Ferns (Polypodiophyta) are an abundant floral element of the tropics with high sensitivity to environmental conditions and good indicators of overall biodiversity. Here, we set out to identify which geochemical factors determine fern diversity in a low-montane tropical rainforest in Eastern Ecuador. We conducted a field survey of high-spatial resolution completing a comprehensive fern inventory across two elevational ranges, combined with biochemical characterisation of the underlying soils. While α-diversity was negatively correlated with cation exchange capacity (CEC) and with elevation, β-diversity increased with elevation and with geographic distance, as predicted. Our results confirm that ferns have a high sensitivity to both elevational and environmental gradients, where the latter in this study was derived from enhanced aluminium, iron and calcium contents in some of the studied soils. Further monitoring of fern communities could therefore help to better understand and predict how environmental change may impact biodiversity, with a particular focus on threats potentially arising from toxic elements being released in tropical soils through modified soil CEC.

Peru contains the second largest surface area of the Amazon biome. The Peruvian Amazon is threatened by logging, illegal crops, mining, and agricultural expansion. While a number of national parks exist in the Amazon region, privately managed areas like Conservation Concessions can be an attractive complement to existing parks. We compare medium and large mammal communities in a Conservation Concession in Ucayali with the nearby Parque Nacional Sierra del Divisor National Park and describe species relative abundance and richness of both protected areas. Results suggest that Conservation Concessions can harbour an important diversity of mammal species and could provide connections to larger protected areas. However, they are no substitutes for large protected areas, especially for sensitive and threatened species. Further research is needed to demonstrate their complementarity and improve landscape-level connectivity between conservation models.

The epiphytic lichen species richness and community composition was compared for 600 living trees distributed within the interior of 60 Scots pine and Norway spruce monoculture stands in southern Sweden. A higher species richness, and more unique species, was found on trees of Scots pine than of Norway spruce, and distinctive communities were associated with the two tree species. Lichen species composition also shifted between the 30-, 55- and 80-year-old stands, although there was no significant difference in species richness between the different age classes. Tree species and age of the stand explained most of the variation in community composition (41%), with additional variance explained by lichen proximity to the ground (6%) and aspect (1%) (northern/southern side of trunk). Scots pine and Norway spruce share many attributes, such as both being conifers with acidic bark properties and having a similar geographical distribution in Fennoscandia. However, our study showed that species richness and community composition can nevertheless diverge in stands dominated by these two tree species. Since the occurrence of red-listed species was low in these stands, we suggest that 80-year rotations are not long enough for the occurrence of the many rare and specialized lichen species that require old forest structures and long forest continuity in this region.

As a result of increasing global demand for food, large areas of natural habitat are being converted to agroecosystems to accommodate crop cultivation. This agricultural expansion is most prominent in the tropics, where many rural communities are dependent solely on farming income for their livelihoods. Such agricultural land conversion can have severe implications for local fauna. In this study, we compared vertebrate species diversity between natural forest habitat and three types of vanilla plantations maintained under varying management regimes in north-east Madagascar. We used diurnal and nocturnal transects to survey vertebrate diversity. Natural forest habitat contained the greatest vertebrate species diversity, and had proportionally more threatened and endemic species than all vanilla plantation types. However, we observed a greater number of species and a higher inverse Simpson index in minimally managed vanilla plantations located within or near natural forest compared to intensively managed vanilla plantations. These findings are important and encouraging for animal conservation and sustainable crop cultivation in Madagascar, and suggest that newly created vanilla plantations, and already existing plantations, should endeavour to follow the more traditional, minimalistic management approach to improve sustainability and promote higher faunal diversity.

