On the run for water - Root growth of two phreatophytes in the Taklamakan Desert

Desert phreatophytes require extremely fast root growth for a successful establishment We measured the speed of seedling root growth of two phreatophytic plant species, Alhagi sparsifolia and Karelinia caspia, which form dominant or codominant stands around the river oases at the southern fringe of the Taklamakan Desert. As A sparsifolia occurs at sites with deeper groundwater, we expected the roots of this species to reach down more rapidly than those of K caspia. Furthermore, we expected seedlings experiencing no irrigation and low fertilization to have deeper reaching roots than seedlings with irrigation and fertilization. Seeds of both species were sown into 1 and 2 m long tubes in a glasshouse and in a field experiment, respectively. After 16 weeks of growth in the field roots of K. caspia and A. sparsifolia reached down 2 2 m and 1.7 m, respectively. In accordance with a faster growth, K. caspia had a higher water use, which resulted in a faster decrease of water content in the tubes. Species differences in the vertical reach of roots in the glasshouse experiment were comparable to those in the field experiment After 12 weeks without irrigation, A sparsifolia had a higher rooting depth (0.45 m) than with irrigation (0 30 m), while root depths of K caspia showed the opposite pattern with 062 m and 0 72 m, respectively Fertilizing increased total biomass of both species, while low level of fertilization had the tendency to increase the root shoot ratio and the specific root lengths (SRL), most likely a response to acquire nutrients at lower costs. However, plants of K. caspia showed an increase in SLR already after 12 weeks, while it took 16 weeks for A sparsifolia to increase SRL in the low fertilization level. Our results show clearly that both species are able to reach the groundwater table in the river valleys (6 5 m) within a time span of five to six months after germination However, the encountered vegetation pattern is probably not caused by differences in the speed of rooting depth, but might be the result of a higher capability of growing up with sand accumulation of A sparsifolia. As additional irrigation and fertilization did not enhance rooting depth in both species, these factors will have little impact in restoration procedures (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserve

Species richness influences the spatial distribution of trees in European forests

The functioning of plant communities is strongly influenced by the number of species in the community and their spatial arrangement. This is because plants interact with their nearest neighbors and this interaction is expected to be stronger when the interacting individuals are ecologically similar in terms of resource use. Recent evidence shows that species richness alters the balance of intra- versus interspecific competition, but the effect of species richness, and phylogenetic and functional diversity on the spatial pattern of the plant communities remain less studied. Even far, how forest stand structure derived from past management practices can influence the relationship between species richness and spatial pattern is still unknown. Here, we evaluate the spatial distribution of woody individuals (DBH >7.5 cm) in 209 forest stands (i.e. plots) with an increasing level of species richness (from 1 up to 10 species) in six forest types along a latitudinal gradient in Europe. We used completely mapped plots to investigate the spatial pattern in each forest stand with point pattern techniques. We fitted linear models to analyze the effect of species richness (positively correlated with phylogenetic diversity) and functional diversity on tree spatial arrangements. We also controled this relationship by forest type and stand structure as a proxy of the management legacy. Our results showed a generalized positive effect of species richness and functional diversity on the degree of spatial clustering of trees, and on the spatial independence of tree sizes regardless of the forest type. Moreover, current tree spatial arrangements were still conditioned by its history of management; however its effect was independent of the number of species in the community. Our study showed that species richness and functional diversity are relevant attributes of forests influencing the spatial pattern of plant communities, and consequently forest functioning. © 2019 Nordic Society Oikos. Published by John Wiley & Sons LtdThis research was supported by the FunDivEUROPE project, receiving funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement no.265171, the Spanish‐funded project REMEDINAL TE‐CM S2018/EMT‐4338 and COMEDIAS FEDER/Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades – Agencia Estatal de Investigación/_Proyecto CGL2017‐83170‐R. RB was funded by a Marie Skłodowska‐Curie Intra‐European fellowship (grant agreement no. 302445)

Ten (mostly) simple rules to future-proof trait data in ecological and evolutionary sciences

