Determination the natural plant compositions and species distribution model in different habitat types of Düzce (Türkiye)

Summary 1. A large proportion of the world's land surface is extensively managed for livestock production. In areas where livestock systems are becoming more intensive, a major challenge is to predict those plant species likely to decline, persist or increase as a result of agricultural intensification. 2. Most analyses develop inferences for frequent or abundant species, or rely on intensive studies of single species. A promising approach is to identify plant traits related to disturbance to enable inference to be made about changes in plant community composition. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to analyse the response to agricultural intensification of 494 plant species of pastures and woodlands in southern Australia, and to identify how simple species' traits (life form, growth form and species origin) influence those responses. 3. The probability of occurrence of most species declined along the two intensification gradients, grazing intensity and soil phosphorous concentration, although the occurrence of a greater proportion of species was negatively correlated with soil phosphorous. Responses could be broadly predicted from both plant origin and plant traits, in particular growth form. 4. Native perennial geophytes, ferns and shrubs were most negatively affected by both gradients, while exotic annual grasses and forbs were more tolerant. Along the phosphorous gradient, 24 of the 30 most negatively affected plant species were native geophytes. Mean within-group responses masked considerable within- and between-species variation, particularly for the exotic species group which included species that responded both negatively and positively to intensification. 5. Synthesis and applications. The hierarchical model described here provides a powerful method for estimating individual plant responses and identifying how species' traits influence those responses. Plant species native to southern Australia are sensitive to grazing and phosphorous apparently due to a shared evolutionary history of low grazing intensity and low phosphorous soils. Invading exotic plants have faced strongly contrasting ecological filters, leading to a greater diversity of responses. Where grazing systems have been most intense, a small suite of exotics dominate. Maintaining native and functional plant diversity will necessitate limits being placed on intensive livestock management systems.

Relationships between multi-scale factors, plant and pollinator diversity, and composition of park lawns and other herbaceous vegetation in a fast growing megacity of China

