Diversity and Composition of the Leaf Mycobiome of Beech (Fagus sylvatica) Are Affected by Local Habitat Conditions and Leaf Biochemistry

Fragmentation of natural vegetation is one of the most pervasive changes in terrestrial ecosystems across the Earth. Developing a general understanding of how fragmentation affects plant and animal populations is essential to meet the pressing need for guidelines for the management of fragmented systems. Nevertheless, this general understanding has to take account of differences in ecosystem types and different biogeographic, evolutionary and ecological backgrounds against which fragmentation impacts are played out in different parts of the world. Here, we examine fragmentation impacts on plant populations by considering the processes underlying fragmentation. We suggest that it is critical to focus on the key processes that are important in particular situations, rather than assuming that the same factors are likely to be important everywhere. In other words, there are inevitable limits to generalisation because of the idiosyncratic nature of the geography, history and biota of different regions. Studies on the effects of fragmentation on plant populations have focused on a limited subset of plant types and have concentrated heavily on reproductive output rather than actual regeneration success. These studies have indicated a clear impact of fragmentation on fecundity, but there is no clear signal in terms of the actual importance of this in relation to population viability. Other factors including local habitat conditions, disturbance and competition from weeds may be just as important as the classical biogeographical impacts of fragmentation. Generalisations based on a clear assessment of key life-history processes may be valuable tools in developing management responses to ecosystem fragmentation, but this requires considerably more emphasis on factors affecting successful recruitment as well as factors affecting fecundity.

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Local habitat conditions explain the variation in the strength of self‐thinning in a stream salmonid

Ecology and Evolution ◽

10.1002/ece3.1591 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 5 (16) ◽

pp. 3231-3242 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Knut Marius Myrvold ◽

Brian P. Kennedy

Keyword(s):

Habitat Conditions ◽

Local Habitat ◽

Stream Salmonid

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Effect of mowing on the structure of sedge communities in the Chwiszczej river valley (Białowieża forest)

Quaestiones Geographicae ◽

10.2478/v10117-012-0009-5 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 31 (3) ◽

pp. 33-39 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Aleksander Kołos

Keyword(s):

River Valley ◽

Habitat Conditions ◽

Edge Zone ◽

Floristic Richness ◽

Białowieża Forest ◽

Habitat Factors ◽

Meadow Species ◽

Different Parts ◽

Local Habitat

Abstract. The paper presents the results of the 4-year studies on the influence of mowing on sedge communities structure in the near-edge zone and in the riverbed-adjacent zone of the Chwiszczej River valley (Białowieża Forest). It was assumed that various habitat conditions in different parts of the valley could modify effects of mowing. The floristic richness of sedge dominated patches increases under the influence of mowing in both zones of the valley, mainly as a result of growing number of meadow species. These changes are determined by habitat factors only in the central part of the valley, where ground water’s dynamics is the biggest. Effects of mowing are almost completely canceled by long-lasting flooding. Such flooding may affect on sedge communities’ structure stronger than mowing. Irrespective of local habitat conditions, mowing is favorable to spread of Calamagrostis stricta, which is species of high competitiveness. Its domination could lead to decrease of floristic richness in rush communities.

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Community Composition of Bacteria Isolated from Swiss Banknotes Varies Depending on Collection Environment

10.1101/2021.12.01.470750 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Anna M. Bischofberger ◽

Alex R. Hall

Keyword(s):

Microbial Communities ◽

Community Composition ◽

Taxonomic Diversity ◽

Habitat Conditions ◽

Geographic Structure ◽

Structure Similarity ◽

Associated Surfaces ◽

Microbial Community Assembly ◽

Butcher Shops ◽

Local Habitat

AbstractHumans interact constantly with surfaces and associated microbial communities in the environment. The factors shaping the composition of these communities are poorly understood: some proposed explanations emphasize the influence of local habitat conditions (niche-based explanations), while others point to geographic structure and the distance among sampled locations (dispersal-based explanations). However, the relative roles of these different drivers for microbial community assembly on human-associated surfaces are not clear. Here, we used a combination of sampling, sequencing (16S rRNA) and culturing to show that the composition of banknote-associated bacterial communities varies depending on the local collection environment. Using banknotes collected from various locations and types of shops across Switzerland, we found taxonomic diversity dominated by families such as Pseudomonadaceae, Staphylococcaceae and Streptococcaceae, but with banknote samples from particular types of shops (especially butcher shops) having distinct community structure. By contrast, we found no evidence of geographic structure: similarity of community composition did not decrease with increasing distance among sampled locations. These results show that microbial communities associated with banknotes, one of the most commonly encountered and exchanged human-associated surfaces, can reflect the local environmental conditions (in this case, the type of shop), and the signal for this type of variation was stronger than that for geographic structure among the locations sampled here.

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