Plant communities preferences of terrestrial crustaceans (Isopoda: Oniscidea) in a protected coastal area of southeastern Sicily (Italy)

AbstractWe studied the plant communities preferences of oniscidean isopods in a protected coastal area in southeastern Sicily that is characterized by ponds, dunes and rocky coast. In total, five sites were sampled between March 2003 and February 2004 using pitfall traps. A total of 7,326 specimens were found, belonging to 23 species. The vegetation analysis, using the phytosociological method, recognized a total of 11 types of plant communities, with specific ecological features. Measuring the species richness, diversity and annual activity density (aAD) values of the terrestrial isopod communities from each sampling site revealed differences among the various plant communities. PCA analysis confirmed the correlation between isopods species and specific plant communities. Moreover our results show that the high species richness is associated with a high vegetation cover and number of plants.

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Successive pot cultures reveal high species richness of arbuscular endomycorrhizal fungi in arid ecosystems

Canadian Journal of Botany ◽

10.1139/b96-225 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 74 (12) ◽

pp. 1883-1889 ◽

Cited By ~ 131

Author(s):

Jean C. Stutz ◽

Joseph B. Morton

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Plant Communities ◽

Arbuscular Mycorrhizae ◽

Sampling Site ◽

Ecological Factors ◽

Arid Ecosystems ◽

Taxonomic Structure ◽

Biotic Community ◽

Vesicular Arbuscular ◽

High Species Richness

Three cycles of successive trap cultures were utilized to determine the taxonomic structure of arbuscular fungi associated with mesquite (Prosopis spp.) from three locations in the Sonoran desertscrub biotic community and one location in the Chihuahuan desertscrub biotic community. Unlike the low species richness found in previous studies of some arid habitats, seven to nine species were recovered from each sampling site. This number is comparable to that found in many other plant communities. Seventy-five percent of the species found after three culture cycles were not detected in the first trap cultures, suggesting that a high proportion of arbuscular fungi in arid habitats may be nonsporulating in the field. Low colonization levels may account for the absence of sporulation, but ecological factors such as moisture limitations also may be involved. Although a total of 10 different species was detected, generic richness was limited, with 9 of these species in Glomus and 1 in Entrophospora. As long as measurement of species richness is based on occurrence of sporulation, successive trap cultures provide a means of detecting nonsporulating mycorrhizal colonizers in arid and other habitats. Keywords: vesicular – arbuscular mycorrhizae, ecology, desert, Glomales.

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Exploring plant species richness along the Tiber River within the city of Rome

Phytotaxa ◽

10.11646/phytotaxa.482.2.3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 482 (2) ◽

pp. 143-158

Author(s):

SIMONA CESCHIN ◽

GIOVANNI SALERNO

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Urban Landscape ◽

Plant Species Richness ◽

Future Research ◽

Special Focus ◽

Ecological Features ◽

River Stretch ◽

Tiber River ◽

High Species Richness ◽

The City

The Tiber River stretch crossing the metropolitan area of Rome (Italy) is regarded as one of the main biological corridors of the city, as it diversifies the urban landscape while contributing to the plant diversity. This paper aims to document the current plant richness occurring along the Tiber within the city by providing a comprehensive inventory of the spontaneous vascular flora and an overview of its composition, and structural, chorological and ecological features. This flora lists 493 species and it is characterized by: i) high species richness (more than 30% of Rome’s flora), ii) presence of species with naturalistic value, as rare or included in Red List IUCN categories, iii) high number of ruderal and multizonal species (including several aliens) that have well adapted to human disturbance, and have partially replaced the typical riverine plants, iv) wide spread of eutrophic aquatic species, and rarefaction of those species that are more sensitive to eutrophication and water pollution. The dataset and the overview reported in this study can be useful for future research, with a special focus on a better naturalistic management of the urban river ecosystem, and the conservation of the floristic heritage within the city of Rome.

