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1
Nerlekar, Ashish N., and Joseph W. Veldman. "High plant diversity and slow assembly of old-growth grasslands." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117, no. 31 (July 16, 2020): 18550–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1922266117.
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Earth’s ancient grasslands and savannas—hereafter old-growth grasslands—have long been viewed by scientists and environmental policymakers as early successional plant communities of low conservation value. Challenging this view, emerging research suggests that old-growth grasslands support substantial biodiversity and are slow to recover if destroyed by human land uses (e.g., tillage agriculture, plantation forestry). But despite growing interest in grassland conservation, there has been no global test of whether old-growth grasslands support greater plant species diversity than secondary grasslands (i.e., herbaceous communities that assemble after destruction of old-growth grasslands). Our synthesis of 31 studies, including 92 timepoints on six continents, found that secondary grasslands supported 37% fewer plant species than old-growth grasslands (log response ratio = −0.46) and that secondary grasslands typically require at least a century, and more often millennia (projected mean 1,400 y), to recover their former richness. Young (<29 y) secondary grasslands were composed of weedy species, and even as their richness increased over decades to centuries, secondary grasslands were still missing characteristic old-growth grassland species (e.g., long-lived perennials). In light of these results, the view that all grasslands are weedy communities, trapped by fire and large herbivores in a state of arrested succession, is untenable. Moving forward, we suggest that ecologists should explicitly consider grassland assembly time and endogenous disturbance regimes in studies of plant community structure and function. We encourage environmental policymakers to prioritize old-growth grassland conservation and work to elevate the status of old-growth grasslands, alongside old-growth forests, in the public consciousness.
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Koyama, Asuka, Tomoyo F. Koyanagi, Munemitsu Akasaka, Yoshinobu Kusumoto, Syuntaro Hiradate, Masayuki Takada, and Kimiko Okabe. "Partitioning the plant diversity of semi-natural grasslands across Japan." Oryx 52, no. 3 (February 20, 2017): 471–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0030605316001526.
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AbstractEffective conservation of global species diversity requires a clear understanding of spatial scales that support overall diversity across broad scales. Abandonment of semi-natural grasslands has increased their fragmentation and decreased their areal extent. We quantified diversity patterns of plant communities in Japan across hierarchical scales to facilitate the development of an effective nationwide strategy for conserving species diversity in remnant semi-natural grasslands. We applied additive partitioning of plant species diversity, using a nested hierarchical design at three spatial scales (quadrat, grassland, and western and eastern regions of Japan) for three groups of plant species (all species, grassland species and national Red Listed species). We consistently found lower proportions of among-quadrats diversity, and higher proportions of among-grasslands diversity and between-regions diversity in the overall diversity of the entire species complement than would be expected by chance. The high contribution of among-grasslands diversity to overall diversity suggests that each grassland had a unique species content. The second-ranking contributor to overall diversity differed between grassland species and Red Listed species: the second-ranking contributor for grassland species was diversity at the among-quadrats scale but the second-ranking contributor for all species and for Red Listed species was diversity at the between-regions scale. Thus, effective conservation of diversity of the entire species complement in remnant semi-natural grasslands requires preservation of beta diversity in individual grasslands. Our findings highlight the importance of strengthening local preservation and restoration activities within each grassland, and of nationwide strategies for conserving Red Listed species in remnant semi-natural grassland communities.
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DiTomaso, Joseph M., and Guy B. Kyser. "Effects of Aminopyralid on California Annual Grassland Plant Communities." Invasive Plant Science and Management 8, no. 1 (March 2015): 98–109. http://dx.doi.org/10.1614/ipsm-d-14-00010.1.
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AbstractAminopyralid is the most commonly used herbicide for the control of yellow starthistle and other invasive thistles in annual grasslands of California. Although the effects of aminopyralid on native plant communities over a 2-yr period have been evaluated in prairies dominated by perennial species in the northern central states, similar evaluations have not been conducted in grassland communities of California, which are generally composed of a high diversity of native and nonnative annual species. In this study we monitored the effects of 53 and 123 g ae aminopyralid ha−1on individual species cover and species richness over three growing seasons in two locations on California annual grassland. Treated plots were compared to untreated plots in randomized complete-block designs. Results were largely consistent between the two trials. In the first season after treatment, both rates of aminopyralid reduced dicot cover significantly, particularly members of the Asteraceae and Fabaceae. Treated plots also showed reduced species richness. However, these differences were less pronounced in the second season after treatment, particularly at the low rate. By the third season after treatment in both sites, there were no longer any significant effects on cover or species richness at the low herbicide rate. On California annual grasslands, winter applications of low rates of aminopyralid have been shown to give excellent control of yellow starthistle, providing long-term benefits to grassland ecosystems. Results of the current study suggest that negative impacts of aminopyralid on the desirable native forb community are transitory.
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Möhrle, Kathrin, Hugo E. Reyes-Aldana, Johannes Kollmann, and Leonardo H. Teixeira. "Suppression of an Invasive Native Plant Species by Designed Grassland Communities." Plants 10, no. 4 (April 15, 2021): 775. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/plants10040775.
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Grassland biodiversity is declining due to climatic change, land-use intensification, and establishment of invasive plant species. Excluding or suppressing invasive species is a challenge for grassland management. An example is Jacobaea aquatica, an invasive native plant in wet grasslands of Central Europe, that is causing problems to farmers by being poisonous, overabundant, and fast spreading. This study aimed at testing designed grassland communities in a greenhouse experiment, to determine key drivers of initial J. aquatica suppression, thus dismissing the use of pesticides. We used two base communities (mesic and wet grasslands) with three plant traits (plant height, leaf area, seed mass), that were constrained and diversified based on the invader traits. Native biomass, community-weighted mean trait values, and phylogenetic diversity (PD) were used as explanatory variables to understand variation in invasive biomass. The diversified traits leaf area and seed mass, PD, and native biomass significantly affected the invader. High native biomass permanently suppressed the invader, while functional traits needed time to develop effects; PD effects were significant at the beginning of the experiment but disappeared over time. Due to complexity and temporal effects, community weighted mean traits proved to be moderately successful for increasing invasion resistance of designed grassland communities.
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Weigelt, A., W. W. Weisser, N. Buchmann, and M. Scherer-Lorenzen. "Biodiversity for multifunctional grasslands: equal productivity in high-diversity low-input and low-diversity high-input systems." Biogeosciences 6, no. 8 (August 21, 2009): 1695–706. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bg-6-1695-2009.
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Abstract. Modern grassland management seeks to provide many ecosystem services and experimental studies in resource-poor grasslands have shown a positive relationship between plant species richness and a variety of ecosystem functions. Thus, increasing species richness might help to enhance multifunctionality in managed grasslands if the relationship between species richness and ecosystem functioning is equally valid in high-input grassland systems. We tested the relative effects of low-input to high-input management intensities and low to high plant species richness. Using a combination of mowing frequencies (1, 2 or 4 cuts per season) and fertilisation levels (0, 100 and 200 kg N ha−1 a−1), we studied the productivity of 78 experimental grassland communities of increasing plant species richness (1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 species with 1 to 4 functional groups) in two successive years. Our results showed that in both years higher diversity was more effective in increasing productivity than higher management intensity: the 16-species mixtures had a surplus of 449 g m−2 y−1 in 2006 and 492 g m−2 y−1 in 2007 over the monoculture yields whereas the high-input management resulted in only 315 g m−2 y−1 higher productivity in 2006 and 440 g m−2 y−1 in 2007 than the low-input management. In addition, high-diversity low-input grassland communities had similar productivity as low-diversity high-input communities. The slopes of the biodiversity – productivity relationships significantly increased with increasing levels of management intensity in both years. We conclude that the biological mechanisms leading to enhanced biomass production in diverse grassland communities are as effective for productivity as a combination of several agricultural measures. Our results demonstrate that high-diversity low-input grassland communities provide not only a high diversity of plants and other organisms, but also ensure high forage yields, thus granting the basis for multifunctional managed grasslands.
