Browse
Recent Submissions
- ItemData descriptor: Pacific introduced flora (PaciFLora)(2021) Wohlwend, M.R.; Craven, D.; Weigelt, P.; Seebens, H.; Winter, M.; Kreft, H.; Dawson, W.; Essl, F.; van Kleunen, M.; Pergl, J.; Pyšek, P.; Space, J.; Thomas, P.; Knight, T.The Pacific region has the highest density of naturalized plant species worldwide, which makes it an important area for research on the ecology, evolution and biogeography of biological invasions. While different data sources on naturalized plant species exist for the Pacific, there is no taxonomically and spatially harmonized database available for different subsets of species and islands. A comprehensive, accessible database containing the distribution of naturalized vascular plant species in the Pacific will enable new basic and applied research for researchers and will be an important information source for practitioners working in the region.Here, we present PacIFlora, an updated and taxonomically standardized list of naturalized species, their unified nativeness, cultivation and invasiveness status, and their distribution across the Pacific Ocean, including harmonized location denommination. This list is based on the two largest databases on naturalized plants for the region, specifically the Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER) and the Global Naturalized Alien Flora (GloNAF) databases. We provide an outlook for how this database can contribute to numerous research questions and conservation efforts.
- ItemRole of diversification rates and evolutionary history as a driver of plant naturalization success(2021) Lenzner, B.; Magallon, S.; Dawson, W.; Kreft, H.; Konig, C.; Pergl, J.; Pysek, P.; Weigelt, P.; van Kleunen, M.; Winter, M.; Dullinger, S.; Essl, F.Human introductions of species beyond their natural ranges and their subsequent establishment are defining features of global environmental change. However, naturalized plants are not uniformly distributed across phylogenetic lineages, with some families contributing disproportionately more to the global alien species pool than others. Additionally, lineages differ in diversification rates, and high diversification rates have been associated with characteristics that increase species naturalization success. Here, we investigate the role of diversification rates in explaining the naturalization success of angiosperm plant families. We use five global data sets that include native and alien plant species distribution, horticultural use of plants, and a time-calibrated angiosperm phylogeny. Using phylogenetic generalized linear mixed models, we analysed the effect of diversification rate, different geographical range measures, and horticultural use on the naturalization success of plant families. We show that a family's naturalization success is positively associated with its evolutionary history, native range size, and economic use. Investigating interactive effects of these predictors shows that native range size and geographic distribution additionally affect naturalization success. High diversification rates and large ranges increase naturalization success, especially of temperate families. We suggest this may result from lower ecological specialization in temperate families with large ranges, compared with tropical families with smaller ranges.
- ItemPropagating uncertainty from catchment experiments to estimates of streamflow reduction by invasive alien plants in southwestern South Africa(2021) Moncrieff, G.R.; Slingsby, J.A.; Le Maitre, D.C.Abstract Long-term catchment experiments from South Africa have demonstrated that afforestation of grasslands and shrublands significantly reduces surface-water runoff. These results have guided the country’s forestry policy and the implementation of a national Invasive Alien Plant (IAP) control programme for the past few decades. Unfortunately, woody IAP densities continue to increase, compounding existing threats to water security from population growth and climatic change. Decision makers need defensible estimates of the impacts of afforestation or invasions on runoff to weigh up alternative land use options, or guide investment of limited resources into ecosystem restoration through IAP clearing versus engineering-based water-augmentation schemes. Existing attempts to extrapolate the impacts observed in catchment afforestation experiments to broad-scale IAP impacts give no indication of uncertainty. Globally, the uncertainty inherent in the results from paired-catchment experiments is seldom propagated into subsequent analyses making use of these data. We present a fully reproducible Bayesian model that propagates uncertainty from input data to final estimates of changes in streamflow when extrapolating from catchment experiments to broader landscapes. We apply our model to South Africa’s catchment experiment data, estimating streamflow losses to plantations and analogous plant invasions in the catchments of southwestern South Africa, including uncertainty. We estimate that regional streamflow is reduced by 304 million m3 or 4.14% annually as a result of IAPs, with an upper estimate of 408 million m3 (5.54%) and a lower estimate of 267 million m3 (3.63%). Our model quantifies uncertainty associated with all parameters and their contribution to overall uncertainty, helping guide future research needs. Acknowledging and quantifying inherent uncertainty enables more defensible decisions regarding water resource management. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
- ItemComplex responses of global insect pests to climate warming(2020) Lehmann, P.; Ammunet, T.; Barton, M.; Battisti, A.; Eigenbrode, S.D.; Jepsen, J.U.; Kalinkat, G.; Neuvonen, S.; Niemela, P.; Terblanche, J.S.; Okland, B.; Bjorkman, C.Although it is well known that insects are sensitive to temperature, how they will be affected by ongoing global warming remains uncertain because these responses are multifaceted and ecologically complex. We reviewed the effects of climate warming on 31 globally important phytophagous (plant-eating) insect pests to determine whether general trends in their responses to warming were detectable. We included four response categories (range expansion, life history, population dynamics, and trophic interactions) in this assessment. For the majority of these species, we identified at least one response to warming that affects the severity of the threat they pose as pests. Among these insect species, 41% showed responses expected to lead to increased pest damage, whereas only 4% exhibited responses consistent with reduced effects; notably, most of these species (55%) demonstrated mixed responses. This means that the severity of a given insect pest may both increase and decrease with ongoing climate warming. Overall, our analysis indicated that anticipating the effects of climate warming on phytophagous insect pests is far from straightforward. Rather, efforts to mitigate the undesirable effects of warming on insect pests must include a better understanding of how individual species will respond, and the complex ecological mechanisms underlying their responses.
- ItemMake open access publishing fair and transparent!(2020) Essl, F.; Courchamp, F.; Dullinger, S.; Jeschke, J.M.; Schindler, S.The scientific publication landscape has dramatically changed in environmental sciences (and beyond) since the onset of this millennium by two closely interconnected trends: the widespread emergence of online-only journals that drastically reduced the costs for scientific publishers (Van Noorden 2013) and the increasing success of open access (OA) publishing journals (Tennant et al. 2016)—that is, journals that have reversed the revenue generation from a reader-pays to an author-pays approach. In principle, there are four avenues of OA publishing (table 1): An increasing number of journals have been established that solely publish OA (gold OA); the vast majority of these journals are online only.
- «
- 1 (current)
- 2
- 3
- »