Characterization of 23 polymorphic SSR markers in Salix humboldtiana (Salicaceae) using next‐generation sequencing and cross‐amplification from related species

Premise of the study: We present a set of 23 polymorphic nuclear microsatellite loci, 18 of which are identified for the first time within the riparian species Salix humboldtiana (Salicaceae) using next‐generation sequencing. Methods and Results: To characterize the 23 loci, up to 60 individuals were sampled and genotyped at each locus. The number of alleles ranged from two to eight, with an average of 4.43 alleles per locus. The effective number of alleles ranged from 1.15 to 3.09 per locus, and allelic richness ranged from 2.00 to 7.73 alleles per locus. Conclusions: The new marker set will be used for future studies of genetic diversity and differentiation as well as for unraveling spatial genetic structures in S. humboldtiana populations in northern Patagonia, Argentina.EEA BarilocheFil: Bozzi, Jorge Alfredo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; ArgentinaFil: Liepelt, Sascha. University of Marburg. Faculty of Biology. Conservation Biology Group; AlemaniaFil: Ohneiser, Sebastian. University of Marburg. Faculty of Biology. Conservation Biology Group; AlemaniaFil: Gallo, Leonardo Ariel. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; ArgentinaFil: Marchelli, Paula. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Leyer, Ilona. University of Marburg. Faculty of Biology. Conservation Biology Group; Alemania. University of Geisenheim. Institute of Botany, Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation; AlemaniaFil: Ziegenhagen, Birgit. University of Marburg. Faculty of Biology. Conservation Biology Group; AlemaniaFil: Mengel, Christina. University of Marburg. Faculty of Biology. Conservation Biology Group; Alemani

The role of climate change and human pressure on forest decline in the early Holocene on Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau – an ecohydrological modelling approach

Abstract HKT-ISTP 2013 B

Dissolved organic matter indicates changes in temperature and plant communities in peatlands

Though northern peatlands cover only 3 % of the land surface they count as one of the largest terrestrial organic C pools. This huge C pool is threatened by increasing temperatures, related microbial degradation and indirect effects of climate change leading to vascular plant dominance over sphagnum mosses and a shift from graminoids to shrubs. Effects of these changes in vegetation on peat degradation are unknown. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) as an important component of the C cycle in peatlands might be used as a sensitive indicator of enhanced peat degradation. Furthermore, peatlands are the major source of DOM in many surface waters and understanding the mechanisms of peat degradation will help to elucidate the reasons for the ongoing trends of increasing concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in surface waters. In this study we aimed to determine effects of temperature and plant functional types (PFT: graminoids, shrubs) on amounts and composition of DOM allowing conclusions about ongoing changes in peat degradation. We selected two ombrotrophic peatlands in the Italian Alps, reflecting a temperature gradient where we manipulated the vascular plant cover by selective clipping. On the established plant functional type plots we collected DOM directly after plant removal and during the following seasons over a period of one year. Besides DOC concentrations we determined DOM composition by C-13 of DOC and UV and fluorescence spectroscopy. The short term response (2-24h) of DOM to the plant clipping enabled us to estimate the C input of vascular plants via roots. The medium to long term data showed a clear relation of DOM to the temperature gradient and the PFT. All in all our results indicated a substantial contribution of the roots from vascular plants to DOM in peatlands. The release of DOM from peat clearly increased with temperature and vascular plant biomass. The difference between graminoids and shrubs seems to be marginal. We conclude that higher temperatures and greater vascular plant biomass result in increasing peat degradation as one likely reason for increasing DOC concentrations in many surface waters across Europe and North America

Tree seedling recruitment dynamics in forest-savanna transitions : Trait responses to vegetation controls mediate differential seedling establishment success of tree functional types