Abstract Traits have become a crucial part of ecological and evolutionary sciences, helping researchers understand the function of an organism's morphology, physiology, growth and life history, with effects on fitness, behaviour, interactions with the environment and ecosystem processes. However, measuring, compiling and analysing trait data comes with data‐scientific challenges. We offer 10 (mostly) simple rules, with some detailed extensions, as a guide in making critical decisions that consider the entire life cycle of trait data. This article is particularly motivated by its last rule, that is, to propagate good practice. It has the intention of bringing awareness of how data on the traits of organisms can be collected and managed for reuse by the research community. Trait observations are relevant to a broad interdisciplinary community of field biologists, synthesis ecologists, evolutionary biologists, computer scientists and database managers. We hope these basic guidelines can be useful as a starter for active communication in disseminating such integrative knowledge and in how to make trait data future‐proof. We invite the scientific community to participate in this effort at http://opentraits.org/best‐practices.html

Action needed for the EU Common Agricultural Policy to address sustainability challenges

Abstract Making agriculture sustainable is a global challenge. In the European Union (EU), the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is failing with respect to biodiversity, climate, soil, land degradation as well as socio-economic challenges. The European Commission's proposal for a CAP post-2020 provides a scope for enhanced sustainability. However, it also allows Member States to choose low-ambition implementation pathways. It therefore remains essential to address citizens' demands for sustainable agriculture and rectify systemic weaknesses in the CAP, using the full breadth of available scientific evidence and knowledge. Concerned about current attempts to dilute the environmental ambition of the future CAP, and the lack of concrete proposals for improving the CAP in the draft of the European Green Deal, we call on the European Parliament, Council and Commission to adopt 10 urgent action points for delivering sustainable food production, biodiversity conservation and climate mitigation. Knowledge is available to help moving towards evidence-based, sustainable European agriculture that can benefit people, nature and their joint futures. The statements made in this article have the broad support of the scientific community, as expressed by above 3,600 signatories to the preprint version of this manuscript. The list can be found here (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3685632). A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.Peer reviewe

The functional trait spectrum of European temperate grasslands

Questions: What is the functional trait variation of European temperate grasslands and how does this reflect global patterns of plant form and function? Do habitat specialists show trait differentiation across habitat types?. Location: Europe. Methods: We compiled 18 regeneration and non-regeneration traits for a continental species pool consisting of 645 species frequent in five grassland types. These grassland types are widely distributed in Europe but differentiated by altitude, soil bedrock and traditional long-term management and disturbance regimes. We evaluated the multivariate trait space of this entire species pool and compared multi-trait variation and mean trait values of habitat specialists grouped by grassland type. Results: The first dimension of the trait space accounted for 23% of variation and reflected a gradient between fast-growing and slow-growing plants. Plant height and SLA contributed to both the first and second ordination axes. Regeneration traits mainly contributed to the second and following dimensions to explain 56% of variation across the first five axes. Habitat specialists showed functional differences between grassland types mainly through non-regeneration traits. Conclusions: The trait spectrum of plants dominating European temperate grasslands is primarily explained by growth strategies which are analogous to the trait variation observed at the global scale, and secondly by regeneration strategies. Functional differentiation of habitat specialists across grassland types is mainly related to environmental filtering linked with altitude and disturbance. This filtering pattern is mainly observed in non-regeneration traits, while most regeneration traits demonstrate multiple strategies within the same habitat type.EL, BJA, MTI, AM, PI and CB acknowledge the research leading to these results has received funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007–2013 under REA grant agreement no. 607785, as a part of the NAtive Seed Science TEchnology and Conservation (NASSTEC) Initial Training Network (ITN). BJA was further funded by the Marie Curie Clarín‐COFUND program of the Principality of Asturias and the European Union (ACB17‐26). BJA and HB acknowledge support from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle–Jena–Leipzig funded by the German Research Foundation (DFTG FZT 118) through the sPlot research platform. PI acknowledges support from the Rural & Environment Science & Analytical Services Division of the Scottish Government. KÖ thanks RO1567‐IBB03/2018 for financial support

BioTIME: A database of biodiversity time series for the Anthropocene.

