Shrub encroachment of grasslands is a transformative ecological process by which native woody species increase in cover and frequency and replace the herbaceous community. Mechanisms of encroachment are typically assessed using temporal data or experimental manipulations, with few large spatial assessments of shrub physiology. In a mesic grassland in North America, we measured inter- and intra-...

The Southwestern United States desert serves as the host for several threatened and endangered species, one of which is the desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). The goal of this study was to develop a fine-scale, remote-sensing-based approach that indicates favorable burrow locations for G. agassizii in the Boulder City (Nevada) Conservation Easement area (35,500 ha). This was done by analyzin...

Tree and shrub abundance has increased in many grasslands causing changes in ecosystem carbon and nitrogen pools that are related to patterns of woody plant distribution. However, with regard to spatial patterns of shrub proliferation, little is known about how they are influenced by grazing or the extent to which they are influenced by intraspecific interactions. We addressed these questions b...

Shrubs are multi-stemmed short woody plants, more widespread than trees, important in many ecosystems, neglected in ecology compared to herbs and trees, but currently in focus due to their global expansion. We present a novel model based on scaling relationships and four hypotheses to explain the adaptive significance of shrubs, including a review of the literature with a test of one hypothesis...

In tundra ecosystems, bryophytes influence soil processes directly and indirectly through interactions with overstory shrub species. We experimentally manipulated moss cover and measured seasonal soil properties and processes under two species of deciduous shrubs with contrasting canopy structures, Salix planifolia pulchra and Betula glandulosa-nana complex. Soil properties (seasonal temperatur...

A new method is described for the retrieval of fractional cover of large woody plants (shrubs) at the landscape scale using moderate resolution multi-angle remote sensing data from the Multiangle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) and a hybrid geometric-optical (GO) canopy reflectance model. Remote sensing from space is the only feasible method for regularly mapping woody shrub cover over large a...

Three linked leaf and canopy radiative transfer models were used to assess uncertainties in three vegetation architectures for the relationships between canopy water content and Equivalent Water Thickness (EWT). The leaf radiative transfer model PROSPECT was linked to SAILH, rowMCRM, and FLIM canopy reflectance models to generate synthetic spectra for a range of leaf and canopy parameters under...

Shrub encroachment, a global phenomenon with management implications, is examined in two papers in the current issue of Applied Vegetation Science. Barbosa da Silva et al. show that encroachment simplifies herbaceous community, and Pittarello et al. illustrate how pastoral practices can restore encroached grasslands. While detrimental effects of shrub encroachment on grassland vegetation are of...