Cave paintings attest to our species’ enduring interest in biological diversity. Our early ancestors appear to have enjoyed the aesthetic qualities of nature as well as recognising its importance as a source of food and fuel. Poets and artists throughout history have sought inspiration from the natural world. But the first scientific enquiries about biological diversity emerged when explorers r...

trump soil nutrient availability to shape old-field structure and function Lara Souza*, Katharine L. Stuble, Mark A. Genung and Aimee T. Classen Oklahoma Biological Survey and Microbiology and Plant Biology Department, University of Oklahoma, 111 E. Chesapeake Street, Norman, OK 73019, USA; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, 569 Dabney Hall, Knoxville, TN 3...

Knowledge of the relationships between biotic components of rangeland ecosystem i.e. herbivores and plants is important for range managers. In order to study herbivorse grazing intensity on plant species diversity, an experiment was conductef using fuor grazing treatments in darrehshar rangelands, Ilam province in 2015. Plant species data were taken based on a randomized-systematic sampling met...

The opening of new markets or trade routes has resulted in the deliberate or accidental introduction of new species, while the growth in the volume of trade has increased the frequency of species introductions. We model the connection between landscape heterogeneity, resource extraction, the level of biodiversity, and the level of trade. We show that the invasion risks of trade reduce the socia...