Vegetation plot and trait data from phonolitic and basaltic rocks on La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain)

Geodiversity promotes biodiversity by increasing habitat heterogeneity. In times of a global biodiversity decline, data about diversity on such geological elements gains importance, also regarding conservation and restoration. In the Canary Islands, phonolitic rocks are geological elements of volcanic origin that represent additional habitat for species. In the southern part of the island La Palma, phonolite rocks can be encountered in matrices of young lava. We provide biotic and abiotic records from 60 plots of 2 m × 2 m, sampled on phonolitic and neighbouring basaltic outcrops at four different sites that cover a wide environmental gradient. The recorded parameters were species abundances (percentage cover), plant individuals' frequency (number of plant individuals per plot and species), plant growth height (in cm), and canopy diameter (in cm). Additionally, lichen cover (percentage cover) was estimated. To describe site specific characteristics, we recorded plot surface dynamics (3D rock surface), aspect, and inclination. This data set covers vegetation and trait data comparing phonolites and basalts on La Palma. It can be used for island biogeography, vegetation ecology and conservation sciences to help support fundamental research related to insular biodiversity and endemism, and to identify priority areas for protection and preservation in the Canary Islands

Plant dispersal characteristics shape the relationship of diversity with area and isolation

Aim The relation of plant dispersal syndromes with insular species richness patters remains one of the challenges in island biogeography, especially as people have affected species distribution patterns. This study disentangles how dispersal syndromes influence the relationship of richness with area and isolation while also accounting for the human impact on island biodiversity. It builds on the potential of islands at the mesoscale and of similar origin to contribute to the ongoing discussion in island biogeography on what determines species richness and filtering. Location Denmark, 54 islands in the North and Baltic Sea. Taxon Vascular plants, including pteridophytes. Methods Generalized linear models (GLMs) and linear regressions are used to analyse how dispersal syndromes influence the relationships of species numbers with island area and isolation, as well as island inhabitation and human density, respectively. Results Species numbers, seed mass and the proportion of zoochore and anemochore species are positively related to island area while the share of water-dispersed species decreases with increasing area. Isolation is weakly related to mean seed mass but has no explaining power for species numbers and the presence of specific dispersal syndrome on the target islands. Species richness and seed mass were positively related to human presence. Main conclusions Human impact for centuries has not overwritten the strong relationship of species richness with area on the Danish Islands but is affecting the shape of this relationship. Island area constitutes a strong filter for different dispersal syndromes and leads to the assumption that heavier and animal-dispersed seeds are positively related to area due to the presence of more bird and mammal species. Human-induced loss of isolation caused by ongoing traffic and the connection of landmasses by bridges and ferries may be a reason for the overall low explanatory power of island isolation.publishedVersio

Outdoor cycling activity affected by COVID-19 related epidemic-control-decisions

AimThe lockdown of sports infrastructure due to the COVID-19 pandemic has substantially shifted people's physical activity towards public green spaces. With Germany's lockdown as one of the more severe governmentally imposed epidemic-control-decisions, we tested to what extent the frequency of outdoor cycling activities changed from March to June 2020.MethodsUser behaviour and frequency in 15 urban and 7 rural German public green spaces was quantified using cycling data from the fitness application Strava. Changes in cycling activities were analysed with four different generalised linear models, correcting for factors like weather conditions and temporal changes in the user base of the fitness application.ResultsWe found a clear increase in outdoor cycling sport activities in urban public green spaces in response to epidemic-control decisions (e.g. increase by 81% in April relative to the expected value (95% CI [48%, 110%])). In contrast, biking in rural areas showed no significant change with epidemic-control-decisions in place.ConclusionFitness App data, e.g. from Strava, can be used to monitor visitor behaviour and frequency. The increase in outdoor cycling activities during epidemic control decisions likely reflects a shift of sport activities from indoor and team sports to outdoor and individual sports. This highlights the importance of accessible green space for maintaining physical fitness and health. Beyond this shift, it is likely that outdoor activities may be of particularly importance for stress relief in times of crisis such as the current COVID-19 pandemic

Plant dispersal characteristics shape the relationship of diversity with area and isolation

