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The synergy between climate change, eutrophication, and biological invasion is threatening for native submerged plants in many ways. The response of submerged plants to these changes is a key factor that determines the outcome of biological invasion. In order to explain the invasion successes, we investigated the combined effects of climate change and eutrophication-related environmental factors (temperature, light, and nutrients) on the trait responses of a native ( Myriophyllum spicatum ) and an alien ( Cabomba caroliniana ) submerged species. In a factorial design, we cultivated the two species in aquaria containing low (0.5 mg N L -1 , 0.05 mg P L -1 ) and high (2 mg N L -1 , 0.2 mg P L -1 ) nutrient concentrations, incubated at four light intensities (average 25, 67, 230, and 295 μmol m -2  s -1 PAR photon flux density) under two temperature levels (21.5 and 27.5 ± 0.5°C). We used four invasion-related functional traits (relative growth rate (RGR), specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), and nitrogen to carbon ratio (N:C molar ratio)) to measure the environmental response of the species. We calculated plasticity indexes to express the trait differences between species. Cabomba caroliniana showed significantly higher RGR and SLA than M. spicatum especially under low light intensity indicating that Cabomba is much more shade tolerant. Elevated temperature resulted in higher SLA and reduced LDMC for C. caroliniana indicating that Cabomba may have higher invasion success. Myriophyllum showed higher LDMC than C. caroliniana . Chemical analyses of the plant tissue revealed that although M. spicatum showed significantly higher N:C molar ratio, nonetheless, the daily nitrogen uptake of C. caroliniana was more than three times faster than that of M. spicatum . Results supported the idea that due to its higher shade tolerance and nitrogen uptake capacity, Cabomba likely has greater invasion success with increasing temperature combined with low light levels., (© 2022 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The role of anthropogenically influenced habitats in conserving elements of the original wildlife has increased worldwide simultaneously with the disappearance of natural sites. Burial places are able to conserve original elements of the wildlife, and this fact has been known for at least a century. To this day, little is known about long-time changes and the effect of long-time management methods in cemeteries on the flora they harbor. The utility of historical maps in research focused on natural values, as well as in answering questions related to conservation was recently demonstrated, but the use of digitized historical maps in biodiversity research of the Carpathian Basin is very limited. In the present paper, we aimed to predict the conservation potential of long-established and newly established cemeteries of Hungarian settlements with various population sizes based on the digitized maps of the 2nd Military Survey of the Austrian Empire (1819-1869), by categorizing cemeteries into 3 distinct (anthropogenic habitat, cemetery, or natural habitat) types. To build our models, we used records of the protected flora from Hungarian cemeteries, based on data of thematic botanical surveys of 991 cemeteries. Out of the surveyed cemeteries, 553 (56%) harbored protected plants, totaling 306.617 estimated individuals of 92 protected species, belonging to 28 plant families. These species represent 12% of the entire protected flora of Hungary. Hungarian cemeteries play a key role mainly in preserving steppe and dry grassland plant species. Long-established and large cemeteries harbor more protected plant species than small and newly established ones. Human population size of the settlements correlated negatively with the number of protected species and individuals. Moreover, woodland cover and proportion of grassland also significantly positively affected the number of protected plant species in cemeteries., Competing Interests: None declared., (© 2020 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Trait-based approaches are widely used in community ecology and invasion biology to unravel underlying mechanisms of vegetation dynamics. Although fundamental trade-offs between specific traits and invasibility are well described among terrestrial plants, little is known about their role and function in aquatic plant species. In this study, we examine the functional differences of aquatic alien and native plants stating that alien and native species differ in selected leaf traits. Our investigation is based on 60 taxa (21 alien and 39 native) collected from 22 freshwater units of Hungarian and Italian lowlands and highlands. Linear mixed models were used to investigate the effects of nativeness on four fundamental traits (leaf area, leaf dry matter content, specific leaf area, and leaf nitrogen content), while the influence of growth-form, altitude, and site were employed simultaneously. We found significantly higher values of leaf areas and significantly lower values of specific leaf areas for alien species if growth-form was included in the model as an additional predictor.We showed that the trait-based approach of autochthony can apply to aquatic environments similar to terrestrial ones, and leaf traits have relevance in explaining aquatic plant ecology whether traits are combined with growth-forms as a fixed factor. Our results confirm the importance of traits related to competitive ability in the process of aquatic plant invasions. Alien aquatic plants can be characterized as species producing soft leaves faster. We argue that the functional traits of alien aquatic plants are strongly growth-form dependent. Using the trait-based approach, we found reliable characteristics of aquatic plants related to species invasions, which might be used, for example, in conservation management.