Riparian zones are the paragon of transitional ecosystems, providing critical habitat and ecosystem services that are especially threatened by global change. Following consultation with experts, 10 key challenges were identified to be addressed for riparian vegetation science and management improvement: (1) Create a distinct scientific community by establishing stronger bridges between disciplines; (2) Make riparian vegetation more visible and appreciated in society and policies; (3) Improve knowledge regarding biodiversityecosystem functioning links; (4) Manage spatial scale and context-based issues;(5) Improve knowledge on social dimensions of riparian vegetation; (6) Anticipate responses to emergent issues and future trajectories; (7) Enhance tools to quantify and prioritize ecosystem services; (8) Improve numerical modeling and simulation tools; (9) Calibrate methods and increase data availability for better indicators and monitoring practices and transferability; and (10) Undertake scientific validation of best management practices. These challenges are discussed and critiqued here, to guide future research into riparian vegetation.
Aim The first comprehensive checklist of European phytosociological alliances, orders and classes (EuroVegChecklist) was published by Mucina et al. (2016, Applied Vegetation Science, 19 (Suppl. 1), 3–264). However, this checklist did not contain detailed information on the distribution of individual vegetation types. Here we provide the first maps of all alliances in Europe. Location Europe, Greenland, Canary Islands, Madeira, Azores, Cyprus and the Caucasus countries. Methods We collected data on the occurrence of phytosociological alliances in European countries and regions from literature and vegetation‐plot databases. We interpreted and complemented these data using the expert knowledge of an international team of vegetation scientists and matched all the previously reported alliance names and concepts with those of the EuroVegChecklist. We then mapped the occurrence of the EuroVegChecklist alliances in 82 territorial units corresponding to countries, large islands, archipelagos and peninsulas. We subdivided the mainland parts of large or biogeographically heterogeneous countries based on the European biogeographical regions. Specialized alliances of coastal habitats were mapped only for the coastal section of each territorial unit. Results Distribution maps were prepared for 1,105 alliances of vascular‐plant dominated vegetation reported in the EuroVegChecklist. For each territorial unit, three levels of occurrence probability were plotted on the maps: (a) verified occurrence; (b) uncertain occurrence; and (c) absence. The maps of individual alliances were complemented by summary maps of the number of alliances and the alliance–area relationship. Distribution data are also provided in a spreadsheet. Conclusions The new map series represents the first attempt to characterize the distribution of all vegetation types at the alliance level across Europe. There are still many knowledge gaps, partly due to a lack of data for some regions and partly due to uncertainties in the definition of some alliances. The maps presented here provide a basis for future research aimed at filling these gaps.
Syntaxonomy, ecology and distribution patterns of thermophilous deciduous forests of the class Quercetea pubescentis remain understudied in the Western Balkans. Some oak forest types have not been investigated to date in large parts of the region and classification of many traditionally distinguished types has not been critically revised based on numerical data analysis. This is particularly true for the acido-thermophilous communities dominated by Quercus petraea, that are transitional between thermophilous and meso-acidophilous oak forests and were traditionally classified mostly to the class Quercetea robori-petraeae. Numerical analysis of nearly 3000 relevés allowed us to approach these issues. We classified thermophilous deciduous forests of the Western Balkans into six types reflecting the main broad-scale ecological and phytogeographical patterns in species composition within the study area: type 1-sub-Mediterranean forests dominated by Quercus pubescens and/or Carpinus orientalis; type 2-sub-Mediterranean and continental Quercus pubescens forests without Carpinus orientalis; type 3-meso-thermophilous supra-Mediterranean and/or relict communities dominated by Ostrya carpinifolia; type 4-thermophilous continental forests of deep, neutral to slightly acidic soils dominated by Quercus frainetto and/or Quercus cerris; type 5-acido-thermophilous continental forests dominated by Quercus petraea and/or Quercus cerris; type 6-acido-thermophilous northern Dinaric-southern Pannonian Quercus petraea dominated forests. A detrended correspondence analysis revealed that the variation in species composition mainly follows a geographical southwest-northeast gradient, reflecting the broad-scale ecological (macroclimatic and geological) and phytogeographical (turnover of dominant tree species) gradients. There is also a significant role of light regime, which mainly reflects local management practice, level of disturbance and the hemeroby of particular sites. Contrary to most traditional classifications, we place the acidothermophilous forests of the Western Balkans (type 6) into the class Quercetea pubescentis.
One promising area in understanding the responses of plants to ongoing global climate change is the adaptative effect of polyploidy. This work examines whether there is a coupling between the distribution of cytotypes and their biogeographical niche, and how different niches will affect their potential range. The study uses a range of techniques including flow cytometry, gradient and niche analysis, as well as distribution modelling. In addition, climatic, edaphic and habitat data was used to analyse environmental patterns and potential ranges of cytotypes in the first wide-range study of Festuca amethystina—a mixed-ploidy mountain grass. The populations were found to be ploidy homogeneous and demonstrate a parapatric pattern of cytotype distribution. Potential contact zones have been identified. The tetraploids have a geographically broader distribution than diploids; they also tend to occur at lower altitudes and grow in more diverse climates, geological units and habitats. Moreover, tetraploids have a more extensive potential range, being six-fold larger than diploids. Montane pine forests were found to be a focal environment suitable for both cytotypes, which has a central place in the environmental space of the whole species. Our findings present polyploidy as a visible driver of geographical, ecological and adaptive variation within the species.
Thirty silver fir populations originating from the putative suture zones of the postglacial recolonization (Slovenia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Ukraine) were studied using a mitochondrial <em>nad5-4</em> gene marker. The geographical distribution of mtDNA haplotypes in the Ukrainian Carpathians and their northern foothills indicates a very recent meeting of migration streams arriving from the Romanian Carpathians and Central Europe. In the western part of the Balkan Peninsula, two counterparallel migration streams are the most plausible explanation of the pattern observed. The haplotype typical for the Balkan Peninsula predominates along the Adrian coast, whereas the CentralEuropean haplotype is more represented in the inland.
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