Journal articles on the topic 'Threatened plant communities'
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Kelly, Caroline L., Catherine M. Pickering, and Ralf C. Buckley. "Impacts of tourism on threatened plant taxa and communities in Australia." Ecological Management & Restoration 4, no. 1 (April 2003): 37–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1442-8903.2003.00136.x.
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Gibson, N., G. J. Keighery, M. N. Lyons, and B. J. Keighery. "Threatened plant communities of Western Australia. 2 The seasonal clay-based wetland communities of the South West." Pacific Conservation Biology 11, no. 4 (2005): 287. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/pc050287.
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The communities of seasonal clay-based wetlands of south-west Australia are described. They are amongst the most threatened In Western Australia. It is estimated that >90% of the original extent of these communities has been cleared for agriculture, and the remaining areas, despite largely occurring in conservation reserves, are threatened by weed invasion and rising saline groundwater. Thirty-six taxa are identified as claypan specialists occurring in six floristic communities. Composition was strongly correlated with rainfall and edaphic factors. The most consistent attribute shared between the seasonal clay-based wetlands of south-west Australia, and the analogous vernal pools systems of California, Chile, and South Africa was the widespread conversion of these wetlands to agricultural systems. The south-west Australia wetlands had a richer flora, different lifeform composition, higher species richness but fewer claypan specialists than the vernal pools of California. The dissimilarity in the regional floras and vegetation types from which the pool floras were recruited explain these differences.
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Mathur, Anjali, and Hema Joshi. "Conservation priorities, necessity in the tarai region of Kumaun, Uttarakhand." Indian Journal of Forestry 38, no. 2 (June 1, 2015): 129–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.54207/bsmps1000-2015-719283.
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A threatened species is any plant or animal species that is at risk of extinction. The present study was conducted in tarai region of Kumaun, Uttarakhand between the years 2008 to 2011 in three different sites and eight communities. During the study it was found that 28 plant species belonged of threatened categories. The present study concluded that, conservation is urgent necessity in this area.
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Shearer, B. L., C. E. Crane, S. Barrett, and A. Cochrane. "Phytophthora cinnamomi invasion, a major threatening process to conservation of flora diversity in the South-west Botanical Province of Western Australia." Australian Journal of Botany 55, no. 3 (2007): 225. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt06019.
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The invasive soilborne plant pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands is a major threatening process in the South-west Botanical Province of Western Australia, an internationally recognised biodiversity hotspot. Comparatively recent introduction of P. cinnamomi into native plant communities of the South-west Botanical Province of Western Australia since the early 1900s has caused great irreversible damage and altered successional change to a wide range of unique, diverse and mainly susceptible plant communities. The cost of P. cinnamomi infestation to community values is illustrated by examination of direct (mortality curves, changes in vegetation cover) and indirect impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics, the proportion of Threatened Ecological Communities infested, Declared Rare Flora either directly or indirectly threatened by infestation and estimates of the proportion of the native flora of the South-west Botanical Province susceptible to the pathogen. While direct impacts of P. cinnamomi have been poorly documented in the South-west Botanical Province, even less attention has been given to indirect impact where destruction of the habitat by the pathogen affects taxa not directly affected by infection. Current poor understanding and quantification of indirect impacts of P. cinnamomi through habitat destruction results in an underestimation of the true impact of the pathogen on the flora of the South-west Botanical Province. Considerable variation of susceptibility to P. cinnamomi among and within families of threatened flora and responses of taxa within the genus Lambertia show how classification within family and genus are poor predictors of species susceptibility. Within apparently susceptible plant species, individuals are resistant to P. cinnamomi infection. Intra-specific variation in susceptibility can be utilised in the long-term management of threatened flora populations and needs to be a high research priority. Current control strategies for conservation of flora threatened by P. cinnamomi integrate hygiene and ex situ conservation with disease control using fungicide. Application of the fungicide phosphite has proven effective in slowing progress of P. cinnamomi in infested, threatened communities. However, variation in plant species responses to phosphite application is a major factor influencing effective control of P. cinnamomi in native communities. A greater understanding of the mechanisms of action of phosphite in plant species showing different responses to the fungicide may provide options for prescription modification to increase phosphite effectiveness in a range of plant species. The range of responses to P. cinnamomi infection and phosphite application described for Lambertia taxa suggests that the genus would make an ideal model system to elucidate the mechanisms of resistance to P. cinnamomi and the effectiveness of phosphite against the pathogen.
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Vijayan, Anu, Joseph M. Maina, Rochelle Lawson, Hsing-Chung Chang, Linda J. Beaumont, and Peter J. Davies. "Land use planning to support climate change adaptation in threatened plant communities." Journal of Environmental Management 298 (November 2021): 113533. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113533.
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Joshi, Pankaj N., Hiren B. Soni, SF Wesley Sunderraj, and Justus Joshua. "Conservation And Management Strategies For Threatened Plant Species Of Kachchh Desert Island, Gujarat, India." International Journal of Environment 2, no. 1 (December 1, 2013): 45–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ije.v2i1.9207.
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Climatic variations and geo-morphological conditions of a particular geographic province determine the formation of different plant communities, and thereby form the different types of habitats. One of the indispensable prerequisites for conservation of a particular species is to understand different ecological parameters determine its population status and distribution pattern. The present study focuses on the status and distribution of threatened and medicinal plant species in various types of habitats and ecosystems of Kachchh Desert Island, Gujarat, India. Besides opportunistic observations of floral elements, conservation and management of some medicinal and threatened plant species is discussed. The study also depicts the understanding of role of environmental, ecological, economical, social and ethological factors which help to enhance the productive potential of a particular plant species alongwith its associated communities involving local people, tribal communities and local NGOs. International Journal of Environment, Volume-2, Issue-1, Sep-Nov 2013, Pages 45-59 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ije.v2i1.9207
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A. Keith, David, and Judith Scott. "Native vegetation of coastal floodplains ? a diagnosis of the major plant communities in New South Wales." Pacific Conservation Biology 11, no. 2 (2005): 81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/pc050081.
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Coastal floodplains are among the most modified landscapes in southeastern Australia. We used available vegetation survey data for coastal alluvium and other unconsolidated Quarternary sediments to construct a diagnosis of the major plant communities and document their flora. We used soil landscape maps and historical portion plans to gain an understanding of the distribution and environmental relationships of the communities. The flora of coastal floodplains includes more than 1 000 native vascular plant taxa and more than 200 introduced taxa. The introduced flora is likely to be considerably larger, given that sampling was biased toward the least disturbed sites. Six major plant communities were diagnosed including a rainforest found north from the Shoalhaven floodplain, a mixed forest of eucalypts and melaleucas found north from Jervis Bay, a casuarina forest (sometimes with melaleuca) found throughout the coast, one open eucalypt forest found principally south from the Hunter region, another open eucalypt forest found north of the Hunter region and a complex of treeless wetland assemblages scattered throughout the coast. The extent and spatial arrangement of these communities varies between floodplains, with landform, rainfall, water regime and soil properties including moisture, fertility and salinity thought to be important factors mediating their distribution patterns. All six assemblages are listed as Endangered Ecological Communities under Threatened Species legislation. The coastal floodplain communities continue to be threatened by land clearing and crop conversion, fragmentation, changes to water flows, flooding and drainage, input of polluted runoff, weed invasion, activation of acid sulphate soils, climate change and degradation through rubbish dumping and other physical disturbances.
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Bikbaev, I. G. "Analysis of rare vascular plant species in need of protection in wetlands of Republic of Bashkortostan." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1093, no. 1 (September 1, 2022): 012003. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1093/1/012003.
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Abstract The work presents a systematic and phytosociological analysis of rare threatened vascular plants of the wetlands in the Republic of Bashkortostan. The work considers the plants listed in the Bern Convention list, Red Data Books of the Republic of Bashkortostan and the Russian Federation, as well as IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In Bashkortostan, the greatest number of rare mire species is represented by the family Orchidaceae, and the second place belongs to the family Cyperaceae. The communities of low sedge-moss minerotrophic fens of the alliance Caricion davallianae and oligo-minerotrophic mires of the alliance Sphagno-Caricion canescentis are the richest in rare species. Less rich in rare species are mesotrophic paludified forests and shrublands with sedge-moss communities of the alliance Betulion pubescentis and oligotrophic shrub-sphagnum bogs of the alliance Vaccinio uliginosi-Pinion sylvestris. The communities of eutrophic mires dominated by high sedges, shrubs, trees, as well as water communities located within mire complexes have the lowest diversity of rare species.