Aim This study disentangles how plant dispersal syndromes influence the relationship of species richness with area and isolation while also accounting for the human impact on island biodiversity. It builds on the potential of islands at the mesoscale and of similar origin to contribute to the ongoing discussion in island biogeography on what determines species richness and filtering. Location Denmark, 54 saltwater and brackish water islands in the North and Baltic Sea Taxon Vascular plants, including pteridophytes (ferns, clubmosses and horsetails) Methods Generalized linear models (GLMs) and linear regressions are used to analyse how dispersal syndromes influence the relationships of species numbers with island area and isolation, as well as island inhabitation and human density, respectively. Results Species numbers, as well as mean seed mass and the proportion of zoochore and anemochore species, are positively related to island area while the share of water-dispersed species decreases with increasing area. The slope of the regression line representing the species-area relationship (SAR) was 0.34 and lies within the common range for this relationship. Isolation is weakly related to mean seed mass but has no explaining power for species numbers and the presence of specific dispersal syndrome on the target islands. Species richness and seed mass was positively related to human presence. Main conclusions Human impact for centuries has not overwritten the strong relationship of species richness with area on the Danish Islands but is affecting the shape of this relationship. Island area constitutes a strong filter for different dispersal syndromes and leads to the assumption that heavier and animal-dispersed seeds are positively related to island area due to the presence of more bird and mammal species. Human-induced loss of isolation caused by ongoing traffic and the connection of landmasses by bridges and ferries may be a reason for the overall low explanatory power of island isolation. Higher species richness on inhabited islands may further be linked to higher habitat diversity in human modified landscapes.The data file (.xlsx file) can be opened in Excel or Libre Office. It might be easiest to access the data file in R as it can then be used in combination with the provided R code.The dataset consists of three parts: (I) Environmental data listing the 54 studied Danish Islands including island characteristics, (II) plant species occurrence data (presence/absence data) on these islands, and (III) trait data of vascular plants that form part of the study. Environmental data For all target islands, information on isolation to continental land masses, island area, and the number of island inhabitants were gathered. The exact geographic position and precise boundaries of the 54 target islands were determined in GIS. This allowed us to calculate isolation as the shortest distance to the nearest mainland (species pool; considering the largest islands Saelland, Vendsyssel-Thyto, and Fyn to be part of continental Denmark), and surface area of the individual islands. To account for human alterations we identified inhabited and uninhabited islands and calculated human density (number of island inhabitants per ha). The number of island inhabitants was compiled from Danmarks Statistik (2021) and for smaller islands, we used Google Earth images (© Google Earth 2021) to verify that no houses were present on the island (human density = 0). Danmarks Statistik (2021). www.statbank.dk/BEF4 (last accessed on 25.10.2021). Species occurrence data Species occurrence data was extracted from a comprehensive data set compiled by Erik Wessberg and co-workers since 1979. It became available in 2011 on the homepage of the Danish Botanical Society as a series of commented species lists, one for each of the islands or cluster of islands surveyed in total (Wessberg et al. 2011). Wessberg, E. et al. (2011). Homepage of the Danish Botanical Society, accessed 10 June 2012, https://botaniskforening.dk/botanik/ofloraer/. Trait data Trait information on seed mass (mg) and dispersal syndromes (zoochory, hydrochory, anemochory, and autochory) were gathered for the 1201 species found on 54 Danish islands from a set of databases: mainly Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (2016), LEDA database (Kleyer et al., 2008) and additionally Ecological Flora of The British Isles (Fitter & Peat, 1994), BiolFlor (Klotz, et al., 2002), BROT trait database for plant species of the Mediterranean Basin (Paula et al., 2009), and D³, The Dispersal and Diaspore Database (Hintze, et al. 2013). Gaps in the data (roughly 100 species) were filled, when possible, by interpolation based on the traits of other species of the same genus, and ferns and clubmosses were assigned the smallest seed mass value in the dataset. Fitter, A. H. & Peat, H. J. 1994. The Ecological Flora Database. Journal of Ecology 82, 415-425. Hintze, C., Heydel F, Hoppe C, Cunze S, König A & Tackenberg O. (2013). D³: The Dispersal and Diaspore Database - Baseline data and statistics on seed dispersal. – Perspectives in Plant Ecology and Evolutionary Syst., 15, 180-192. Kleyer, M., Bekker, R., Knevel, I., Bakker, J., Thompson, K., Sonnenschein, M., … Peco, B. (2008). The LEDA Traitbase: A database of life-history traits of Northwest European flora. Journal of Ecology, 96, 1266-1274 Klotz, S., Kühne, I., & Walter, D. S. (2002). BIOLFLOR - Eine Datenbank zu biologisch-ökologischen Merkmalen der Gefäßpflanzen in Deutschland. – Schriftenreihe für Vegetationskunde 38. Bonn: Bundesamt für Naturschutz. Paula, S., Arianoutsou, M., Kazanis, D., Tavsanoglu, Ç., Lloret, F., Buhk, C., Ojeda, F., Luna, B., Moreno, J. M., Rodrigo, A., Espelta, J. M., Palacio, S., Fernández-Santos, B., Fernandes, P. M., & Pausas, J.G. (2009). Fire-related traits for plant species of the Mediterranean Basin. Ecology, 90, 1420 Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. (2016). Seed Information Database (SID). Version 7.1. Available from: http://data.kew.org/sid/ (June 2016)

Disentangling natural and anthropogenic drivers of native and non‐native plant diversity on North Sea islands