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Species Richness of Overstorey Strata in Australian Plant Communities ̵2 the Influence of Overstorey Growth Rates

Australian Journal of Botany ◽

10.1071/bt9890321 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 37 (4) ◽

pp. 321 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

RL Specht ◽

A Specht

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Plant Communities ◽

Sampling Site ◽

Growth Increment ◽

Australian Plant ◽

The Mean ◽

Tall Shrub ◽

The Tropics ◽

Species Being ◽

Annual Growth Increment

The species richness (number of tree and tall shrub species per hectare) of overstorey strata is examined in tropical, subtropical and temperate climax plant communities of Australia. Species richness (N) is shown to increase as the evaporative coefficient (k) of the sampling site increases from semiarid climates (k = 0.035-0.045) to perhumid climates (k = 0.075-0.100): Tropical: log N = 17.38k + 0.40. Subtropical: log N = 25.40k - 0.60. Temperate: log N = 8.90k + 0.09. Species richness of overstorey strata is highest in the tropics (N = 138 when k = 0. 100), followed by the subtropics (N = 73 when k = 0. 100), with only a small number of overstorey species being associ- ated with temperate communities (N = 8-10 when k = 0.100). Species richness of the overstorey is positively related to the annual shoot growth (vertical com- ponent) of the foliage canopy as it regenerates after disturbance. The tendency to dominance of only a few overstorey species in temperate communities may be enhanced by rapid stem growth (current annual growth increment) of the plant community due to lower cellular metabolism and respiration in stems and roots in cooler climates compared with those in the tropics. Trees and tall shrubs appear to be excluded as overstorey components when the respiratory coefficient (c) approaches 0.030 and the mean annual temperatures (of snow-free localities) are less than 13°C.

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Plant Communities in Harsh and Favorable Environments: Characteristics of Their Organization, Their Dominant Structure and Its Relationship to Species Richness

Biology Bulletin Reviews ◽

10.1134/s2079086420030020 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 215-229

Author(s):

V. V. Akatov ◽

T. V. Akatova ◽

S. G. Chefranov

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Plant Communities ◽

Dominant Structure

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Disentangling the Ecological Determinants of Species and Functional Trait Diversity in Herb-Layer Plant Communities in European Temperate Forests

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12050552 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (5) ◽

pp. 552

Author(s):

Janez Kermavnar ◽

Lado Kutnar ◽

Aleksander Marinšek

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Species Composition ◽

Plant Communities ◽

Functional Trait ◽

Forest Stand ◽

Relative Importance ◽

Herb Layer ◽

Bud Bank ◽

Tree Species Composition ◽

Stand Characteristics

Forest herb-layer vegetation responds sensitively to environmental conditions. This paper compares drivers of both taxonomic, i.e., species richness, cover and evenness, and functional herb-layer diversity, i.e., the diversity of clonal, bud bank and leaf-height-seed plant traits. We investigated the dependence of herb-layer diversity on ecological determinants related to soil properties, climatic parameters, forest stand characteristics, and topographic and abiotic and biotic factors associated with forest floor structure. The study was conducted in different forest types in Slovenia, using vegetation and environmental data from 50 monitoring plots (400 m2 each) belonging to the ICP Forests Level I and II network. The main objective was to first identify significant ecological predictors and then quantify their relative importance. Species richness was strongly determined by forest stand characteristics, such as richness of the shrub layer, tree layer shade-casting ability as a proxy for light availability and tree species composition. It showed a clear positive relation to soil pH. Variation in herb-layer cover was also best explained by forest stand characteristics and, to a lesser extent, by structural factors such as moss cover. Species evenness was associated with tree species composition, shrub layer cover and soil pH. Various ecological determinants were decisive for the diversity of below-ground traits, i.e., clonal and bud bank traits. For these two trait groups we observed a substantial climatic signal that was completely absent for taxonomy-based measures of diversity. In contrast, above-ground leaf-height-seed (LHS) traits were driven exclusively by soil reaction and nitrogen availability. In synthesis, local stand characteristics and soil properties acted as the main controlling factors for both species and trait diversity in herb-layer communities across Slovenia, confirming many previous studies. Our findings suggest that the taxonomic and functional facets of herb-layer vegetation are mainly influenced by a similar set of ecological determinants. However, their relative importance varies among individual taxonomy- and functional trait-based diversity measures. Integrating multi-faceted approaches can provide complementary information on patterns of herb-layer diversity in European forest plant communities.

