While exotic plant species often come to dominate disturbed communities, long-term patterns of invasion are poorly known. Here we present data from 40 yr of continuous vegetation sampling, documenting the temporal distribution of exotic plant species in old field succession. The relative cover of exotic species decreased with time since abandonment, with significant declines occurring 20 yr pos...

Art ic le History

Assessing the species diversity of an urban forest is important for understanding its structure and functions, but the result can be affected by sampling methods, times, and delimitations of the study area. In this study, we examined the influence of different ways to delimit boundaries of urban areas on the assessment of species diversity of urban forests through a case study conducted in Haik...

The genus Penicillium is ubiquitous and its species are commonly recovered from every kind of substrate and environmental conditions. Therefore, not surprisingly, Penicillium strains are commonly reported in investigations dealing with fungal endophytic assemblages of plants in both natural and anthropic contexts. As such they are implicated in more or less effective relationships with the host...

In Southern Mexico, shifting cultivation is creating a mosaic of agricultural lands, secondary forests, and disturbed mature forests (montañas). Increased land-use change, due to population and market pressures has changed the structure and function of these forests. This study investigates the stocks and fluxes of woody debris during the course of secondary succession. We inventoried fine ( 1....

We investigated the association between ectomycorrhizal (ECM) and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and pioneer woody plant species in areas devastated by the eruption of Mt. Usu, Japan, in 2000. We observed 8 woody plant species at the research site, most of which were associated with ECM and/or AM fungi. In particular, dominant woody plant species Populus maximowiczii, Salix hultenii var. ang...

An understanding of the processes governing natural afforestation over large spatial scales is vital for enhancing forest carbon sequestration. Models of tree species occurrence probability in non-forest vegetation could potentially identify the primary variables determining natural afforestation. However, inferring processes governing afforestation using tree species occurrence is potentially ...

Topography can create substantial environmental variation at fine spatial scales. Shaped by slope, aspect, hill-position and elevation, topoclimate heterogeneity may increase ecological diversity, and act as a spatial buffer for vegetation responding to climate change. Strong links have been observed between climate heterogeneity and species diversity at broader scales, but the importance of to...

Woody growth is evolutionarily ancient, yet has been gained and lost multiple times in plant evolution and is readily enhanced or minimized in eudicot speciation. New molecular genetic and genomic studies in Populus and Arabidopsis that are defining the genes responsible for cambium function and woody growth suggest that the genes regulating woody growth are not unique to woody plants. Surprisi...

Forests are a major supplier of renewable energy; however, gleaning logging residues for use as woody biomass feedstock could negatively alter habitat for species dependent on downed wood. Biomass Harvesting Guidelines (BHGs) recommend retaining a portion of woody biomass on the forest floor following harvest. Despite BHGs being developed to help ensure ecological sustainability, their contribu...