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Weigelt, A., W. W. Weisser, N. Buchmann, and M. Scherer-Lorenzen. "Biodiversity for multifunctional grasslands: equal productivity in high-diversity low-input and low-diversity high-input systems." Biogeosciences Discussions 6, no. 2 (March 24, 2009): 3187–214. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bgd-6-3187-2009.
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Abstract. Modern grassland management seeks to provide many ecosystem services and experimental studies in resource-poor grasslands have shown a positive relationship between plant species richness and a variety of ecosystem functions. Thus, increasing species richness might help to enhance multifunctionality in managed grasslands if the relationship between species richness and ecosystem functioning is equally valid in high-input grassland systems. We tested the relative effects of low-input to high-input management intensities and low to high plant species richness. Using a combination of mowing frequencies (1, 2 or 4 cuts per season) and fertilization levels (0, 100 and 200 kg N ha−1 a−1), we studied the productivity of 78 experimental grassland communities of increasing plant species richness (1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 species with 1 to 4 functional groups) in two successive years. Our results showed that in both years higher diversity was more effective in increasing productivity than higher management intensity: the 16-species mixtures had a surplus of 452 g m−2 y−1 in 2006 and 504 g m−2 y−1 in 2007 over the monoculture yields whereas the high-input management resulted in only 315 g m−2 y−1 higher productivity in 2006 and 440 g m−2 y−1 in 2007 than the low-input management. In addition, high-diversity low-input grassland communities had similar productivity as low-diversity high-input communities. The slopes of the biodiversity – productivity relationships significantly increased with increasing levels of management intensity in both years. We conclude that the biological mechanisms leading to enhanced biomass production in diverse grassland communities are as effective for productivity as a combination of several agricultural measures. Our results demonstrate that high-diversity low-input grassland communities provide not only a high diversity of plants and other organisms, but also ensure high forage yields, thus granting the basis for multifunctional managed grasslands.
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Schwarz, A. G., and Ross W. Wein. "Threatened dry grasslands in the continental boreal forests of Wood Buffalo National Park." Canadian Journal of Botany 75, no. 8 (August 1, 1997): 1363–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/b97-849.
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Dry grasslands in Wood Buffalo National Park are unique biological features at 60°N latitude, since they contain plant species normally found in more southern grasslands at 50–55°N latitude. The objectives of this study were to inventory dry grasslands, classify them according to similarity of species cover, and establish relationships with understory species in Populus tremuloides and shrub communities. Dry grasslands were studied at nine sites; most were clustered in the Salt River and Peace Point areas. The largest unit of grassland was about 3.0 ha, and most units were less than 0.5 ha. This contrasts with the hundreds of hectares recorded earlier in the century. Of the 128 vascular plant species identified, 29 are considered as southern, and of these, 15 are regionally rare. Sixty-four plots were classified into nine community types, using two-way indicator species analysis. A group of six communities were dominated by grass and shrub species with a component of southern grassland species. Three communities, strongly dominated by Populus and shrubs, represent community types that invade dry grasslands. Ordination of plots using detrended correspondence analysis showed relationships among the community types and a clear separation of southern grassland species from those found in forest communities. Vascular plant diversity, as represented by mean species richness, ranged from about 15 to 28, and Shannon diversity indices ranged from 1.883 to 2.615. The cover of southern grassland species was negatively correlated (correlation coefficient of −0.524) with cover of tall shrubs and trees, suggesting that the dry grasslands of Wood Buffalo National Park are threatened by tree and shrub invasion, which is due, in part, to a lack of recent fires at these sites. Key words: northern grasslands, biodiversity, endangered species, endangered spaces.
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Thompson, D. J., B. J. Wheatley, J. S. Church, R. Newman, and J. Walker. "Comparing grazing and resting electivity of beef cattle for BC bunchgrass communities using GPS collars." Canadian Journal of Animal Science 95, no. 4 (December 2015): 499–507. http://dx.doi.org/10.4141/cjas-2014-116.
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Thompson, D., Wheatley, B. J., Church, J. S., Newman, R. and Walker, J. 2015. Comparing grazing and resting electivity of beef cattle for BC bunchgrass communities using GPS collars. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 95: 499–507. Grasslands in the interior of British Columbia often contain a mosaic of plant communities that provide variable habitat for free-ranging cattle. Global positioning system (GPS) collars have been used to study natural habitat use by cattle on a coarse scale (such as riparian, grassland and forested habitats), but not on a fine scale (such as choice among grassland plant communities). Cows equipped with GPS collars were tracked during the spring grazing period for 4 yr. Six grassland pastures were used as replicates. The activity (grazing or resting) of cattle at GPS locations was classified using a distance travelled algorithm. A detailed plant community map of five plant community types was constructed, and cow relative use within the plant communities was determined. Electivity, which scales for differences in community area, was used to compare the use of plant communities. While grazing, electivity for the Kentucky bluegrass community (mean +0.3) was greater than for the bluebunch wheatgrass community (mean −0.2). While resting, these differences were more pronounced. GPS collars can be used to estimate fine-scale choices among grassland communities.
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Diviaková, Andrea, Slavomír Stašiov, Radovan Pondelík, Vladimír Pätoprstý, and Milan Novikmec. "Environmental and Management Control over the Submontane Grassland Plant Communities in Central Slovakia." Diversity 13, no. 1 (January 14, 2021): 30. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/d13010030.
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In Central Europe, submontane grassland plant biodiversity is currently threatened by management intensification as well as by the cessation and abandonment of management activities (extensive grazing and mowing). Although the vegetation of Central European grasslands has been well described by phytosociological papers, there is still a need to improve our understanding of the effect of both management and environment on species richness and community composition. We studied submontane grassland communities in Central Slovakia. Our study showed that both environmental variables and management were important for shaping the submontane grassland species richness and floristic composition. Plant species richness showed a weak negative relationship with soil pH. When grassland management types were analyzed individually, the amount of phosphorus, nitrogen, pH, and altitude were all found to be significantly correlated with plant species richness or diversity. Management type and local environmental factors (i.e., incoming solar radiation) both determined community composition.
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Crawley, M. J. "British Plant Communities, Vol. 3: grassland and montane communities." Trends in Ecology & Evolution 8, no. 12 (December 1993): 459–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0169-5347(93)90013-f.
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Riah-Anglet, Wassila, Elodie Cusset, Rémi Chaussod, Stéven Criquet, Marie-Paule Norini, Nathalie Cheviron, Christian Mougin, et al. "Introducing Grasslands into Crop Rotations, a Way to Restore Microbiodiversity and Soil Functions." Agriculture 11, no. 10 (September 23, 2021): 909. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11100909.
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The aims of this study were to investigate (i) the influence of aging grassland in the recovery of soil state by the comparison of permanent grassland, two restored grasslands, two temporary grasslands, and a continuous crop in the same pedoclimatic conditions, (ii) the extent and the persistence of the potential changes following a grassland/or cropland phase. We hypothesized that the level of microbial communities and enzyme activities could achieve a profile close to that of permanent grassland after the introduction of grassland for a few years in crop rotations. Soil biophysicochemical properties were studied. Our results indicated that the abundance of microbial communities and enzyme activities were positively correlated to soil C and N contents and negatively correlated to soil pH. The changes in microbial abundance level were strongly linked to the changes in functional level when grasslands are introduced into crop rotations. We also showed that a continuous crop regime had a stronger legacy on the soil biota and functions. By contrast, the legacy of a grassland regime changed quickly when the grassland regime is interrupted by recent culture events. A grassland regime enabled the restoration of functions after more than five cumulative years in the grassland regime.
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Setubal, Robberson Bernal, and Ilsi Iob Boldrini. "Phytosociology and natural subtropical grassland communities on a granitic hill in southern Brazil." Rodriguésia 63, no. 3 (September 2012): 513–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/s2175-78602012000300003.
