The Legacy of the Past Logging: How Forest Structure Affects Different Facets of Understory Plant Diversity in Abandoned Coppice Forests

Predicting how biodiversity affects ecosystem functioning requires a multifaceted approach based on the partitioning of diversity into its taxonomic and functional facets and thus redundancy. Here, we investigated how species richness (S), functional diversity (FD) and functional redundancy (FR) are affected by forest structure. Sixty-eight abandoned coppice-with-standards plots were selected in two mountain areas of the Apennine chain. We performed linear models to quantify the influence of structural parameters on S, FD and FR of clonal traits. Each diversity facet was affected differently by structural parameters, suggesting a complex interweaving of processes that influence the understory layer. Namely, tree layer density influences S, the height of the standards affects the lateral spread and persistence of clonal growth organs, and diameter of standards affects the FD of the number of clonal offspring. Opposite relationships compared to FD was found for the FR, suggesting how clonal traits play a key role in species assemblage. The observation that structural parameters exert opposite impact on FR seems to indicate a counterbalance effect on ecosystem stability. Multifaceted approaches yield a better understanding of relationship between forest structure and understory, and this knowledge can be exploited to formulate indications for more sustainable management practices

Prevalence, frequency, adverse events, and reasons for analgesic use in youth athletes:A systematic review and meta-analysis of 44,381 athletes

Objectives : To identify the prevalence, frequency, adverse effects, and reasons for analgesic use in youth athletes. Design : Systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods : Systematic searches in Embase, Medline, and SPORT-Discus from inception to September 2021, screening of reference lists, and citation tracking were performed to identify observational studies including athletes aged 15–24 years and reporting data on prevalence and/or frequency of analgesic use. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Random-effect proportion meta-analyses, stratified by type of analgesic medication and prevalence measure, estimated the prevalence of analgesic use. Data on usage frequency, adverse events, and reasons for analgesic use was synthesized narratively. Results : Forty-nine studies were included (44,381 athletes), of which 19 were good/high quality. Seven categories of analgesics were identified across 10 prevalence time-points. Meta-analyses suggested common use of NSAIDs (point prevalence 48 % [95 % CI 23 % to 73 %], in-season prevalence 92 % [95 % CI 88 % to 95 %]). The lowest prevalence was found for use of local anesthetic injections within the previous 12 months (2 % [95 % CI 1 % to 3 %]). Seven to 50 % of athletes reported weekly analgesics use. The proportion of adverse events ranged from 3.3 % to 19.2 %. Reasons for using analgesics included treatment of sports-related pain or injury, to treat illness, and to enhance performance. Conclusions : Analgesics are commonly used in youth athletes, but estimates vary depending on type of analgesic and prevalence measure. As the majority of studies were of poor methodological quality, future high-quality research should include prospective data collection of analgesic use to understand consumption trajectories

Drivers of growth and establishment of the invasive plant Rumex acetosella within Andean fallow systems

Intensification of crop rotations and associated agricultural practices are reducing the capacity of traditional fallows to restore soil fertility and provide forage in Andean cropping systems. While the implementation of improved fallows offers great promise to enhance forage provision and maintain soil productivity, effects of these practices on the establishment of problematic weeds, including non-native plant species, remain poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, we studied: i) how biotic and abiotic environmental factors influence the establishment and productivity of weeds in traditional fallows; and ii) to what extent improved fallows can help control weedy vegetation in smallholder rotations of the high Andes. Specifically, in this research, we focused on the invasive plant species Rumex acetosella L., which is a common concern of farmers throughout the central Peruvian Andes. We leveraged a multi-site, participatory research trial established in 2017 across eight communities in the region to understand the main drivers of R. acetosella presence and productivity. We used a total of 82 sites, each with paired treatments of traditional fallow (control with natural revegetation) and improved fallow (seeded with Vicia sativa L. and Avena sativa L.). Prior to treatment establishment we measured soil texture, pH, soil organic matter content as well as exchangeable macro-nutrients. Vegetation data was recorded in each treatment and divided into four categories: 1) A. sativa, 2) V. sativa, 3) R. acetosella, and 4) other weeds, and weighed to determine the relative biomass contribution of each. From these data, we calculated an index for R. acetosella pressure, weed pressure, and forage productivity. Our findings indicate that improved fallows greatly suppress weedy vegetation relative to unmanaged controls, including the invasive R. acetosella. Multivariate analyses suggested that R. acetosella abundance was associated with the presence of other non-planted weeds and predictors of soil fertility. The mean R. acetosella index in improved fallows was significantly lower compared to traditional fallows. We found R. acetosella biomass to be greater at lower productivity sites, i.e., those at higher elevations with cooler climates and sites with less fertile soils. Our findings indicate that if the fallow portion of a rotation is kept productive via adequate soil fertility inputs, the biomass of weeds, including the alien R. acetosella, is dramatically reduced