In the transition between tropical forests and savannas, forest may be lost to savanna-like vegetation or may occasionally encroach on savannas affecting climate and other benefits to humans. Vegetation in the forest savanna-transition of Ghana often appears stable, except in forests with significant human-induced deforestation where forests are being replaced by savanna-like vegetation. This phenomenon is still poorly understood, but may be explained by how changes in vegetation controls (e.g. fire and precipitation) affect recruitment of forest and savanna-transition tree seedlings differently. Savanna-transition species occur both in forest and humid savanna. I showed that high grass biomass in savanna both directly (via competition) and indirectly (via dry season fire) select for species which invest higher in belowground resource capture and carbohydrate storage. Lower precipitation decreases chances of tree seedling recovery from defoliation disturbance, but allocation trait differences between forest and savanna-transition tree species may explain relative stability of transition forests and the lack of success of true forest species in the forest-savanna transition

Invertebrate abundance increases with vegetation productivity across natural and agricultural wader breeding habitats in Europe

Grassland breeding waders have been steadily declining across Europe. Recent studies indicating a dramatic decline in grassland invertebrates' abundance and biomass, the key food of most grassland wader chicks, suggest a likely driver of the demise of waders. While agricultural intensification is generally inferred as the main cause for arthropod decline there is surprisingly little information on the relationship between land use intensity and total arthropod abundance in grasslands. Here, we explored those relationships across several key wader breeding habitats by surveying ground-active, aerial and soil-dwelling invertebrate communities in five European countries that range from natural undisturbed bogs to intensively managed grasslands. Using maximum vegetation growth and soil moisture content we investigated how they shape the size of the invertebrate community within and across different countries. We found predominantly positive relationships between grassland invertebrate abundance, biomass and body weight with increasing vegetation growth and soil moisture. Maximum vegetation growth was strongly positively related to ground-active invertebrate abundance and biomass and abundance of soil dwelling invertebrates (mainly earthworms). Body weight of aerial invertebrates furthermore increased with increasing maximum vegetation growth. Our results provide little support for the hypothesis that agricultural practices associated with intensification of grassland management result in an abundance decline of invertebrate prey for wader chicks. Conservation practices aiming to enhance wader chick survival require a careful balancing act between maintaining habitat productivity to secure high prey abundance, and keeping productivity low enough to maintain open swards that do not need to be cut before chicks have fledged

The influence of El Niño–Southern Oscillation regimes on eastern African vegetation and its future implications under the RCP8.5 warming scenario

Abstract. The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the main driver of the interannual variability in eastern African rainfall, with a significant impact on vegetation and agriculture and dire consequences for food and social security. In this study, we identify and quantify the ENSO contribution to the eastern African rainfall variability to forecast future eastern African vegetation response to rainfall variability related to a predicted intensified ENSO. To differentiate the vegetation variability due to ENSO, we removed the ENSO signal from the climate data using empirical orthogonal teleconnection (EOT) analysis. Then, we simulated the ecosystem carbon and water fluxes under the historical climate without components related to ENSO teleconnections. We found ENSO-driven patterns in vegetation response and confirmed that EOT analysis can successfully produce coupled tropical Pacific sea surface temperature–eastern African rainfall teleconnection from observed datasets. We further simulated eastern African vegetation response under future climate change as it is projected by climate models and under future climate change combined with a predicted increased ENSO intensity. Our EOT analysis highlights that climate simulations are still not good at capturing rainfall variability due to ENSO, and as we show here the future vegetation would be different from what is simulated under these climate model outputs lacking accurate ENSO contribution. We simulated considerable differences in eastern African vegetation growth under the influence of an intensified ENSO regime which will bring further environmental stress to a region with a reduced capacity to adapt effects of global climate change and food security

Changes in floristic richness and diversity of phytocoenoses on riparian habitats affected by diverse land-use forms

In many ecological studies the theory prevails that the increased human economic activity can lead to simplification of species composition of phytocoenoses and a decline of their species diversity. However, there are also other views on this issue. Therefore, an attempt was undertaken to verify these contradictory opinions. The research was conducted at three sites characterised by a diversified and intensified land use form (the nature reserve, 50 year-old poplar plantation and a grassland). The results from the nature reserve were compared with the data for 1963-1965 when other plant communities dominated in the reserve. The results of field observations collected in the form of relevés were used to assess the number of species, α-species diversity of phytocoenoses and ß-diversity.The largest number of species was found in the meadow, a fewer species were recorded in the reserve and the fewest in the poplar plantation; whereas the average number of species per relevé and the differences between the sites were minor. The species heterogeneity index varied within the range of 3.11–3.36, whereas the extreme differences were recorded in the reserve between the current results and the results from the 1960s. The studied phytocoenoses differed mostly in ß-diversity. The average index for the poplar plantation was lower than mean values of indices recorded in communities of the riparian forest and meadows. The obtained results support the opinion about non linear correlation between the increased disturbances and the decline of species richness and species diversity in phytocoenoses