Abstract Aim Biodiversity on islands is commonly explained by a set of natural drivers such as area, isolation and habitat heterogeneity. However, constant human impact has led to considerable changes in island floras worldwide. This is reflected, among others, in increased numbers of non‐native species. Barrier islands are discrete land units, strongly influenced by humans and not displaying significant evolutionary dynamics. This makes them highly suitable for studying contemporary patterns of species richness and underlying processes. We aim to disentangle the effects of established natural and anthropogenic drivers on native and non‐native plant species richness at the example of 31 European barrier islands. Location 31 North Sea barrier islands located off the Dutch, German and Danish coast. Taxon Native and non‐native plant species (spermatophytes and ferns). Methods Individual relationships of natural and anthropogenic drivers with native and non‐native plant species richness are analysed with generalised linear models (GLMs). We use structural equation models (SEMs) to additionally account for interrelations between drivers. Results Island area was the strongest predictor of native and non‐native plant species richness but affected richness mostly indirectly through habitat heterogeneity (non‐native species) and island inhabitants (native species). Isolation had a slight negative effect on native and non‐native plant species numbers on islands. Main Conclusions The richness of native and non‐native plant species on islands is associated with different drivers, that is, habitat heterogeneity and island inhabitants respectively. This might be caused by distinct underlying processes forming native and non‐native richness patterns. Area was confirmed to be the most important driver of species richness but acting primarily through other natural and anthropogenic drivers of plant species richness. We encourage considering both natural and anthropogenic drivers and their interrelatedness to explain contemporary biogeographic patterns of species richness.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft https://doi.org/10.13039/50110000165

Limited natural regeneration of unique Scalesia forest following invasive plant removal in Galapagos

More than 60% of the flora of the Galapagos Islands is introduced and some of these species have become invasive, severely altering ecosystems. An example of an affected ecosystem is the Scalesia forest, originally dominated by the endemic giant daisy tree Scalesia pedunculata (Asteraceae). The remnant patches of this unique forest are increasingly being invaded by introduced plants, mainly by Rubus niveus (blackberry, Rosaceae). To help large-scale restoration of this ecologically important forest, we seek to better understand the natural regeneration of S. pedunculata after invasive plant control. We monitored naturally recruited S. pedunculata saplings and young trees over five years in an area where invasive plant species are continuously being removed by manual means. We measured survival, height and growth of S. pedunculata saplings and young trees along permanent transects. Percent cover of surrounding plant species and of canopy shade directly above each S. pedunculata individual were determined, as well as distance to the next mature S. pedunculata tree. We identified potential factors influencing initial sapling survival and growth by applying generalized linear models. Results showed a rapid growth of saplings and young trees of up to 0.45 cm per day and a high mortality rate, as is typical for pioneer species like S. pedunculata. Sapling survival, growth and mortality seemed to be influenced by light availability, surrounding vegetation and distance to the next adult S. pedunculata tree. We concluded that natural regeneration of S. pedunculata was high only five months after the last herbicide application but that 95% of these recruits had died over the 5-year period. Further studies are needed to corroborate whether the number of surviving trees is sufficient to replace the aging adult trees and this way maintain remnants of the Scalesia forest. Urgent action is needed to help improve future restoration strategies to prevent further degradation of this rapidly shrinking threatened forest ecosystem

A multitaxonomic assessment of Natura 2000 effectiveness across European biogeographic regions

AbstractThe Natura 2000 (N2K) protected area (PA) network is a crucial tool to limit biodiversity loss in Europe. Despite covering 18% of EU's land area, its effectiveness at conserving biodiversity across taxa and biogeographic regions remains uncertain. Testing this effectiveness is, however, difficult as it requires considering the non‐random location of PAs, and many possible confounding factors. Here, we used propensity score matching accounting for the confounding effects of biogeographic regions, terrain ruggedness, and land cover, when assessing the effectiveness of N2K PAs on the distribution of 1,769 priority species from EU's Birds and Habitats Directives, including mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, arthropods, fishes, molluscs, vascular and non‐vascular plants. We compared alpha, beta, and gamma diversity between matched selections of protected and non‐protected areas across EU's biogeographic regions using generalized linear models, generalized mixed models, and non‐parametric tests for paired samples, respectively, for each taxonomic group and for the entire set of species. While we found N2K PAs to host significantly more priority species than non‐protected land, this difference was not consistent across biogeographic regions and taxa. Total alpha diversity as well as alpha diversity of amphibians, arthropods, birds, mammals, and vascular plants were significantly higher inside PAs than outside, except in the Boreal region. Beta diversity was in general significantly higher inside N2K PAs than outside. Similarly, gamma diversity showed the highest values within N2K PAs, with some exceptions in Boreal and Atlantic regions. The planned expansion of the N2K network, as dictated by the European Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, should therefore target areas in the southern part of the Boreal region, areas with high species diversity of amphibians, arthropods, birds, mammals, and vascular plants, which are currently underrepresented in the N2K network.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserve