Browsing by Author "Vassilev, K"

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    Dry grassland vegetation of Central Podolia (Ukraine) - a preliminary overview of its syntaxonomy, ecology and biodiversity
    (FLORISTISCH-SOZIOLOGISCHEN ARBEITSGEMEINSCHAFT E V) Kuzemko, AA; Becker, T; Didukh, YP; Ardelean, IV; Becker, U; Beldean, M; Dolnik, C; Jeschke, M; Naqinezhad, A; Ugurlu, E; Ünal, A; Vassilev, K; Vorona, EI; Yavorska, OH; Dengler, J
    We present the data of the 2nd research expedition of the European Dry Grassland Group (EDGG), which was conducted in 2010 in Central Podolia, Ukraine. The aim was to collect plot data to compare Ukrainian dry grasslands with those of other parts of Europe in terms of syntaxonomy and biodiversity. We sampled 21 nested-plot series (0.0001-100 m(2)) and 184 normal plots (10 m(2)) covering the full variety of dry grassland types occurring in the study region. For all plots, we recorded species composition of terrestrial vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens, while for the 226 10-m(2) plots we estimated and measured percentage cover of all species, structural, topographic, soil and landuse parameters. The 10-m(2) plots were used for phytosociological classification based on iteratively refined TWINSPAN classification as well as for DCA ordination. Differences between the derived vegetation types with respect to environmental conditions and species richness were assessed with ANOVAs. We assigned our plots to nine association-level units but refrained from placing them into formal associations with two exceptions. In the study area, dry grasslands of the Festuco-Brometea were far more common than those of the Koelerio-Cotynephoretea. Among the Festuco-Brometea, xeric Festucetalia valesiacae grasslands were more frequent and represented by the Festucion valesiacae (2 associations, including the Allio taurici-Dichanthietum ischaemi ass. nova) and the Stipion lessingianae (1) compared to the Brachypodietalia pinnati with the Agrostio vinealis-Avenulion schellianae (3). The Koelerio-Corynephoretea were represented by three associations, each from a different order and alliance: basiphilous outcrops (Alysso alyssoidis-Sedetalia: Alysso alyssoidis-Sedion?), acidophilous outcrops (Sedo-Scleranthetalia: Veronico dillenii-Sedion albi?) and mesoxeric sandy grasslands (Trifolio arvensis-Festucetalia ovinae: Agrostion vinealis). We discuss the issue of the mesoxeric order Galietalia veri placed within the Molinio-Arrhenatheretea by Ukrainian authors and conclude that the content of that order would probably be better placed in the mesoxeric orders of the Koelerio-Cotynephoretea and Festuco-Brometea. Other syntaxonomic questions could not be solved with our geographically limited dataset and await a supraregional analysis, e.g. whether the Ukrainian outcrop communities should be assigned to the same alliances as known from Central Europe or rather represent new vicariant units. The analysis of the biodiversity patterns showed that at a grain size of 10 m(2), Podolian Koelerio-Corynephoretea communities were overall richer than Festuco-Brometea communities (46.4 vs. 40.6 species). This difference was due to the Koelerio-Corynephoretea containing twice as many bryophytes and nine times more lichens, while vascular plant species richness did not differ significantly between classes. The orders within the classes showed no real differences in species richness. The richness patterns observed in Podolia were almost the opposite of those usually found in dry grasslands, where Brachypodietalia pinnati are richer than Festucetalia valesiacae, and these richer than stands of the Koelerio-Corynpehoretea - and we do not have a good explanation for these idiosyncrasies. In conclusion, Podolian dry grasslands behave quite unexpectedly regarding biodiversity, and their syntaxonomy is still poorly understood. These knowledge gaps can only be addressed with supra-national analyses based on comprehensive datasets.