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A phytosociological survey was carried out in a study area located at Serra do Sudeste, southern Brazil, where forests and grasslands are distributed in a mosaic, seeking to unravel diversity patterns in four different grassland communities. Grassland management traditionally adopted by the local population is characterized by burning practices that aim to eliminate woody species, delaying the forest expansion process that is favored by the extant climate. The number of plots distributed per community was as follows: rocky grasslands (17), dry grasslands (33), moist grasslands (15) and marshy grasslands (5). Different numbers of plots were used due to the natural conditions of these communities, with highest cover for dry grasslands, followed by rocky, moist and marshy grasslands. Data analyses consisted of calculating community indexes and parameters and exploratory multivariate analysis. We verified that c. 15% of species among the 177 registered taxa were highly dominant in the constitution of the vegetation matrix in all communities, whereas most of the species showed low frequency and cover values. Rocky and dry grasslands showed higher similarity and diversity indexes than moist and marshy grasslands. We concluded that the large number of rare or intermediate-frequency species is decisive for the high diversity found in these grasslands.
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Wu, Jianping, Xuyin Gong, Xixi Yao, and David P. Casper. "Plant communities responding to grazing pressure by sheep in an Alpine meadow." Translational Animal Science 4, no. 2 (April 1, 2020): 1174–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/tas/txaa075.
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Abstract The Chinese grassland ecosystem is an important national asset that not only impacts climate regulation, soil and water conservation, wind protection, and soil carbon and nitrogen fixation but is also an important contributor to maintaining grassland biodiversity while supporting livestock production. Grasslands are a key component contributing to the productivity of grazing animals but also provide basic food production via livestock grazing for herder survival. Grazing is the most basic means of grassland utilization but is considered one of the more important disturbance factors controllable by humans that has a universal and profound impact on the grassland ecosystem due to animal density and over grazing. For Alpine grasslands, it is not clear what grazing intensity (GI) can be achieved to improve plant biodiversity and vegetative nutritional value while improving sheep productivity. This field experiment was conducted for 7 yr comparing the impact of different GI on vegetation community characteristics, nutritional value, and sheep growth performance on the Alpine meadows of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. The GI measured were: Control: 0 sheep/ha; Low: 3.7 sheep/ha; Medium: 5.3 sheep/ha; and Heavy: 7.6 sheep/ha. The grazing experiment started in 2008, but experimental data collection and analyses were collected for the final 4 yr of 2015 through 2018. All grazing intensities >0 sheep/ha reduced (P < 0.05) plant height (27%, 46%, and 48%, respectively, for 3.7, 5.3, and 7.6 sheep/ha), ground coverage (16%, 24%, and 48%), and above ground biomass (2%, 42% and 53%) of the various plant communities while increasing (P < 0.05) the grass community density (individuals/m2) compared to a nongrazed Control. With increasing GI, the community height, coverage, and above-ground biomass decreased (P < 0.05), and the plant community density increased then decreased (P < 0.05) compared to Control. As GI increased, the available community biomass nutritional quality increased (P < 0.05). Comprehensive analysis showed that the community density (quantity) and nutritional quality were the highest when the GI was 5.3 sheep/ha. The higher the GI, the greater the grass’s nutritive value with lower above-ground net primary production (ANPP). When GI was the highest, the average daily gain (ADG) per hectare was the highest in the short term, but the highest GI endangers the ANPP and profitability of the grassland grazing ecosystem in the long term. Targeting a moderate GI (5.3 sheep/ha) can provide 78% of the ADG per hectare of the highest GI, which meets the requirement of maintaining a sustainable grazing grassland.
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Skórka, Piotr, Magdalena Lenda, and Dawid Moroń. "Roads affect the spatial structure of butterfly communities in grassland patches." PeerJ 6 (August 14, 2018): e5413. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5413.
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Roads may have an important negative effect on animal dispersal rate and mortality and thus the functioning of local populations. However, road verges may be surrogate habitats for invertebrates. This creates a conservation dilemma around the impact of roads on invertebrates. Further, the effect of roads on invertebrates is much less understood than that on vertebrates. We studied the effect of roads on butterflies by surveying abundance, species richness and composition, and mortality in ten grassland patches along high-traffic roads (∼50–100 vehicles per hour) and ten reference grassland patches next to unpaved roads with very little traffic (<1 vehicle per day) in southern Poland. Five 200-m transects parallel to the road were established in every grassland patch: at a road verge, 25 m from the verge, in the patch interior, and 25 m from the boundary between the grassland and field and at the grassland-arable field boundary. Moreover, one 200-m transect located on a road was established to collect roadkilled butterflies. The butterfly species richness but not abundance was slightly higher in grassland patches adjacent to roads than in reference grassland patches. Butterfly species composition in grasslands adjacent to roads differed from that in the reference patches. Proximity of a road increased variability in butterfly abundances within grassland patches. Grassland patches bordering roads had higher butterfly abundance and variation in species composition in some parts of the grassland patch than in other parts. These effects were not found in reference grassland patches, where butterfly species and abundance were more homogenously distributed in a patch. Plant species composition did not explain butterfly species. However, variance partitioning revealed that the presence of a road explained the highest proportion of variation in butterfly species composition, followed by plant species richness and abundance in grassland patches. Road mortality was low, and the number of roadkilled butterflies was less than 5% of that of all live butterflies. Nevertheless, the number and species composition of roadkilled butterflies were well explained by the butterfly communities living in road verges but not by total butterfly community structure in grassland patches. This study is the first to show that butterfly assemblages are altered by roads. These results indicate that: (1) grassland patches located near roads are at least as good habitats for butterflies as reference grassland patches are, (2) roads create a gradient of local environmental conditions that increases variation in the abundance of certain species and perhaps increases total species richness in grassland patches located along roads, and (3) the impact of roads on butterflies is at least partially independent of the effect of plants on butterflies. Furthermore, (4) the direct impact of road mortality is probably spatially limited to butterflies living in close proximity to roads.
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Becker, Rafael Gustavo, Gabriela Paise, and Marco Aurélio Pizo. "A comparison of bird communities in natural and revegetated grasslands in south Brazil." Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 27, no. 3 (September 2019): 199–206. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/bf03544471.
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AbstractNatural grasslands are declining due to loss, fragmentation and degradation, resulting in the decline of grassland-associated bird species. The Pampas Biome in south Brazil is not exception to this worldwide trend, facing the expansion of croplands and afforestation with exotic tree plantations for cellulose production. To cope with the continuous degradation and loss of grasslands, restoration is an important conservation strategy, but basic information regarding the response of the fauna to restoration practices in southeastern South America grasslands is lacking. Here we compared the structure of bird communities in natural grasslands and revegetated grasslands after mining by planting native and exotic grasses. We sampled birds using 5-min point counts with unlimited radius in three replicates of each habitat (natural and revegetated grasslands; average size 22.2 ± 2.3 ha). We also compared the vegetation density between the two habitat types. The structure of bird communities at natural and revegetated grasslands differed, with natural grasslands presenting higher species richness (42 vs. 35 species) and abundance (1459 vs. 839 records) than revegetated areas, and also a distinct species composition. Ten of the 11 grassland species that were associated to one of the two habitat types occurred more frequently in natural grasslands, which had higher vegetation density than revegetated areas. Even a decade after the beginning of the restoration process, revegetated areas did not resemble natural grasslands in bird species richness, abundance, and composition. These results differed from another study conducted in the Brazilian Pampas in which native plant species were used to actively restore a grassland. Therefore, until we have additional studies addressing the use of exotic grasses for the recovery of bird communities in South America grasslands, we encourage greater representation of native plant species in restoration projects.
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Labadessa, Rocco, Luigi Forte, and Paola Mairota. "Exploring Life Forms for Linking Orthopteran Assemblage and Grassland Plant Community." Hacquetia 14, no. 1 (June 1, 2015): 33–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/hacq-2015-0012.
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AbstractOrthopterans are well known to represent the majority of insect biomass in many grassland ecosystems. However, the verification of a relationship between the traditional descriptors of orthopteran assemblage structure and plant community patterns is not straightforward. We explore the usefulness of the concept of life forms to provide insights on such ecosystem level relationship. For this purpose, thirty sample sites in semi-natural calcareous grasslands were classified according to the relative proportion of dominant herbaceous plant life forms. Orthopteran species were grouped in four categories, based on the Bei-Bienko’s life form categorization. The association among plant communities, orthopteran assemblages and environmental factors was tested by means of canonical correspondence analysis. Orthoptera groups were found to be associated with distinct plant communities, also indicating the effect of vegetation change on orthopteran assemblages. In particular, geobionta species were associated with all the most disturbed plant communities, while chortobionta and thamnobionta seemed to be dependent on better preserved grassland types. Therefore, the use of life forms could help informing on the relationships of orthopteran assemblages with grassland conservation state. Information on such community relationships at the local scale could also assist managers in the interpretation of habitat change maps in terms of biodiversity changes.
