sPlotOpen – An environmentally balanced, open-access, global dataset of vegetation plots

Assessing biodiversity status and trends in plant communities is critical for understanding, quantifying and predicting the effects of global change on ecosystems. Vegetation plots record the occurrence or abundance of all plant species co-occurring within delimited local areas. This allows species absences to be inferred, information seldom provided by existing global plant datasets. Although many vegetation plots have been recorded, most are not available to the global research community. A recent initiative, called ?sPlot?, compiled the first global vegetation plot database, and continues to grow and curate it. The sPlot database, however, is extremely unbalanced spatially and environmentally, and is not open-access. Here, we address both these issues by (a) resampling the vegetation plots using several environmental variables as sampling strata and (b) securing permission from data holders of 105 local-to-regional datasets to openly release data. We thus present sPlotOpen, the largest open-access dataset of vegetation plots ever released. sPlotOpen can be used to explore global diversity at the plant community level, as ground truth data in remote sensing applications, or as a baseline for biodiversity monitoring. Main types of variable contained: Vegetation plots (n = 95,104) recording cover or abundance of naturally co-occurring vascular plant species within delimited areas. sPlotOpen contains three partially overlapping resampled datasets (c. 50,000 plots each), to be used as replicates in global analyses. Besides geographical location, date, plot size, biome, elevation, slope, aspect, vegetation type, naturalness, coverage of various vegetation layers, and source dataset, plot-level data also include community-weighted means and variances of 18 plant functional traits from the TRY Plant Trait Database. Spatial location and grain: Global, 0.01?40,000 m². Time period and grain: 1888-2015, recording dates. Major taxa and level of measurement: 42,677 vascular plant taxa, plot-level records.Fil: Sabatini, Francesco Maria. Martin-universität Halle-wittenberg; Alemania. German Centre For Integrative Biodiversity Research (idiv) Halle-jena-leipzig; AlemaniaFil: Lenoir, Jonathan. Université de Picardie Jules Verne; FranciaFil: Hattab, Tarek. Université de Montpellier; FranciaFil: Arnst, Elise Aimee. Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research; Nueva ZelandaFil: Chytrý, Milan. Masaryk University; República ChecaFil: Giorgis, Melisa Adriana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Vanselow, Kim André. University of Erlangen-Nuremberg; AlemaniaFil: Vásquez Martínez, Rodolfo. Jardín Botánico de Missouri Oxapampa; PerúFil: Vassilev, Kiril. Bulgarian Academy of Sciences; BulgariaFil: Vélez-Martin, Eduardo. ILEX Consultoria Científica; BrasilFil: Venanzoni, Roberto. University of Perugia; ItaliaFil: Vibrans, Alexander Christian. Universidade Regional de Blumenau; BrasilFil: Violle, Cyrille. Paul Valéry Montpellier University; FranciaFil: Virtanen, Risto. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research; AlemaniaFil: von Wehrden, Henrik. Leuphana University of Lüneburg; AlemaniaFil: Wagner, Viktoria. University of Alberta; CanadáFil: Walker, Donald A.. University of Alaska; Estados UnidosFil: Waller, Donald M.. University of Wisconsin-Madison; Estados UnidosFil: Wang, Hua-Feng. Hainan University; ChinaFil: Wesche, Karsten. Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Görlitz; Alemania. Technische Universität Dresden; AlemaniaFil: Whitfeld, Timothy J. S.. University of Minnesota; Estados UnidosFil: Willner, Wolfgang. University of Vienna; AustriaFil: Wiser, Susan K.. Manaaki Whenua. Landcare Research; Nueva ZelandaFil: Wohlgemuth, Thomas. Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research; SuizaFil: Yamalov, Sergey. Russian Academy of Sciences; RusiaFil: Zobel, Martin. University of Tartu; EstoniaFil: Bruelheide, Helge. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research; Alemani

What do you mean, ‘megafire’?

