Fifteen emerging challenges and opportunities for vegetation science: A horizon scan by early career researchers

Abstract

With the aim to identify future challenges and opportunities in vegetation science, we brought together a group of 22 early career vegetation scientists from diverse backgrounds to perform a horizon scan. In this contribution, we present a selection of 15 topics that were ranked by participants as the most emergent and impactful for vegetation science in the face of global change. We highlight methodological tools that we expect will play a critical role in resolving emerging issues by providing ways to unveil new aspects of plant community dynamics and structure. These tools include next generation sequencing, plant spectral imaging, process‐based species distribution models, resurveying studies and permanent plots. Further, we stress the need to integrate long‐term monitoring, the study of novel ecosystems, below‐ground traits, pollination interactions and global networks of near‐surface microclimate data at fine spatio‐temporal resolutions to fully understand and predict the impacts of climate change on vegetation dynamics. We also emphasize the need to integrate traditional forms of knowledge and a diversity of stakeholders into research, teaching, management and policy‐making to advance the field of vegetation science. The conclusions reached by this horizon scan naturally reflect the background, expertise and interests of a representative pool of early career vegetation scientists, which should serve as basis for future developments in the field.

Trends in geographic and gender balance among authors

“…Every year, we select one article published in the Journal of Vegetation Science for the Editors' Award. For 2022, the winner is a Forum paper by 22 early‐career scientists led by Yannelli et al (2022). The group of authors performed a horizon scan for vegetation science by opening a call for topic submission and ranking the importance of suggested topics based on voting among group members.…”

“…Other examples included enhanced engagement between vegetation scientists and the public, and the incorporation of traditional ecological knowledge into vegetation management. In an era of rapid technological advancement and societal challenges, the horizon scan by Yannelli et al (2022) is a creative approach to highlighting potential growth areas for vegetation science. It is also interesting to compare the perspectives of the young generation of vegetation scientists with a brief horizon scan by current and past Chief Editors of the Journal of Vegetation Science and Applied Vegetation Science published three years earlier (Chytrý et al, 2019).…”

Plant spectral diversity from high-resolution multispectral imagery detects functional diversity patterns in coastal dune communities

“…To keep up with these changes, scientists have proposed to consider fast and repeatable measures of all facets of biodiversity over large extents (McGill et al ., 2015; Jetz et al ., 2016). In this context, remote sensing emerges as the most comprehensive and convenient tool for handling multiple biodiversity-related questions (Jetz et al ., 2016) and is particularly promising in detecting different facets of plant diversity (Yannelli et al ., 2022). Yet, major gaps remain in the application of remote sensing to detect biodiversity patterns across different spatial scales (Wang & Gamon, 2019).…”

Development of genomic resources for cattails (Typha), a globally important macrophyte genus

“…Although freshwater plants have been increasingly incorporated into applications that include habitat restoration and invasive species management, they remain highly understudied compared to terrestrial plants (Evangelista et al, 2014;Iversen et al, 2022). One key knowledge gap in freshwater plant research is the lack of genetic tools necessary to answer fundamental questions about their demographic histories, adaptation, and phylogenetic relationships (Fay et al, 2019;Maréchal, 2019;O'Hare et al, 2018;Yannelli et al, 2022).…”