The paucity of biodiversity assessments in the Palaeotropics has constrained recommendations for tropical forest conservation in areas such as Siberut, one of the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia known for its high endemicity. Taking advantage of information from museum collections amassed from the Indo-Malaya archipelago from the early 20th century onwards, we show how species records available through online databases of natural history collections can be used to assess the state of biodiversity when used in conjunction with a field survey, using bat species on Siberut as a study case. We obtained a total of 15 years of records from 1903 to 2013 (following searches of databases up to 2020), documenting 20 bat species on Siberut. Of these, our field survey contributed records of three additional species not previously recorded on the island. The species accumulation curve has not levelled off, suggesting that future surveys may discover additional bat species and highlighting Siberut's importance as bat habitat and source of tropical biodiversity.

The positive association between landscape compositional heterogeneity and avian species richness is widely accepted, however, birds of different feeding guilds are expected to respond differently because of diverse resource utilisation patterns and ecological tolerance. In the present study, we assessed the response of avian species and avifaunal feeding guilds to landscape compositional heterogeneity and factors associated with their richness. Bird richness and landscape variables, edge density, landscape diversity, and area of land cover types were evaluated at 30 sampling sites in the Terai-Arc landscape of Uttarakhand, India. Univariate regression was performed to investigate the response of birds and various feeding guilds to landscape compositional heterogeneity. Average weighted models of most parsimonious generalised linear regression models (<Δ 2AICc) were developed for various feeding guilds to identify significant predictors of species richness. The richness of overall birds and most feeding guilds, except piscivores and frugivores, responded positively to landscape compositional heterogeneity at variable spatial scales. The scale of effect was largest for carnivore (1.5 km), followed by granivore (1 km), insectivore (0.75 km), and frugi-insectivore, nectarivore, and omnivore (0.5 km). Overall bird species richness was positively associated with landscape diversity, teak plantation, and Sal-mixed forest. The average-weighted models identified edge density and dry riverine forest for frugi-insectivore, barren land and water body for the carnivore, teak plantation, Sal-mixed forest and dry-riverine forest for insectivore, edge density, human habitation/agriculture, teak plantation, barren land and scrubland for granivore, human habitation/agriculture for omnivore and waterbodies for piscivore and frugivore guilds as the significant drivers of species richness. The study concludes that the response to landscape compositional heterogeneity differs among feeding guilds and varies with the spatial scale of analysis. The results of our study are expected to serve as a reference for future studies, exploring the landscape relationship to the avian community in similar environmental conditions.

Scientists and natural resource managers require suitable vegetation survey methods to assess the success of rangeland restoration projects. Visual estimation and point intercept methods are commonly used to evaluate vegetation cover. This study compared the performance of one visual (quadrat-based) and two line-point intercept (LPI, canopy and basal) methods to assess biodiversity and cover and to estimate biomass production on sites invaded by introduced annual grasses across Wyoming, USA. Greater species richness and higher Shannon index values were measured in quadrats, while introduced annual and native perennial graminoid cover values were higher in LPI canopy in general. Overall, these outcomes indicate quadrats as the most suitable survey method when biodiversity monitoring is the primary objective, while suggesting LPI canopy when monitoring vegetation cover is prioritized. Finally, our regression models indicated quadrat-based estimates as the most reliable to predict introduced annual and native perennial graminoid biomass.

IPCC predictions for Honduras indicate that temperature will increase by up to 3–6°C and precipitation will decrease by up to 7–13% by the year 2050. To better understand how fern and lycophyte communities might be affected by climate change, we comprehensively surveyed the community compositions of ferns and lycophytes at Celaque National Park, the highest mountain in Honduras. We surveyed a total of 80 20 × 20 m2 plots along an altitudinal gradient of 1249–2844 m a.s.l., identifying all species and estimating their abundances. We recorded a total of 11,098 individuals from 160 species and 61 genera. Community composition was strongly influenced by changes in altitude, precipitation and the abundance of bryophytes (a proxy for air humidity). Of the 160 species, 63 are expected, under a RCP2.6 scenario for the year 2050, to shift their range fully or partially above the maximum altitude of the mountain. Of these, 65.1% are epiphytes. We found that species with narrow altitudinal ranges at high altitudes were more at risk. Our study indicated that conservation efforts should prioritise higher altitudinal sites, focusing particularly on preserving the vulnerable epiphytic fern species, which are likely to be at greater risk.