The Indiana Dunes (comprised of 15 geographic units (see Figure 1) which include Indiana Dunes National Park, Dunes State Park, and adjacent Shirley Heinze Land Trust properties) are remarkable in the Midwest and Great Lakes region for the vascular plant diversity, with an astounding 1,212 native plant species in an area of approximately 16,000 acres! This high plant diversity is the result of the interactions among postglacial migrations, the variety of soil substrates, moisture conditions, topography, successional gradients, ?re regimes, proximity to Lake Michigan, and light levels. This richness is all the more signi?cant given the past human alterations of the landscape resulting from logging; conversion to agriculture; construction of transportation corridors, industrial sites, and residential communities; ?re suppression; land abandonment; and exotic species invasions. Despite these impacts, multiple natural areas supporting native vegetation persist. Thus, each of the 15 units of the Indiana Dunes presents up to eight subunits varying in human disturbance and consequently in ?oristic richness. Of the most signi?cant units of the park in terms of number of native species, Cowles Dunes and the Dunes State Park stand out from all the other units, with 786 and 686 native species, respectively. The next highest ranked units for numbers of native species include Keiser (630), Furnessville (574), Miller Woods (551), and Hoosier Prairie (542). The unit with lowest plant richness is Heron Rookery (220), with increasing richness in progression from Calumet Prairie (320), Hobart Prairie Grove (368), to Pinhook Bog (380). Signi?cant natural areas, retaining native vegetation composition and structure, include Cowles Bog (Cowles Dunes Unit), Howes Prairie (Cowles Dunes), Dunes Nature Preserve (Dunes State Park), Dunes Prairie Nature Preserve (Dunes State Park), Pinhook Bog, Furnessville Woods (Furnessville), Miller Woods, Inland Marsh, and Mnoke Prairie (Bailly). Wilhelm (1990) recorded a total of 1,131 native plant species for the ?ora of the Indiana Dunes. This was similar to the 1,132 species recorded by the National Park Service (2014) for the Indiana Dunes. Based on the nomenclature of Swink and Wilhelm (1994), Indiana Dunes National Park has 1,206 native plant species. If we include native varieties and hybrids, the total increases to 1,244 taxa. Based on the nomenclature used for this report?the Flora of North America (FNA 2022), and the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS 2022)?Indiana Dunes National Park houses 1,206 native vascular plant species. As of this writing (2020), the Indiana Dunes is home to 37% of the species of conservation concern in Indiana (241 out of 624 Indiana-listed species): state extirpated = 10 species, state endangered = 75, and state threatened = 100. Thus, 4% of the state-listed species in the Indiana Dunes are extirpated, 31% endangered, and 41% threatened. Watch list and rare categories have been eliminated. Twenty-nine species once documented from the Indiana Dunes may be extirpated because they have not been seen since 2001. Eleven have not been seen since 1930 and 15 since 1978. If we exclude these species, then there would be a total of 1,183 species native to the Indiana Dunes. Many of these are cryptic in their life history or diminutive, and thus are di?cult to ?nd. Looking at the growth form of native plants, <1% (nine species) are clubmosses, 3% (37) are ferns, 8% (297) are grasses and sedges, 56% (682) are forbs or herbs, 1% (16) are herbaceous vines, <1% (7) are subshrubs (woody plants of herbaceous stature), 5% (60) are shrubs, 1% (11) are lianas (woody vines), and 8% (93) are trees. Of the 332 exotic species (species introduced from outside North America), 65% (219 species) are forbs such as garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), 15% (50 species) are graminoids such as phragmites (Phragmites australis ssp. australis), 2% (seven species) are vines such as ?eld bindweed (Convulvulus arvensis), <1% (two species) are subshrubs such as Japanese pachysandra (Pachysandra terminalis), 8% (28 species) are shrubs such as Asian bush honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.), 1% (three species) are lianas such as oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), and 8% (23 species) are trees such as tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissimus). Of the 85 adventive species, native species that have invaded from elsewhere in North America, 14% (11 species) are graminoids such as broom sedge (Andropogon virginicus), 57% (48 species) are forbs such as fall phlox (Phlox paniculata), 5% (six species) are shrubs such as Carolina allspice (Calycanthus floridus), 3% (two species) are subshrubs such as holly leaved barberry (Berberis repens), 1% (one species) is a liana (trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans), 3% two species) are herbaceous vines such as tall morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea), and 17% (15 species) are trees such as American holly (Ilex opaca). A total of 436 species were found to be ?special? based on political rankings (federal and state-listed threatened and endangered species), species with charismatic ?owers, and those that are locally rare.

MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANTS: TRADE, PRODUCTION, AND MANAGEMENT OF BOTANICAL RESOURCES

Agroecosystems are increasingly recognized as both sources and sinks of non‐native weedy plant species as well as of native plant species, thus management of these systems has important implications for the composition of plant communities and landscape diversity. We quantified the distribution and abundance of both native and non‐native plant species along a habitat gradient representing four management zones: managed agroecosystem, the agroecosystem boundary, ecotone, and neighbouring native forest for two land uses: kiwifruit orchards and neighbouring grassland agroecosystems. Native plant species diversity was highest in forest zones, and declined significantly with increasing non‐native plant diversity across all management zones. The negative relationship between native and non‐native plant species richness and diversity across all management zones was surprising, and contrasts with most ecological literature. Further, non‐native plant species that have the largest ecological or ecosystem impacts were most abundant in ecotones, but were largely absent from managed zones and their margins. Our results suggest that agroecosystems and neighbouring vegetation can harbour native species, but can also be a source of non‐native invasive weeds. These results highlight that agricultural margins contain both native plant diversity and environmental weeds, and that management of these margins affects diversity both on and off the farm.

