Belowground ectomycorrhizal communities in three Norway spruce stands with different degrees of decline in the Czech Republic

We investigated the ectomycorrhizal communities on the roots of adult trees and seedlings associated with three Norway spruce stands in the Czech Republic using morphological and molecular tools. The stands had different degrees of forest decline due to air pollution. The aims of the study were to obtain information about the belowground ectomycorrhizal community in a heavily damaged spruce forest and to assess whether missing ectomycorrhizal fungal partners could be one of the reasons for the observed lack of regeneration. The ectomycorrhizal species richness on the roots of adult trees was significantly lower in the heavily damaged site Mumlavska hora than in the other two, but less drastically so than that found in a fruitbody survey. The roots of adult trees and seedlings were fully mycorrhizal at this site although they were less species-rich. The most abundant ectomycorrhizal species on the root system of adult trees in all three forest stands was Tylospora fibrillosa, a member of the athelioid clade. It made up over 60% of root tips in Mumlavska hora and its proportion was at least twice that in the other two sites. This species was also an efficient colonizer of roots from seedlings, in particular, in the most damaged site. The different soil properties in this site may have caused the observed differences in the ectomycorrhizal species richness and composition. For example, cation exchange capacity and soil base saturation were lower and the soil more often saturated. However, the number of living trees and their defoliation status may well directly impact the ectomycorrhizal species composition by presumably affecting the amount of carbon delivered to the symbiotic fungal partners. Athelioids and thelephoroids are an important component of the belowground ectomycorrhizal community in most temperate and boreal forests, but the role they play might even be more crucial in stressed forest ecosystems. Based on our results, we suggest that factors other than missing ectomycorrhizal inoculum constrain natural regeneration in the heavily damaged site Mumlavska hor

Easy come, easy go: Short-term land-use dynamics vis à vis regional economic downturns

The present study postulates distinctive land-use dynamics along the economic cycle, and tests against diverging trends over time of urban and non-urban land-uses with characteristic economic potential. Short-term land-use changes over seven time windows encompassing the last three decades (1992–2020) were investigated in metropolitan Athens (Greece), a mono-centric region experiencing complex economic downturns. Based on diachronic land-use maps with homogeneous spatial resolution and nomenclature derived from ESA Climate Change Initiative (ESA-CCI), a change detection analysis was run considering mean patch size, distance from downtown, and specific entropy-based metrics of landscape diversification (Shannon-Wiener H’ diversity index and Pielou J evenness index). Results of a canonical correlation analysis document differential intensity and spatial direction of change during expansions and recessions associated with distinctive socio-demographic profiles. Metropolitan growth followed a radio-centric (land-saving) model during economic expansions with intense urbanization of fringe land. A more dispersed settlement model – reflecting urban sprawl – was associated with economic stagnations, involving land at progressively distant locations from downtown. Landscape diversification was higher under stagnations and lower during expansions

Managing floodplains using nature‐based solutions to support multiple ecosystem functions and services

Floodplains include unique environments shaped over a long time horizon along rivers and smaller streams and formed by alluvial sediments. As floodplains are flat, often with highly fertile and well-accessible land, they have become the intrinsic focus of human society—while providing a variety of goods and ecosystem services. Intensive land use of floodplains is degrading their natural values and significantly reducing their ecosystem functions and services. A significant part of these key services is related with the ability of floodplains to retain water and nutrients, which can be understood as a flood control and a water-retention function. Although these ecosystems serve a number of other basic functions, the importance of floodplains as a place for water retention during extreme discharges caused by intense rainfall or snowmelt and the supply of water in times of drought are essential under conditions of global change. In order to increase the ability of floodplains to perform these functions, it is increasingly required to preserve the connectivity of rivers with surrounding floodplains and adapt human activities to maintain and restore river ecosystems. This article reviews the recent understanding of floodplain delineation, the most common causes of disturbance, the ecosystem functions being performed, discussing in turn the measures being considered to mitigate the frequency and magnitude of hydrologic extremes resulting from ongoing environmental changes

Latent drivers of landscape transformation in Eastern Europe: Past, present and future

