| 1. |
- Hudson, Lawrence N, et al.
(författare)
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The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project
- 2017
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2045-7758. ; 7:1, s. 145-188
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The PREDICTS project-Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)-has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity.
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| 2. |
- Hudson, Lawrence N., et al.
(författare)
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The PREDICTS database : a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts
- 2014
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : Wiley. - 2045-7758. ; 4:24, s. 4701-4735
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species' threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeographic extents, and that support computation of a range of biodiversity indicators, is necessary to enable better understanding of historical declines and to project - and avert - future declines. We describe and assess a new database of more than 1.6 million samples from 78 countries representing over 28,000 species, collated from existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database contains measurements taken in 208 (of 814) ecoregions, 13 (of 14) biomes, 25 (of 35) biodiversity hotspots and 16 (of 17) megadiverse countries. The database contains more than 1% of the total number of all species described, and more than 1% of the described species within many taxonomic groups - including flowering plants, gymnosperms, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, lepidopterans and hymenopterans. The dataset, which is still being added to, is therefore already considerably larger and more representative than those used by previous quantitative models of biodiversity trends and responses. The database is being assembled as part of the PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems - ). We make site-level summary data available alongside this article. The full database will be publicly available in 2015.
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| 3. |
- Teuber, Laurenz, et al.
(författare)
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Livestock grazing in intermountain depressional wetlands-Effects on plant strategies, soil characteristics and biomass
- 2013
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 175, s. 21-28
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Prairie wetlands are considered valuable habitat for plants, birds, and wildlife. Livestock use of these wetlands can create conflicts with conservation issues. To achieve proper management, patterns and processes induced by grazing livestock need to be understood. In this study, we examined interactions of livestock use, soil and vegetation of depressional prairie wetlands in British Columbia, Canada. Plant community composition; biomass, and soil properties (bulk density, salinity, nitrogen and carbon content) were sampled on transects in marsh and wet meadow vegetation zones of wetlands along a grazing intensity gradient. Grime's CSR-strategies were used to calibrate strategy signatures, which indicate the importance of competition, stress and disturbance. Heavily grazed sites had higher salinity, less biomass, and proportionally less belowground biomass. Differences concerning strategies between vegetation zones were only apparent in un/lightly grazed sites, where stress was higher in marsh and competition higher in wet meadow zones. Livestock use and nitrogen were positively correlated with ruderal abundance and negatively correlated with competitors and stress-tolerators. Livestock use was identified to be most influential on plant strategies. Our results indicate that heavy livestock use significantly alters vegetation patterns and processes in prairie wetlands and may have negative impact on valuable habitat. Management decisions should consider reduced livestock access and incorporate conservation issues in grazing schemes.
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| 4. |
- Villellas, Jesus, et al.
(författare)
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Phenotypic plasticity masks range-wide genetic differentiation for vegetative but not reproductive traits in a short-lived plant
- 2021
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Ingår i: Ecology Letters. - : Wiley. - 1461-023X .- 1461-0248. ; 24:11, s. 2378-2393
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Genetic differentiation and phenotypic plasticity jointly shape intraspecific trait variation, but their roles differ among traits. In short-lived plants, reproductive traits may be more genetically determined due to their impact on fitness, whereas vegetative traits may show higher plasticity to buffer short-term perturbations. Combining a multi-treatment greenhouse experiment with observational field data throughout the range of a widespread short-lived herb, Plantago lanceolata, we (1) disentangled genetic and plastic responses of functional traits to a set of environmental drivers and (2) assessed how genetic differentiation and plasticity shape observational trait–environment relationships. Reproductive traits showed distinct genetic differentiation that largely determined observational patterns, but only when correcting traits for differences in biomass. Vegetative traits showed higher plasticity and opposite genetic and plastic responses, masking the genetic component underlying field-observed trait variation. Our study suggests that genetic differentiation may be inferred from observational data only for the traits most closely related to fitness.
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