BACKGROUND : ‘Megafire’ is an emerging concept commonly used to describe fires that are extreme in terms of size, behaviour, and/or impacts, but the term’s meaning remains ambiguous. APPROACH : We sought to resolve ambiguity surrounding the meaning of ‘megafire’ by conducting a structured review of the use and definition of the term in several languages in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. We collated definitions and descriptions of megafire and identified criteria frequently invoked to define megafire. We recorded the size and location of megafires and mapped them to reveal global variation in the size of fires described as megafires. RESULTS : We identified 109 studies that define the term ‘megafire’ or identify a megafire, with the term first appearing in the peer-reviewed literature in 2005. Seventy-one (~65%) of these studies attempted to describe or define the term. There was considerable variability in the criteria used to define megafire, although definitions of megafire based on fire size were most common. Megafire size thresholds varied geographically from > 100–100,000 ha, with fires > 10,000 ha the most common size threshold (41%, 18/44 studies). Definitions of megafire were most common from studies led by authors from North America (52%, 37/71). We recorded 137 instances from 84 studies where fires were reported as megafires, the vast majority (94%, 129/137) of which exceed 10,000 ha in size. Megafires occurred in a range of biomes, but were most frequently described in forested biomes (112/137, 82%), and usually described single ignition fires (59% 81/137). CONCLUSION : As Earth’s climate and ecosystems change, it is important that scientists can communicate trends in the occurrence of larger and more extreme fires with clarity. To overcome ambiguity, we suggest a definition of megafire as fires > 10,000 ha arising from single or multiple related ignition events. We introduce two additional terms – gigafire (> 100,000 ha) and terafire (> 1,000,000 ha) – for fires of an even larger scale than megafires.DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT: A list of the references from which the data were extracted can be found in the Appendix A: Data sources. The data used in this study are openly available at zenodo.org: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6252145.Threatened Species Recovery Hub; NSW Bushfire Risk Management Research Hub; Australian Wildlife Society; World Wildlife Fund.http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/gebZoology and Entomolog

Estructura y diversidad de dos fragmentos del bosque de Espinal en C\uf3rdoba, un ecosistema amenazado

A principios del siglo XX, Córdoba contaba con extensas superficies boscosas. Hoy, debido al desmonte masivo y a la expansión agrícola, ostenta una de las mayores tasas de deforestación mundial, quedando sólo pequeños fragmentos de bosque del Espinal. Esta problemática motivó la investigación de la estructura, composición florística y diversidad de dos fragmentos de bosque de Espinal existentes en la Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Se midió la estructura arbórea a lo largo de toda la superficie de los fragmentos en cuadrados de 20 × 20 m. En cada fragmento se realizaron relevamientos florísticos completos en 10 de los cuadrados seleccionados al azar. Del total de árboles, se registró 45% de Prosopis spp., 17% de Celtis ehrenbergiana, 15% de Acacia spp., 14% de Geoffraea decorticans, 7% de otras nativas y 2% de exóticas. La riqueza promedio por cuadrado fue de 74,9 especies, siendo mayor en la periferia que en el centro del fragmento, y diferente entre los dos fragmentos. Se encontraron diferencias en la composición florística entre el sector periférico y central de los fragmentos y entre los dos fragmentos. Estos resultados proveen información útil para el manejo y restauración uno de los ecosistemas más amenazados de Argentina.<br>Structure and diversity of two woodland fragments of Espinal in Córdoba, a threatened ecosystem. At the beginning of XX century, Córdoba had extensive woodland areas. At present, due to massive deforestation and agriculture expansions, it has one of the highest rates of global deforestation, leaving only small fragments of Espinal woodland. This problem led to the investigation of structure, floristic composition and diversity of two woodland fragments of Espinal present at the Catholic University of Córdoba. We measured woodland structure over the entire surface of the fragments in squares of 20 × 20 m. In each fragment we performed complete floristic surveys in 10 randomly selected squares. Of all the trees, there were 45% of Prosopis spp., 17% of Celtis ehrenbergiana, 15% of Acacia spp., 14% of Geoffraea decorticans, 7% of others natives and 2% of alien species. The average richness per square was 74.9 species, being higher in the periphery than in the centre of the fragment, and different between both fragments. There were differences in the floristic composition among the periphery and the centre fragments and among the two fragments. Our results provided valuable information for the management and restoration of one of the most threatened ecosystem in Argentina

Análisis preliminar de especies nativas y no nativas de los Parques Nacionales terrestres de Argentina con énfasis en plantas vasculares