Plant Diversity in Natural and Cultivated Hedgerows in the Laminga Area of Jos East, North Central Nigeria

Hedgerows are important semi-natural environments in agricultural landscapes. A study was carried in the Laminga Area of Jos East in North Central Nigeria to investigate the vegetation composition of farmland hedgerows and to compare plant species composition and diversity between natural and cultivated hedgerows. Twenty (20) farmland hedgerows (13 cultivated and 7 natural hedgerows) were sampled. At each farmland, sampling was conducted within a 50 x 1m area of the hedgerow. Plant species diversity was calculated using Shannon – Weiner’s diversity index and plant species evenness was calculated using Pileou’s evenness index. One-way-ANOVA was used to compare plant species richness, evenness and diversity between natural and cultivated hedgerows.  The Plant community structure of the hedgerow types was characterized using Non-Metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) ordination method. A total of 12,555 individual plants were recorded during the survey. These were divided into 100 species and 40 families. Plant species richness and evenness was not significantly different between the Natural and Cultivated hedgerows while the plant diversity was significantly higher in the Natural hedgerows than the Cultivated hedgerows. The hedgerows studied were prosperous in biodiversity. Hedgerows play several ecosystem functions and are highly important in conserving biodiversity. Keywords: Agricultural landscapes, biodiversity, ecosystem, farmland, hedgerow, vegetatio

Moving in the anthropocene: global reductions in terrestrial mammalian movements

Animal movement is fundamental for ecosystem functioning and species survival, yet the effects of the anthropogenic footprint on animal movements have not been estimated across species. Using a unique GPS-tracking database of 803 individuals across 57 species, we found that movements of mammals in areas with a comparatively high human footprint were on average one-half to one-third the extent of their movements in areas with a low human footprint. We attribute this reduction to behavioral changes of individual animals and to the exclusion of species with long-range movements from areas with higher human impact. Global loss of vagility alters a key ecological trait of animals that affects not only population persistence but also ecosystem processes such as predator-prey interactions, nutrient cycling, and disease transmission

2nd EUCARPIA workshop booklet

The workshop aims to strengthen a network among plant breeders and scientist of different disciplines to explore the use of plant-microbe interactions in plant breeding. In recent years, plant-associated microbes have received considerable attention in research for their ability to improve crop productivity and yield stability. Benefits include improved nutrient uptake and resistance against biotic and abiotic stresses. Influences of crop management, soil parameters and climatic effects are well documented. Knowledge on plant genetic determinants for beneficial interactions with individual microbes (incl. biologicals) and entire communities is growing rapidly. Several reports indicate that not only the host species but also the host genotype play a significant role in driving microbial community composition and activity, selecting for and against particular members of the microbial community. However, to what extent genetic factors are responsible for shaping beneficial plant microbiomes is still poorly understood. Similarly, seed or plant microbiome manipulation via the introduction of biologicals offers great promise, but still suffers from variable outcomes due to insufficient knowledge of the factors involved for a successful integration. In conclusion, there are still many uncertainties on how to implement this knowedge into plant breeding and seed multiplication programmes. The Workshop is organised by the EUCARPIA Working Group on Plant-Microbe Interactions of the Section Organic and Low-Input Agriculture and will continue to discuss the potential and limitations of implementing the growing knowledge on plant-microbe interactions in plant breeding in order to improve stress resistance, plant nutrition, plant health and general adaptability, and links between upstream disciplines and breeding. This shall foster the dialogue between the different disciplines in order to develop advanced breeding strategies for the future