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Schwarz, A. G., and Ross W. Wein. "Threatened dry grasslands in the continental boreal forests of Wood Buffalo National Park." Canadian Journal of Botany 75, no. 8 (August 1, 1997): 1363–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/b97-849.
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Dry grasslands in Wood Buffalo National Park are unique biological features at 60°N latitude, since they contain plant species normally found in more southern grasslands at 50–55°N latitude. The objectives of this study were to inventory dry grasslands, classify them according to similarity of species cover, and establish relationships with understory species in Populus tremuloides and shrub communities. Dry grasslands were studied at nine sites; most were clustered in the Salt River and Peace Point areas. The largest unit of grassland was about 3.0 ha, and most units were less than 0.5 ha. This contrasts with the hundreds of hectares recorded earlier in the century. Of the 128 vascular plant species identified, 29 are considered as southern, and of these, 15 are regionally rare. Sixty-four plots were classified into nine community types, using two-way indicator species analysis. A group of six communities were dominated by grass and shrub species with a component of southern grassland species. Three communities, strongly dominated by Populus and shrubs, represent community types that invade dry grasslands. Ordination of plots using detrended correspondence analysis showed relationships among the community types and a clear separation of southern grassland species from those found in forest communities. Vascular plant diversity, as represented by mean species richness, ranged from about 15 to 28, and Shannon diversity indices ranged from 1.883 to 2.615. The cover of southern grassland species was negatively correlated (correlation coefficient of −0.524) with cover of tall shrubs and trees, suggesting that the dry grasslands of Wood Buffalo National Park are threatened by tree and shrub invasion, which is due, in part, to a lack of recent fires at these sites. Key words: northern grasslands, biodiversity, endangered species, endangered spaces.
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Fanfarillo, Emanuele, Marta Latini, and Giovanna Abbate. "Patterns of Co-occurrence of Rare and Threatened Species in Winter Arable Plant Communities of Italy." Diversity 12, no. 5 (May 15, 2020): 195. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/d12050195.
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Detecting patterns of species co-occurrence is among the main tasks of plant community ecology. Arable plant communities are important elements of agroecosystems, because they support plant and animal biodiversity and provide ecosystem services. These plant communities are shaped by both agricultural and environmental drivers. The pressure of intensive agriculture worldwide has caused the decline of many characteristic arable species and communities. Italy is the European country where arable plant biodiversity is the best preserved. In this study, we assessed the patterns of co-occurrence of rare and threatened arable plants in 106 plots of winter arable vegetation located from Piedmont to Calabria, in the mainland part of the country. For this purpose, we based our investigation on the analysis of a recently acquired dataset and on the European list of rare and threatened arable plants. We highlight how different species of conservation interest tend to occur in the same community. On the other hand, generalist and more competitive taxa show similar patterns of co-occurrence. We suggest that single species of conservation value could be suitable indicators of a well-preserved community. On the other hand, to be effective, conservation strategies should target the whole community, rather than single species.
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Zietsman, M. M., and G. J. Bredenkamp. "Threatened Limestone Fynbos plant communities of Andrew’s Field and Tsaba-Tsaba Nature Reserve, Western Cape." Bothalia 37, no. 1 (August 18, 2007): 89–102. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/abc.v37i1.306.
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The vegetation of inland plains and hills of the Andrew’s Field and Tsaba-Tsaba Nature Reserve, Bredasdorp District, Western Cape was classified using TWINSPAN and Braun-Blanquet procedures. The resulting four plant communities and nine subcommunities were described and interpreted ecologically. The vegetation was sampled using 97 randomly stratified plots. The floristic composition, Braun-Blanquet cover-abundance of each species, and various environmental variables were recorded in each sample plot. The relationship between the vegetation units and the associated environmental gradients was confirmed by ordination, using the DECORANA computer program, applied to the floristic data set. The conservation priority of each vegetation unit was determined by taking the occurrence of Red Data List species, limestone endemic species and Cape Floristic Region endemic species into consideration. TTie distribution of the plant communities can mainly be ascribed to differences in the clay/sand content of the soil and the degree of exposure of the vegetation to the dominating winds (southeastern and northwestern) of the area.
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Timoney, Kevin P. "Threatened dry grasslands in the continental boreal forests of Wood Buffalo National Park: commentary." Canadian Journal of Botany 77, no. 7 (November 5, 1999): 913–17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/b99-120.
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There are three primary types of graminoid-dominated communities in or near Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada: freshwater meadows and marshes composed of Calamagrostis canadensis (Michx.) Beauv., Carex atherodes Spreng., Carex aquatilis Wahlenb., Scolochloa festucacea (Willd.) Link, and Poa L.; saline meadows composed of Hordeum jubatum L., Puccinellia nuttalliana (Schult.) A.S. Hitchc.,Agropyron trachycaulum (Link) Malte, Calamagrostis stricta (Timm) Koeler, and Calamagrostis inexpansa A. Gray; and dry grasslands composed of Agropyron trachycaulum, Stipa L., Carex siccata Dewey, Carex obtusata Lilj., and Koeleria macrantha (Ledeb.) J.A. Schultes f. Except for the Peace Point area, it is not known whether dry grasslands have declined in areal extent. Including various wetlands under "dry grasslands", and concluding that these areas no longer support dry grassland is misleading. Dry grasslands exist in Wood Buffalo National Park, but most graminoid-dominated communities in the park are, and have been, freshwater and saline meadows and marshes. A clear understanding of the ecological factors operating in these different ecosystems is critical to informed management.Key words: fire, grassland, prairie, vegetation, wetland, Wood Buffalo National Park.
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FERREIRA, LEANDRO VALLE, DENISE A. CUNHA, PRISCILLA P. CHAVES, DARLEY C. L. MATOS, and PIA PAROLIN. "Impacts of hydroelectric dams on alluvial riparian plant communities in eastern Brazilian Amazonian." Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências 85, no. 3 (September 2013): 1013–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/s0001-37652013000300012.
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The major rivers of the Amazon River basin and their biota are threatened by the planned construction of large hydroelectric dams that are expected to have strong impacts on floodplain plant communities. The present study presents forest inventories from three floodplain sites colonized by alluvial riparian vegetation in the Tapajós, Xingu and Tocantins River basins in eastern Amazonian. Results indicate that tree species of the highly specialized alluvial riparian vegetation are clearly distinct among the three river basins, although they are not very distinct from each other and environmental constraints are very similar. With only 6 of 74 species occurring in all three inventories, most tree and shrub species are restricted to only one of the rivers, indicating a high degree of local distribution. Different species occupy similar environmental niches, making these fragile riparian formations highly valuable. Conservation plans must consider species complementarily when decisions are made on where to place floodplain forest conservation units to avoid the irreversible loss of unique alluvial riparian vegetation biodiversity.
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Urziceanu, Mihaela, Paulina Anastasiu, Laurentiu Rozylowicz, and Tatiana Eugenia Sesan. "Local-scale impact of wind energy farms on rare, endemic, and threatened plant species." PeerJ 9 (May 19, 2021): e11390. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.11390.