Plantations with fast growing exotic tree species can negatively affect native plant species diversity and promote the spread of alien species. Mediterranean Chile experienced major landscape changes with a vast expansion of industrial plantations of Pinus radiata in the past. However, with increasing knowledge of biodiversity effects on ecosystem services Chilean forest owners now aim to integrate the conservation of native biodiversity into forest management, but data on native species diversity and establishment within a plantation landscape is scarce. Here we investigated plant species diversity and composition in four forest management options applied within a landscape dominated by P. radiata plantations in comparison to an unmanaged reference: (i) a clear cut, (ii) a strip cut, (iii) a native canopy of Nothofagus glauca and (iv) a young P. radiata plantation. We wanted to assess if native plant species can be maintained either by natural regeneration or by planting of native tree species (Nothofagus glauca, N. obliqua, Quillaja saponaria) within this landscape. Results show a high diversity of native and forest plant species within the different management options indicating a high potential for native biodiversity restoration within an anthropogenic landscape. In particular, herbaceous species can benefit from management. They are rare in unmanaged natural forests that are characterized by low light conditions and a thick litter layer. Management, however, also promoted a diversity of alien species. The rapid spread of alien grass species after management can deter an initial establishment of native tree species or the survival and growth after planting mainly under dry but less under sufficient moisture conditions. The most unsuccessful option for promoting native plant species was clear cutting in a dry area where alien grasses were abundant. For drought-tolerant tree species such as Quillaja saponaria, though, even a joint establishment with Pinus radiata seems possible.

Introduction Invasive alien species are a major concern in the management and conservation of habitats and species worldwide (Crooks 2002; Bax et al. 2003; Levine et al. 2003; Vila et al. 2010). The direct effects of these species may further cascade in the ecosystem and affect inter- and intraspecific ecological interactions. The introduction of alien plants and animals can have severe consequences, not only for individual native plant and pollinator species, but also for their ecological interactions through plant–pollinator networks (Morales and Traveset 2009; Dohzono and Yokoyama 2010; Schweiger et al. 2010). Integration of alien plant and pollinator species into pollination networks inevitably creates new interactions and may also affect the strength and quality of existing ones. These changes are open niches for novel evolutionary adaptations of both alien and native species (Mooney and Cleland 2001). However, research in this topic is very limited, and has focused mostly on adaptations of alien plant species to pollinator-independent reproduction modes (Barrett et al. 2008). We know of no study investigating adaptations of native plant and pollinator species to invaders, and the ecological and possibly evolutionary consequences of these adaptations in the context of plant–pollinator networks. Such adaptations might have far-reaching ecological and evolutionary implications, as has been shown in plant–herbivore and predator–prey interactions (Cox 2004). Here we outline the main effects of species invasions on plant–pollinator interactions, and deduce the main adaptive mechanisms that native plant species can exhibit in response to changes in their pollination regime. Finally, we explore the characteristics of plant populations that are likely to affect their probability of exhibiting such adaptations and their conservation implications. Effects of alien plant and animal species on native plant pollination Several groups of alien organisms have been shown to affect native plant pollination. Most research has focused on alien plants (Morales and Traveset 2009) and flower visitors (Lach 2003; Dohzono and Yokoyama 2010); however, other groups, such as alien herbivores and predators, can also be influential (Traveset and Richardson 2006). In the following, we explore the possible effects of different groups of alien organisms on pollination of native plants.

Plant-soil feedback responses for native and invasive plant species are well documented, but little is known about how feedback effects from the soil biota community affect plant interactions with herbivores. Here we examine whether changes of the soil biota community by the successful invader Solidago canadensis influence growth and herbivore susceptibility of two coexisting native plant species (Tanacetum vulgare, Melilotus albus). Root zone soil from two different habitat types (‘urban’ and ‘suburban’) was collected and used as inocula in a plant-soil feedback study. Each plant species was grown either in its own soil biota community or with the community with a history from the competitive invasive or native plant species. To identify potential drivers of responses to the different soil biota communities, we analyzed root colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and dark-septate endophytes (DSE), and the community composition of soil inhabiting nematodes at the end of our experiment. Results show that S. canadensis and M. albus were not affected by soil history. In contrast, T. vulgare showed increased plant growth in ‘foreign’ soil derived from S. canadensis root zone compared with its ‘home’ soil suggesting a growth promotion by the soil biota community of S. canadensis. From the examined drivers, the abundance of DSE explained the growth response of T. vulgare to the S. canadensis soil biota community best. However, shoot herbivory by banded snails (Cepaea nemoralis, C. hortensis) was not affected by soil history, but by the habitat type where the soil inocula originated. Our study shows that a native plant species may profit from the presence of an invasive competitor mediated by changes in the soil biota community.