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Timoney, Kevin P. "Threatened dry grasslands in the continental boreal forests of Wood Buffalo National Park: commentary." Canadian Journal of Botany 77, no. 7 (November 5, 1999): 913–17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/b99-120.
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There are three primary types of graminoid-dominated communities in or near Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada: freshwater meadows and marshes composed of Calamagrostis canadensis (Michx.) Beauv., Carex atherodes Spreng., Carex aquatilis Wahlenb., Scolochloa festucacea (Willd.) Link, and Poa L.; saline meadows composed of Hordeum jubatum L., Puccinellia nuttalliana (Schult.) A.S. Hitchc.,Agropyron trachycaulum (Link) Malte, Calamagrostis stricta (Timm) Koeler, and Calamagrostis inexpansa A. Gray; and dry grasslands composed of Agropyron trachycaulum, Stipa L., Carex siccata Dewey, Carex obtusata Lilj., and Koeleria macrantha (Ledeb.) J.A. Schultes f. Except for the Peace Point area, it is not known whether dry grasslands have declined in areal extent. Including various wetlands under "dry grasslands", and concluding that these areas no longer support dry grassland is misleading. Dry grasslands exist in Wood Buffalo National Park, but most graminoid-dominated communities in the park are, and have been, freshwater and saline meadows and marshes. A clear understanding of the ecological factors operating in these different ecosystems is critical to informed management.Key words: fire, grassland, prairie, vegetation, wetland, Wood Buffalo National Park.
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Glass, Alex, and Michael W. Eichholz. "Habitat associations of small mammal communities in a restored prairie system in southern Illinois." Journal of Mammalogy 102, no. 3 (March 20, 2021): 789–801. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyab002.
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Abstract Extensive habitat loss and degradation have transformed the grasslands of North America into one of the continent’s most vulnerable ecosystems and have greatly imperiled the plants and animals that depend on them. Small mammal communities play a pivotal role in maintaining the health and function of grasslands, and managing small mammal populations is an important, though overlooked, part of grassland restoration and management. We identified habitat variables in restored tallgrass prairie patches that were most strongly associated with variation in small mammal abundance and community composition, with the goal of aiding management efforts to manipulate small mammal populations. We found that small mammal abundance at the local vegetation scale was negatively related both to litter depth and plant diversity. At the landscape scale, small mammal abundance was positively associated with the amount of water surrounding a patch, and negatively associated with the amount of grassland surrounding a patch. Variation in small mammal community composition largely was governed by differences in habitat structure at the landscape scale, rather than differences in vegetation structure at the local scale. We suggested that managers interested in influencing small mammal abundance in grasslands employ tools such as prescribed fire to decrease litter depth if increased small mammal abundance is desired, or increase plant diversity by sowing a high diversity of seeds to depress small mammal abundance.
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Buchanan, Serra W., Megan Baskerville, Maren Oelbermann, Andrew M. Gordon, Naresh V. Thevathasan, and Marney E. Isaac. "Plant Diversity and Agroecosystem Function in Riparian Agroforests: Providing Ecosystem Services and Land-Use Transition." Sustainability 12, no. 2 (January 11, 2020): 568. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12020568.
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Achieving biologically diverse agricultural systems requires a commitment to changes in land use. While in-field agrobiodiversity is a critical route to such a transition, riparian systems remain an important, yet understudied, pathway to achieve key diversity and ecosystem services and targets. Notably, at the interface of agricultural landscapes and aquatic systems, the diversification of riparian buffers with trees reduces the non-point source pollution in waterways. However, in riparian agroforestry systems, little is known about herbaceous community patterns and, importantly, the herbaceous community’s role in governing carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling. Our study investigated herbaceous community taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity patterns in riparian (i) grasslands (GRASSLAND), (ii) rehabilitated agroforests (AGROFOREST-REHAB), and (iii) remnant forests (AGROFOREST-NATURAL). We then determined the biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships between community functional diversity metrics, C and N cycling, and greenhouse gas fluxes. We observed significant differences in taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity among riparian buffer types. We found that herbaceous plant communities in riparian agroforestry systems expressed plant trait syndromes associated with fast-growing, resource acquiring strategies, while grassland buffer plants exhibited slow-growing, resource conserving strategies. Herbaceous communities with high functional diversity and resource acquiring trait syndromes, such as those in the agroforestry riparian systems, were significantly correlated with lower rates of soil CO2 efflux and N mineralization, both of which are key fluxes related to ecosystem service delivery. Our findings provide further evidence that functionally diverse, and not necessarily taxonomically diverse, plant communities are strongly correlated to positive ecosystem processes in riparian agroforestry systems, and that these communities contribute to the transition of agricultural lands toward biologically and functionally diverse landscapes.
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Strong, Wayne L. "High-Latitude Yukon Boreal-Cordilleran Grassland Plant Communities." ARCTIC 68, no. 1 (February 23, 2015): 69. http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic4453.
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Acic, Svetlana, U. Silc, S. Vrbnicanin, Svjetlana Cupac, G. Topisirovic, N. Stavretovic, and Zora Dajic-Stevanovic. "Grassland communities of Stol mountain (eastern Serbia ): Vegetation and environment al relationships." Archives of Biological Sciences 65, no. 1 (2013): 211–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.2298/abs1301211a.
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The systematic survey of grassland communities was performed on Mt. Stol (eastern Serbia). The main aims of the research were to: (1) determine grassland vegetation types of the researched area; (2) correlate the impacts of the soil and environmental conditions on the occurrence of certain plant communities, and (3) comment on the conservational value of the grasslands in the researched area. The data set included 60 phytosociological relev?s of grasslands recorded between 2001 and 2004. The main environmental gradients of species composition were analyzed by Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA). For the ecological interpretation of ordination axes, ecological indicator values were used. Three associations were distinguished: Danthonietum calycinae, Asperulo-Agrostietum vulgaris and Ranunculo bulbosi- Arrhenatheretum elatioris belonging to two alliances and two classes: Chrysopogono-Danthonion - Festuco-Brometea and Arrhenatherion - Molinio-Arrhenatheretea. The results of the DCA support our assumption that the main environmental gradient in the species composition of the grasslands is related to nutrients and moisture. The conservational value of grasslands in the researched area is discussed.
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Beal-Neves, Mariana, Cleusa Vogel Ely, Marjorie Westerhofer Esteves, Betina Blochtein, Regis Alexandre Lahm, Everton L. L. Quadros, and Pedro Maria Abreu Ferreira. "The Influence of Urbanization and Fire Disturbance on Plant-floral Visitor Mutualistic Networks." Diversity 12, no. 4 (April 3, 2020): 141. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/d12040141.
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The biodiversity loss resulting from rising levels of human impacts on ecosystems has been extensively discussed over the last years. The expansion of urban areas promotes drastic ecological changes, especially through fragmentation of natural areas. Natural grassland remnants surrounded by an urban matrix are more likely to undergo disturbance events. Since grassland ecosystems are closely related to disturbances such as fire and grazing, grassland plant communities, pollinators, and their interaction networks may be especially sensitive to urban expansion, because it promotes habitat fragmentation and modifies disturbance regimes. This work evaluated the effect of the level of urbanization and recent history of fire disturbance on grassland plants communities and plant-floral visitor mutualistic networks. We sampled plant communities and floral visitors in 12 grassland sites with different levels of urbanization and time since the last fire event. Sites with higher levels of urbanization showed higher values for plant species richness, floral visitor richness, and network asymmetry. All sampled networks were significantly nested (with one exception), asymmetric, and specialized. In addition, all networks presented more modules than expected by chance. The frequency of fire disturbance events increased with the level of urbanization. Since grassland ecosystems depend on disturbances to maintain their structure and diversity, we inferred that the history of fire disturbance was the mechanism behind the relationship between urbanization and our biological descriptors. Our findings highlight the importance of small and isolated grassland remnants as conservation assets within urban areas, and that the disturbance events that such sites are submitted to may in fact be what maintains their diversity on multiple levels.