Introducción y objetivos: La información sobre la biodiversidad de áreas protegidas es fundamental para desarrollar estrategias de manejo y conservación. En este trabajo evaluamos el número de registros de plantas y vertebrados de Parques Nacionales (PN) de Argentina en función de la riqueza de especies de la provincia donde se encuentra cada PN, analizamos posibles variables explicativas del número de registros en cada PN, y describimos la vegetación registrada en tres PN icónicos del país. M&M: Los registros de plantas vasculares y de vertebrados, las características de cada PN y la riqueza de especies de la provincia donde se encuentra cada PN se obtuvieron de bases de datos de acceso abierto. Para los PN Calilegua, Iguazú y Nahuel Huapi describimos el número de plantas según familia, origen, endemismo, forma de vida, estado de conservación según UICN e invasividad de especies no nativas. Resultados: Los PN presentan gran variabilidad en sus registros. Existen pocos registros de especies no nativas. Los PN más antiguos registraron más plantas no nativas. La lista de plantas del PN Nahuel Huapi mostró un mayor número de registro que Calilegua e Iguazú. El número de plantas categorizadas por UICN es muy bajo. Casi todas las plantas no nativas registradas son invasoras en otros lugares del mundo. Conclusiones: Destacamos la importancia de incrementar el relevamiento de especies en todos los PN, particularmente de plantas y en PN de reciente creación. Se requiere mayor atención a especies no nativas a fin evitar problemas socio-ecológicos asociados a invasiones biológicas

Estructura y diversidad de dos fragmentos del bosque de Espinal en Córdoba, un ecosistema amenazado

A principios del siglo XX, Córdoba contaba con extensas superficies boscosas. Hoy, debido al desmonte masivo y a la expansión agrícola, ostenta una de las mayores tasas de deforestación mundial, quedando sólo pequeños fragmentos de bosque del Espinal. Esta problemática motivó la investigación de la estructura, composición florística y diversidad de dos fragmentos de bosque de Espinal existentes en la Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Se midió la estructura arbórea a lo largo de toda la superficie de los fragmentos en cuadrados de 20 × 20 m. En cada fragmento se realizaron relevamientos florísticos completos en 10 de los cuadrados seleccionados al azar. Del total de árboles, se registró 45% de Prosopis spp., 17% de Celtis ehrenbergiana, 15% de Acacia spp., 14% de Geoffraea decorticans, 7% de otras nativas y 2% de exóticas. La riqueza promedio por cuadrado fue de 74,9 especies, siendo mayor en la periferia que en el centro del fragmento, y diferente entre los dos fragmentos. Se encontraron diferencias en la composición florística entre el sector periférico y central de los fragmentos y entre los dos fragmentos. Estos resultados proveen información útil para el manejo y restauración uno de los ecosistemas más amenazados de Argentina.Fil: Noy Meir, Imanuel. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, de Nutrición y del Ambiente, Universidad Hebrea de Jerusalén, Rehovot, IsraelFil: Mascó, Elsa de las Mercedes. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias; ArgentinaFil: Giorgis, Melisa A. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Gurvich, Diego E. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Perazzolo, Diana Alicia. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias; ArgentinaFil: Ruiz, Gustavo. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias; Argentin

Native woody vegetation in central Argentina: Classification of Chaco and Espinal forests

Question: What are the composition and spatial patterns of native woody plant communities in the southern Great Chaco and Espinal?. Location: Córdoba Province, central Argentina, an area of ca. 161,000 km2. Methods: We collected 351 geo-referenced relevés representative of the geographic, topographic and ecological variation of the Chaco and Espinal woody vegetation in central Argentina. The relevés were classified into vegetation types using the hierarchical ISOPAM method. Forest and shrubland types were described on the basis of diagnostic species occurrences and their distribution in relation to environmental factors. A map of the actual vegetation derived from remote-sensed images (Landsat) and field data was used to describe the current distribution and abundance of the different vegetation types. Results: The classification of the 351 plots × 837 species matrix revealed two major clusters comprising seven woody vegetation types corresponding to Chaco lowland and mountain forests and shrublands, Espinal forests and edaphic vegetation. The most important gradients in woody vegetation types are related to elevation, temperature and rainfall variables. Conclusions: Subtropical seasonally dry woody plant communities from the southern extreme of the Great Chaco and Espinal forests were described for the first time based on complete floristic data. Our results show that lowland Chaco native forests, as well as replacement communities, are still present in its southern distribution range and are well distinguishable from other vegetation types such as the Espinal and mountain forests. Overall, extensive Espinal forests have almost disappeared while Chaco vegetation is highly fragmented and degraded