Leaf mass per area (LMA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and water content/ equivalent thickness (EWT) are commonly used functional plant traits in ecology. Whereas spectroscopy has recently proven to be a powerful tool collect such trait information across large scales, it remains unclear whether these reflectance-based predictions accurate enough reliably model variation at the intraspecific ...

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Guillain, Barre and Strohl (1916) described a syndrome which they believed to be new. Their findings were based on the study of two soldiers complaining of abnormal sensations in the feet, followed by weakness of the legs and difficulty in walking. Later the legs and then the arms became paralysed. In neither patient was there preceding illness or fever and both made a complete recovery. Lumbar...

Formerly extensive on the Volcanic Plateau, frost flat heathland dominated by monoao (Dracophyllum subulatum ) is now reduced to fragments. It is threatened by mouse-ear hawkweed (Hieracium pilosella) at the only major site where it is likely to survive indefinitely (Rangitaiki Conservation Area). In the past, fire has perpetuated monoao on frost flats, but in future it may accelerate the sprea...

This study investigated the effects of different management inputs (fertiliser and seed) and grazing patterns on plant biodiversity in a short tussock grassland with a strong Hieracium pilosella component. Cover abundance of vascular and non-vascular plants and environmental variables were measured in 32 10×10-m plots located in five blocks with different management treatments. Ordination of th...

In a Festuca novae-zelandiae short tussock grassland in South Island, New Zealand, we tested the propositions (1) that present regional trends in vascular plant species-richness in tussock grasslands are independent of current pastoral management, and (2) that grazing retards the invasion and dominance of nonnative species, particularly where soil resources are not limiting. Sheep and rabbit-gr...

1. The distribution and abundance of invasive species can be driven by both environmental variables and land management decisions. However, understanding these relationships can be complicated by interactions between management actions and environmental variability, and differences in scale among these variables. The resulting ‘context-dependence’ of management actions may be well-appreciated b...