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Background Wind energy farms have become a popular solution to produce green energy worldwide. Their development within protected areas has increased dramatically in the past decade, and the effects on the rare, endemic and threatened plant species (i.e., protected plant species), essential for habitat conservation and management, are little known. Only a few studies directly quantify the impacts of wind energy farms on them. Our study analyzes the impact of wind energy farms on rare, endemic, and threatened plant species in steppic habitats and their recovery potential over a ten-year period on a wind energy farm within the Dealurile Agighiolului Natura 2000 site (Dobrogea Region, SE Romania). Methods We surveyed the rare, endemic, and threatened plant species within a radius of approximately 50 m around each of the 17 wind towers during the wind farm operational phase. We selected 34 plots to allow the investigation of two types of areas: (1) a disturbed area overlapping the technological platform, where the vegetation was removed before construction, and (2) an adjacent undisturbed area. To understand the effects of the wind energy farm on the rare, endemic, and threatened plant species diversity and the differences between the disturbed and undisturbed areas, we calculated under both conditions: (1) plant species richness; (2) sample-size-based rarefaction and extrapolation with Hill numbers parameterized by species richness; (3) non-metric multidimensional scaling of Jaccard dissimilarity index; (4) functional diversity; (5) beta-diversity (including replacement and nestedness of species). Results As a result of the disturbances caused by the wind energy farm’s development, we identified a sharp contrast between the diversity of rare, endemic, and threatened plants inhabiting disturbed and undisturbed areas near the wind towers. Our research showed that less than 40% of the total inventoried rare, endemic, and threatened species colonized the disturbed sites. Species turnover within undisturbed plots was higher than disturbed plots, implying that the plant community’s heterogeneity was high. However, a higher richness in rare, endemic, and threatened plant species was found in the plots around the wind towers in grasslands of primary type. Sample-size-based rarefaction and extrapolation with Hill numbers by observed species richness indicated an accurate estimation of species richness in disturbed habitats, demonstrating that recovery after wind energy farm construction was incomplete after ten years of low-intensity plant restoration and conservation activities. Thus, we consider that operating activities must be reconfigured to allow the complete recovery of the communities with rare, endemic, and threatened plant species.
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Zhang, Cheng Hu, Ting Ting Song, Ju Liu, Hui Juan Xia, and Jian Zhu Wang. "Restoration of Natural Herbaceous Vegetation of Xiangxi River’s Water-Level Fluctuation Zone after the Flooding in Three Gorges Reservoir Area." Advanced Materials Research 599 (November 2012): 739–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.599.739.
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Water-level fluctuation zone (WLFZ) is the security barrier of reservoir. Herbaceous vegetation’s restoration characteristic of Xiangxi River’s WLFZ in Three Gorges reservoir area was investigated by using ecological methods. The results show that: The main plant types are annual herbs and perennial herbs, and plant communities are patchiness or zonal distribution. Two absolute dominant plant communities are build by Cynodondactylon(Linn.)Pers. and Rhizoma Cyperi (Nutgrass Galingale Rhizome) in the 145-155m area, and annual herbs are mainly distributed above the 155m area. As the elevation increasing, the β diversity increases. There are 22 dominant species of herbaceous in Xiangxi River’s WLFZ, 16 plants could complete life story, and 5 plants’ life story are threatened by impounding. Polygonum lapathifolium Linn.may not complete its life story.
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Rogers, Paul C., and Jan Šebesta. "Past Management Spurs Differential Plant Communities within a Giant Single-Clone Aspen Forest." Forests 10, no. 12 (December 7, 2019): 1118. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f10121118.
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Sustainable aspen ecosystems hold great promise for global biodiversity conservation. These forests harbor relatively high species diversity, yet are threatened by fire suppression, land development, timber-focused management, extended droughts, and chronic herbivory. “Pando” is a high-profile quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) forest in Utah, USA which is putatively the ‘largest living organism on earth.’ Pando comprises an estimated 47,000 genetically identical stems, but is threatened by human impacts. Our interest in the present study is whether changes to the giant organism were affecting understorey vegetation and whether discrete zones are displaying divergent community compositions. For instance, recent research has demonstrated strong herbivory impacts that are affecting portions of Pando differentially. This study consists of 20 randomly distributed vegetation survey plots within three de facto management regimes (hereafter, management group or type) along an herbivory protection gradient: No Fence, 2013 Fence (total protection), and 2014 Fence (imperfect protection). The plant survey was supplemented by previously-established forest and herbivore measurements to test for community assemblage explanatory agents. Sixty-eight species were found across the entire study. Analyses indicated strong links between management group orientation, species assemblages, and tree density/canopy openings. We found distinct evidence that within management group species composition was more similar than across groups for two of the three pairings. However, the other pairing, the most successfully protected area and the completely unprotected area, was not statistically distinct; likely a result a deteriorating overstorey in these two areas, whereas the third management type (2014 Fence) exhibited higher canopy cover. Indicator species analysis found that a small group of plant species had statistical allegiances to specific management groups, suggesting resource preference selection within Pando. Ordination analysis searching for causal factors reached two broad conclusions: (1) aspen regeneration, and therefore long-term resilience, is being negatively affected by chronic animal browsing and (2) current understorey species diversity is highest where forest canopy gaps are abundant. Future research at the massive Pando clone will continue informing linkages between understorey communities and overstorey-driven ecological pathways.
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Diviaková, Andrea, Slavomír Stašiov, Radovan Pondelík, Vladimír Pätoprstý, and Milan Novikmec. "Environmental and Management Control over the Submontane Grassland Plant Communities in Central Slovakia." Diversity 13, no. 1 (January 14, 2021): 30. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/d13010030.
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In Central Europe, submontane grassland plant biodiversity is currently threatened by management intensification as well as by the cessation and abandonment of management activities (extensive grazing and mowing). Although the vegetation of Central European grasslands has been well described by phytosociological papers, there is still a need to improve our understanding of the effect of both management and environment on species richness and community composition. We studied submontane grassland communities in Central Slovakia. Our study showed that both environmental variables and management were important for shaping the submontane grassland species richness and floristic composition. Plant species richness showed a weak negative relationship with soil pH. When grassland management types were analyzed individually, the amount of phosphorus, nitrogen, pH, and altitude were all found to be significantly correlated with plant species richness or diversity. Management type and local environmental factors (i.e., incoming solar radiation) both determined community composition.
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Butler, Jack, and James Batt. "Vegetation Distribution in Badlands National Park." UW National Parks Service Research Station Annual Reports 15 (January 1, 1991): 53–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.13001/uwnpsrc.1991.2965.
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The objectives of this study are to 1) determine the steppe habitat types and indicate the successional status of the current vegetation, 2) provide a mylar map of climax/relict communities, if any, for the entire park, 3) establish a network of permanent plots to evaluate changes in seral and climax communities for the North Unit and Sheep Mountain Table, and 4) provide a mylar map of candidate and/or listed rare, threatened, or endangered plant species per state and federal lists as they are encountered during the course of the study.
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Creech, D. L., and D. McDonald. "CAD/GIS AS A TOOL IN NATIVE PLANT SPECIES CONSERVATION." HortScience 28, no. 4 (April 1993): 273B—273. http://dx.doi.org/10.21273/hortsci.28.4.273b.
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Texas is botanically diverse with approximately 5500 native plants identified: east Texas contains about 40% of the total. While most species are stable, many are classified as rare, threatened, vulnerable, or endangered. Databases for east Texas plant communities and vegetative analyses are numerous. However, they are not yet integrated into easy-to-sort-and-query computer files. Computer-Assisted Drafting (CAD) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology offers powerful applications to the storage, management, and spatial analysis of species inventories, plant community dynamics, and long-term habitat monitoring. At SFASU, the College of Forestry's GIS Center is being utilized to develop comprehensive east Texas resource inventories on a ten-station HP Apollo/ArcInfo platform. In the horticulture program, a twenty-station PC/AutoCad teaching laboratory is being used to create layered maps of the SFASU Arboretum, the on-campus landscape and off-campus plant communities. The integration of CAD and GIS projects through a DXF format takes advantage of the attributes of both technologies.
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Beland, J. D., J. Krakowski, C. E. Ritland, K. Ritland, and Y. A. El-Kassaby. "Genetic structure and mating system of northern Arbutus menziesii (Ericaceae) populations." Canadian Journal of Botany 83, no. 12 (December 2005): 1581–89. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/b05-124.
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Arbutus ( Arbutus menziesii Pursh. (Ericaceae)) is the only broadleaved evergreen tree native to Canada. It occurs in three red-listed (endangered) plant communities in British Columbia (BC), threatened by urban encroachment, fire suppression, grazing, and exotic invasive species. Its growth is sensitive to environmental changes: more severe summer drought caused by climate change could further threaten this species. Amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) were assayed in 10 populations in BC and 1 in Washington to obtain baseline population genetic and mating system data. We found that genetic diversity within populations was low (mean H = 0.094) for a woody perennial. Genetic variation among populations (FST = 0.15) was comparable to woody perennials on average (0.19). Pairwise kinship coefficients were significantly associated with distance (p < 0.01). The multilocus outcrossing rate for one BC island population was high (tm = 0.97), but inbreeding due to consanguineous matings was also quite high (tm – ts = 0.10). These data can be used to guide conservation strategies and future research priorities for arbutus.