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Biodiversity hanging by a thread: the importance of fungal litter-trapping systems in tropical rainforests

Biology Letters ◽

10.1098/rsbl.2011.1115 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 397-400 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Jake L. Snaddon ◽

Edgar C. Turner ◽

Tom M. Fayle ◽

Chey V. Khen ◽

Paul Eggleton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Leaf Litter ◽

Plant Diversity ◽

Habitat Complexity ◽

Tropical Rainforests ◽

Dramatic Reduction ◽

Experimental Removal ◽

Crucial Component ◽

High Species Richness ◽

Vital Resource

The exceptionally high species richness of arthropods in tropical rainforests hinges on the complexity of the forest itself: that is, on features such as the high plant diversity, the layered nature of the canopy and the abundance and the diversity of epiphytes and litter. We here report on one important, but almost completely neglected, piece of this complex jigsaw—the intricate network of rhizomorph-forming fungi that ramify through the vegetation of the lower canopy and intercept falling leaf litter. We show that this litter-trapping network is abundant and intercepts substantial amounts of litter (257.3 kg ha −1 ): this exceeds the amount of material recorded in any other rainforest litter-trapping system. Experimental removal of this fungal network resulted in a dramatic reduction in both the abundance (decreased by 70.2 ± 4.1%) and morphospecies richness (decreased by 57.4 ± 5.1%) of arthropods. Since the lower canopy levels can contain the highest densities of arthropods, the proportion of the rainforest fauna dependent on the fungal networks is likely to be substantial. Fungal litter-trapping systems are therefore a crucial component of habitat complexity, providing a vital resource that contributes significantly to rainforest biodiversity.

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Seasonality in a taxocoenosis of molluscs from soft bottoms in the Bay of Cádiz (southern Spain)

Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom ◽

10.1017/s0025315401004829 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 81 (6) ◽

pp. 903-912 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Jose L. Rueda ◽

Manuel Fernández-Casado ◽

Carmen Salas ◽

Serge Gofas

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Correspondence Analysis ◽

Dominant Species ◽

Southern Spain ◽

Soft Bottom ◽

Soft Bottoms ◽

High Species Richness ◽

Bay Of Cadiz ◽

Bay Of Cádiz ◽

Autumn And Winter

The macrofauna of molluscs associated with soft bottoms in the Bay of Cádiz (southern Spain) was studied monthly from February 1994 to January 1996. The number of species (63) is high for a soft bottom and is related to environmental characteristics (growth of macrophytes) and the biogeographical setting of the studied area. Corbula gibba (∼90%) was the dominant species in this taxocoenosis together with the gastropod Nassarius pygmaeus and the bivalves Pandora inaequivalvis, Parvicardium exiguum and Macoma melo. The most frequent species during the two years was also the bivalve Corbula gibba (100%) followed by the gastropods Nassarius pygmaeus, Tricolia tenuis, Rissoa membranacea and the bivalve Macoma melo. Total abundance of the taxocoenosis in both years reached higher values in spring. The dynamics of the ecological indices such as diversity or evenness, and the species richness showed a similar pattern in both years, with low values of diversity and evenness together with high species richness in spring and summer months and the reverse in autumn and winter. The qualitative correspondence analysis of monthly samples shows an ordination related to seasonality in both studied years, however the values of Jaccard's coefficient do not indicate significant boundaries among the monthly samples. The quantitative correspondence analysis shows an ordination and grouping of samples related to the biology of species, particularly with the recruitment of C. gibba, the dominant species. The existence of similar trends in the structure of the taxocoenoses over both years, and the seasonality highlighted by the qualitative correspondence analysis, seems to indicate a certain stability of the ecosystem.

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