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Semchenko, Marina, Jonathan W. Leff, Yudi M. Lozano, Sirgi Saar, John Davison, Anna Wilkinson, Benjamin G. Jackson, et al. "Fungal diversity regulates plant-soil feedbacks in temperate grassland." Science Advances 4, no. 11 (November 2018): eaau4578. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau4578.
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Feedbacks between plants and soil microbial communities play an important role in vegetation dynamics, but the underlying mechanisms remain unresolved. Here, we show that the diversity of putative pathogenic, mycorrhizal, and saprotrophic fungi is a primary regulator of plant-soil feedbacks across a broad range of temperate grassland plant species. We show that plant species with resource-acquisitive traits, such as high shoot nitrogen concentrations and thin roots, attract diverse communities of putative fungal pathogens and specialist saprotrophs, and a lower diversity of mycorrhizal fungi, resulting in strong plant growth suppression on soil occupied by the same species. Moreover, soil properties modulate feedbacks with fertile soils, promoting antagonistic relationships between soil fungi and plants. This study advances our capacity to predict plant-soil feedbacks and vegetation dynamics by revealing fundamental links between soil properties, plant resource acquisition strategies, and the diversity of fungal guilds in soil.
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Yang, Yurong, Siying Chen, Xuefeng Wu, Sajid Iqbal Syed, Irfan Ullah Shah Syed, Beitong Huang, Pingting Guan, and Deli Wang. "Grazing Affects Bacterial and Fungal Diversities and Communities in the Rhizosphere and Endosphere Compartments of Leymus chinensis through Regulating Nutrient and Ion Distribution." Microorganisms 9, no. 3 (February 25, 2021): 476. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9030476.
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Plant-associated endophytic microorganisms are essential to developing successful strategies for sustainable agriculture. Grazing is an effective practice of grassland utilization through regulating multitrophic relationships in natural grasslands. This study was conducted for exploring the effects of grazing on the diversities and communities of bacteria and fungi presented in rhizosphere soils, roots, stems, and leaves of Leymus chinensis (L. chinensis), based on high-throughput sequencing. Grazing increased bacterial diversity but reduced fungal diversity in plant leaves. Further analysis confirmed that the abundance of Chloroflexi, Gemmatimonadota, Nitrospirota, Sordariales, and Pezizales in plant leaves was increased by grazing. The Bray–Curtis similarities of microbial communities in the endosphere were higher under grazing plots than non-grazing plots. Moreover, the bacterial communities were significantly correlated with ions, while the nutrient and negative ions exhibited strong influence on fungal communities. We concluded that grazing-induced changes of microbial diversities and communities in different compartments of a dominant perennial grass (L. chinensis) could be attributed to the nutrient and ion distribution in host plant. The current study highlights the importance of livestock in mediating diversities and communities of endophytic microbes, and will be useful for better understanding the complexity of multitrophic interactions in a grassland ecosystem.
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Burgoyne, B. M., G. J. Bredenkamp, and N. Van Rooyen. "Wetland vegetation in the North-eastern Sandy Highveld, Mpumalanga, South Africa." Bothalia 30, no. 2 (September 25, 2000): 187–200. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/abc.v30i2.558.
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The wetland vegetation of the high mountain grasslands of Mpumalanga w as sampled by using stratification based on geology and land types. Floristic data were classified by TWINSPAN procedures and refined by using the Braun-Blanquet method. This resulted in the recognition of four major w etland plant communities w hich are subdiv ided into eleven minor plant communities. The major communities include the Phragmites australis Wetland occurring in relatively deep water, the Miscanthus junceus Wetland from moist river banks and wet drainage lines, the Eragrostis biflora-Stihurus allopecuroides Moist Grassland restricted to moist, poorly drained soils w ith a high water table, and Arundinella nepalensis Moist Grasslands on black vertic soils.
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Rooney, Deirdre C., Nabla M. Kennedy, Deirdre B. Gleeson, and Nicholas J. W. Clipson. "Responses of Ammonia-Oxidising Bacterial Communities to Nitrogen, Lime, and Plant Species in Upland Grassland Soil." Applied and Environmental Soil Science 2010 (2010): 1–7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2010/319721.
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Agricultural improvement of seminatural grasslands has been shown to result in changes to plant and microbial diversity, with consequences for ecosystem functioning. A microcosm approach was used to elucidate the effects of two key components of agricultural improvement (nitrogen addition and liming) on ammonia-oxidising bacterial (AOB) communities in an upland grassland soil. Plant species characteristic of unimproved and improved pastures (A. capillarisandL. perenne) were planted in microcosms, and lime, nitrogen (NH4NO3), or lime plus nitrogen added. The AOB community was profiled using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) of theamoAgene. AOB community structure was largely altered byNH4NO3addition, rather than liming, although interactions between nitrogen addition and plant species were also evident. Results indicate that nitrogen addition drives shifts in the structure of key microbial communities in upland grassland soils, and that plant species may play a significant role in determining AOB community structure.
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Matthews, W. S., A. E. Van Wyk, and N. Van Rooyen. "Vegetation of the Sileza Nature Reserve and neighbouring areas, South Africa, and its importance in conserving the woody grasslands of the Maputaland Centre of Endemism." Bothalia 29, no. 1 (September 30, 1999): 151–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/abc.v29i1.586.
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An analysis of the plant communities of the Sileza Nature Reserve and surrounding areas (± 4 124 ha) is presented. The study area falls within the Maputaland Centre o f Endemism, which is part ot the Maputaland-Pondoland Region, a centre of plant diversity rich in endemic plants and animals. A TWINSPAN classification, refined by Braun-Blanquet procedures, revealed 12 distinct, mainly grassland plant communities. A hierarchical classification, description and ecological interpretation ot these communities are presented. The level o f the water table, either directly, or indirectly through its role in soil formation, is the deciding factor in defining plant communities on the geologically young sandy substrate. Fire is an essential factor, particularly in maintaining the woody grasslands, a rare vegetation type rich in geoxylic suffrutices. and unique to the Maputaland Centre. A comparison between the endemic complement in the subtropical coastal grasslands of Maputaland and the high-altitude Afromontane grasslands of the Wolkberg Centre of Endemism shows marked differences in grow th form and vegetation type partitioning between the two centres. This can probably be ascribed to the relative youth (Quaternary) of the Maputaland coastal plain and its associated plant communities. Notable for their richness in Maputaland Centre endemic/near-endemic taxa. the conservation of sand forest and woody grasslands should receive high priority. Afforestation with alien trees is the most serious threat to the biodiversity of the Maputaland coastal grasslands, not only because of habitat destruction, but also through its expected negative effect on the hydrology of the region
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Gracheva, Raisa, Elena Belonovskaya, and Vera Vinogradova. "Mountain grassland ecosystems on abandoned agricultural terraces (Russia, North Caucasus)." Hacquetia 17, no. 1 (June 1, 2018): 61–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/hacq-2017-0010.
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Abstract Terraces represent one of the most common agricultural landscape elements in the mountainous regions of the North Caucasus. In the Central and West Caucasus, most of the arable terraces were converted into grasslands for grazing and haymaking 60-70 years ago and then abandoned or underused during the last 20-25 years. The role of abandoned terraces in maintaining the diversity of grasslands of the mountain slopes was studied in the case of eight terraces of different types. Plant communities of subalpine meadows and meadow steppes were distinguished on the terraces depending mainly on slope steepness at the same altitudes and to a lesser extent on the slope aspect. In general, the grasslands of the terrace platforms and those of original unterraced slopes had similar traits. At that, the mesophilous communities on the rich soils of terrace edges and scarp communities similar to vegetation of steep slopes with eroded soils create regular patterns on the terraced slopes. Thus, former agricultural terraces conditioning geodiversity also contribute to the diversity of plant communities and landscape fragmentation. The current increase of temperature and humidity may lead to a reduction of climatic differences of the slopes, and the further convergence of grassland communities can be assumed.
