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The functioning of plant communities is strongly influenced by the number of species in the community and their spatial arrangement. This is because plants interact with their nearest neighbors and this interaction is expected to be stronger when the interacting individuals are ecologically similar in terms of resource use. Recent evidence shows that species richness alters the balance of intra‐ versus interspecific competition, but the effect of species richness, and phylogenetic and functional diversity on the spatial pattern of the plant communities remain less studied. Even far, how forest stand structure derived from past management practices can influence the relationship between species richness and spatial pattern is still unknown. Here, we evaluate the spatial distribution of woody individuals (DBH >7.5 cm) in 209 forest stands (i.e. plots) with an increasing level of species richness (from 1 up to 10 species) in six forest types along a latitudinal gradient in Europe. We used completely mapped plots to investigate the spatial pattern in each forest stand with point pattern techniques. We fitted linear models to analyze the effect of species richness (positively correlated with phylogenetic diversity) and functional diversity on tree spatial arrangements. We also controled this relationship by forest type and stand structure as a proxy of the management legacy. Our results showed a generalized positive effect of species richness and functional diversity on the degree of spatial clustering of trees, and on the spatial independence of tree sizes regardless of the forest type. Moreover, current tree spatial arrangements were still conditioned by its history of management; however its effect was independent of the number of species in the community. Our study showed that species richness and functional diversity are relevant attributes of forests influencing the spatial pattern of plant communities, and consequently forest functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the traits whose relevance for plant invasions has recently been suggested are genome size (the amount of nuclear DNA) and ploidy level. So far, research on the role of genome size in invasiveness has been mostly based on indirect evidence by comparing species with different genome sizes, but how karyological traits influence competition at the intraspecific level remains unknown. We addressed these questions in a common‐garden experiment evaluating the outcome of direct intraspecific competition among 20 populations of Phragmites australis, represented by clones collected in North America and Europe, and differing in their status (native and invasive), genome size (small and large), and ploidy levels (tetraploid, hexaploid, or octoploid). Each clone was planted in competition with one of the others in all possible combinations with three replicates in 45‐L pots. Upon harvest, the identity of 21 shoots sampled per pot was revealed by flow cytometry and DNA analysis. Differences in performance were examined using relative proportions of shoots of each clone, ratios of their aboveground biomass, and relative yield total (RYT). The performance of the clones in competition primarily depended on the clone status (native vs. invasive). Measured in terms of shoot number or aboveground biomass, the strongest signal observed was that North American native clones always lost in competition to the other two groups. In addition, North American native clones were suppressed by European natives to a similar degree as by North American invasives. North American invasive clones had the largest average shoot biomass, but only by a limited, nonsignificant difference due to genome size. There was no effect of ploidy on competition. Since the North American invaders of European origin are able to outcompete the native North American clones, we suggest that their high competitiveness acts as an important driver in the early stages of their invasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growth variability within individuals and among groups and locations and the phenomenon of summer growth reduction has been described for juvenile flatfish in a variety of European coastal areas whereby the underlying causes still remain elusive. Potential mechanisms were tested for juvenile plaice Pleuronectes platessa L. in the western Dutch Wadden Sea, by analysing published and unpublished information from long-term investigations (1986–present). Growth variability did occur and could be explained by differences induced by environmental variability (water temperature), and by non-genetic irreversible adaptation and sex. Dynamic Energy Budget analysis indicated that especially sexually-dimorphic growth in combination with variability in sex ratio could explain most of the variability in growth and the increase in the range of the size of individuals within the population over time. Summer growth reduction was not only observed among 0-group plaice in the intertidal, but also in the subtidal and tidal gullies as well as among I- and II-group plaice. Intraspecific competition for food was not detected but some support for interspecific competition with other predators was found. Also resource competition (due to crowding) with the other abundant epibenthic species (0-, I- and II-group flounder Platichthys flesus ; the brown shrimp Crangon crangon ; the shore crab Carcinus maenas ; the goby species Pomatoschistus minutus and Pomatoschistus microps ) could not explain the summer growth reduction. The observed growth