Shedding light on typical species : implications for habitat monitoring

Habitat monitoring in Europe is regulated by Article 17 of the Habitats Directive, which suggests the use of typical species to assess habitat conservation status. Yet, the Directive uses the term “typical” species but does not provide a definition, either for its use in reporting or for its use in impact assessments. To address the issue, an online workshop was organized by the Italian Society for Vegetation Science (SISV) to shed light on the diversity of perspectives regarding the different concepts of typical species, and to discuss the possible implications for habitat monitoring. To this aim, we inquired 73 people with a very different degree of expertise in the field of vegetation science by means of a tailored survey composed of six questions. We analysed the data using Pearson's Chi-squared test to verify that the answers diverged from a random distribution and checked the effect of the degree of experience of the surveyees on the results. We found that most of the surveyees agreed on the use of the phytosociological method for habitat monitoring and of the diagnostic and characteristic species to evaluate the structural and functional conservation status of habitats. With this contribution, we shed light on the meaning of “typical” species in the context of habitat monitoring

Plant–environment interactions through a functional traits perspective: a review of Italian studies

Italy is among the European countries with the greatest plant diversity due to both a great environmental heterogeneity and a long history of man–environment interactions. Trait-based approaches to ecological studies have developed greatly over recent decades worldwide, although several issues concerning the relationships between plant functional traits and the environment still lack sufficient empirical evaluation. To draw insights on the association between plant functional traits and direct and indirect human and natural pressures on the environmental drivers, this article summarizes the existing knowledge on this topic by reviewing the results of studies performed in Italy adopting a functional trait approach on vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens. Although we recorded trait measurements for 1418 taxa, our review highlighted some major gaps in plant traits knowledge: Mediterranean ecosystems are poorly represented; traits related to belowground organs are still overlooked; traits measurements for bryophytes and lichens are lacking. Finally, intraspecific variation has been little studied at community level so far. We conclude by highlighting the need for approaches evaluating trait–environment relationship at large spatial and temporal scales and the need of a more effective contribution to online databases to tie more firmly Italian researchers to international scientific networks on plant traits

Thirty years of ecological research at the Gran Sasso d’Italia LTER site: climate change in action

Since 1986, vegetation monitoring of alpine plant communities has been performed at the Gran Sasso d’Italia LTER site (https://deims.org/c0738b00-854c-418f-8d4f-69b03486e9fd) in the Central Apennines, through phytosociological relevés and abundance and coverage estimation of the vascular flora at fine scale. The monitoring activities for abiotic parameters regard air and soil temperatures, rainfall, snowfall and snow cover persistence. A comparative analysis of changes in species composition, life forms, life strategies and morpho-functional types allowed recognition of dynamical processes (fluctuation and degeneration) and an increase in stress- and drought-tolerant and ruderal species, probably linked to a general process of climate change. A trend of variation forced by increasing drought was recorded in high-mountain plant communities, normally within a dynamic fluctuation process. There has been a 50–80% change in species composition with respect to the total number of species observed over the years. Whereas the total number of species has increased in all communities, in high-mountain mesic grassland 20% of sensitive species have completely disappeared. Early signs of a degeneration process were already discernible after seven years: such signs are more evident in snow-dependent communities, with a quantitative increase in more thermophilic and drought-tolerant species and a parallel decrease in more mesic, cryophilic and competitive species. In particular, the following phenomena have been recorded in high-mountain mesic grassland, in agreement with predicted or observed phenomena in other Alpine or Arctic areas: (a) coverage increase (or appearance) of ruderal and stress- and drought-tolerant species; (b) coverage decrease (or disappearance) of cryophilic, mesic and competitive species. These short-term changes could lead, in the medium- or long-term, to a disgregation process affecting the high elevation plant communities of the Apennines (including the local extinction of most of the cold-adapted species), due to their very low resilience. The phenomena described may be linked to the observed climate change which occurred during the last century (in particular in the last 50 years) in the Apennines, consisting mainly, in the mountains, of a strong reduction in the duration of snow-cover and an increase in mean and minimum annual temperatures

