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229 results for “plant species richness”

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Experimental extensification of mountain grasslands restores plant species richness but not species composition in the mid-term

<ol> <li>The traditional grasslands that characterize the cultural landscapes of the palaeartic mountain massifs represent biodiversity hotspots. Yet, they are currently threatened by the intensification of farming practices, notably excesses in fertilization and irrigation.</li> <li>We experimentally investigated the passive restoration of montane and subalpine hay meadows after six years of management intensification, with different levels of fertilization and irrigation, followed by five years of release of intensive management, i.e. extensification. More specifically, relying on a full randomized block-design replicated at 11 Swiss study sites constituted of extensively-managed meadows, we exposed during six years (2010-2015) four 20 m diameter plots to three levels of intensification (low, medium and high inputs), while a fourth plot served as a control (no inputs). In the second phase of the experiment (2016-2020), all study meadows underwent farming extensification.</li> <li>We monitored total species richness and plant diversity (Simpson diversity), indicator plant species as well as the composition and variability of the plant communities based on Bray-Curtis dissimilarity distances.</li> <li>We found that total species richness decreased in the most intensified plots after six years of intensification, but all plots retrieved their baseline species richness after five years of re-extensification. Additionally, we found no difference between the years in plant diversity (Simpson diversity) among the treatments. Yet, intensification led to different plants communities' compositions in all three levels of intensification in 2015 compared to the extensive plots, and this structural difference remained after five years of re-extensification.</li> <li>Synthesis and applications. Land-use intensification induces a rapid impoverishment of the flora of mountain meadows. Our results demonstrate the potential of mountain hay meadows to passively restore plant species richness after re-extensification, however plants communities did not fully recover. We recommend maintaining fertilization inputs as low as possible and operating active restoration on grasslands formerly intensified.</li> </ol>

opencc-zeroDec 2022View details →

dryad36/100

Data from: High vascular plant species richness in the Usumacinta River Basin: a comprehensive floristic checklist for a natural region in the Mesoamerican biodiversity hotspot

Background: Mesoamerica is one of the most important biodiversity hotspots on the planet. Despite significant efforts made over two centuries to contribute to the floristic knowledge of this region, our understanding of its flora is still scattered and uneven. Questions: What is the magnitude of the vascular plant species richness in the Usumacinta River Basin? Study site and dates: Usumacinta River Basin (Guatemala and Mexico), 1838–2018. Methods: We compiled the checklist by systematizing the floristic information acquired from various sources derived from numerous floristic and ecological studies. Results: We recorded 6,977 species, 1,892 genera, and 274 families. The largest numbers of species (5,746) and records (58,859) correspond to the Mexican portion of the Usumacinta River Basin, compared to its Guatemalan counterpart (4,445 species and 19,952 records). The most species-rich families were Orchidaceae (598 species), Fabaceae (512), and Asteraceae (476). The prevalence of these and all other families with significant contributions to the flora varied among three elevation-defined sectors into which the Usumacinta River Basin was subdivided (lower, middle, and upper basin). Conclusions: The Usumacinta River Basin is a strategic region for plant biodiversity conservation as it hosts almost one-third of all vascular plant species known for Mesoamerica and ca. 6 % of the entire flora in the Americas. Further botanical exploration should focus on those areas of the basin for which little or no information is available in order to gain a better appreciation of its flora.

opencc-zeroMar 2023View details →

dryad36/100

The functioning of alpine grassland ecosystems: climate outweighs plant species richness

<ol> <li>The biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationship has received significant attention in recent decades. It has been widely demonstrated that plant diversity plays a crucial role in enhancing the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. However, few studies have tested the influence of plant species richness in mediating the impacts of climate on ecosystem functions at large spatial scales. </li> <li>To address this gap, we utilized data from field surveys across broad climatic gradients at the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. Our goal was to examine the importance of plant species richness for the functioning of alpine grassland ecosystems, specifically productivity and soil carbon sequestration. </li> <li>Our results showed strong positive correlations between ecosystem functioning and growing season precipitation as well as species richness. In contrast, there was a negative correlation with growing season temperature. Notably, the positive effect of growing season precipitation on ecosystem functioning outweighed the negative effect of growing season temperature. The indirect effects of growing season precipitation and temperature on ecosystem functioning through changes in species richness were weak. Furthermore, the inclusion of climate factors in the model weakened the relationships between species richness and ecosystem functioning.</li> <li>Synthesis. Our findings demonstrate that climate factors are more important than species richness for the provisioning of ecosystem functions at large spatial scales. In summary, our study underscores the importance of considering climate factors alongside species richness when assessing ecosystem functioning across extensive geographical areas.</li> </ol>

opencc-zeroSep 2023View details →

dryad36/100

Relationships between plant species richness and grazing intensity in a semiarid ecosystem

Plant species richness is an important property of ecosystems that is altered by grazing. In a semiarid environment, we tested the hypotheses that (1) small-scale herbaceous plant species richness declines linearly with increasing grazing intensity by large ungulates, (2) precipitation and percent sand interact with grazing intensity, and (3) response of herbaceous plant species richness to increasing intensity of ungulate grazing varies with patch productivity. During January to March 2012, we randomly allocated 50, 1.5-m x 1.5-m grazing exclosures within each of six 2,500 ha study sites across South Texas, USA. We counted the number of herbaceous plant species and harvested vegetation in 0.25-m2 plots within exclosures (ungrazed control plots) and in the grazed area outside the exclosures (grazed treatment plots) during October and November 2012–2019. We estimated percent use (grazing intensity) based on the difference in herbaceous plant standing crop between control plots and treatment plots. We selected the negative binomial regression model that best explained the relationship between grazing intensity and herbaceous plant species richness using the Schwarz Bayesian Information Criterion. After accounting for the positive effect of precipitation and percent sand on herbaceous plant species richness, species richness/0.25 m2 increased slightly from 0 to ~ 30% grazing intensity and then declined with increasing grazing intensity. Linear and quadratic responses of herbaceous plant species richness to increasing grazing intensity were greater for the least productive patches (<15.7 g/0.25 m2) than for productive patches (≥15.7 g/0.25 m2). Our results followed the pattern predicted by the intermediate disturbance hypothesis model for the effect of grazing intensity on small-scale herbaceous plant species richness.

opencc-zeroOct 2023View details →

dryad36/100