reduction coincided with a decrease in stomach content, especially of regenerating body parts of benthic prey items. It is hypothesised that macrozoobenthos becomes less active after the spring phytoplankton bloom, reducing prey availability for juvenile plaice in summer, causing a reduction in food intake and hence in growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• I. typographus population dynamics were similar among intervention types. • Increased beetle density lowers beetle performance in following generations. • Intervention had small effects on parasitism, pathogens, and predation of I. typographus. • Pathogens were not effective in reducing beetle population numbers. Outbreaks of the European spruce bark beetle Ips typographus kill extensive areas of Norway spruce forests in Central Europe, affecting both protected areas and neighboring commercial forests. In protected areas, uncontrolled (non-intervention) management allows natural beetle-induced tree mortality, while in commercial forests infested trees are salvage-logged in order to lower I. typographus numbers and stabilize wood production. However, the effects of active pest controls on I. typographus population are often ambiguous, and little is known about how antagonists, beetle density, or intraspecific competition help terminate I. typographus outbreaks. To answer this question, we studied I. typographus population development, breeding performance, and natural antagonists under intervention and non-intervention management in the High Tatra Mts. from 2014 to 2017. We used sentinel logs and windthrown trees, following the current legislation in Tatranský národný park (TANAP, Slovakia) and Tatrzański Park Narodowy (TPN, Poland). Both parks are mountainous, are covered by Norway spruce forests that have been extensively affected by windthrows and extensive I. typographus outbreaks over the last 20 years, and are zoned under intervention and non-intervention types of management. We found that I. typographus was a dominant species and that its numbers gradually increased during the study, but that the numbers of maternal galleries in sentinel logs (from 50 to 300 per m2) and sex ratio (1 male:2.5 females) remained the same among years. The length of maternal galleries and egg production (per m2 of bark), however, gradually declined, and breeding performance decreased from 10 daughter beetles per female in 2014 to almost zero in 2017. These parameters did not significantly differ between intervention and non-intervention sites. Antagonists were not abundant and had limited effects on I. typographus numbers. Active intervention did not affect I. typographus population dynamics or rates of parasitism but increased numbers of Thanasimus beetles, which are predators of bark beetles. In other words, intervention increased the numbers of some natural enemies of I. typographus but did not affect I. typographus population dynamics. Because control measures did not reduce I. typographus numbers in the intervention zone, the natural ecological processes crucial for maintaining ecosystem functioning and biodiversity were evidently preserved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coexistence between great tits Parus major and blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus, but also other hole-nesting taxa, constitutes a classic example of species co-occurrence resulting in potential interference and exploitation competition for food and for breeding and roosting sites. However, the spatial and temporal variations in coexistence and its consequences for competition remain poorly understood. We used an extensive database on reproduction in nest boxes by great and blue tits based on 87 study plots across Europe and Northern Africa during 1957-2012 for a total of 19,075 great tit and 16,729 blue tit clutches to assess correlative evidence for a relationship between laying date and clutch size, respectively, and density consistent with effects of intraspecific and interspecific competition. In an initial set of analyses, we statistically controlled for a suite of site-specific variables. We found evidence for an effect of intraspecific competition on blue tit laying date (later laying at higher density) and clutch size (smaller clutch size at higher density), but no evidence of significant effects of intraspecific competition in great tits, nor effects of interspecific competition for either species. To further control for site-specific variation caused by a range of potentially confounding variables, we compared means and variances in laying date and clutch size of great and blue tits among three categories of difference in density between the two species. We exploited the fact that means and variances are generally positively correlated. If interspecific competition occurs, we predicted a reduction in mean and an increase in variance in clutch size in great tit and blue tit when density of heterospecifics is higher than the density of conspecifics, and for intraspecific competition, this reduction would occur when density of conspecifics is higher than the density of heterospecifics. Such comparisons of temporal patterns of means and variances revealed evidence, for both species, consistent with intraspecific competition and to a smaller extent with interspecific competition. These findings suggest that competition associated with reproductive behaviour between blue and great tits is widespread, but also varies across large spatial and temporal scales., (© 2018 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2018 British Ecological Society.)