlsx', in the tab 'senecio_PA', together with the country and location where the occurrences were mapped. All coordinates of the samples are available in the tab 'coordinates samples'. 'Marram_growth_experiment.xlsx' contains the data gathered during the growth experiment. The origin of the sand is subdivided in 3 columns: 'Location' represents the location along the Belgian coast where sand was gathered, 'senecio' represents whether sand was gathered from underneath a senecio plant or not  and 'biota' represents whether biota could affect marram grass growth (biota = 0 thus means that the sand was sterilized).   Abstract Disturbance is thought to enhance the probability of invasive species establishment, a prerequisite for naturalization. Coastal dunes are characterized by disturbance in the form of sand dynamics. We studied the effect of this disturbance on the establishment and spread of an invasive plant species (Senecio inaequidens) in European coastal dunes. Local sand dynamics dictate the spatial configuration of marram grass (Calamagrostis arenaria). Therefore, marram grass configuration was used as a reliable proxy for disturbance. As marram grass plays a crucial role in natural dune formation, we evaluated the possible effects S. inaequidens could have on this process, if it would be able to naturalize in European coastal dunes.  We expected the highest probability of S. inaequidens establishment at intermediate marram grass cover because too low cover would increase sand burial, whereas high cover would increase competition. However, our results indicate that S. inaequidens is quite capable of handling higher levels of sand burial. Thus, probability of S. inaequidens establishment was high under low marram cover but slightly lowered when marram cover was high, hinting at the importance of competition. We expected a negative impact of Senecio-altered soils on marram grass growth mediated by soil biota. However, marram grass grew better in sand gathered underneath Senecio plants due to abiotic soil modifications. This enhanced growth may be caused by Senecio leaf litter elevating nutrient concentrations in an otherwise nutrient-poor substrate. If  such increased plant growth is a general phenomenon, further expansion of S. inaequidens could accelerate natural succession in European coastal dunes.

Data from: Partial mycoheterotrophy in green plants forming Paris-type arbuscular mycorrhiza requires a thorough investigation

Recently, many green plants forming Paris-type arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) have been suggested to receive fungal carbon (Giesemann et al. 2020b, 2021). Whereas the enrichment of natural abundance of heavy stable isotopes (particularly 13C) has been considered as strong evidence for this 'partial mycoheterotrophy,' we show our own data on isotopic abundances and mycorrhizal colonization in Japanese plants and argue that the 13C-enrichment may not always be the result of acquiring carbon from AM fungi.

Climate warming changes synchrony of plants and pollinators

Climate warming changes the phenology of many species. When interacting organisms respond differently, climate change may disrupt their interactions and affect the stability of ecosystems. Here, we used GBIF occurrence records to examine phenology trends in plants and their associated insect pollinators in Germany since the 1980s. We found strong phenological advances in plants, but differences in the extent of shifts among pollinator groups. The temporal trends in plant and insect phenologies were generally associated with interannual temperature variation, and thus likely driven by climate change. When examining the synchrony of species-level plant-pollinator interactions, their temporal trends differed among pollinator groups. Overall, plant-pollinator interactions become more synchronized, mainly because the phenology of plants, which historically lagged behind that of the pollinators, responded more strongly to climate change. However, if the observed trends continue, many interactions may become more asynchronous again in the future. Our study suggests that climate change affects the phenologies of both plants and insects, and that it also influences the synchrony of plant-pollinator interactions.

Data from: Scale-dependence of landscape heterogeneity effects on plant invasions

Invasive alien species are amongst the most concerning threats to native biodiversity worldwide, and the level of landscape heterogeneity is considered to affect spatial patterns of their occurrence and spread. However, as previous studies on these associations report contrasting results, the role of landscape heterogeneity on its susceptibility to invasions remains poorly understood. Landscape heterogeneity is usually described by two measures: configuration and composition. Both measures may differently affect invasive species and these impacts may be additionally scale-dependent. Nevertheless, their relative contribution to invasion patterns is poorly known. We investigated the effect of two landscape heterogeneity components: configuration (edge density) and composition (number and evenness of land-cover types) measured at different spatial scales (from within 0.25 km to 5 km of the studied localities) on the local abundance of one of the most invasive alien plant species in Europe, the North American goldenrods (Solidago canadensis and S. gigantea). Using publicly available geospatial environmental data and a novel method based on remote analysis of Google Street View images, we collected and analyzed large dataset on goldenrod occurrence along 1347 roadside transects in agricultural landscapes of Poland. Both the compositional and configurational heterogeneity were positively associated with the local abundance of goldenrods, however the effect size of these relationships was dependent on spatial scale. While abundance-heterogeneity associations were most pronounced at the largest spatial scale for compositional heterogeneity, the pattern was the opposite for configurational heterogeneity. Landscape heterogeneity is a clear correlate of plant invasion potential, with occurrences of invasive plants generally higher in more heterogeneous landscapes. However, scale-dependence of this association means that researchers and practitioners may miss the association if only concentrating on a single spatial scale. While increasing heterogeneity of rural landscapes is widely introduced as a way to promote farmland biodiversity, we show that it may also support invasive plants and thus conflict with original goals of biodiversity-oriented strategies. Therefore, we suggest implementing regular management and eradication schemes in most heterogeneous landscapes. Finally, we demonstrate how remote analysis of plant invasions using existing imagery can advance our understanding of invasion biology.

opencc-by-4.0Feb 2022View details →

Herbal plants for RIFA management

This dataset is used to evaluate the feasibility of planting herbal species for RIFA control.

opencc-by-4.0Mar 2022View details →

Virtual Storage Plant (VSP) final demonstration of voltage control

This the dataset of final demostration of using distributed control with consensus algorithm for voltage regulation using a virtual storage plant. The dataset contains raw data from 1 experiment for 1 HLU5-UC3 scenarios: TC_5.03. The experiments were conducted at the University of Zagreb's Smart Grid Laboratory (SGLab).

opencc-zeroMar 2022View details →

Divergent climate change effects on widespread dryland plant communities driven by climatic and ecohydrological gradients

Plant community response to climate change will be influenced by individual plant responses that emerge from competition for limiting resources that fluctuate through time and vary across space. Projecting these responses requires an approach that integrates environmental conditions and species interactions that result from future climatic variability. Dryland plant communities are being substantially affected by climate change because their structure and function are closely tied to precipitation and temperature, yet impacts vary substantially due to environmental heterogeneity, especially in topographically complex regions. Here, we quantified the effects of climate change on big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) plant communities that span 76 million ha in the western United States. We used an individual-based plant simulation model that represents intra- and inter-specific competition for water availability, which is represented by a process-based soil water balance model. For dominant plant functional types, we quantified changes in biomass and characterized agreement among 52 future climate scenarios. We then used a multivariate matching algorithm to generate fine-scale interpolated surfaces of functional type biomass for our study area. Results suggest geographically divergent responses of big sagebrush to climate change (changes in biomass of -20% to +27%), declines in perennial C3 grass and perennial forb biomass in most sites, and widespread, consistent, and sometimes large increases in perennial C4 grasses. The largest declines in big sagebrush, perennial C3 grass and perennial forb biomass were simulated in warm, dry sites. In contrast, we simulated no change or increases in functional type biomass in cold, moist sites. There was high agreement among climate scenarios on climate change impacts to functional type biomass, except for big sagebrush. Collectively, these results suggest divergent responses to warming in moisture-limited vs. temperature-limited sites and potential shifts in the relative importance of some of the dominant functional types that result from competition for limiting resources.