Abandonment of agricultural land has resulted in forest regeneration in species-rich dry grasslands across European mountain regions and threatens conservation efforts in this vegetation type. To support national conservation strategies, we used a site-selection algorithm (MARXAN) to find optimum sets of floristic regions (reporting units) that contain grasslands of high conservation priority. ...

We conducted a study of spatial variation in tree community structure and composition in the Kakamega Forest of western Kenya. We compared the tree communities at two sites, Buyangu and Isecheno, separated by approximately 11 km of contiguous forest. All trees ‡15 cm d.b.h. were censused along transects covering 4.95 ha at Buyangu and 4.15 ha at Isecheno. The structure of the forest at the two ...

Floristic diversity is the set of plant species an ecosystem or a given environment. Recruits are regenerated after disturbance in In this study it natural regeneration different from artificial regeneration. The main objective to assess level under plantations. strip sounding method used over approximately two (2) hectares per type plantation. Parameters measured abundance recruits, specific r...

Long-term effects of Lupinus lepidus on vegetation dynamics at Mount St. Helens by Roger del Moral & Lara Rozzell Abstract: The nitrogen-fixing legume Lupinus lepidus is the most abundant herb on recently formed volcanic surfaces at Mount St. Helen. We compared vegetation structure in 30 Lupinus colonies in three age classes (old, mature, or young based on known years of their establishment) to...

Information about the use of floristic resources of the immediate edges of ombrophilous forest (Atlantic rainforest) fragments by stingless bees is not readily available in the scientific literature. Considering the importance of these plant species for local guilds of stingless bees, this study aimed to identify and characterize the flora of the immediate borders of four Atlantic rainforest fr...

Aim To forecast the responses of alpine flora to the expected upward shift of treeline ecotones due to climatic warming, we investigated species richness patterns of vascular plants at small spatial scales across elevational transects. Location Richness patterns were assessed at local scales along the elevational gradient in two undisturbed treeline ecotones and one disturbed treeline ecotone i...

The objective of this study was to characterize the floristic composition, vegetation structure and ecological group of tree species in a cerradão forest (Cerrado biome) of Palmas, Tocantins State, Brazil. A forest inventory was performed in an area of 10.15 hectares, using systematic sampling with plots of 400 m2, in which all standing trees, alive and dead, that had diameter at breast height ...

Few biogeographic patterns have been as well documented as the latitudinal gradient in species richness. For North American plants, the decrease in number of species from the subtropics to the arctic is well established (Stevens 1989, Currie 1991, Qian 1999), but becomes less defined as the spatial grain of species richness decreases (e.g., Monk 1967, Glenn-Lewin 1977). There is considerable in...