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Chefaoui, R. M., S. Chozas, O. Correia, A. M. C. Santos, and J. Hortal. "Using niche models of indicator species to predict the distribution of xerophytic shrub dune communities." Web Ecology 16, no. 1 (February 9, 2016): 47–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/we-16-47-2016.
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Abstract. Dune plant assemblages are affected by severe conditions, which makes them excellent models for studying the effects of species interactions and environmental conditions on community structure. We evaluate the relationship between the structure of dune communities, local environmental conditions and the suitability of climatic conditions for their characteristic species. Using data from an extensive survey of xerophytic inland sand dune scrub communities from Portugal – one of the most threatened habitat types of Europe – we identify the main gradients of vegetation composition, the different types of communities and their indicator shrub species. Then, we model the geographical responses of these species to the environment. Soil organic matter, isothermality and the habitat suitability for Stauracanthus genistoides defined the distribution of three shrub communities in the study area.
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Wubet, Tesfaye, Michael Weiß, Ingrid Kottke, and Franz Oberwinkler. "Two threatened coexisting indigenous conifer species in the dry Afromontane forests of Ethiopia are associated with distinct arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities." Canadian Journal of Botany 84, no. 10 (October 2006): 1617–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/b06-121.
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The molecular diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi colonizing roots of Podocarpus falcatus (Thunb.) R.Br. (Podocarpaceae) in the dry Afromontane forests of Ethiopia was investigated. The nuclear gene coding for small subunit ribosomal RNA (nucSSU rDNA) was amplified from colonized roots of P. falcatus, cloned, and sequenced using AM fungal specific primers. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that the glomeromycetous sequences from mycorrhizae of P. falcatus belong to the Glomeraceae, Diversisporaceae, and Archaeosporaceae. Overall, 16 Glomus , three Diversispora , and one Archaeospora sequence types were identified. These sequence types were distinct and only distantly related to sequences from the available defined species. The composition of the AM fungal communities differed significantly between the two study sites. Comparison of the AM fungal community composition of P. falcatus with that of previously investigated Juniperus procera Hochst. ex Endl. (Cupressaceae), the only coexisting indigenous conifer tree species in the dry Afromontane forest ecosystem, yields that the two tree species are colonized by distinct AM fungal communities. This suggests that fungal communities are host plant specific in the natural stand conditions. Therefore, in the conservation of these endangered species and restoration of the degraded ecosystem, the use of appropriate mycorrhizal fungi should be taken into account in future projects.
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Klimantová, Alexandra. "Grassland vegetation of Hodrušská hornatina highland in Central Slovakia." Hacquetia 16, no. 2 (December 20, 2017): 189–212. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/hacq-2017-0003.
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AbstractThis paper is focused on the grassland communities in Hodrušská hornatina highland, Central Slovakia. We studied grasslands at 153 sites during the vegetation periods of 2013-2015 and recorded 303 species of vascular plants in the studied localities. The species richness ranged from 16 to 66 taxa per relevé. Data analysis (TWINSPAN, DCA) grouped the relevés into eight clusters. These clusters include five associations from three alliances: Holcetum lanati (Deschampsion cespitosae), Pastinaco sativae-Arrhenatherum elatioris, Alchemillo- Arrhenatheretum elatioris, Anthoxantho odorati-Agrostietum tenuis (all from Arrhenatherion elatioris) and Onobrychido viciifoliae-Brometum erecti (Bromion erecti). The other three clusters represent the transitional and successional stages of the communities listed above. A brief description of syntaxa is given. At some sites, the threatened, rare or protected taxa of Slovakia occurred as well, one from each of the categories of Critically Endangered and Vulnerable, nine species of the Nearly Threatened and six species from the category of Least Concerned.
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Walters, G., E. Ngagnia Ndjabounda, D. Ikabanga, J. P. Biteau, O. Hymas, L. J. T. White, A. M. Ndong Obiang, et al. "Peri-urban conservation in the Mondah forest of Libreville, Gabon: Red List assessments of endemic plant species, and avoiding protected area downsizing." Oryx 50, no. 3 (August 14, 2015): 419–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0030605315000204.
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AbstractUrban development is an increasing threat to the integrity of formerly remote protected areas, in some cases resulting in their downgrading, downsizing or degazetting. One-quarter of previously remote protected areas are now within 17 km of a city and thus face the threat of urbanization. Here we describe a case of avoided downgrading, downsizing and degazetting of a protected area in the Mondah forest of Gabon, north of Libreville. Since its creation in 1934 the Forêt Classée de la Mondah has been downsized regularly, losing 40% of its area over 80 years. During this time the forest surrounding the Forêt Classée was subject to usage for urban and peri-urban needs, including agriculture, sand extraction, collection of medicinal plants, ceremonies, and housing construction. In 2010 the area was threatened with further downsizing. The presence of narrowly endemic plant species in the area was suspected, and mapping and evaluation of these species was proposed in an effort to maintain the protected area boundaries. Botanical field work, including ex situ conservation measures and participant observation in nearby forest communities, was conducted; 24 endemic species, all threatened by urbanization, were evaluated using the criteria for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The borders of the protected area were maintained because of its role in maintaining irreplaceable habitat for threatened species. The area was renamed Raponda Walker Arboretum in 2012.
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Łaska, Grażyna. "Protection of floristic diversity in the Sajna River valley – in view of the planned construction of hydroelectric power station in Sarkajmy." Journal of Water and Land Development 20, no. 1 (March 1, 2014): 45–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/jwld-2014-0002.
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Abstract The study was carried out to determine the floristic diversity in the Sajna River valley, in the region of direct and indirect impact of the hydroelectric power station planned to be built in the village of Sarkajmy. Phytosociological diversity of plant communities and floristic diversity were analysed taking into account the predicted influence of the planned power station on the Sajna River. The study was performed in 2010 using field methods and GIS localisation of analysed sites. 73 phytosociological surveys were made and particular floristic patches were identified. Global Positioning System (GPS) surveys were used to delimit the different plant communities and spot the sites of protected plant species. Thirteen plant communities were identified in the study area, five of which are of European importance that require protection within Natura 2000 sites. This group of plant communities comprises four forest plant communities (Salicetum albo-fragilis, Ficario-Ulmetum, Tilio-Carpinetum, Acer platanoides-Tilia cordata) and one herbaceous community (Urtico-Calystegietum). One species under strict protection (Daphne mezereum L.) and five species under partial protection (Viburnum opulus L., Ribes nigrum L., Asarum europaeum L., Eurhynchium angustirete (Broth.) T.J.Kop., Eurhynchium striatum (Schreb. ex Hedw.) Schimp.) were noted. The presence of valuable natural habitats and protected species in the Sajna River valley indicates the natural potential of the area and illustrates its biological diversity. The studied area is threatened by negative impact of the hydroelectric power station planned to be built on the Sajna River, since water damming will flood the river terrace that will lead to the formation of a 7.25 ha pond of.
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Baur, Matt, Brian Mealor, Jutta Burger, Danny Fry, Dave Erickson, Loralee Larios, Jeremy James, et al. "Managing Fire-Adapted Invasive Plants in the American West." Outlooks on Pest Management 33, no. 5 (October 1, 2022): 177–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1564/v33_oct_02.
