Aims Understanding fine‐grain diversity patterns across large spatial extents is fundamental for macroecological research and biodiversity conservation. Using the GrassPlot database, we provide benchmarks of fine‐grain richness values of Palaearctic open habitats for vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens and complete vegetation (i.e., the sum of the former three groups). Location Palaearctic biogeographic realm. Methods We used 126,524 plots of eight standard grain sizes from the GrassPlot database: 0.0001, 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, 100 and 1,000 m2 and calculated the mean richness and standard deviations, as well as maximum, minimum, median, and first and third quartiles for each combination of grain size, taxonomic group, biome, region, vegetation type and phytosociological class. Results Patterns of plant diversity in vegetation types and biomes differ across grain sizes and taxonomic groups. Overall, secondary (mostly semi‐natural) grasslands and natural grasslands are the richest vegetation type. The open‐access file ”GrassPlot Diversity Benchmarks” and the web tool “GrassPlot Diversity Explorer” are now available online (https://edgg.org/databases/GrasslandDiversityExplorer) and provide more insights into species richness patterns in the Palaearctic open habitats. Conclusions The GrassPlot Diversity Benchmarks provide high‐quality data on species richness in open habitat types across the Palaearctic. These benchmark data can be used in vegetation ecology, macroecology, biodiversity conservation and data quality checking. While the amount of data in the underlying GrassPlot database and their spatial coverage are smaller than in other extensive vegetation‐plot databases, species recordings in GrassPlot are on average more complete, making it a valuable complementary data source in macroecology.
Thirty-six species of terrestrial molluscs were found in the dry grasslands and rock outcrops of the study area, including three that were not previously known for Central Ukraine: Granaria frumentum, Pupilla bigranata and Mediterranea inopinata. These species are relics related to dry open habitats and require conservation in Ukraine on the national level, G. frumentum is already listed in the Red Book of Ukraine, and the other two should be listed in its next edition. It is proposed to create the new protected areas in the most important newly revealed locations of these species. These rocky areas also retain the high diversity of land molluscs in the region. The invasive snail Xeropicta derbentina was found for the first time on the DNIPRO Upland, on the edge of natural dry grassland. The rare native snail Morlina glabra was recorded for the first time in Kyiv Region, it is proposed to be included into the regional red list.
We are pleased to present the new issue of the EDGG Bulletin, which comprises the invitation for the next EDGG Field Workshop in the Central Apennine mountains, in Italy. EDGG Research Expeditions/Field Workshops have been conducted annually since 2009, and have contributed to the development of a large body of standardized data. This issue includes a call for data to be added to this dataset, which would be used for analyses of biodiversity patterns and their drivers across biogeographical gradients. The Bulletin also includes the Minutes of the General Assembly of the EDGG, which took place during the EGC in Sighisoara in September 2016. One of the most important contributions in this issue is a paper about the impact of military conflicts on the steppe protected areas of Ukraine. This detailed analysis warns the international scientific community about the negative impacts on all steppe protected areas in Ukraine caused by military operations or exercises and other factors stemming from the unstable political situation in the country. But there is also room for hope, as we also include two short contributions looking on the bright side. The first one informs us about a new project to support the Steppe national nature parks of Ukraine, and the second about the success in the Ukrainian Сourt of the Appeal to stop the destruction of the Tarutyns'kyj steppe. In this issue we want to relaunch the section devoted to the recent publications of our members. This section is open to all EDGG members, so once more we want to invite all of you to send us your grassland-related papers, so that they can be included in this section in the future issues. Finally, we would like to take the opportunity again to emphasize that the Bulletin welcomes submissions of scientific articles (in the form of Research papers, Forum papers, Reviews or Reports). While we do not provide peer-review, we do offer linguistic editing after acceptance, and your paper will achieve high visibility because the Bulletin is open access and distributed to more than 1000 grassland specialists throughout the world. You can find the author guidelines from the EDGG homepage. We hope that reading the Bulletin will inspire you to new ideas and discoveries that, in turn, will find their place on the pages of future issues. We wish you a Happy New Year, Anna Kuzemko, Idoia Biurrun & the Editorial Board Content Eurasian Dry Grassland Group 2 Invitation to the 10 th EDGG F i e l d W o r k s h o p "Biodiversity patterns across a precipitation gradient in the Central Apennine mountains" 3-12 Minutes of the General Assembly 2016 13-14 Vasyliuk, O. et al. Steppe protected areas on the territory of Ukraine in the context of the armed conflict in the Donbas region and Russian annexation of the Crimean Peninsula 15-23 Short contributions 24-27 Book reviews 28-32 Recent publications of our members 33-34 Forthcoming events 35 Imprint 36 At the top:
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