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    sPlot - A new tool for global vegetation analyses
    (WILEY) Bruelheide, H; Dengler, J; Jimenez-Alfaro, B; Purschke, O; Hennekens, SM; Chytry, M; Pillar, VD; Jansen, F; Kattge, J; Sandel, B; Aubin, I; Biurrun, I; Field, R; Haider, S; Jandt, U; Lenoir, J; Peet, RK; Peyre, G; Sabatini, FM; Schmidt, M; Schrodt, F; Winter, M; Acic, S; Agrillo, E; Alvarez, M; Ambarli, D; Angelini, P; Apostolova, I; Khan, MASA; Arnst, E; Attorre, F; Baraloto, C; Beckmann, M; Berg, C; Bergeron, Y; Bergmeier, E; Bjorkman, AD; Bondareva, V; Borchardt, P; Botta-Dukát, Z; Boyle, B; Breen, A; Brisse, H; Byun, C; Cabido, MR; Casella, L; Cayuela, L; Cerny, T; Chepinoga, V; Csiky, J; Curran, M; Custerevska, R; Stevanovic, ZD; Bie, E; Ruffray, P; Sanctis, M; Dimopoulos, P; Dressler, S; Ejrnaes, R; El-Sheikh, MAM; Enquist, B; Ewald, J; Fagúndez, J; Finckh, M; Font, X; Forey, E; Fotiadis, G; García-Mijangos, I; de Gasper, AL; Golub, V; Gutierrez, AG; Hatim, MZ; He, T; Higuchi, P; Holubova, D; Hoelzel, N; Homeier, J; Indreica, A; Gürsoy, DI; Jansen, S; Janssen, J; Jedrzejek, B; Jirousek, M; Jürgens, N; Kacki, Z; Kavgaci, A; Kearsley, E; Kessler, M; Knollova, I; Kolomiychuk, V; Korolyuk, A; Kozhevnikova, M; Kozub, L; Krstonosic, D; Kuehl, H; Kuehn, I; Kuzemko, A; Kuzmic, F; Landucci, F; Lee, MT; Levesley, A; Li, CF; Liu, H; Lopez-Gonzalez, G; Lysenko, T; Macanovic, A; Mahdavi, P; Manning, P; Marceno, C; Martynenko, V; Mencuccini, M; Minden, V; Moeslund, JE; Moretti, M; Mueller, JV; Munzinger, J; Niinemets, U; Nobis, M; Noroozi, J; Nowak, A; Onyshchenko, V; Overbeck, GE; Ozinga, WA; Pauchard, A; Pedashenko, H; Penuelas, J; Perez-Haase, A; Peterka, T; Petrík, P; Phillips, OL; Prokhorov, V; Rasomavicius, V; Revermann, R; Rodwell, J; Ruprecht, E; Rusina, S; Samimi, C; Schaminée, JHJ; Schmiedel, U; Sibík, J; Silc, U; Skvorc, Z; Smyth, A; Sop, T; Sopotlieva, D; Sparrow, B; Stancic, Z; Svenning, JC; Swacha, G; Tang, ZY; Tsiripidis, I; Turtureanu, PD; Ugurlu, E; Uogintas, D; Valachovic, M; Vanselow, KA; Vashenyak, Y; Vassilev, K; Vélez-Martin, E; Venanzoni, R; Vibrans, AC; Violle, C; Virtanen, R; von Wehrden, H; Wagner, V; Walker, DA; Wana, D; Weiher, E; Wesche, K; Whitfeld, T; Willner, W; Wiser, S; Wohlgemuth, T; Yamalov, S; Zizka, G; Zverev, A
    Aims Vegetation-plot records provide information on the presence and cover or abundance of plants co-occurring in the same community. Vegetation-plot data are spread across research groups, environmental agencies and biodiversity research centers and, thus, are rarely accessible at continental or global scales. Here we present the sPlot database, which collates vegetation plots worldwide to allow for the exploration of global patterns in taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity at the plant community level. Results sPlot version 2.1 contains records from 1,121,244 vegetation plots, which comprise 23,586,216 records of plant species and their relative cover or abundance in plots collected worldwide between 1885 and 2015. We complemented the information for each plot by retrieving climate and soil conditions and the biogeographic context (e.g., biomes) from external sources, and by calculating community-weighted means and variances of traits using gap-filled data from the global plant trait database TRY. Moreover, we created a phylogenetic tree for 50,167 out of the 54,519 species identified in the plots. We present the first maps of global patterns of community richness and community-weighted means of key traits. Conclusions The availability of vegetation plot data in sPlot offers new avenues for vegetation analysis at the global scale.