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Humans impact fire in many ways. They may reduce ignitions by implementing fire suppression protocols or increase fire incidence through accidental or prescriptive ignitions. Anthropogenic changes to climate affect wind speeds and temperature that in turn may translate to more dangerous fire behaviour. Importantly for this discussion, humans also change the species composition of plant communities either directly by moving plant propagules or indirectly by affecting climate which in turn affects the geographical distribution of plants. Largely because of human actions, Western United States have witnessed drastic increases in the geographic distribution and severity of several important fire-adapted exotic plant species including Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass), Cenchrus ciliaris (buffelgrass), Ventenata dubia (ventenata), Taeniatherum caput-medusae (medusahead), Arundo donax (giant reed), and others. A recent United Nations study finds "the management of invasive alien vegetation is crucial for the prevention of extreme wildfires". The increase of invasive plants that are fire-adapted has changed the fire regimes in the American West fundamentally leading to more frequent and intense fires. Altered fire regimes have significant human and environmental-health consequences and threaten the economic sustainability of communities broadly, especially in the wild-land-urban interface. In California, seven of the 20 deadliest fires on record and 11 of the 20 most destructive fires have occurred in the past five years. Exposure to smoke from wildfires can have severe health consequences broadly across the region. Environmental degradation and severe wildfire events associated with exotic plant invasion have had significant impacts on rare, threatened and endangered species.
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Beninato, Veronica A., Carlos E. Borghi, Natalia Andino, Mauricio A. Pérez, and Stella M. Giannoni. "Effects of Tourism on the Habitat Use by a Threatened Large Rodent at a World Heritage Site." Animals 11, no. 8 (August 2, 2021): 2278. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani11082278.
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The mara is a large endemic rodent, which presents a marked decline in its populations, mainly because of habitat loss, hunting, and overgrazing. The Ischigualasto Provincial Park is a hyper-arid protected area at the Monte Desert of Argentina with an overall low plant cover. Our objective was to determine the influence of environmental variables and tourist activities on mara’s habitat use. We used different biological levels to explain it, from plant community to floristic composition, in order to know at which level we can better detect the effects of tourist activities. We registered fresh feces and habitat variables along 80 transects in two communities, near and far away from the tourist circuit. To evaluate habitat use, we fitted models at different biological levels: plant community, plant strata, plant biological forms, and floristic composition. At the community and plant strata levels, we could not detect any tourism effects on habitat use. However, we detected effects of tourist activities on mara’s habitat use at the plant strata and floristic composition levels. Maras also selected areas with a low proportion of both bare soil and pebbles cover. We found complex interactions between abiotic, biotic variables and tourism, studying mara’s places near tourism activities, probably because they perceive those places as predator-safe areas.
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Mugnai, Michele, Clara Frasconi Wendt, Paride Balzani, Giulio Ferretti, Matteo Dal Cin, Alberto Masoni, Filippo Frizzi, et al. "Small-scale drivers on plant and ant diversity in a grassland habitat through a multifaceted approach." PeerJ 9 (December 24, 2021): e12517. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12517.
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Semi-natural grasslands are characterized by high biodiversity and require multifaceted approaches to monitor their biodiversity. Moreover, grasslands comprise a multitude of microhabitats, making the scale of investigation of fundamental importance. Despite their wide distribution, grasslands are highly threatened and are considered of high conservation priority by Directive no. 92/43/EEC. Here, we investigate the effects of small-scale ecological differences between two ecosites present within the EU habitat of Community Interest of semi-natural dry grasslands on calcareous substrates (6210 according to Dir. 92/43/EEC) occurring on a Mediterranean mountain. We measured taxonomic and functional diversity of plant and ant communities, evaluating the differences among the two ecosites, how these differences are influenced by the environment and whether vegetation affects composition of the ant community. Our results show that taxonomic and functional diversity of plant and ant communities are influenced by the environment. While vegetation has no effect on ant communities, we found plant and ant community composition differed across the two ecosites, filtering ant and plant species according to their functional traits, even at a small spatial scale. Our findings imply that small-scale monitoring is needed to effectively conserve priority habitats, especially for those that comprise multiple microhabitats.
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P, Nithya Jeniffer, Manish Kumar, and Logan Kumar K. "ETHNO-ECOLOGICAL STUDIES ON THE MEDICINAL PLANTS OF WESTERN GHATS REGION WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO VALPARAI TRIBES." Kongunadu Research Journal 1, no. 2 (December 30, 2014): 68–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.26524/krj41.
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Traditional knowledge on plant has a long-standing history in many indigenous communities, and continues to provide useful tools for treating various diseases. Tribal communities living in biodiversity rich areas possess a wealth of knowledge on the utilization and conservation of food and medicinal plants. They are well versed in the usage of plant for treating various diseases. The present study carryout by survey method aimed to identifying the plants used for the general health of the tribal communities such as Kadar, Muthuvar and Malai Malasars of Western Ghats region. Ethno medicinal information was gathered throughquestionnaire from the majority of tribal people of Valparai hills Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. All the traditional and other knowledge related to the collection and consumption of the medicinal plants, their environment on which communities depends was documented. The present study observed that, the tribal peoples from valparai having knowledge of 29 species on the traditional medicine. These tribes are one of the major conservators of environments. Their traditional knowledge can be utilized for the breeding technology of variety of threatened species and develop for the biodiversity conservation as well as for pharmacological research in various dimensions.
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Cwener, Anna, Wiaczesław Michalczuk, and Rafał Krawczyk. "Red list of vascular plants of the Lublin Region." Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Sklodowska, sectio C – Biologia 71, no. 1 (April 3, 2017): 7. http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/c.2016.71.1.7.
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The aim of this study is to present the updated list of rare and threatened vascular plant species in the Lublin province. The threatened species categories are presented according to the IUCN criteria. The regional list contains 408 species (that makes up 25% of the Lublin Region flora); 56 of which are considered critically endangered, 81 represent endangered species, 51 belong to the category of vulnerable species, and 49 are near threatened species, respectively. The presence of 37 species has not been confirmed and therefore they are listed as regionally extinct (RE). Of the total number of species, 134 are rare, but because the data about those species is insufficient, they have been classified as DD category (data deficient). The species of the genera: Alchemilla, Callitriche, Hieracium, Oenothera, Rosa, Rubus and Taraxacum have not been evaluated (NE category). Other species – those whose occurrence is doubtful and all neophytes were defined as not applicable (NA). The endangered taxa occur mostly in dry grasslands, deciduous forests, wetlands, and calcareous weed communities of cereal crops.
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Sérgio, Cecília, César Augusto Garcia, and Sarah Stow. "New data on the distribution of Bryum minii (Bryaceae, Bryophyta) in Portugal with ecological and chorological considerations." Polish Botanical Journal 58, no. 2 (December 1, 2013): 589–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/pbj-2013-0064.
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Abstract Bryum minii Podp. ex Machado-Guim. was first described from Portugal in the nineteenth century and only recorded in Spain in 2010. It is found on acidic rocks, such as granite, near watercourses and its glossy appearance makes it relatively easy to identify in the field although it grows in small patches. New chorological data are provided for Portugal, as well as species photographs and an updated distribution map which show that it is no longer a rare species in Portugal and can therefore not be considered threatened. It is likely that more records of this moss will be found with new fieldwork in riparian communities.
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Gonçalves, Ana C., Fernando Sánchez-Juanes, Sara Meirinho, Luís R. Silva, Gilberto Alves, and José David Flores-Félix. "Insight into the Taxonomic and Functional Diversity of Bacterial Communities Inhabiting Blueberries in Portugal." Microorganisms 10, no. 11 (November 4, 2022): 2193. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10112193.
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Vaccinium myrtillus is a dwarf shrub of the Ericaceae family with a Palearctic distribution, associated with temperate and cold humid climates. It is widespread on the European continent; on the Iberian Peninsula it is located on Atlantic climate mountains and glacial relicts. In Portugal, we find scattered and interesting populations; however, the majority of them are threatened by climate change and wildfires. Given that, the objective of this study is to determine the rhizospheric and root bacterial communities of this plant in the southernmost regions, and, consequently, its potential range and ability to be used as a biofertilizer. In this work, metabarcoding of 16S rRNA gene showed that the endophytic bacterial diversity is dependent on the plant and selected by it according to the observed alpha and beta diversity. Moreover, a culturomic approach allowed 142 different strains to be isolated, some of them being putative new species. Additionally, some strains belonging to the genera Bacillus, Paenibacillus, Pseudomonas, Paraburkholderia, and Caballeronia showed significant potential to be applied as multifunctional biofertilizers since they present good plant growth-promoting (PGP) mechanisms, high colonization capacities, and an increase in vegetative parameters in blueberry and tomato plants.
