scholarly journals Ongoing decline in insect-pollinated plants across Danish grasslands

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bodil K. Ehlers ◽  
Thomas Bataillon ◽  
Christian F. Damgaard
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Grazing Intensity ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
Flowering Plant ◽  
Pollinator Decline ◽  
Data Points ◽  
Flowering Plant Species ◽  
Few Data

Loss of habitat, eutrophication and reduced grazing intensity are known drivers of landscape-level changes in plant species composition; however, consequences of the massive decline in insect abundance are still to be understood. Pollinator decline can reduce seed set in plants relying on insects for successful reproduction. This may result in a reduced recruitment of insect-pollinated plant species with associated changes in species composition. So far, large-scale studies addressing this issue have relied on few data points—typically consisting of ‘historic’ records of numbers of insect-pollinated plants compared to present-day records. Such comparisons can provide information as to whether the diversity of insect-pollinated plants has changed, but not whether the process is still ongoing. Here, we use nationwide monitoring data of plant species richness in Danish grasslands from the period 2004–2014, covering 244 grassland sites and encompassing more than 790 flowering plant species. We show an ongoing decrease in insect-pollinated, but not wind-pollinated, plant species across different habitat types. In both dry calcareous and Nardus grasslands, loss of insect-pollinated plants was greatest at sites with low grazing intensity. However, insect-pollinated plants also declined from sites with higher grazing intensity, and plants requiring more specialized insect pollination tended to decline most. In addition to changes in plant diversity driven by land-use intensification, loss of pollinators may also play a role in reducing the richness of insect-pollinated plants. Ongoing reduction in floral richness could further increase the threat to insects relying on these plants as a food source.

scholarly journals Flowers increase ecosystem biodiversity in Midwestern prairies

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas Michael Goodman ◽  
Diane M Debinski ◽  
Nicholas J Lyon
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Flowering Plant ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Vegetation Height ◽  
South Central ◽  
Flowering Plant Species

Loss of biodiversity due to anthropogenic factors, such as climate change and habitat conversion or loss, is among the largest problems affecting many native ecosystems today. Declines in plant diversity can often have detrimental effects on other forms of biodiversity through cascading trophic systems and negatively impact large-scale ecosystem processes. This is particularly relevant in grassland ecosystems, where in undisturbed systems grasses, forbs, and legumes coexist in diverse communities. Previous studies have explored the hypothesis that loss of plant species negatively impacts biodiversity of other trophic groups and can diminish whole ecosystem functions. In this study we tested how flowering plant species richness influenced arthropod order richness on eight sites in the Grand River Grasslands of south central Iowa, and whether that relationship depended on the vegetation height at which arthropods were sampled. We hypothesized that (1) flowering plant species richness would positively affect arthropod order richness, and that (2) a greater number of arthropod orders would be found 2 centimeters above the ground (hereafter “low”) than 1 meter above the ground (hereafter “high”) at given equal flowering plant species richness. With greater richness of flowering plant species, it is likely that this variety of vegetation supplies a greater amount of habitat available for arthropod communities. Counter to our expectations, flowering plant species richness was not significantly correlated with total arthropod order richness (p = 0.0785). However, richness of “low” arthropod order did increase with an increase in nectar richness (p = 0.0463). Further research including all plant species (rather than merely nectar producing species) and identifying arthropods to a finer taxonomic level may provide more conclusive results supporting our hypotheses. Results of such studies would contribute to the success of biodiversity conservation efforts that focus on bottom-up management practices that can enhance ecosystem functioning at higher trophic levels.

The Effects of Integrated Vegetation Management on Richness of Native Compatible Flowering Plants and abundance of Noncompatible Tree Species on a Right-of-Way in Central Pennsylvania, USA

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 395-401
Author(s):  
Carolyn Mahan ◽  
Bradley Ross ◽  
Richard Yahner
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
Vegetation Management ◽  
Flowering Plants ◽  
Flowering Plant ◽  
Right Of Way ◽  
Central Pennsylvania ◽  
Herbicide Mixtures ◽  
Flowering Plant Species

We examined the effects of integrated vegetation management (IVM) and nonselective mechanical removal techniques (hand cutting and mowing) on the richness and abundance of native compatible flowering plants and noncompatible trees on an electric transmission line right-of-way in central Pennsylvania, USA. Our study focused on native flowering plants to help determine how different vegetation management techniques may affect native wildlife communities. We found no correlation between amount of herbicide applied and native flowering plant species richness or tree abundance. We found that the richness of native flowering plants did not differ between plots treated with an IVM herbicide approach and those that were mechanically treated (t = 1.06, df = 1, p = 0.31). However, mechanically treated plots had significantly higher abundance of trees than IVM plots (t = 3.10, df = 1, p = 0.009). We found that plots that were treated with herbicide mixtures that contained glyphosate in 2012 had lower native flowering plant species richness in 2016 than those treated with herbicide mixtures that did not contain glyphosate (t = −2.44, df = 1, p = 0.04). Our study indicates that long-term IVM approaches support native flowering plant species richness while limiting tree abundance under electric transmission line right-of-way. However, further study is needed to determine if the herbicide type and method (selective versus broadcast) of application affects species richness of native flowering plant communities.