Land-use changes in Europe have been influenced by social forces including economic, demographic, political, technological and cultural factors. Contributing to a refined conceptualization of multifaceted processes of landscape transformation in the European continent, the present study proposes an extensive review of land-use trends in Eastern Europe, focusing on past, present and future conditions that may characterize latent drivers of change. Three time periods with a specific institutional, political and socioeconomic context reflecting distinct processes of land-use change were identified including: (i) the rapid transition to a centralized political system since the early 1950s (up to the late 1980s); (ii) a progressive transition from communist regimes to parliamentary democracy in 1989–1990 (up to the early 2000s); and (iii) the subsequent accession of individual countries to the European Union (2004–2007) up to nowadays. The most recent land-use trends are increasingly influenced by European directives on the environment, while national policies continue to shape economic development in member states

Climate Aridity and the Geographical Shift of Olive Trees in a Mediterranean Northern Region

[EN] Climate change leverages landscape transformations and exerts variable pressure on natural environments and rural systems. Earlier studies outlined how Mediterranean Europe has become a global hotspot of climate warming and land use change. The present work assumes the olive tree, a typical Mediterranean crop, as a candidate bioclimatic indicator, delineating the latent impact of climate aridity on traditional cropping systems at the northern range of the biogeographical distribution of the olive tree. Since the olive tree follows a well-defined latitude gradient with a progressive decline in both frequency and density moving toward the north, we considered Italy as an appropriate case to investigate how climate change may (directly or indirectly) influence the spatial distribution of this crop. By adopting an exploratory approach grounded in the quali-quantitative analysis of official statistics, the present study investigates long-term changes over time in the spatial distribution of the olive tree surface area in Northern Italy, a region traditionally considered outside the ecological range of the species because of unsuitable climate conditions. Olive tree cultivated areas increased in Northern Italy, especially in flat districts and upland areas, while they decreased in Central and Southern Italy under optimal climate conditions, mostly because of land abandonment. The most intense expansion of the olive tree surface area in Italy was observed in the northern region between 1992 and 2000 and corresponded with the intensification of winter droughts during the late 1980s and the early 1990s and local warming since the mid-1980s. Assuming the intrinsic role of farmers in the expansion of the olive tree into the suboptimal land of Northern Italy, the empirical results of our study suggest how climate aridity and local warming may underlie the shift toward the north in the geographical range of the olive tree in the Mediterranean Basin. We finally discussed the implications of the olive range shift as a part of a possible landscape scenario for a more arid future.Rodrigo-Comino, J.; Salvia, R.; Quaranta, G.; Cudlín, P.; Salvati, L.; Giménez Morera, A. (2021). Climate Aridity and the Geographical Shift of Olive Trees in a Mediterranean Northern Region. Climate. 9(4):1-18. https://doi.org/10.3390/cli9040064S1189

Valutation of ecosystem services provided by habitat on the basis of biodiversity characteristics and the rate and sustainability of selected ecosystem functions

Increasing human impacts on ecosystems result in a continuous decrease in biodiversity; scientists try to estimate the consequences in ecosystem functioning and ecosystem service (ES) provision. A suitable space framework to study this relationship could be the habitat and its relative value expressed by the monetary valuation of a selected fi nal ES. A cross connection of the methods for ecosystem functioning assessment with biodiversity valuation of habitats would enable an estimation of the role of biodiversity in ES provision. It is necessary to identify not only present functioning, described by eff ect traits, but also its sustainability under global environmental change conditions, described by response traits. Th is approach could reveal the resilience and adaptation potential of present habitats to environmental change and subsequently potential changes in ES provision

Retrospective investigation of defoliation and regenerative processes in the assimilation organs as a basis for estimation of long-term multiple stress impact of mountain Norway spruce forest stands

Retrospective method of determination of the response of Norway spruce forest stands to multiple stress was applied for four permanent research plots in the Jizera Mts. Stress exceeding (lost of more than 50% of primary shots) has been observed on all plots, however, no signifacant damage to trees (lost of more than 80% of primary shots) have been observed. It results in sufficient tree regeneration potential of investigated forest stands