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Szewczyk, Wojciech. "Soil fungi communities from young Scots pine plantations affected with root rot." Acta Mycologica 42, no. 2 (December 23, 2013): 239–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.5586/am.2007.027.
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The aim of work was to investigate the qualitative and quantitative characteristic features of soil fungi associations occurring in I class pine stands threatened by pathogens of tree roots in Zielonka Experimental Forest District. During the mycological analyses of soil, a total of 694 isolates of fungi representing 33 species were obtained. The most numerously represented species was <em>Penicillium daleae</em> which made 75% of all isolates. The second place in the ranking belonged to <em>Penicillium janczewski</em> amounting to 11%. In order to define the qualitative and quantitative similarity between the studied areas, a proportional inconformity was determined. The greatest similarity occurred between the associations of soil fungi obtained from site 64c and 35b.
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Jan, Hammad Ahmad, Sheikh Zain Ul Abidin, Muhammad Zeeshan Bhatti, Latif Ahmad, Abdulaziz Khalaf Alghamdi, and Huda Mohammed Alkreathy. "Medicinal Plants and Related Ethnomedicinal Knowledge in the Communities of Khadukhel Tehsil, Buner District, Pakistan." Sustainability 14, no. 20 (October 12, 2022): 13077. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su142013077.
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The local communities of Pakistan have vast traditional knowledge about local medicinal plants that is centuries old and transferred from generation to generation, but now, the survival of this precious ethnic knowledge is threatened. This study aimed to document the ethnomedicinal information residing within the communities of the Khadukhel Tehsil, Buner District, Pakistan. To conserve this valuable traditional knowledge, data were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire, one-on-one interviews, and group discussions. From 2018 to 2021, 853 people were interviewed regarding 317 plant species. Most of the ethnomedicinal data were obtained from members of the 60–69 age group. The most dominant plant family was Asteraceae (27 sp.). Leaves (124 sp.) were the most dominant plant part used in medicines, and paste (80 sp.) was the most common herbal formulation method. Most (88) medicinal plants were used to cure digestive system diseases. The collected medicinal plants and related indigenous medicinal knowledge were compared with previously published work from the surrounding areas. The highest similarity was documented with the study carried out by Rahman et al. (2022). We suggest a phytochemical and pharmacological evaluation of the collected medicinal plants for the discovery of new drugs.
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Abihudi, Siri A., Hugo J. De Boer, and Anna C. Treydte. "Conservation status revision and communities’ perceptions of 22 Aloe species in Tanzania." Plant Ecology and Evolution 154, no. 3 (November 23, 2021): 391–404. http://dx.doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.2021.1838.
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Background and aims – Many Aloe species are globally threatened due to overharvesting for trade and habitat destruction. CITES regulates their international trade. In Tanzania, 50% of all existing Aloe species had previously been assessed, though some of these assessments were Data Deficient. For those with sufficient data, an update is required as the rate of decline has rapidly increased over the last years. Material and methods – We estimated Area of Occupancy (AOO), Extent of Occurrence (EOO), and number of locations for 22 Tanzanian Aloe species using the Geospatial Conservation Assessment software (GeoCAT). We assessed the reasons leading to their decline based on direct field observations and community perceptions. Key results – We revised the conservation status of 22 Aloe species; two were assessed as Critically Endangered, ten as Endangered, five as Vulnerable, and five as Least Concern. We re-discovered the Critically Endangered Aloe boscawenii, which had not been seen in Tanzania for more than six decades. We propose to downgrade the endemic Aloe dorotheae, Aloe leptosiphon, and Aloe flexilifolia from Critically Endangered to a lower threat level. The community perception on Aloe species availability did not accurately reflect their categorisation based on the IUCN criteria B. We identified agricultural activities and climate change effects as the two main threats to Tanzanian Aloe species.Conclusion – We conclude that overall numbers are declining for 22 Aloe species in Tanzania, mainly due to human activities. We recommend the implementation of laws and policies to protect their natural habitats.
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Jacobi, Claudia Maria, and Flávio Fonseca do Carmo. "Life-forms, pollination and seed dispersal syndromes in plant communities on ironstone outcrops, SE Brazil." Acta Botanica Brasilica 25, no. 2 (June 2011): 395–412. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/s0102-33062011000200016.
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Rock outcrops play an important role in enhancing plant diversity in montane ecosystems. Ironstone outcrops (cangas) are among the lithotypes less known and most threatened in SE Brazil, due to mining activities. Besides species composition, a key feature to promote their conservation and restoration is the knowledge of the community prevalent life-forms, pollination and seed dispersal syndromes. The analyses were done based on published floristic surveys of cangas in SE Brazil. A total of 353 species of angiosperms (70 families) were assigned to one of the two predominant physiognomies (open areas and forest islands) on ironstone outcrops. Sixteen families responded for 70% of all species. Compared to Raunkiaer's spectrum, phanerophytes were over- and therophytes were under-represented. Phanerophytes were the predominant life-form in forest islands, while hemicryptophytes were outstanding in open areas. Entomophily was the dominant pollination syndrome in both habitats. Zoochory was dominant in forest islands and ranked last in open areas, where anemochory and autochory prevailed. Considering that both forest islands and open areas are subjected to the same climatic conditions, the results corroborate the influence of geoedaphic components in the three traits analysed.
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Perrino, Enrico Vito, and Robert Philipp Wagensommer. "Crop Wild Relatives (CWR) Priority in Italy: Distribution, Ecology, In Situ and Ex Situ Conservation and Expected Actions." Sustainability 13, no. 4 (February 4, 2021): 1682. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13041682.
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The study presents an updated overview of the 14 non-endemic threatened crop wild relatives (CWR) in Italy: Aegilops biuncialis, Ae. uniaristata, Ae. ventricosa, Asparagus pastorianus, Beta macrocarpa, Brassica insularis, B. montana, Crambe hispanica subsp. hispanica, C. tataria subsp. tataria, Ipomoea sagittata, Lathyrus amphicarpos, L. palustris, Vicia cusnae and V. serinica. Geographical distribution, ecology (with plant communities and habitat 92/43/EEC aspects), genetics (focused on gene pools), property, and in situ and ex situ conservation were analyzed. In addition, with the aim of their protection and valorization, specific actions are recommended.
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Brosi, Berry J., Kyle Niezgoda, and Heather M. Briggs. "Experimental species removals impact the architecture of pollination networks." Biology Letters 13, no. 6 (June 2017): 20170243. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2017.0243.
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Mutualistic networks are key for the creation and maintenance of biodiversity, yet are threatened by global environmental change. Most simulation models assume that network structure remains static after species losses, despite theoretical and empirical reasons to expect dynamic responses. We assessed the effects of experimental single bumblebee species removals on the structure of entire flower visitation networks. We hypothesized that network structure would change following processes linking interspecific competition with dietary niche breadth. We found that single pollinator species losses impact pollination network structure: resource complementarity decreased, while resource overlap increased. Despite marginally increased connectance, fewer plant species were visited after species removals. These changes may have negative functional impacts, as complementarity is important for maintaining biodiversity–ecological functioning relationships and visitation of rare plant species is critical for maintaining diverse plant communities.
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Ling, Tial C., Angkhana Inta, Kate E. Armstrong, Damon P. Little, Pimonrat Tiansawat, Yong-Ping Yang, Patcharin Phokasem, Za Khai Tuang, Chainarong Sinpoo, and Terd Disayathanoowat. "Traditional Knowledge of Textile Dyeing Plants: A Case Study in the Chin Ethnic Group of Western Myanmar." Diversity 14, no. 12 (December 2, 2022): 1065. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/d14121065.
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Traditional knowledge of the plants used for textile dyeing is disappearing due to the utilization of synthetic dyes. Recently, natural products made from plants have gained global interest. Thus, preserving traditional knowledge of textile dyeing plants is crucial. Here, we documented this knowledge by interviewing 2070 informants from 14 communities of the Chin ethnic group of Myanmar. The Chin communities we interviewed used a total of 32 plant species for textile dyeing from 29 genera in 24 families. Chromolaena odorata, Lithocarpus fenestratus, and L. pachyphyllus were the most important dye species. The most common responses described dyes that were red in color, produced from leaves, derived from tree species, collected from the wild, and used as firewood ash as a mordant to fix the dye to the fabrics. According to the IUCN Red List of threatened species, one species was registered as Data Deficient, 20 species still needed to be categorized, and 11 species were categorized as Least Concern. This study will help re-establish the use of natural dyes, encourage the cultural integrity of the indigenous people, and serve as an example for other communities to preserve their traditional knowledge of plant textile dyes.