MotivationThe BioTIME database contains raw data on species identities and abundances in ecological assemblages through time. These data enable users to calculate temporal trends in biodiversity within and amongst assemblages using a broad range of metrics. BioTIME is being developed as a community-led open-source database of biodiversity time series. Our goal is to accelerate and facilitate quantitative analysis of temporal patterns of biodiversity in the Anthropocene.Main types of variables includedThe database contains 8,777,413 species abundance records, from assemblages consistently sampled for a minimum of 2 years, which need not necessarily be consecutive. In addition, the database contains metadata relating to sampling methodology and contextual information about each record.Spatial location and grainBioTIME is a global database of 547,161 unique sampling locations spanning the marine, freshwater and terrestrial realms. Grain size varies across datasets from 0.0000000158 km2 (158 cm2) to 100 km2 (1,000,000,000,000 cm2).Time period and grainBioTIME records span from 1874 to 2016. The minimal temporal grain across all datasets in BioTIME is a year.Major taxa and level of measurementBioTIME includes data from 44,440 species across the plant and animal kingdoms, ranging from plants, plankton and terrestrial invertebrates to small and large vertebrates.Software format.csv and .SQL

Mapping human pressures on biodiversity across the planet uncovers anthropogenic threat complexes

Abstract Climate change and other anthropogenic drivers of biodiversity change are unequally distributed across the world. Overlap in the distributions of different drivers have important implications for biodiversity change attribution and the potential for interactive effects. However, the spatial relationships among different drivers and whether they differ between the terrestrial and marine realm has yet to be examined. We compiled global gridded datasets on climate change, land-use, resource exploitation, pollution, alien species potential and human population density. We used multivariate statistics to examine the spatial relationships among the drivers and to characterize the typical combinations of drivers experienced by different regions of the world. We found stronger positive correlations among drivers in the terrestrial than in the marine realm, leading to areas with high intensities of multiple drivers on land. Climate change tended to be negatively correlated with other drivers in the terrestrial realm (e.g. in the tundra and boreal forest with high climate change but low human use and pollution), whereas the opposite was true in the marine realm (e.g. in the Indo-Pacific with high climate change and high fishing). We show that different regions of the world can be defined by Anthropogenic Threat Complexes (ATCs), distinguished by different sets of drivers with varying intensities. We identify 11 ATCs that can be used to test hypotheses about patterns of biodiversity and ecosystem change, especially about the joint effects of multiple drivers. Our global analysis highlights the broad conservation priorities needed to mitigate the impacts of anthropogenic change, with different priorities emerging on land and in the ocean, and in different parts of the world.Peer reviewe

The geography of biodiversity change in marine and terrestrial assemblages

This work was supported by funding to the sChange working group through sDiv, the synthesis center of iDiv, the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle-Jena-Leipzig, funded by the German Research Foundation (FZT 118). S.A.B., H.B., J.M.C., J.H., and M.W. were supported by the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig. S.R.S. was supported by U.S. National Science Foundation grant 1400911. LHA was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal (POPH/FSE SFRH/BD/90469/2012), and by the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation. M.D. was supported by a Leverhulme Trust Fellowship. A.E.M., F.M., and M.D. were supported by ERC AdG BioTIME 250189 and PoC BioCHANGE 727440. A.G. is supported by the Liber Ero Chair in Biodiversity Conservation.Human activities are fundamentally altering biodiversity. Projections of declines at the global scale are contrasted by highly variable trends at local scales, suggesting that biodiversity change may be spatially structured. Here, we examined spatial variation in species richness and composition change using more than 50,000 biodiversity time series from 239 studies and found clear geographic variation in biodiversity change. Rapid compositional change is prevalent, with marine biomes exceeding and terrestrial biomes trailing the overall trend. Assemblage richness is not changing on average, although locations exhibiting increasing and decreasing trends of up to about 20% per year were found in some marine studies. At local scales, widespread compositional reorganization is most often decoupled from richness change, and biodiversity change is strongest and most variable in the oceans.PostprintPostprintPeer reviewe