Ventenata [Ventenata dubia (Leers) Coss.], an invasive winter annual grass, negatively impacts grassland community composition and function in the Pacific Northwest. Ventenata dubia established in Palouse prairie (PP) and canyon grasslands (CG) of northern Idaho/eastern Washington in the mid-1980s to early 1990s. Understanding and comparing patterns of invasion can elucidate future trends as its range expands. We performed surveys in PP (2012 and 2013) and CG (2018) to assess V. dubia abundance. Specifically, we correlated species richness, Shannon diversity, rank abundance, and indicator species with no, low (<12.5%), and high (>12.5%) V. dubia cover. We used nonmetric multidimensional scaling analysis (NMDS) to visualize species similarities and associations with abiotic variables. In both ecoregions, V. dubia was very common, appearing in nearly 60% of 450 plots. When present, V. dubia cover averaged 26% (±2.3 SE) in PP and 19% (±1.8 SE) in CG. Indigenous plant species richness and diversity were lowest in plots with high V. dubia cover. In CG, this relationship held for nonindigenous species; in PP, nonindigenous plant richness and diversity were higher with high V. dubia cover. Ventenata dubia and other winter annual grasses (Bromus spp., medusahead [Taeniatherum caput-medusae (L.) Nevski]) were moderately associated according to the NMDS analysis. Indicator species analysis showed V. dubia was positively associated with nonindigenous winter annual grasses and negatively associated with indigenous low shrub species. Abiotic factors that explained V. dubia abundance included shallow soils and a south to west aspect. Overall, these findings indicate V. dubia can successfully invade both dry and relatively wet plant communities and is more abundant than other invasive annual grasses. We suggest these findings foreshadow what will happen in sagebrush steppe and Great Plains grasslands, regions where V. dubia recently became established.

Unlike well-known global patterns of plant species richness along altitudinal gradients, in the mountainous areas of the Brazilian Caatinga, species richness and diversity reach their maxima near mountain tops. The causes of this unusual pattern are not well understood, and in particular the role of edaphic factors on plant community assembly along these gradients has not been investigated. Our goal was to assess the role of edaphic factors (fertility and soil texture) on plant community composition and structure on two mountains of the Brazilian semi-arid region. In 71 plots (Bodocongó site, twenty-one 200-m2 plots, 401–680 m asl; Arara site, fifty 100-m2 plots, 487–660 m asl) we recorded 3114 individuals representing 61 plant species; in addition, at each plot we collected composite soil samples from 0–20 cm depth. Significant altitude-related changes were observed both for community structure and composition, and edaphic variables. A canonical correspondence analysis allowed the distinction of two groups of plots according to species abundances, indicating a preferential habitat distribution of species depending both on altitude and soil variables. Although soil fertility was lowest at the highest altitudes, these areas had high richness and diversity. Conversely, the more fertile foothills were characterized by the dominance of generalist pioneer species. Despite the relatively short altitudinal range that characterizes the studied mountains, this study elucidates the role of edaphic factors on the floristic composition and species richness patterns on the mountains of the Brazilian semi-arid region.

Plant breeding has brought about improvements in the herbage yield potential, forage quality and functional traits of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.). Under conditions of low external inputs, grassland swards based on perennial ryegrass often contain dicotyledonous species (legume and non-legume). Cultivar-specific functional traits such as growth form or phenology affect the competitive ability and yield in mixtures, but the extent to which cultivars with different functional traits affect forage quality in mixtures compared with pure stands is unknown. Therefore, we analysed four perennial ryegrass cultivars, each representing a combination of two functional traits with respect to phenology (early v. late heading) and growth form (upright v. prostrate) on forage quality, in a field experiment over 5 years. Each cultivar was grown in binary-mixtures with Trifolium repens L., as four-species mixtures with Taraxacum officinale L. and Plantago lanceolata L., and as grass monocultures. The effect of functional traits was dominant in the primary growth and persisted in pure stands but not in the mixtures from the third year onwards. Prostrate cultivars allowed the development of a greater proportion of clover and forbs within the mixtures, resulting in increased protein and energy and reduced fibre contents. In mixtures, forage quality was generally higher in the last regrowth. In conclusion, the indirect effects of growth form on forage quality due to modifications of botanical composition were more important than direct effects on forage quality.