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Grabowski, Tomasz. "Will Xerothermic Grasslands of the Ponidzie Region Survive?" Miscellanea Geographica 13, no. 1 (December 1, 2008): 163–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/mgrsd-2008-0016.
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Abstract Xerothermic grasslands are veritable botanical gems of the Ponidzie region, located in the upland zone of Poland. Most of these exceptional plant communities have been formed as a result of deforestation, in habitats characterized by specific climatic, hydrological and soil conditions. The result of the natural reserve protection of the xerothermic grassland, however, is opposite to the desired result. The survival of the xerothermic grassland depends on the change in the approach to their protection. Xerothermic grasslands are an excellent example of the difficulties with maintaining very valuable, but semi-natural and anthropogenic communities, related to a large extent to traditional, extensive forms of agriculture. Similar problems occur in the case of gladiolus meadows in lower subalpine forest zones or of once-mown molinion meadows in river valleys.
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Tsubo, Mitsuru, Eiji Nishihara, Ken Nakamatsu, Yunxiang Cheng, and Masato Shinoda. "Plant volatiles inhibit restoration of plant species communities in dry grassland." Basic and Applied Ecology 13, no. 1 (February 2012): 76–84. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2011.11.005.
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Bork, E. W., and L. J. Blonski. "Short-term native grassland compositional responses following liquid hog manure application." Canadian Journal of Plant Science 92, no. 1 (January 2012): 55–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.4141/cjps2011-105.
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Bork, E. W. and Blonski, L. J. 2012. Short-term native grassland compositional responses following liquid hog manure application. Can. J. Plant Sci. 92: 55–65. Intensive livestock operations (ILOs) are becoming more common in remote regions of the Canadian prairies in an effort to reduce conflict with other land uses. This has led to ILOs situated where the typical sink for manure application, cultivated land, is not available, leading to growing interest in using native grasslands for manure disposal. Significant opposition exists to this practice, in part due to limited information available on the impact of manure application to native grassland diversity and species composition. We examined plant species composition changes over two growing seasons following varying rates (∼9.5, 19, 38, 75 and 150 kg ha−1 available N), methods (surface broadcast vs. coulter injected) and timing (fall vs. spring) of one-time liquid hog manure (LHM) application. Our results revealed divergent responses between study sites, with metrics of plant diversity declining in mixed prairie but increasing in fescue grassland with increases in manure application rate. Both communities also demonstrated minor changes in plant species composition, primarily in response to LHM rate and manure application method. Responsive plant species included a mix of native grasses and dicots, some of which may be regarded as undesirable (e.g., Artemisia frigida): however, most vegetation responses were temporary and disappeared by the second year. Although invasion of non-native plant species was not observed, suggesting these communities are tolerant of LHM application, changes in the reproductive effort of dominant grasses (negative in Hesperostipa curtiseta; positive in Pascopyrum smithii and Festuca hallii) suggest LHM application could alter long-term grassland composition. Thus, despite exhibiting resilience to one-time LHM application, future use of native grasslands for manure disposal should be done cautiously.
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Dzwonko, Zbigniew, and Stefania Loster. "Changes in plant species composition in abandoned and restored limestone grassiands - the effects of tree and shrub cutting." Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 77, no. 1 (2011): 67–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.5586/asbp.2008.010.
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Abandoned semi-natural limestone grasslands are often overgrown by shrubs and trees. Little is know if and to what extant xerothermic limestone grasslands can be restored by tree cutting. This was tested in a 12-year experiment after the clearing of a 35-year-old secondary pine wood developed on unmanaged grassland in the close proximity of not overgrown old grassland. After 12 years, there were no significant differences in the number of field layer species on the plots in the old and restored grasslands. But over this period the number of meadow species increased in all sites, while the number of xerothermic calcareous species increased significantly only in the old grassland plots. The developing shrub layer negatively influenced the number of nitrophilous and ruderal species in grasslands restored in the former close and open woods, and the number of all species, including the number of non-tufted perennials and perennials with vegetative spread, in the former open wood. The number of meadow species increased in years with higher precipitation in late spring and early summer. The obtained results suggest that in overgrowing grasslands shrubs and trees should be cut every few years, before their covers increase to about 30%. However, this treatment alone will not stop the changes to communities with dominance of tall and vegetatively spreading grasses and forbs. Cutting trees and shrubs in sites where most grassland species have already vanished, without additional managements supporting their dispersal, seedling recruitment and development, is not sufficient to restore limestone grasslands rich in xerothermic species.
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Legay, N., F. Grassein, T. M. Robson, E. Personeni, M. P. Bataillé, S. Lavorel, and J. C. Clément. "Comparison of inorganic nitrogen uptake dynamics following snowmelt and at peak biomass in subalpine grasslands." Biogeosciences Discussions 10, no. 5 (May 29, 2013): 8887–917. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bgd-10-8887-2013.
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Abstract. Subalpine grasslands are highly seasonal environments and likely subject to strong variability in nitrogen (N) dynamics. Plants and microbes typically compete for N acquisition during the growing season and particularly at plant peak biomass. During snowmelt, plants could potentially benefit from a decrease in competition by microbes because of greater plant N uptake associated with active growth and freeze-thaw cycles restricting microbial growth. In managed subalpine grasslands, we expect these interactions to be influenced by recent changes in agricultural land-use, and associated modifications in plant and microbial communities. At a subalpine grassland site in the Central French Alps, a pulse of 15N was added to the soil at the end of snowmelt, allowing us to compare the dynamics of inorganic N uptake in plants and microbes during this period with that previously reported at the peak biomass in July. In all grasslands, specific plant (per g of biomass) dissolved inorganic N (DIN) uptake was two to five times greater at snow-melt than at peak biomass, whereas the specific microbial DIN uptakes were similar between the two sampling dates. On an area basis, plant communities took more DIN than microbial communities at the end of snowmelt, and the intensity of this DIN uptake by plants differed across land use types. Consequently, N partitioning after snowmelt switches in favor of plant communities allowing them to support their growing capacities at this period of the year. Seasonal differences in microbial and plant N-related dynamics were also affected by past (terraced vs. unterraced) rather than current (mown vs. unmown) land use. In terraced grasslands, microbial biomass N remained similar across seasons, whereas in unterraced grasslands, microbial biomass N was higher and microbial C : N lower at the end of snowmelt as compared to peak biomass. Further investigations on microbial community composition and their organic N uptake dynamics are required to better understand the decrease in microbial DIN uptake.
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Haase, R. "Plant communities of a savanna in northern Bolivia I. Seasonally flooded grassland and gallery forest." Phytocoenologia 18, no. 1 (December 7, 1989): 55–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1127/phyto/18/1989/55.
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Haase, R. "Plant communities of a savanna in northern Bolivia II. Palm swamps, dry grassland, and shrubland." Phytocoenologia 18, no. 2-3 (March 23, 1990): 343–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1127/phyto/18/1990/343.
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Fayiah, Moses, ShiKui Dong, Sphiwe Wezzie Khomera, Syed Aziz Ur Rehman, Mingyue Yang, and Jiannan Xiao. "Status and Challenges of Qinghai–Tibet Plateau’s Grasslands: An Analysis of Causes, Mitigation Measures, and Way Forward." Sustainability 12, no. 3 (February 4, 2020): 1099. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12031099.
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Grassland ecosystems on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) provide numerous ecosystem services and functions to both local communities and the populations living downstream through the provision of water, habitat, food, herbal medicines, and shelter. This review examined the current ecological status, degradation causes, and impacts of the various grassland degradation mitigation measures employed and their effects on grassland health and growth in the QTP. Our findings revealed that QTP grasslands are continually being degraded as a result of complex biotic and abiotic drivers and processes. The biotic and abiotic actions have resulted in soil erosion, plant biomass loss, soil organic carbon loss, a reduction in grazing and carrying capacity, the emergence of pioneer plant species, loss of soil nutrients, and an increase in soil pH. A combination of factors such as overgrazing, land-use changes, invasive species encroachment, mining activities, rodent burrowing activities, road and dam constructions, tourism, migration, urbanization, and climate change have caused the degradation of grasslands on the QTP. A conceptual framework on the way forward in tackling grassland degradation on the QTP is presented together with other appropriate measures needed to amicably combat grassland degradation on the QTP. It is recommended that a comprehensive and detailed survey be carried out across the QTP to determine the percentage of degraded grasslands and hence, support a sound policy intervention.