Disturbances, such as fire and grazing, are often claimed to facilitate plant species richness and plant invasions in particular, although empirical evidence is contradictory. We conducted a meta‐analysis to synthesize the literature on how non‐native plant species are affected by disturbances. We explored whether the observed impact of disturbance on non‐native plant communities is related to its type and frequency, to habitat type, study approach (observational or experimental), and to the temporal and spatial scales of the study. To put the results in a broader context, we also conducted a set of parallel analyses on a data set involving native plant species. The diversity and abundance of non‐native plant species were significantly higher at disturbed sites than at undisturbed sites, while the diversity and abundance of native plant species did not differ between the two types of sites. The effect of disturbance on non‐native plant species depended on the measure used to evaluate the impact (species diversity or abundance) and on disturbance type, with grazing and anthropogenic disturbances leading to higher diversity and abundance of non‐native plant species than other disturbance types examined. The impact of disturbance on non‐natives was also associated with study approach, habitat type and temporal scale, but these factors covaried with disturbance type, complicating the interpretation of the results. Overall, our results indicate that disturbance has a positive impact particularly on non‐native plant species (at least when they are already present in the community), and that the strength of this impact depends primarily on the disturbance type. Synthesis Empirical evidence of the effect of disturbances on plant species richness is contradictory. Here we use a meta‐analysis to synthesize the published literature on how different types of disturbances influence the diversity and abundance of plant species, focusing in particular on non‐native plants. Our study supports the hypothesis that disturbances generally facilitate the diversity and abundance of non‐native plant species, although the strength of this facilitation depends primarily on the disturbance type.

Previous studies on biodiversity and soil food web composition have mentioned plant species identity, as well as plant species diversity as the main factors affecting the abundance and diversity of soil organisms. However, most studies have been carried out under limitations of time, space, or appropriate controls. In order to further examine the relation between plant species diversity and the soil food web, we conducted a three‐year semi‐field experiment in which eight plant species (4 forb and 4 grass species) were grown in monocultures and mixtures of two, four and eight plant species. In addition there were communities with 16 plant species. We analyzed the abundance and identity of the nematodes in soil and roots, including feeding groups from various trophic levels (primary and secondary consumers, carnivores, and omnivores) in the soil food web. Plant species diversity and plant identity affected the diversity of nematodes. The effect of plant diversity was attributed to the complementarity in resource quality of the component plant species rather than to an increase in total resource quantity. The nematode diversity varied more between the different plant species than between different levels of plant species diversity, so that plant identity is more important than plant diversity. Nevertheless the nematode diversity in plant mixtures was higher than in any of the plant monocultures, due to the reduced dominance of the most abundant nematode taxa in the mixed plant communities. Plant species identity affected the abundances of the lower trophic consumer levels more than the higher trophic levels of nematodes. Plant species diversity and plant biomass did not affect nematode abundance. Our results, therefore, support the hypothesis that resource quality is more important than resource quantity for the diversity of soil food web components and that plant species identity is more important than plant diversity per se.

Biological invasion by nonnative species is a global phenomenon that has the capacity to dramatically alter native communities. However, surprisingly few studies have quantified the effects of exotic plant species on the communities they invade, or have considered how these effects vary among habitat types or seasons. Here, we used both comparative and experimental field studies to investigate the influence of Cape ivy (Delairea odorata; Asteraceae), an invasive evergreen vine native to South Africa, on three habitat types in coastal regions of northern California (coastal scrub, willow riparian, and alder riparian). In the comparative study, plots invaded by Cape ivy contained 36% fewer native plant species and 37% fewer nonnative taxa, and this pattern persisted across habitat types and seasons. The richness of grass and forb species was lower in invaded plots, whereas fern and shrub richness did not vary among zones. Native species richness was significantly lower with increasing cover of Cape ivy, but this was not the case for nonnative species. In addition, invasion by Cape ivy was associated with a 31% decrease in species diversity as well as an 88% decrease in the abundance of native seedlings and a 92% decrease in nonnative seedlings compared to uninvaded areas. After 2 yr, a Cape-ivy reduction experiment yielded similar results, with a 10% increase in the richness of native species compared to control plots, and a 43% increase in the richness of nonnative taxa. Forb species richness increased significantly when Cape-ivy cover was reduced, whereas shrub richness decreased slightly and no effects were detected for ferns and grasses. We also found that Cape-ivy reduction led to a 32% increase in plant species diversity, an 86% increase in the abundance of native seedlings, and an 85% increase for nonnative seedlings. In all cases, the effects of Cape-ivy reduction were consistent across habitat types. Collectively, our results indicate that this invader has significantly changed the composition of three different habitat types, and its control should be a major priority. However, our data also indicate that Cape ivy had negative effects on the richness of both native and nonnative plant species. Such findings suggest that a consequence of removing Cape ivy from invaded areas may be to facilitate the proliferation of other nonnative species.

