Shifts in vegetation composition and cover are the result of processes acting at different levels such as landscapes, hill slopes, or plant interspaces. Analytical approaches designed for discrete objects which are based upon the inherently hierarchical nature of complex systems are well suited to research applications conducted across spatial scales. We quantified spatial and temporal vegetati...

[1] Woody plant encroachment, a worldwide phenomenon, is a major driver of land degradation in desert grasslands. Woody plant encroachment by shrub functional types ultimately leads to the formation of a patchy landscape with fertile shrub patches interspaced with nutrient-depleted bare soil patches. This is considered to be an irreversible process of land and soil degradation. Recent studies h...

Previous studies have shown that climate warming is causing shrub cover to increase at high latitudes. Increased shrub cover generally lowers surface albedo, which results in higher energy absorption and further warming. In parts of Fennoscandia, herbivory is known to control vegetation height and abundance, and thus preventing this positive feedback. Here, we combine field measurements of albe...

Climate change is increasing the frequency and extent of high-severity disturbance, with potential to alter vegetation community composition and structure in environments sensitive to tipping points between alternative states. Shrub species display a range of characteristics that promote resistance and resilience to disturbance, and which yield differential post-disturbance outcomes. We investi...

Temperate grasslands are a species-rich ecosystem that may be important in mitigating the increase in atmospheric CO2. The effect of shrub invasion on CO2 fluxes in Northern Great Plains grasslands is not known. The objectives of this research were to determine CO2 and water vapor fluxes over a grazed mixed-grass prairie (prairie site) and a mixed-grass prairie that has extensive invasion of sh...

The paper presents a detailed ecological and caenotic characteristic of dwarf shrub communities growing in the highmountain belt Sangilen Plateau. investigated were referred to class Loiseleurio-Vaccinietea Eggler 1952. birch thickets with prevalence Betula rotundifolia high incidence Caragana jubata , Juniperus pseudosabina J . sibirica Pentaphylloides fruticosa Salix glauca Spiraea alpina uni...

the effects of dominant shrub species on soil organic matter (som), including total soil carbon (sc), total nitrogen (n) and particulate organic matter (pom) were studied in three stands differing in the type of shrub species, i.e. astragalus microcephalus (shrub), pteropyrum aucheri (shrub) and prangus uloptera (non-shrub).the stands were located in arid grasslands of north-western iran. for t...

Recent studies indicate that positive relationships between invasive plants and soil can contribute to further plant invasions. However, it remains unclear whether these relations remain unchanged throughout the growing season. In this study, spatial sequences of field observations along a transect were used to reveal seasonal interactions and spatially covarying relations between one common in...