Directional turnover towards larger-ranged plants over time and across habitats

Species turnover is ubiquitous. However, it remains unknown whether certain types of species are consistently gained or lost across different habitats. Here, we analysed the trajectories of 1827 plant species over time intervals of up to 78 years at 141 sites across mountain summits, forests, and lowland grasslands in Europe. We found, albeit with relatively small effect sizes, displacements of smaller- by larger-ranged species across habitats. Communities shifted in parallel towards more nutrient-demanding species, with species from nutrient-rich habitats having larger ranges. Because these species are typically strong competitors, declines of smaller-ranged species could reflect not only abiotic drivers of global change, but also biotic pressure from increased competition. The ubiquitous component of turnover based on species range size we found here may partially reconcile findings of no net loss in local diversity with global species loss, and link community-scale turnover to macroecological processes such as biotic homogenisation

Operative Behandlung bei Kindern mit fokaler Epilepsie bei hemisphärischer Polymikrogyrie

Albert Hart's ERF box lorry - registration EMB102 - photographed 1 June 1960. Scott negative number 3511

Extrapair paternity in a German population of the Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe)

International audienceWe demonstrate the potential of a set of novel microsatellite markers to investigate kin structure and population genetics in the Northern Wheatear (). In this study, based on 242 individuals from a population in Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany), we found that 26% of the offspring in 46% of the broods were sired by other males than the social fathers. We tested different hypotheses why males engage in extrapair copulations and found that almost all identified genetic fathers originated from directly neighbouring territories. Additionally, we detected 2 out of 134 offspring in two broods that could not be assigned to their putative mother and thus were probably the result of intraspecific brood parasitism

Vegetation changes of alpine calcareous grasslands in the Berchtesgaden National Park (SE-Germany) during the last three decades.

© 2016, Floristisch - Soziologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft. Anthropogenic impacts such as global warming, land-use change and nitrogen deposition are affecting plant communities worldwide, and particularly alpine communities have been undergoing significant changes in recent years. We therefore analysed changes in the alpine calcareous grassland vegeta-tion (Carex sempervirens and Carex firma communities) in the Berchtesgaden National Park over the last 30 years. We used data from permanent plots to produce a "floristic time series" from the 1980s to the present. We analysed the changes in the composition and species richness and tried to link these to autogenic or allogenic processes, with special focus on anthropogenic nitrogen deposition as a potential major cause. We found clear floristic changes over the study period, with an increase in average species richness of more than 10 species per plot in both communities. The Carex firma communities also showed a significant decrease in the average indicator values for continentality, suggesting that the floristic changes might be related to global warming and the resulting climatic effects. Global warming may have also accelerated the natural successional processes affecting the vegetation, but the time frame of 30 years is too short to consider this autogenic succession as one of the main factors. In contrast, nitrogen deposition or changes in land use appear to have played a smaller role in the vegetation changes