| plant species dominance shifts across erosion edge-meadow transects in the swiss alps. | while exerting no obvious function under "average" environmental conditions, the presence of certain plant specialists becomes crucial in the event of a complete failure of a community due to severe disturbance such as landslides. plants capable of growing at erosion edges may act as potential edge-engineers by coping with unstable ground and stabilizing the soil with their roots. we hypothesized that life conditions at erosion edges select for a particular set of specialists or species with spe ... | 2013 | 23337968 |
| outbreaks by canopy-feeding geometrid moth cause state-dependent shifts in understorey plant communities. | the increased spread of insect outbreaks is among the most severe impacts of climate warming predicted for northern boreal forest ecosystems. compound disturbances by insect herbivores can cause sharp transitions between vegetation states with implications for ecosystem productivity and climate feedbacks. by analysing vegetation plots prior to and immediately after a severe and widespread outbreak by geometrid moths in the birch forest-tundra ecotone, we document a shift in forest understorey co ... | 2013 | 23568711 |
| contrasting preferences of arbuscular mycorrhizal and dark septate fungi colonizing boreal and subarctic avenella flexuosa. | arbuscular mycorrhizal (am) and dark septate endophytic (dse) fungi are ubiquitous in grass roots, but their colonizations may vary according to latitudinal gradient and site conditions. we investigated how vegetation zone (boreal vs. subarctic), humus thickness, and site openness affect root fungal colonizations of the grass avenella flexuosa. more precisely, we hypothesized that am and dse fungal colonizations would have different responses to environmental conditions such that am fungi could ... | 2014 | 24061928 |
| what's the meaning of local? using molecular markers to define seed transfer zones for ecological restoration in norway. | according to the norwegian diversity act, practitioners of restoration in norway are instructed to use seed mixtures of local provenance. however, there are no guidelines for how local seed should be selected. in this study, we use genetic variation in a set of alpine species (agrostis mertensii, avenella flexuosa, carex bigelowii, festuca ovina, poa alpina and scorzoneroides autumnalis) to define seed transfer zones to reduce confusion about the definition of 'local seeds'. the species selected ... | 2016 | 27247618 |
| the role of individual traits and environmental factors for diet composition of sheep. | large herbivore consumption of forage is known to affect vegetation composition and thereby ecosystem functions. it is thus important to understand how diet composition arises as a mixture of individual variation in preferences and environmental drivers of availability, but few studies have quantified both. based on 10 years of data on diet composition by aid of microhistological analysis for sheep kept at high and low population density, we analysed how both individual traits (sex, age, body ma ... | 2016 | 26731411 |
| the performance of moss, grass, and 1- and 2-year old spruce needles as bioindicators of contamination: a comparative study at the scale of the czech republic. | moss (pleurozium schreberi), grass (avenella flexuosa), and 1- and 2-year old spruce (picea abies) needles were collected over the territory of the czech republic at an average sample density of 1 site per 290km(2). the samples were analysed for 39 elements (ag, al, as, ba, be, bi, ca, cd, ce, co, cr, cs, cu, fe, ga, hg, k, la, li, mg, mn, mo, na, nd, ni, pb, pr, rb, s, sb, se, sn, sr, th, tl, u, v, y and zn) using icp-ms and icp-aes techniques (the major nutrients ca, k, mg and na were not anal ... | 2011 | 21421258 |
| fungal biomass associated with the phyllosphere of bryophytes and vascular plants. | little is known about the amount of fungal biomass in the phyllosphere of bryophytes compared to higher plants. in this study, fungal biomass associated with the phyllosphere of three bryophytes (hylocomium splendens, pleurozium schreberi, polytrichum commune) and three vascular plants (avenella flexuosa, gymnocarpium dryopteris, vaccinium myrtillus) was investigated using ergosterol content as a proxy for fungal biomass. phyllosphere fungi accounted for 0.2-4.0 % of the dry mass of moss gametop ... | 2009 | 19682574 |
| growth and mineral nutrition of plant species from clearings on different horizons of an iron-humus podzol profile. | four plant species of woodland clearings - avenella flexuosa, chamaenerion angustifolium, rumex acetosella, and senecio sylvaticus - were grown on five different horizons of an iron-humus podzol profile. reasonable growth was achieved only on the a0 horizon, which was rich in organic matter. the growth reduction on the other horizons was correlated with low concentrations of manganese and phosphorus in soils and plant organs. the restriction of so-called acidophilous species to acid soils is int ... | 1979 | 28308861 |