Search

Grasslands host a significant share of Europe's species diversity but are among the most threatened vegetation types of the continent. Resurvey studies can help to understand patterns and drivers of changes in grassland diversity and species composition. However, most resurveys are based on local or regional data, and hardly reach back more than eight decades. Here, we publish and describe the Historic Square Foot Dataset, comprising 580 0.09‐m2 and 43 1‐m2 vegetation plots carefully sampled between 1884 and 1931, covering a wide range of grassland types across Switzerland. We provide the plots as an open‐access data set with coordinates, relocation accuracy and fractional aboveground biomass per vascular plant species. We assigned EUNIS habitat types to most plots. Mean vascular plant species richness in 0.09 m2 was 19.7, with a maximum of 47. This is considerably more than the present‐day world record of 43 species for this plot size. Historically, species richness did not vary with elevation, differing from the unimodal relationship found today. The data set provides unique insight into how grasslands in Central Europe looked more than 100 years ago, thus offering manifold options for studies on the development of grassland biodiversity and productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accurate evaluation of crop damage by wild animals is crucial for farmers when seeking compensation from insurance companies or other institutions. One of the game species that frequently cause crop damage in Europe is the wild boar, which often feeds on maize. Other game species, such as roe deer and red deer, can also cause significant crop damage. This study aimed to assess the accuracy of crop damage evaluation based on remote sensing data derived from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), especially a digital surface model (DSM) based on RGB imagery and NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) derived from multispectral imagery, at two growth stages of maize. During the first growth stage, when plants are in the intensive growth phase and green, crop damage evaluation was conducted using both DSM and NDVI. Each variable was separately utilized, and both variables were included in the classification and regression tree (CART) analysis, wherein crop damage was categorized as a binomial variable (with or without crop damage). In the second growth stage, which was before harvest when the plants had dried, only DSM was employed for crop damage evaluation. The results for both growth stages demonstrated high accuracy in detecting areas with crop damage, but this was primarily observed for areas larger than several square meters. The accuracy of crop damage evaluation was significantly lower for smaller or very narrow areas, such as the width of a single maize row. DSM proved to be more useful than NDVI in detecting crop damage as it can be applied at any stage of maize growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small shallow lakes (SSLs) have great conservation value and support numerous ecosystem services. However, these small ecosystems are faced with many threats, including eutrophication, which tends to shift biodiverse SSLs to a turbid state dominated by phytoplankton. The ecological quality of SSLs still remains poorly evaluated because of the lack of adapted tools. We propose a new trophic index—TIM2S—based on the tolerance range of 245 macrophyte species to total phosphorus. As a single trophic index can favour oligotrophic ecosystems and their associated species to the detriment of more eutrophic but rare species, we converted TIM2S into a predictive reference-based model. Then, we compared TIM2S with five existing trophic indices in their efficiency to discriminate trophic levels and disentangle eight anthropogenic or internal pressures. TIM2S was the only index strongly correlated with total phosphorus and able to discriminate trophic levels. Most existing trophic indices are expert-based, and reflect community alteration rather than eutrophication. These expert-based indices are also dependent on numerous environmental factors, highlighting the need for robust predictive models to evaluate ecological statuses accurately. TIM2S is Water Framework Directive-compatible and can be used widely in Europe to evaluate the trophic status and trophic alterations of SSLs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a list of Ellenberg indicator values N values for Central European bryophytes and the methodology we used to obtain these values. Values are given for 6 hornworts, 255 liverworts, 35 peat mosses, and 772 mosses, i.e., for a total of 1,068 species. We ng the N values for different variables related to bryophyte morphology, taxonomy, Red List status, and ecology. Among the morphological and taxonomical groups, peat mosses, foliose hepatics, and species with porous leaves on average had the lowest N values, while no strong differentiation was found between Red List groups. Ecology and life span exhibited a strong differentiation, with lowest mean values for aquatic and indefinitely growing species, and highest mean values for ecologically rather unspecific and annual species. Furthermore, we compared the bryophyte N values with those of vascular plants and macromycetes from Central Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights the European collaboration in child and adolescent psychiatry. Topics discussed include the growing nationalistic and populist movements across Europe as of 2019; improvements in the clinical works to provide help to children with mental disorders and their families; and the impact of Brexit on science in the Great Britain.

Adult flower-visiting insects feed on nectar and pollen and partly collect floral resources to feed their larvae. The reduction in food availability has therefore been proposed as one of the main causes for the drastic decline in flower-visiting insects in Central Europe. We compared the current (2012-2017) abundances of food plants of different groups of flower-visiting insects to that of 1900-1930 in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland. Comparisons were done separately for different vegetation types, flowering months, and groups of diurnal flower-visiting insects, such as bees, bumble bees, wasps, butterflies, hoverflies, flies, and beetles. We found a general decrease in food plant abundance for all groups of flower-visiting insects and in all vegetation types except ruderal areas. Reductions of food plant abundance were most pronounced for wetlands and agricultural fields, reflecting the massive transformation of wetlands into other habitat types and the intensified management of agricultural fields. Food plant abundance for specialized flower visitors (bees, bumble bees, butterflies) of wetlands decreased most strongly in May and for generalized flower visitors (wasps, hoverflies, flies, beetles) in July. Specialized plant species, i.e., species with few groups of flower visitors, decreased more strongly in abundance than species with many groups of flower visitors. Finally, we found a homogenization of food plant assemblages in all vegetation types except ruderal areas, where the opposite pattern emerged. Our results suggest a significant reduction in the diversity and abundance of food plants for flower-visiting insects over the past century, which has been most severe for the more specialized insect groups. The trend of insect decline, in particular those specialized on few plant species, can only be stopped by extending suitable habitats, i.e., by increasing food availability and reestablish selected plant populations., (© 2020 The Authors. Ecological Applications published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Ecological Society of America.)

Variation of plant species cover on a Sphagnum-dominated mire in the south-eastern Alps of Italy was assessed over a 10-year period in relation to depth to the water table, peat accumulation rate, and climate. Population dynamics of vascular species appeared to be primarily affected by the autogenic process of peat accumulation, which determined the lowering of water-table position at microhabitat scale. Increase of depth to the water table through peat accumulation resulted in increased cover of ericaceous shrubs at previously moister microhabitats. Conversely, graminoid species such as Eriophorum vaginatum, Trichophorum caespitosum, and Scheuchzeria palustris, being negatively affected by autogenic peat growth, were forced to shift their niche towards the wetter end of the water-table gradient. Carex limosa and Carex rostrata decreased their cover along the whole gradient in depth to the water table, likely due to multiple processes related to peat accumulation, competition with bryophytes, and a negative feedback due to increased litter deposition. Bryophytes, in particular Sphagnum mosses, appeared more sensitive to climatic conditions, with higher precipitation favouring faster-growing species. Accordingly, Sphagnum fallax and Sphagnum magellanicum increased their cover much more than Sphagnum capillifolium, whereas Polytrichum strictum showed the strongest decrease at sites where S. magellanicum cover increased most. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]