The properties of a variable area sampling technique, by which the observer varies the searchradius to obtain approximately a prescribed number of woody plants in each tier measured, were determined by (i) comparison of fixed area and variable area sampling of a computer-mapped shrub population; (ii) comparison of results from fixed area and variable area sampling of woody plants exceeding abou...

Combating the legacy of deforestation on tropical biodiversity requires the conversion to forest of large areas of established pasture, where barriers to native plant regeneration include competition with pasture grasses and poor propagule supply (seed availability). In addition, initial woody plants that colonise pasture are often invasive, non-native species whose ecological roles and managem...

Forests are biologically diverse systems, representing some of the richest biological areas on Earth. They offer a variety of habitats for plants, animals and micro-organisms. However, forest biodiversity is increasingly threatened as a result of deforestation, fragmentation, climate change and other stressors. Biodiversity is the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or on t...

The year-round food habits of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus seminolus Rafinesque) were studied in the wet prairie-tree island habitat of the southwestern Everglades system during 1988–91. Microhistological analysis of rumen contents revealed that a single plant, swamp lily (Crinum americanum L.), constituted 40.4% of the annual diet by dry weight and occurred in the rumens of 87.7% ...

What determines large-scale patterns of species richness remains one of the most controversial issues in ecology. Using the distribution maps of 11 405 woody species in China, we compared the effects of habitat heterogeneity, human activities and different aspects of climate, particularly environmental energy, water-energy dynamics and winter frost, and explored how biogeographic affinities (tr...

Four levels of vegetative competition wete used to quantify the growth of loblolly and shot-deaf pines (Pinus taeda L. and /? echinatu Mill.) in naturally regenerated, even-aged stands on the Upper Coastal Plain of southeastern Arkansas, USA. Treatments included: (I) no competition control, (2) woody competition control, (3) herbaceous competition control. and (4) total control of nonpine veget...

Recently, RNA-guided genome editing using the type II clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-associated protein (Cas) system has been applied to edit the plant genome in several herbaceous plant species. However, it remains unknown whether this system can be used for genome editing in woody plants. In this study, we describe the genome editing and targeted gene mutat...

Although noncrop woody plants in crop field landscapes serve multiple functions, the modernization of agriculture has threatened their preservation. In this study, isolated woody plants used as farmland boundary markers were investigated in Ibaraki Prefecture in the eastern Kanto region. A total of 2001 individuals of 50 species were found around 177 equidistantly spaced points. The most freque...

Current understanding of functional differences among plant species is based on several key axes of specialization in response to environmental gradients, namely of productivity and disturbance. These axes include leaf economy spectrum, plant size and dispersal ability (Westoby, 1998;Westoby et al., 2002;Wright et al., 2004). These axes are typically proxied by easily measurable traits, namely ...