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Sen, Uday Kumar. "Sacred groves: a traditional way of conserving plant diversity in West Midnapore District, West Bengal, India." Journal of Threatened Taxa 11, no. 3 (February 26, 2019): 13350–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/jott.4310.11.3.13350-13359.
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Sacred groves are forest patches conserved by the local people interwined with their socio-cultural and religious practices. An extricable link between the past and present society in terms of religion, socio-culture, heritage and biodiversity exists in the sacred groves. It is distributed globally where ethnic indigenous communities live. Several animals and plants that are threatened in forests are still abundant and well conserved in such sacred groves. The taboos, religious belief and sacredness play a significant role in promoting sustainable utilization and conservation. In this regard, the study of a sacred grove in the district of West Midnapore in West Bengal highlighting the tradition may provide a powerful tool for ensuring biodiversity conservation through community participation.
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Hunter, John T., and Eda Addicott. "Poplar box woodlands of Eastern Australia: an assessment of a threatened ecological community within the IVC framework." Vegetation Classification and Survey 2 (December 6, 2021): 241–55. http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/vcs/2021/71216.
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Aims: Ecosystems nationally at risk in Australia are listed under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act (EPBC Act), and many cross State jurisdictional boundaries. The determination of these ecosystems across the State boundaries are based on expert knowledge. The International Vegetation Classification has the potential to be useful as a cross-jurisdictional hierarchy which also gives global perspective to ecosystems. Study Area: All bioregions that include Eucalyptus populnea as a dominant or major component of woodlands across the species known distribution. Methods: We use plot-based data (455 plots) from two states (Queensland and New South Wales) in eastern Australia and quantitative classification methods to assess the definition and description for the Poplar Box Woodland ecosystem type (hereafter “ecological community” or “community”) that is listed as endangered under the EPBC Act. Analyses were conducted using kR-CLUSTER methods to generate alliances. Within these alliances, analyses were undertaken to define associations using agglomerative hierarchical clustering and similarity profile testing (SIMPROF). We then explore how assigning this community into the IVC hierarchy may provide a mechanism for linking Australian communities, defined at the association and alliance levels, to international communities at risk. Results: We define three alliances and 23 associations based on the results of floristic analysis. Using the standard rule-set of the IVC system, we found that the IVC hierarchy was a useful instrument in correlating ecological communities across jurisdictional boundaries where different classification systems are used. It is potentially important in giving a broader understanding of communities that may be at risk continentally and globally. Conclusions: We conclude that the IVC hierarchy can incorporate Australian communities at the association level into useful units at higher levels, and provides a useful classification tool for Australian ecosystems. Taxonomic reference: PlantNET (http://plantnet/10rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/) [accessed June 2019]. Abbreviations: EPBC Act = Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act; IVC = International Vegetation Classification; NMDS = non-metric multidimensional scaling; NSW = New South Wales; PCT = Plant Community Type; QLD = Queensland; RE = Regional Vegetation Community; SIMPER = similarity percentage analysis; SIMPROF = Similarity profile analysis.
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Rodrigues, LC, and M. Rodrigues. "Flowers visited by hummingbirds in the open habitats of the southeastern brazilian mountaintops: species composition and seasonality." Brazilian Journal of Biology 74, no. 3 (August 2014): 659–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/bjb.2014.0097.
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The hummingbird-visited plant community located on the open-habitat mountaintop of the Espinhaço Range was studied for two years (from August 2007 to July 2009) in Serra do Cipó National Park, Southeastern Brazil (19° 15′ S and 43° 31′ W). The floral characteristics and flowering period of the hummingbird-visited plants was monthly recorded along trails located in three vegetation types: (1) typical campos rupestres (TCR), (2) open fields (OPF), and (3) capões de mata(CAM). Hummingbird visitation was observed in 51 plant species, 22 ornithophilous and 29 non-ornithophilous species. The TCR showed the greatest number of species visited (N = 38), followed by the OPF (N = 18) and CAM (N = 17). Six species of hummingbirds were recorded visiting flowers: Augastes scutatus, Campylopterus largipennis, Colibri serrirostris, Chlorostilbon lucidus, Eupetomena macroura and Phaethornis pretrei. This study demonstrates that the species richness and the number of ornithophilous species visited by the hummingbirds at the study site are more similar to hummingbird-plant communities of the Atlantic Forest than to those of the Cerrado communities and other Brazilian highland open-habitat communities. The plant families most visited by hummingbirds were Bromeliaceae and Asteraceae. Although the Asteraceae family is rarely used as a food resource for hummingbirds in other high and lowland communities, in the study site this family is used mainly by the endemic hummingbird Augastes scutatus. We found a large overlap of flowering throughout the year among the species visited by the hummingbirds. Thus, the nectar availability supports these resident hummingbirds. The present study also showed that the studied hummingbird-plant community is composed of many species endemic to the campos rupestres of the Espinhaço Range, some of which are considered to be in danger of extinction, thus constituting a unique and threatened community. Thus, understanding hummingbird-plant pollination dynamics becomes fundamental to the conservation of the campos rupestres.
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Polchaninova, Nina, Olga Krasova, Liudmyla Lysohor, and Tatiana Atemasova. "Assessment of the conservation value of dry grassland habitats in the Inhulets River basin (Central Ukraine) based on vegetation and spider research." Hacquetia 20, no. 1 (March 1, 2021): 225–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/hacq-2021-0003.
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Abstract Dry grassland ecosystems are highly fragmented in Ukraine and increasingly threatened from intensification of farming practices. Evaluation of the habitat conservation importance based on multitaxon studies allows for optimizing selection of priority sites. Botanical research of xerothermic habitats in the Kryvorizkyi Iron Ore Basin has been conducted since 2012, while spiders were investigated for the first time in 2017. In the four study sites, we recorded 265 vascular plant species (23 under protection) and 95 spider species (19 are rare). Both vegetation and spider communities of the site Zelena Gully are well preserved and rich in rare and threatened species (18 plant and 11 spider species), which confirms its value as a priority site of the Emerald Network. Chervona Gully and the Slate Rocks should be included in the network. Frequent fires and intensive grazing in Khrystoforova Gully affect the spider diversity, decreasing the number of specialist and rare species, while early flowering plants benefit from this disturbance. Nevertheless, its vegetation is poorer than in Zelena and Chervona gullies. Inclusion in the Emerald Network is critically important to the investigated sites, since expansion of mining activities is constantly threatening natural habitats in industrial regions.
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Stachnowicz, Wojciech. "Terrestrial and aquatic flora along a mesotrophic lake shore remaining under increasing human impact: a case study of Lake Powidzkie (Poland)." Biodiversity: Research and Conservation 17, no. 1 (January 1, 2010): 73–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/v10119-010-0009-z.
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Terrestrial and aquatic flora along a mesotrophic lake shore remaining under increasing human impact: a case study of Lake Powidzkie (Poland) Floristical investigations were carried out in 2009 in both terrestrial and littoral zones along the NW shore of the mesotrophic Lake Powidzkie (a Natura 2000 site: PLH300026). The results comprise: a general comparison of aquatic vs. terrestrial species richness; a census of 296 species of vascular plants and 7 species of charophytes; the taxonomical, biological (life forms) and geographical-historical (native vs. alien taxa) structure of vascular flora. Distribution of nationally and regionally threatened and legally protected species is presented on maps which illustrate that most of these taxa are concentrated in Lake Powidzkie and in its neighbourhood. The ongoing synanthropization of the flora is assessed and discussed considering localities of chosen alien species and their occurrence within natural plant communities: 21 of 27 aliens were recorded at least once in natural vegetation, whereas 4 of them (Aster lanceolatus, Elodea canadensis, Impatiens parviflora and Rhus typhina) formed their own, xenospontaneous communities. The main conclusion is that while the area still abounds in regionally valuable components of native biodiversity, it simultaneously is more and more threatened by increasing anthropopressure, which has already been manifested by the presence of many potentially invasive alien species.