scholarly journals Epimutations are associated with CHROMOMETHYLASE 3-induced de novo DNA methylation

eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jered M Wendte ◽  
Yinwen Zhang ◽  
Lexiang Ji ◽  
Xiuling Shi ◽  
Rashmi R Hazarika ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Methylation ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Dna Methyltransferase ◽  
Constitutive Heterochromatin ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Flowering Plant ◽  
Gene Body ◽  
Gene Body Methylation ◽  
Mechanistic Basis ◽  
Flowering Plant Species

In many plant species, a subset of transcribed genes are characterized by strictly CG-context DNA methylation, referred to as gene body methylation (gbM). The mechanisms that establish gbM are unclear, yet flowering plant species naturally without gbM lack the DNA methyltransferase, CMT3, which maintains CHG (H = A, C, or T) and not CG methylation at constitutive heterochromatin. Here, we identify the mechanistic basis for gbM establishment by expressing CMT3 in a species naturally lacking CMT3. CMT3 expression reconstituted gbM through a progression of de novo CHG methylation on expressed genes, followed by the accumulation of CG methylation that could be inherited even following loss of the CMT3 transgene. Thus, gbM likely originates from the simultaneous targeting of loci by pathways that promote euchromatin and heterochromatin, which primes genes for the formation of stably inherited epimutations in the form of CG DNA methylation.

scholarly journals Toevoegings tot die blomplantlys van die Bergkwagga Nasionale Park

Koedoe ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
B.L. Penzhorn
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
National Park ◽  
Flowering Plants ◽  
Flowering Plant ◽  
Check List ◽  
Flowering Plant Species

Additions to the check list of flowering plants of the Mountain Zebra National Park. Thirteen additional flowering plant species are reported from the Mountain Zebra National Park, increasing the total reported to 371 species.

scholarly journals Pollinator‐mediated interactions between cultivated papaya and co‐flowering plant species

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 587-597
Author(s):  
Raúl Badillo‐Montaño ◽  
Armando Aguirre ◽  
Miguel A. Munguía‐Rosas
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Flowering Plant ◽  
Flowering Plant Species

scholarly journals Floral preferences of a neotropical stingless bee, Melipona quadrifasciata Lepeletier (Apidae: Meliponina) in an urban forest fragment

2006 ◽  
Vol 66 (2a) ◽  
pp. 463-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Antonini ◽  
R. G. Costa ◽  
R. P. Martins
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Flowering Plant ◽  
Forest Fragment ◽  
High Similarity ◽  
Paulo State ◽  
Melipona Quadrifasciata ◽  
Belo Horizonte ◽  
Flowering Plant Species ◽  
Bee Abundance

Species of plants used by Melipona quadrifasciata Lepeletier for pollen and nectar gathering in an urban forest fragment were recorded in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Melipona quadrifasciata visited 22 out of 103 flowering plant species. The plant species belonged mainly to Myrtaceae, Asteraceae, and Convolvulaceae (64% of the visits). Melipona quadrifasciata tended to collect pollen or nectar each time, except for Myrtaceae species, from which both pollen and nectar were collected. Bee abundance at flowers did not significantly correlate to food availability (expressed by flowering plant richness). We found a relatively high similarity (50%) between plant species used by M. quadrifasciata, which was also found in studies carried out in São Paulo State. However, low similarity (17%) was found between the results of this study and those of another done in Bahia State, Brazil.

scholarly journals Kalahari vegetation: veld condition trends and ecological status of species

Koedoe ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Van Rooyen ◽  
G.J. Bredenkamp ◽  
G.K. Theron
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
National Park ◽  
Ecological Status ◽  
Grazing Intensity ◽  
Sampling Period ◽  
River Terrace ◽  
River Bed

Grazing intensity gradients were determined in the duneveld, river terrace and river bed habitats of the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park. Under increased grazing, a species composition characterised mostly by annual forbs and grasses results. In all three habitats the relatively heavily grazed areas were closest to the watering points, although this was less evident in the river terrace and river bed habitats. Monitoring degradation at a watering point over the long term, produced results similar to those observed from a single sampling period. The identification of grazing gradients within homogeneous habitats, is a prerequisite for the classification of plant species into different categories. The allocation of a species to a category is based on the changes in frequency along this grazing gradient and this approach is more acceptable than the classification of species commonly used. The use of terminology such as Decreasers and Increasers is discussed.

Effective mutualism between sequentially flowering plant species

Nature ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 281 (5733) ◽  
pp. 670-672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nickolas M. Waser ◽  
Leslie A. Real
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Flowering Plant ◽  
Flowering Plant Species
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