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    European Vegetation Archive (EVA): an integrated database of European vegetation plots
    (WILEY) Chytry, M; Hennekens, SM; Jiménez-Alfaro, B; Knollová, I; Dengler, J; Jansen, F; Landucci, F; Schaminée, JHJ; Acic, S; Agrillo, E; Ambarli, D; Angelini, P; Apostolova, I; Attorre, F; Berg, C; Bergmeier, E; Biurrun, I; Botta-Dukát, Z; Brisse, H; Campos, JA; Carlón, L; Carni, A; Casella, L; Csiky, J; Custerevska, R; Stevanovic, ZD; Danihelka, J; De Bie, E; de Ruffray, P; De Sanctis, M; Dickoré, WB; Dimopoulos, P; Dubyna, D; Dziuba, T; Ejrnaes, R; Ermakov, N; Ewald, J; Fanelli, G; Fernández-González, F; FitzPatrick, U; Font, X; García-Mijangos, I; Gavilán, RG; Golub, V; Guarino, R; Haveman, R; Indreica, A; Gürsoy, DI; Jandt, U; Janssen, JAM; Jirousek, M; Kacki, Z; Kavgaci, A; Kleikamp, M; Kolomiychuk, V; Cuk, MK; Krstonosic, D; Kuzemko, A; Lenoir, J; Lysenko, T; Marcenò, C; Martynenko, V; Michalcová, D; Moeslund, JE; Onyshchenko, V; Pedashenko, H; Pérez-Haase, A; Peterka, T; Prokhorov, V; Rasomavicius, V; Rodríguez-Rojo, MP; Rodwell, JS; Rogova, T; Ruprecht, E; Rusina, S; Seidler, G; Sibík, J; Silc, U; Skvorc, Z; Sopotlieva, D; Stancic, Z; Svenning, JC; Swacha, G; Tsiripidis, I; Turtureanu, PD; Ugurlu, E; Uogintas, D; Valachovic, M; Vashenyak, Y; Vassilev, K; Venanzoni, R; Virtanen, R; Weekes, L; Willner, W; Wohlgemuth, T; Yamalov, S
    The European Vegetation Archive (EVA) is a centralized database of European vegetation plots developed by the IAVS Working Group European Vegetation Survey. It has been in development since 2012 and first made available for use in research projects in 2014. It stores copies of national and regional vegetation-plot databases on a single software platform. Data storage in EVA does not affect on-going independent development of the contributing databases, which remain the property of the data contributors. EVA uses a prototype of the database management software TURBOVEG 3 developed for joint management of multiple databases that use different species lists. This is facilitated by the SynBioSys Taxon Database, a system of taxon names and concepts used in the individual European databases and their corresponding names on a unified list of European flora. TURBOVEG 3 also includes procedures for handling data requests, selections and provisions according to the approved EVA Data Property and Governance Rules. By 30 June 2015, 61 databases from all European regions have joined EVA, contributing in total 1 027 376 vegetation plots, 82% of them with geographic coordinates, from 57 countries. EVA provides a unique data source for large-scale analyses of European vegetation diversity both for fundamental research and nature conservation applications. Updated information on EVA is available online at http://euroveg.org/eva-database.
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    Patterns and drivers of phytodiversity in steppe grasslands of Central Podolia (Ukraine)
    (SPRINGER) Kuzemko, AA; Steinbauer, MJ; Becker, T; Didukh, YP; Dolnik, C; Jeschke, M; Naqinezhad, A; Ugurlu, E; Vassilev, K; Dengler, J
    We asked: (i) Which environmental factors determine the level of alpha-diversity at several scales and beta-diversity in steppic grasslands? (ii) How do the effects of environmental factors on alpha- and beta-diversity vary between the different taxonomic groups (vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens)? We sampled nested-plot series ranging from 0.0001 to 100 m(2) and additional 10-m(2) plots, covering different vegetation types and management regimes in steppes and semi-natural dry grasslands of Central Podolia (Ukraine). We recorded all terricolous taxa and used topographic, soil, land-use and climatic variables as predictors. Richness-environment relationships at different scales and across taxonomic groups were assessed with multimodel inference. We also fitted power-law species-area relationships, using the exponent (z value) as a measure of beta-diversity. In general, the richness values in the study region were intermediate compared to those known from similar grasslands throughout the Palaearctic, but for 1 cm(2) we found seven species of vascular plants, a new world record. Heat index was the most important factor for vascular plants and bryophytes (negative relation), while lichen diversity depended mainly on stone and rock cover (positive). The explanatory power of climate-related variables increased with increasing grain size, while anthropogenic burning was the most important factor for richness patterns at the finest grain sizes (positive effect). The z values showed more variation at the finest grain sizes, but no significant differences in their mean between scales. The results highlight the importance of integrating scale into ecological analyses and nature conservation assessments in order to understand and manage biological diversity in steppe ecosystems.