Biological invasion by nonnative species is a global phenomenon that has the capacity to dramatically alter native communities. However, surprisingly few studies have quantified the effects of exotic plant species on the communities they invade, or have considered how these effects vary among habitat types or seasons. Here, we used both comparative and experimental field studies to investigate the influence of Cape ivy (Delairea odorata; Asteraceae), an invasive evergreen vine native to South Africa, on three habitat types in coastal regions of northern California (coastal scrub, willow riparian, and alder riparian). In the comparative study, plots invaded by Cape ivy contained 36% fewer native plant species and 37% fewer nonnative taxa, and this pattern persisted across habitat types and seasons. The richness of grass and forb species was lower in invaded plots, whereas fern and shrub richness did not vary among zones. Native species richness was significantly lower with increasing cover of Cape ivy, but this was not the case for nonnative species. In addition, invasion by Cape ivy was associated with a 31% decrease in species diversity as well as an 88% decrease in the abundance of native seedlings and a 92% decrease in nonnative seedlings compared to uninvaded areas. After 2 yr, a Cape-ivy reduction experiment yielded similar results, with a 10% increase in the richness of native species compared to control plots, and a 43% increase in the richness of nonnative taxa. Forb species richness increased significantly when Cape-ivy cover was reduced, whereas shrub richness decreased slightly and no effects were detected for ferns and grasses. We also found that Cape-ivy reduction led to a 32% increase in plant species diversity, an 86% increase in the abundance of native seedlings, and an 85% increase for nonnative seedlings. In all cases, the effects of Cape-ivy reduction were consistent across habitat types. Collectively, our results indicate that this invader has significantly changed the composition of three different habitat types, and its control should be a major priority. However, our data also indicate that Cape ivy had negative effects on the richness of both native and nonnative plant species. Such findings suggest that a consequence of removing Cape ivy from invaded areas may be to facilitate the proliferation of other nonnative species.

Fire is a key driver of forest ecosystem structure and function, influencing the distributions of both plants and animals. Australia’s Black Summer wildfires of 2019–2020 burnt through over 9 M ha of land including about 7.6 M ha of temperate Eucalyptus forest over several months. This is an unprecedented scale of fire when considering the last few centuries of fire history in south-eastern Australia. This study assessed a 1983 regenerated Eucalyptus forest for plant and bird diversity in 2016, 4 years prior to the Black Summer wildfires, and again in November 2020, eleven months after the wildfires. With a range of fire severities resulting from previous fuel reduction treatments, the before and after wildfire biodiversity assessments allowed the investigation of fire severity impacts on plant and bird diversity. Species richness, Shannon’s diversity, and community composition were studied using mixed effects models and community composition was analysed using multivariate generalised linear models. The results showed that wildfire severity had no impact to plant species richness, diversity or composition. Although wildfire severity had no significant effect on plant species diversity, 33% of previously recorded plant species were not present almost a year after the wildfire, while 22% of previously unrecorded species appeared. Overall, 46 bird species were observed across all sites, with 38 species observed prior to and 28 species observed after wildfire. The bird species diversity was reduced, with a shift to a greater abundance of insectivorous birds after the wildfire. This study enhances our understanding of the impact of fire severity on plant and bird species diversity and provides valuable information for managers to refine fuel reduction practices to mitigate fire impact on biodiversity.

