Applied Vegetation Science 

About: Applied Vegetation Science is an academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Vegetation & Species richness. It has an ISSN identifier of 1402-2001. Over the lifetime, 1300 publications have been published receiving 37515 citations. The journal is also known as: AVS.

Vegetation of Europe: hierarchical floristic classification system of vascular plant, bryophyte, lichen, and algal communities

Abstract: Aims: Vegetation classification consistent with the Braun-Blanquet approach is widely used in Europe for applied vegetation science, conservation planning and land management. During the long history of syntaxonomy, many concepts and names of vegetation units have been proposed, but there has been no single classification system integrating these units. Here we (1) present a comprehensive, hierarchical, syntaxonomic system of alliances, orders and classes of Braun-Blanquet syntaxonomy for vascular plant, bryophyte and lichen, and algal communities of Europe; (2) briefly characterize in ecological and geographic terms accepted syntaxonomic concepts; (3) link available synonyms to these accepted concepts; and (4) provide a list of diagnostic species for all classes. LocationEuropean mainland, Greenland, Arctic archipelagos (including Iceland, Svalbard, Novaya Zemlya), Canary Islands, Madeira, Azores, Caucasus, Cyprus. Methods: We evaluated approximately 10000 bibliographic sources to create a comprehensive list of previously proposed syntaxonomic units. These units were evaluated by experts for their floristic and ecological distinctness, clarity of geographic distribution and compliance with the nomenclature code. Accepted units were compiled into three systems of classes, orders and alliances (EuroVegChecklist, EVC) for communities dominated by vascular plants (EVC1), bryophytes and lichens (EVC2) and algae (EVC3). Results: EVC1 includes 109 classes, 300 orders and 1108 alliances; EVC2 includes 27 classes, 53 orders and 137 alliances, and EVC3 includes 13 classes, 24 orders and 53 alliances. In total 13448 taxa were assigned as indicator species to classes of EVC1, 2087 to classes of EVC2 and 368 to classes of EVC3. Accepted syntaxonomic concepts are summarized in a series of appendices, and detailed information on each is accessible through the software tool EuroVegBrowser. Conclusions: This paper features the first comprehensive and critical account of European syntaxa and synthesizes more than 100 yr of classification effort by European phytosociologists. It aims to document and stabilize the concepts and nomenclature of syntaxa for practical uses, such as calibration of habitat classification used by the European Union, standardization of terminology for environmental assessment, management and conservation of nature areas, landscape planning and education. The presented classification systems provide a baseline for future development and revision of European syntaxonomy.

Impact of land use changes on mountain vegetation

Abstract: In this study the impact of land use changes on vegetation in the sub-alpine-alpine belt is analysed. The study sites (4.7 km 2 ) are located in the Passeier Valley (South Tyrol, Italy), at an elevation of 1500-2300 m a.s.l. The whole study area was used for hay-making ca. 60 yr ago. Today, part of the meadows are more intensively used, while other parts have been converted to pasture or have been abandoned. We analysed the reasons for these land use changes and the effects on vegetation with a Geographical Information Sys- tem and geostatistical analysis. The result of these analyses are: (1) Current land use is mainly controlled by the degree of accessibility for vehicles. Accessible areas are being used more and more intensively, while poorly accessible areas are being abandoned or used as pasture. (2) Current vegetation is highly determined by current land use. Particular vegetation units can be assigned to each form of land use. (3) Succession starts immediately after abandonment. De- pending on altitude, succession proceeds at different speeds and with different numbers of stages. Hence the type of vegetation indicates the time passed since abandonment. (4) Land use changes lead to characteristic changes in vegetation; they are considered to be the most important driving force for vegetation change. (5) Measures of intensification and abandonment of exten- sively used areas both lead to a decrease in the number of species.

Species pool: the concept, its determination and significance for community restoration.

Abstract: . The concept of species pool is reviewed. It is suggested to maintain the terms regional pool and local pool but replace actual pool by community pool. The regional and local pool are considered as selections from the regional and local flora based on ecological similarity. It is also suggested to include in the community pool a selection of species present only as diaspores in the diaspore bank (including diaspores from the seed rain), the selection being based on the same ecological criteria. Four approaches to determine the species pool are discussed: ecological, functional and phytosociological similarity, and an experimental approach. The phytosociological approach appears to be promising. The species pool is elaborated as a fuzzy set in the sense that each species of a community or a local or regional flora is a member of any community, local or regional species pool with different degrees of membership. This membership is defined as a probability of a species to become part of the community pool of a target community which is a function of the ecological (environmen-tal/functional/phytosociological) similarity of the species with the target community; the shortness of the distance of its nearest populations, the frequency/abundance, the dispersal capacity, the actual presence of dispersal mechanisms, the germinability of newly arrived diaspores, and the longevity of seeds (viability) in the diaspore bank. The information on species pools is needed for designing experiments where the number of species in a community is to be manipulated, for instance in restoration management.

Plant species richness in calcareous grasslands as affected by dispersability in space and time

Abstract: Species richness in calcareous grassland is dis- cussed against the background of historical dispersal proc- esses associated with traditional land-use management such as grazing, but also the artificial establishment by hayseed. Important vectors in the traditionally man-made landscape were sheep and cattle or other livestock such as goats. Cal- careous grasslands were not only connected to each other but also to other habitats such as villages, forests, arable fields and heathlands by these vectors which could cover large distances (e.g. transhumance shepherding), which is not the case in the current man-made landscape. Species richness after restoration management of aban- doned and afforested calcareous grasslands was predicted by using characters of dispersability in space and time. These were the persistence of the species in the vegetation and the diaspore bank after abandonment or afforestation and the dispersal capacity through wind and sheep. The results reveal that reintroduction of sheep grazing is necessary to reestablish the original species richness. The first validation of the predic- tion of the succession on clear-cut sites and a comparison with data of species composition in abandoned quarries and the surroundings made it obvious that a species' own dispersal capacity in space is very low except for some well wind- dispersed species. Therefore, it is recommended to include and to simulate dispersal processes in future management to be able to restore the original species richness.

Effects of climate change on the distribution of Iberian tree species

Abstract: Question: Will the predicted climate changes affect species distribution in the Iberian Peninsula? Location: Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). Methods: We modelled current and future tree distributions as a function of climate, using a computational framework that made use of one machine learning technique, the random forest (RF) algorithm. This algorithm provided good predictions of the current distribution of each species, as shown by the area under the corresponding receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves. Species turnover, richness and the change in distributions over time to 2080 under four Intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) scenarios were calculated using the species map outputs. Results and Conclusions: The results show a notable reduction in the potential distribution of the studied species under all the IPCC scenarios, particularly so for mountain conifer species such as Pinus sylvestris, P. uncinata and Abies alba. Temperate species, especially Fagus sylvatic...