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Critchley, C. N. R., B. J. Chambers, J. A. Fowbert, R. A. Sanderson, A. Bhogal, and S. C. Rose. "Association between lowland grassland plant communities and soil properties." Biological Conservation 105, no. 2 (June 2002): 199–215. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0006-3207(01)00183-5.
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Houseman, G. R. "Aggregated seed arrival alters plant diversity in grassland communities." Journal of Plant Ecology 7, no. 1 (September 18, 2013): 51–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtt044.
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Joshi, Jasmin, Diethart Matthies, and Bernhard Schmid. "Root hemiparasites and plant diversity in experimental grassland communities." Journal of Ecology 88, no. 4 (August 2000): 634–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2745.2000.00487.x.
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Weißhuhn, Karoline, Daniel Prati, Markus Fischer, and Harald Auge. "Regional adaptation improves the performance of grassland plant communities." Basic and Applied Ecology 13, no. 6 (September 2012): 551–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2012.07.004.
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Fogarty, Dillon T., Caleb P. Roberts, Daniel R. Uden, Victoria M. Donovan, Craig R. Allen, David E. Naugle, Matthew O. Jones, Brady W. Allred, and Dirac Twidwell. "Woody Plant Encroachment and the Sustainability of Priority Conservation Areas." Sustainability 12, no. 20 (October 9, 2020): 8321. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12208321.
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Woody encroachment is a global driver of grassland loss and management to counteract encroachment represents one of the most expensive conservation practices implemented in grasslands. Yet, outcomes of these practices are often unknown at large scales and this constrains practitioner’s ability to advance conservation. Here, we use new monitoring data to evaluate outcomes of grassland conservation on woody encroachment for Nebraska’s State Wildlife Action Plan, a statewide effort that targets management in Biologically Unique Landscapes (BULs) to conserve the state’s natural communities. We tracked woody cover trajectories for BULs and compared BUL trajectories with those in non-priority landscapes (non-BULs) to evaluate statewide and BUL-scale conservation outcomes more than a decade after BUL establishment. Statewide, woody cover increased by 256,653 ha (2.3%) from 2000–2017. Most BULs (71%) experienced unsustainable trends of grassland loss to woody encroachment; however, management appeared to significantly reduce BUL encroachment rates compared to non-BULs. Most BULs with early signs of encroachment lacked control strategies, while only one BUL with moderate levels of encroachment (Loess Canyons) showed evidence of a management-driven stabilization of encroachment. These results identify strategic opportunities for proactive management in grassland conservation and demonstrate how new monitoring technology can support large-scale adaptive management pursuits.
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Ronkin, Vladimir, and Galina Savchenko. "Flora and vegetation of dry grasslands of Northeastern Ukraine, and problems of diversity conservation." Hacquetia 15, no. 2 (December 1, 2016): 49–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/hacq-2016-0013.
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Abstract The aim of this study was to describe the flora and vegetation of the grasslands of Northeastern Ukraine and to analyse how the steppe vegetation responds to grazing or its abandonment. We studied two gully systems in the east of the Kharkiv Region: the Regional Landscape Park “The Velykyi Burluk-Steppe” (steppe grasslands on chernozem soils; 10 sites) and the National Nature Park “Dvorichanskyi” (steppe grasslands on chalky outcrops; 5 sites). Long-term monitoring data exist for both these sites starting in 1991, shortly after grazing intensity reduced. We recorded the major grassland plant communities (reflecting their successional status) as well as their dominant species. Tree and scrub encroachment increased after management ceased. We conclude that (i) heterogeneous grazing (including ungrazed patches) in space and time is necessary in order to preserve grassland biodiversity in our study system; (ii) erosion of chalky outcrops (natural erosion as well as driven by cattle grazing) is a key factor promoting the richness of cretaceous species in steppe grassland.
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Nunan, Naoise, Timothy J. Daniell, Brajesh K. Singh, Artemis Papert, James W. McNicol, and James I. Prosser. "Links between Plant and Rhizoplane Bacterial Communities in Grassland Soils, Characterized Using Molecular Techniques." Applied and Environmental Microbiology 71, no. 11 (November 2005): 6784–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/aem.71.11.6784-6792.2005.
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ABSTRACT Molecular analysis of grassland rhizosphere soil has demonstrated complex and diverse bacterial communities, with resultant difficulties in detecting links between plant and bacterial communities. These studies have, however, analyzed “bulk” rhizosphere soil, rather than rhizoplane communities, which interact most closely with plants through utilization of root exudates. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that plant species was a major driver for bacterial rhizoplane community composition on individual plant roots. DNA extracted from individual roots was used to determine plant identity, by analysis of the plastid tRNA leucine (trnL) UAA gene intron, and plant-related bacterial communities. Bacterial communities were characterized by analysis of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA genes using two fingerprinting methods: terminal restriction fragment length polymorphisms (T-RFLP) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Links between plant and bacterial rhizoplane communities could not be detected by visual examination of T-RFLP patterns or DGGE banding profiles. Statistical analysis of fingerprint patterns did not reveal a relationship between bacterial community composition and plant species but did demonstrate an influence of plant community composition. The data also indicated that topography and other, uncharacterized, environmental factors are important in driving bacterial community composition in grassland soils. T-RFLP had greater potential resolving power than DGGE, but findings from the two methods were not significantly different.
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Laiviņš, Māris, Agnese Priede, Dārta Kaupe, and Andis Lazdiņš. "Succession of Xeric Calcareous Grassland Toward Thermophilous Oak Forest: The Case of Abava Valley, West Latvia." Proceedings of the Latvian Academy of Sciences. Section B. Natural, Exact, and Applied Sciences. 75, no. 4 (August 1, 2021): 268–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/prolas-2021-0040.
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Abstract The succession of semi-natural xeric calcareous grassland plant communities toward deciduous forest communities is poorly studied in Latvia. There is insufficient knowledge on the natural transformation of dry calcareous grasslands of Festuco-Brometea into thermophilous quasi-climax oak forest communities of Quercetea pubescentis that are very rare in Latvia. In this paper, a geobotanical study is presented that included studies of soils, tree age, spatial pattern of trees, vegetation composition of different succession stages, and analysis of environmental factors. The study was conducted in the Abava Valley, West Latvia, an area that is unique with species-rich xeric calcareous Festuco-Brometea grasslands, thermophilous oak forests dominated by Quercus robur, and intermediate secondary succession stages with young to medium-aged Juniperus communis and Pinus sylvestris formations.
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Stein, D. S., D. M. Debinski, J. M. Pleasants, and A. L. Toth. "Evaluating Native Bee Communities and Nutrition in Managed Grasslands." Environmental Entomology 49, no. 3 (March 26, 2020): 717–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvaa009.
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Abstract Native pollinators are important for providing vital services in agroecosystems; however, their numbers are declining globally. Bees are the most efficient and diverse members of the pollinator community; therefore, it is imperative that management strategies be implemented that positively affect bee community composition and health. Here, we test responses of the bee and flowering plant communities to land management treatments in the context of grasslands in the upper Midwestern United States, a critical area with respect to bee declines. Twelve sites were selected to examine floral resources and wild bee communities based on three different types of grasslands: tallgrass prairie remnants, ungrazed restorations, and grazed restorations. Total bee abundance was significantly higher in ungrazed restorations than remnants, but there were no significant differences among grasslands in community composition or Shannon diversity. Across the three grassland types we also examined mass and lipid stores as nutritional health indicators in three sweat bees (Halictidae), Augochlora pura, Agapostemon virescens, and Halictus ligatus. Although there were no differences in lipid content, total average bee mass was significantly higher in Ag. virescens collected from ungrazed restorations as compared to remnants. Floral abundance of native and non-native species combined was significantly higher in grazed restorations compared to remnants and ungrazed restorations. However, ungrazed restorations had higher abundance and richness of native flowering ramets. These data suggest that bee abundance and nutrition are driven by high abundance of native flowering plant species, rather than total flowering plants.
