Spatial heterogeneity in woody cover affects biodiversity and ecosystem function, and may be particularly influential in savanna ecosystems. Browsing and interactions with herbaceous plants can create and maintain heterogeneity in woody cover, but the relative importance of these drivers remains unclear, especially when considered across multiple edaphic contexts. In African savannas, abandoned...

Even though many forest plants spend all or a significant portion of their lives in the forest understory, few studies have compared understory composition, structure, and resource availability among forests. We used standardized transect-based methods to compare small sapling densities (10•50 cm tall), understory vegetation cover, canopy openness, and nutrient availability in non-gap portions ...

Even though many forest plants spend all or a significant portion of their lives in the forest understory, few studies have compared understory composition, structure, and resource availability among forests. We used standardized transect-based methods to compare small sapling densities (10–50 cm tall), understory vegetation cover, canopy openness, and nutrient availability in non-gap portions ...

growth and productivity of plants are mainly affected by various environmentalfactors in different ecosystems and natural habitat in the world. this research aims to studythe existing relationships between the phytosociology characteristics of thymuskotschyanus and environmental factors in order to find the most important factorsgoverning development of the species in middle taleghan rangelands...

We examined the response of a salt marsh food web to increases in nutrients at 19 coastal sites in Georgia. Fertilization increased the nitrogen content of the two dominant plants, Spartina alterniflora and Juncus roemerianus, indicating that added nutrients were available to and taken up by both species. Fertilization increased Spartina cover, height, and biomass and Juncus height, but led to ...

We examined recruitment, survival, life cycle and fecundity of two metallicolous (M, on metalliferous calamine soils) and two non-metallicolous (NM, on normal soils) populations of Thlaspi caerulescens in Belgium and Luxemburg. In each population, permanent plots were monitored over two reproductive seasons. In M populations, plots were located in two contrasting environments (grass versus grov...

Understanding the factors related to invasive exotic species distributions at broad spatial scales has important theoretical and management implications, because biological invasions are detrimental to many ecosystem functions and processes. Housing development facilitates invasions by disturbing land cover, introducing nonnative landscaping plants, and facilitating dispersal of propagules alon...