Ventenata [Ventenata dubia (Leers) Cross] is a winter annual grass relatively new to the inland Pacific Northwest that is capable of displacing desired vegetation. Indaziflam was evaluated for the management of V. dubia on two Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) sites near Moscow, ID, and Pullman, WA. While perennial grasses were dormant, applications of indaziflam in mixture with various herbicides were made in spring 2016. Treatment effects were evaluated for 2 yr by visual assessments of community composition and canopy cover of V. dubia and other non-weedy species (assessments occurred 3 to 6 mo after treatment, depending on location) and by representative cover class assessments. Biomass samples of all plant species were collected in the summer of 2017. Reduced V. dubia cover was observed in 2016, except when glyphosate was used alone. In 2017 indaziflam applied alone or in mixture with rimsulfuron effectively controlled V. dubia with minimal impact on desirable vegetation. Plant biomass from nontreated plots averaged 40 g m−2 for V. dubia and 100 to 179 g m−2 for perennial grasses. Plant biomass averaged <11 g m−2 for V. dubia and 371 to 490 g m−2 for perennial grasses when indaziflam at 102 g ai ha−1 plus glyphosate at 474 g ai ha−1 was applied. Smooth brome (Bromus inermis Leyss.) biomass was positively associated with the reduction of V. dubia, and there was a decrease in diversity associated with the removal of V. dubia through effective treatments. Indaziflam is an effective tool for the management of V. dubia in perennial grass stands, and spring applications of indaziflam should be in mixture with herbicides with POST activity.

Declining species richness is a global concern; however, the coarse-scale metrics used at regional or landscape levels might not accurately represent the important habitat characteristics needed to estimate species richness. Currently, there exists a lack of knowledge with regard to the spatial extent necessary to correlate remotely sensed habitat metrics to species richness and animal surveys. We provide a protocol for determining the best scale to use when merging remotely sensed habitat and animal survey data as a step towards improving estimates of vertebrate species richness on broad scales. We test the relative importance of fine-resolution habitat heterogeneity and productivity metrics at multiple spatial scales as predictors of species richness for birds, frogs and mammals using a Bayesian approach and a combination of passive monitoring technologies. Model performance was different for each taxonomic group and dependent on the scale at which habitat heterogeneity and productivity were measured. Optimal scales included a 20-m radius for bats and frogs, an 80-m radius for birds and a 180-m radius for terrestrial mammals. Our results indicate that optimal scales do exist when merging remotely sensed habitat measures with ground-based surveys, but they differ between vertebrate groups. Additionally, the selection of a measurement scale is highly influential to our understanding of the relationships between species richness and habitat characteristics.

Human alteration of the planet’s terrestrial landscapes for agriculture, habitation and commerce is reshaping wildlife communities. The threat of land cover change to wildlife is pronounced in regions with rapidly growing human populations. We investigated how species richness and species-specific occurrence of bats changed as a function of land cover and canopy (tree) cover across a rapidly changing region of Florida, USA. Contrary to our predictions, we found negligible effects of agriculture and urban development on the occurrence of all species. In contrast, we found that a remotely sensed metric of canopy cover on a broad scale (25 km2) was a good predictor of the occurrence of eight out of ten species. The occurrence of all smaller bats (vespertilionids) in our study increased with 0–50% increases in canopy cover, while larger bats showed different patterns. Occurrence of Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) decreased with increasing canopy cover, and Florida bonneted bats (Eumops floridanus) were not influenced by canopy cover. We conclude that remotely sensed measures of canopy cover can provide a more reliable predictor of bat species richness than land-cover types, and efforts to prevent the loss of bat diversity should consider maintaining canopy cover across mosaic landscapes with diverse land-cover types.