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Schweiger, Anna K., Jeannine Cavender-Bares, Shan Kothari, Philip A. Townsend, Michael D. Madritch, Jake J. Grossman, Hamed Gholizadeh, Ran Wang, and John A. Gamon. "Coupling spectral and resource-use complementarity in experimental grassland and forest communities." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 288, no. 1958 (September 2021): 20211290. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.1290.
Full textAbstract:
Reflectance spectra provide integrative measures of plant phenotypes by capturing chemical, morphological, anatomical and architectural trait information. Here, we investigate the linkages between plant spectral variation, and spectral and resource-use complementarity that contribute to ecosystem productivity. In both a forest and prairie grassland diversity experiment, we delineated n -dimensional hypervolumes using wavelength bands of reflectance spectra to test the association between the spectral space occupied by individual plants and their growth, as well as between the spectral space occupied by plant communities and ecosystem productivity. We show that the spectral space occupied by individuals increased with their growth, and the spectral space occupied by plant communities increased with ecosystem productivity. Furthermore, ecosystem productivity was better explained by inter-individual spectral complementarity than by the large spectral space occupied by productive individuals. Our results indicate that spectral hypervolumes of plants can reflect ecological strategies that shape community composition and ecosystem function, and that spectral complementarity can reveal resource-use complementarity.
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TARMI, S., H. TUURI, and J. HELENIUS. "Plant communities of field boundaries in Finnish farmland." Agricultural and Food Science 11, no. 2 (January 2, 2002): 121–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.23986/afsci.5717.
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To determine the importance of field boundary habitats for farmland biodiversity, we surveyed a total of 193 boundaries from four climatically and agriculturally dissimilar regions in Finland. We measured the current plant species richness and composition of the boundaries, and based on the differences in vegetation characteristics, we describe six boundary types. The observed plant species were mainly indicators of fresh to wet soils and moderate to rich mineral nitrogen content. The most frequent species were tall, perennial monocots and dicots indicating the high productivity of thevegetation. Moreove, herbicide-tolerant species were common. No species rare for Finland were found.In animal husbandry regions, the most frequent species were sown grassland species and typical grassland weeds. In cereal production regions, fast-spreading root weeds tolerant of herbicides were the most frequent. Mean species richness was highest in the cluster Ca-lamagrostis-Phalaris (24 species (s)/boundary (b)), which we considered as representative of moist sites with some disturbance by agricultural practices. Most species-poor were the clusters Elymus-Anthriscus (14 s/b)and Elymus-Cirsium (16 s/b),both found predominantly in cereal production regions in southern Finland. Our results suggest that the biodiversity value of boundaries is lowest in the most intensive cereal production areas and highest in areas of mixed farming.;
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Jordan, Nicholas R., Laura Aldrich-Wolfe, Sheri C. Huerd, Diane L. Larson, and Gary Muehlbauer. "Soil–Occupancy Effects of Invasive and Native Grassland Plant Species on Composition and Diversity of Mycorrhizal Associations." Invasive Plant Science and Management 5, no. 4 (December 2012): 494–505. http://dx.doi.org/10.1614/ipsm-d-12-00014.1.
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AbstractDiversified grasslands that contain native plant species can produce biofuels, support sustainable grazing systems, and produce other ecosystem services. However, ecosystem service production can be disrupted by invasion of exotic perennial plants, and these plants can have soil-microbial “legacies” that may interfere with establishment and maintenance of diversified grasslands even after effective management of the invasive species. The nature of such legacies is not well understood, but may involve suppression of mutualisms between native species and soil microbes. In this study, we tested the hypotheses that legacy effects of invasive species change colonization rates, diversity, and composition of arbuscular-mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) associated with seedlings of co-occurring invasive and native grassland species. In a glasshouse, experimental soils were conditioned by cultivating three invasive grassland perennials, three native grassland perennials, and a native perennial mixture. Each was grown separately through three cycles of growth, after which we used T-RFLP analysis to characterize AMF associations of seedlings of six native perennial and six invasive perennial species grown in these soils. Legacy effects of soil conditioning by invasive species did not affect AMF richness in seedling roots, but did affect AMF colonization rates and the taxonomic composition of mycorrhizal associations in seedling roots. Moreover, native species were more heavily colonized by AMF and roots of native species had greater AMF richness (number of AMF operational taxonomic units per seedling) than did invasive species. The invasive species used to condition soil in this experiment have been shown to have legacy effects on biomass of native seedlings, reducing their growth in this and a previous similar experiment. Therefore, our results suggest that successful plant invaders can have legacies that affect soil-microbial associations of native plants and that these effects can inhibit growth of native plant species in invaded communities.
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Good, Megan K., Jodi N. Price, Peter J. Clarke, and Nick Reid. "Dense regeneration of floodplain Eucalyptus coolabah: invasive scrub or passive restoration of an endangered woodland community?" Rangeland Journal 34, no. 2 (2012): 219. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rj12008.
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Clearing of native vegetation and changes to disturbance regimes have resulted in dense regeneration of native trees and shrubs in parts of Australia. The conversion of open vegetation to dense woodlands may result in changes to the composition of plant communities and ecosystem function if structure, composition and function are tightly linked. Widespread clearing of the floodplain tree Eucalyptus coolabah subsp. coolabah (coolibah), in New South Wales, Australia, has led to state and federal listings of coolibah woodland as an endangered ecological community. Dense regeneration of coolibah in the mid 1970s, however, also resulted in its listing as an ‘invasive native species’ in NSW, meaning it can be legally cleared under certain conditions. Dense regeneration could be a novel state dissimilar to the threatened community or it could represent the next generation of coolibah woodlands and may contribute to passive restoration of heavily cleared landscapes. This study investigated if dense stands are distinct from remnant woodland by comparing floristic composition of the ground-storey community and top-soil properties of four coolibah vegetation states: derived grassland, derived degraded grassland, dense regeneration and remnant woodland. Ground-storey composition was found to overlap broadly among states regardless of tree density. Most species were common to all states, although dense regeneration contained characteristic woodland species that were absent from grasslands. The carbon : nitrogen ratio of the soil was significantly higher in dense regeneration and remnant woodland than in either of the grassland states, indicating that the woody states are broadly similar in terms of nutrient cycling. The study demonstrates that structurally different vegetation states (grasslands, woodlands and dense regeneration) are not associated with distinct plant communities. The results also suggest that grazing management has a more pronounced effect on ground-storey composition of plant communities than tree density and that well managed derived grasslands and dense regeneration are floristically similar to remnant woodlands. Since dense regeneration and remnant woodlands are not floristically distinct from one another, dense regeneration could contribute to the conservation of endangered coolibah woodlands in cleared agricultural landscapes.
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Siebert, S. J., F. Siebert, and M. J. Du Toit. "The extended occurrence of Maputaland Woody Grassland further south in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa." Bothalia 41, no. 2 (December 17, 2011): 341–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/abc.v41i2.77.
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The distinctiveness of Maputaland Woody Grassland lies within its richness of geoxylic suffrutices and herbaceous flora. Since it is well documented in the literature and easy to distinguish from other grassland types, it was possible to confirm a locality of this unique vegetation unit west of Richards Bay, where it probably forms the southernmost outlier population of this vegetation unit in the Indian Ocean Coastal Belt Biome. Phytosociological data obtained from the study area were analysed to identify plant communities and subsequent mapping units. Floristic gradients obtained through ordination techniques revealed the relationship that exists between the Woody Grassland of the study area and the Maputaland Woody Grassland of Sileza Nature Reserve. This confirms the occurrence of Maputaland Woody Grassland at Richards Bay. Two of the plant communities identified from the Richards Bay site are distinctively different, despite previously being lumped together by different authorities as either Kwambonambi Grassland or Maputaland Woody Grassland.