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Barbé, Marion, Nicole J. Fenton, Christophe Lavergne, Timothée Le Péchon, Cláudia Baider, and Luc D. B. Gigord. "Changes in lowland dry-forest native and alien plant communities on Réunion Island (Indian Ocean) over 16 years." Botany 93, no. 12 (December 2015): 843–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjb-2015-0112.
Full textAbstract:
Native floras of oceanic islands are among the most threatened on Earth. For example, only 1% of intact dry-forest ecosystems remain on Réunion, harbouring numerous endangered native species. Alien species invasion is one of the more important threats facing these ecosystems, as it has been hypothesized that, over time, the abundance of alien species will increase more than that of native species. To explore this, we studied floristic changes over a 16 year period (1995–2011) in six dry-forest remnants. Species richness and abundance increased for both alien and native species over this period, but at a significantly higher rate for the abundance of invasive alien plants. Despite this, Jaccard’s coefficient indicates a high level of similarity between the communities of 1995 and 2011. Also, the single site that benefited from invasive species management experienced the largest increase in native species, both in terms of specific richness and abundance. This study underlines the importance of permanent plots in studying the dynamics of invaded communities and in understanding plant succession. It also suggests a potential temporal persistence of island dry-forest communities, despite the expansion of alien species, and suggests the development of a new pathway in secondary succession where native and alien species coexist.
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Khapugin, Anatoliy A., and Igor V. Kuzmin. "Data for Distribution of Vascular Plants (Tracheophytes) of Urban Forests and Floodplains in Tyumen City (Western Siberia)." Data 7, no. 12 (December 14, 2022): 180. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/data7120180.
Full textAbstract:
Tyumen City is a large city in Western Siberia. This territory has ecological problems, which are typical to many cities around the world, including the loss of biodiversity and environment, habitat pollution, and others. This data paper presents for the first time the plant species composition of 11 natural forest and floodplain areas in Tyumen City. In a city, forests provide a refuge for both threatened plants and weeds (including alien species). In these ecosystems, unique communities are being formed, where both threatened and alien plants can co-occur. Within the city’s area, forests serve as separate green “islands” among urbanized landscapes. A total of 11 forest and floodplain areas have been studied based on field surveys conducted by the authors of the paper in 2020–2022. The obtained data (8742 observations representing 434 species, accepted subspecies, and hybrids belonging to 270 genera and 74 families) serve as a basis for the modern flora of Tyumen City, its conservation, and counteraction to the introduction of alien plants.
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Fontúrbel, Francisco E., and Maureen M. Murúa. "Microevolutionary Effects of Habitat Fragmentation on Plant-Animal Interactions." Advances in Ecology 2014 (August 25, 2014): 1–7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/379267.
Full textAbstract:
Plant-animal interactions are a key component for biodiversity maintenance, but they are currently threatened by human activities. Habitat fragmentation might alter ecological interactions due to demographic changes, spatial discontinuities, and edge effects. Also, there are less evident effects of habitat fragmentation that potentially alter selective forces and compromise the fitness of the interacting species. Changes in the mutualistic and antagonistic interactions in fragmented habitats could significantly influence the plant reproductive output and the fauna assemblage associated with. Fragmented habitats may trigger contemporary evolution processes and open new evolutionary opportunities. Interacting parties with a diffuse and asymmetric relationship are less susceptible to local extinction but more prone to evolve towards new interactions or autonomy. However, highly specialized mutualisms are likely to disappear. On the other hand, ecological interactions may mutually modulate their response in fragmented habitats, especially when antagonistic interactions disrupt mutualistic ones. Ecoevolutionary issues of habitat fragmentation have been little explored, but the empiric evidence available suggests that the complex modification of ecological interactions in fragmented habitats might lead to nonanalogous communities on the long term.
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Grzędzicka, Emilia, and Karim Vahed. "Habitat requirements of the endangered heath bush-cricket Gampsocleis glabra (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae) in an isolated population." Journal of Insect Conservation 24, no. 6 (August 24, 2020): 935–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10841-020-00265-9.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract Steppes and xerothermic grasslands are hotspots of biodiversity, but are threatened by habitat destruction and fragmentation. The heath bush-cricket, Gampsocleis glabra, is considered to be a specialist of xerothermic habitats and appears in national red lists as a threatened species in several European countries. The goal of the current research was to determine the habitat requirements of G. glabra in an isolated habitat patch in Poland, at the northern edge of its range. By comparing the composition of plant species and vegetation architecture of vacant and occupied sites in the summers of 2018 and 2019, it was found that this population of G. glabra still maintained a strict specialisation for the xerothermofilous Festuco-Brometea plant community. On the contrary to previous studies, however, Stipa-type grasses were not essential for the occurrence of the species and the majority of occupied areas were based on the plant Brachypodium pinnatum. The physiognomy of plant communities was crucial for the abundance of stridulating males, which showed a preference for dense grasses at 10 cm high. The habitat characteristics of patches occupied by males and females did not differ significantly. The study of habitat requirements of this endangered Orthoptera species in an isolated habitat patch could serve as a prelude to the restoration of similar locations before it becomes extinct. This study may also underpin the development of a global conservation strategy for G. glabra.
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Czarnecka, Bożena. "Plant cover of the Szum river valley (Roztocze, South-East Poland)." Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 74, no. 1 (2011): 43–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.5586/asbp.2005.008.
Full textAbstract:
The break section of the Szum river and the mouth part of its left tributary, Miedzianka (Roztocze, SE Poland) were the object of the research conducted in the years 1999-2001. The aim of the study was to establish the abiotic conditions of the diversity of vegetation and the richness of vascular flora in a small lowland river valley. A real vegetation map was drawn in the scale 1:5000. The syntaxonomic classification of plant communities and habitat trophism were established on the basis of 120 phytosociological relevés and 160 soil samples, respectively. On the area of barely 35.4 ha identified were 48 plant associations and communities representing 11 phytosociological classes, among them habitats protected in Poland (16 types) and important at the EU scale (3). There were found 378 species of 72 families, including: 21 species under strict protection, 9 under partial protection, 25 plants threatened on the regional scale, and 2 included into the Polish Red Data Book. Most of interesting species and non-forest communities occur in the parts of the valley above and below a landscape reserve 'Szum', established in 1958, covering presently 18.17 ha. The greatest floral richness was found in the peatbog-meadow complexes (<em>Phragmitetea</em>, <em>Molinio-Arrhenatheretea</em>, <em>Scheuchzerio-Caricetea</em>), in bog-alder forests and willow bushes (<em>Alnetea glutinosae</em>), and streamline ash-alder carrs (<em>Querco-Fagetea</em>, <em>Alno-Ulmion</em>), while the smallest - in the pine and poorer upland mixed fir forests (<em>Vaccinio-Piceetea</em>). Vascular flora appears to be the richest in the sections of the valley where the bottom is overgrown by non-forest communities. The results of the study indicate that it is necessary to enlarge the area of the existing nature reserve.
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Benson, John. "Synthesizing Data to Classify and Risk Assess Vegetation Types for Regulations in Inland New South Wales Australia." Land 10, no. 10 (October 7, 2021): 1050. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/land10101050.
Full textAbstract:
From 1998, land-use regulations in New South Wales Australia referred to risk status of plant community types and abiotic landscapes. Lacking was a uniform vegetation classification for 77% of NSW comprising the inland arid, semi-arid and cropping agricultural zones: regions that contain patchy floristic plot data. In response, 562 plant communities, mainly at levels 8 in the IVC, were classified by synthesizing plot-based analyses, qualitative descriptions, maps, extensive field checks, new field samples and peer review. Qualitative information was vital to complete a thorough classification. Each type was assigned a risk category based on six risk assessment criteria developed prior to IUCN RLE. Occurrences in protected areas were audited and related to original extent yielding a protected area/adequacy code. Results were used in land change assessment tools and contributed to the listing of 40 threatened ecological communities under biodiversity laws. Two mapping methods attained different levels of reliability. Applying risk criteria to coarse versus fine levels in typologies can produce different results. Mid-to fine level global hierarchies best suit ecosystem risk assessment.