Mechanisms responsible for species diversity in communities constitute central topic in ecology. Most of the theories explaining the coexistence of plant species in community share two basic assumptions. First, they recognize the importance of ecological phenomena, i.e. of contemporary forces which at least in theory can be experimentally studied. Accordingly, historic and phylogenetic explanations of species diversity have only superficially been taken into account (Ricklefs 1987, Zobel 1992, Eriksson 1993). Second, among the biotic interactions influencing species diversity, plantplant interactions (mainly competition) have received most attention (see, for example, reviews of Goldberg and Barton 1992, Gurevich et al. 1992). The importance of herbivory for plant coexistence and species diversity has also been recognized for long time (Whittaker 1972, Huntly 1991), although the true importance of less visible below-ground herbivory has only recently been fully recognized (Brown and Gange 1989a, b). Among biotic interactions the role of micro-organisms in particular has recently gained recognition: a plant out in the field is not simply plant, but rather merger of fungal cells with plant tissues (Wilson 1993: 379). Besides pathogenic fungi and leaf endophytes, mycorrhizal fungi may also have an important influence on plants. Several reviews concerning mycorrhiza-symbiotic relationships between plant roots and fungi also include chapters considering plant competition, community structure, and succession (Finlay and S6derstr6m 1989, Allen 1991, Brundrett 1991, Chanway et al. 1991, Ingham and Molina 1991, Goodwin 1992, Sanders et al. 1995, Schdnbeck and Raschen 1995). This topic has even been included in the new edition of textbook (Silvertown and Lovett Doust 1993: 131). Thus, the possible importance of mycorrhiza in plant coexistence is recognized in principle at least. Some experimental studies have also claimed that the presence of arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) increases plant species diversity in microcosm experiments (Grime et al. 1987) or in early successional communities (Gange et al. 1990, 1993). Different results have been obtained from lichen-rich community, where benomyl treatment resulted in an increase in vascular plant species richness (Newsham et al. 1995a). Consequently, we can ask how important is the presence of mycorrhiza for plant coexistence and does it contribute to the variation of plant species diversity in time and space? Approximately two thirds or more of vascular plant species form symbiotic relationships with AM fungi (Trappe 1987, Gianinazzi 1991). Since the number of AM forming fungal species (ca 150) is relatively low and the number of AM forming plant species high (ca 225 000) (Sanders et al. 1995), one may conclude that the host specificity of AM fungi is low. In the case of ectomycorrhiza (EC), the situation is almost the opposite (Read 1991). Since we are mostly interested in herbaceous communities, where very high species richness but also considerable variation in richness are encountered (e.g. Grime 1979), we have focused on the role of AM.

Close spatial relationships between plant species are often important for defense against herbivory. The associational plant defense may have important implications for plant community structure, species diversity, and species coexistence. An increasing number of studies have focused on associational plant defense against herbivory at the scale of the individual plant and its nearest neighbors. However, the average neighborhood effects between plant species at the scale of whole plant communities have received almost no attention. The aims of this study were to determine patterns of spatial relationship between different plant species that can provide effective defense against herbivory. We conducted a manipulative experiment using sheep and three native plant species with different palatability. Consumption of palatable plants by herbivores was largest when the three plant species were isolated in three patches and independent of each other. A homogenous and spatially equal neighbor relationship between the three species did not reduce the risk of herbivory of palatable species compared to isolation of these species, but it reduced the total intake of all plant species. The palatable species was subject to less herbivory in a complex spatial neighborhood of several plant species. High complexity of spatial neighborhood resulted in herbivores passively reducing selectivity, thereby reducing the probability of damage to palatable species in the community, or making inaccurate judgments in foraging selectivity between and within patches, thereby reducing the vulnerability of palatable plants and even the whole plant community. We conclude that compelling herbivores to passively reduce the magnitude of foraging selectivity by establishing spatially complex neighborhoods between plant species is a compromise and optimal spatial strategy by plants to defend themselves again herbivory. This may contribute not only to maintenance of plant species diversity but also to a stable coexistence between herbivores and plants in grassland ecosystems.