The Role of Inter- and Intraspecific Variations in Grassland Plant Functional Traits along an Elevational Gradient in a Mediterranean Mountain Area

Elevational gradients offer special opportunities to investigate the relative role of intraspecific and interspecific trait variations in relation to stress gradients. We used an altitudinal gradient in the Mediterranean (Mt Velino, Central Italy) to study (1) how community-weighted means (CWM) and nonweighted means (CM) vary with elevation for plant height, specific leaf area, and seed mass; and (2) how variation patterns differ for inter- and intraspecific functional variability. We tested (1) if elevation influences community functional composition on the basis of the adaptive value of plant traits and (2) if the latter shows intraspecific variations according to the species’ ability to cope with local conditions. We found that different traits showed different patterns, which can be linked to the function they express. Differences between communities were influenced more by differences between their traits (CM) than by the relative species coverage (CWM). Both highest and lowest elevations were the most selective due to their particularly severe climatic conditions. Intermediate elevations were the most favorable thanks to less constraining climatic conditions. Interspecific trait variability was the most relevant component, indicating a low plant ability to cope with environmental variations through phenotypic plasticity

Understory functional response to different management strategies in Mediterranean beech forests (central Apennines, Italy)

The aim of this paper was to investigate the functional composition of the understory of Mediterranean beech forest stands that have been managed in two different ways, namely, coppicing and tree by tree harvesting. In particular, we used a trait-based approach to characterize old coppice and high forest stands, analyzing their differences and evaluating the status of old coppices by considering their conversion towards high forest stands. The study area was the Montagne della Duchessa massif in central Italy, which lies at the center of the Apennine chain. Sixty-six plots were laid out and their species abundance and structural parameters were recorded. Data on plant traits were collected using both European databases and the literature available. Redundancy analysis was performed to assess the relationship between trait states and management, and forward selection was used to identify the structural parameters with a significant effect on trait variability. A Wilcoxon Rank-Sum test was done to assess differences in trait states between the management types. High forests proved to be more related to traits typical of mature forest conditions, while old coppices seemed not to have a clear trait association, except for some trait states related to open habitats, and showed the same â\u80\u9cmature forestâ\u80\u9d trait composition, even if with lower abundances. This indicates that, despite the higher initial disturbance pressure, once abandoned, old coppices tend over time to evolve naturally towards mature forest functional conditions

Altitude and aspect filter the herb layer functional structure of sub- Mediterranean forests

Question: Do topographic factors that determine the distribution pattern of sub-Mediterranean coppiced woods influence the functional structure of their herb layer? Study area: Umbria-Marche Apennines (Italy). Methods: In 156 plots we collected topographic data and species cover. We identified the main forest communities using a Multivariate Regression Tree (MRT) analysis on the relevés by species matrix constrained by altitude, aspect and slope angle. For the herb layer of each plot, we calculated the community-weighted mean trait values (CWMs) and functional diversity (FD) indices. We compared CWM and FD values between MRT groups at each partition of the tree graph and checked linear trends of CWMs and FD indices along gradients illustrated by topographic variables and mean Ellenberg’s Indicator Values. Results: Altitude and aspect segregated the main forest types and filtered the herb layer functional structure, depending on the considered traits. We observed a shift from strategies related to cold stress and the shortness and unpredictability of growing season at the highest altitudes and on north-facing slopes, to those related to dryness at lower elevations and on south-facing slopes. Environmental filtering changed the relative abundance of traits between mountain and hilly woods, as well as functional richness of life form, vegetative propagation, pollen/spore vector, and functional evenness, divergence, and Rao’s quadratic entropy of storage organs types. Within hilly forests, functional divergence increased toward north-facing slopes, while evenness increased toward south-facing slopes. Conclusions: Altitude and aspect, besides shaping the distribution patterns of sub-Mediterranean coppiced woods, influence the functional structure of their herb layer in a different manner. In mountain woods, higher altitude fosters convergence of the storage organs more suitable to tolerate cold stress. In hilly woods, drought and the heterogeneous distribution of resources on south-facing slopes increase functional evenness, whereas the higher availability of resources on north-facing slopes promotes divergence