AIM: The rate of climate change might exceed the migration capacity of plants, particularly where habitats became fragmented by human land use. Except for some tree species, the extent to which habitat fragmentation decreases migration rates has nevertheless been little evaluated. Here, we compare simulated migration rates of understorey herbs, which comprise the big part of temperate forest plant diversity, under varying levels of fragmentation at a continental scale. LOCATION: Europe.

Some communities are susceptible to invasions and some are not. Why? Elton suggested in 1958 that the ability of the community to withstand invading species – its biotic resistance – depends on the number of resident species. Later contributors have emphasized the habitat's ability to support species, as well as the contribution of individual species to the resistance. In this study we use information from 184 introductions of Arctic char into Swedish lakes to study both abiotic and biotic aspects of the resident community's ability to resist introductions.

CONTEXT: Changing global environmental conditions, especially at northern latitudes, are threatening to shift species distributions and alter wildlife communities. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to establish current distributions and community arrangements of small mammals to provide important baselines for monitoring and conserving biodiversity into the future. METHODS: We used 4,408 archived museum and open-access records and the machine learning algorithm, RandomForests, to create high-resolution spatial niche models for 17 species of rodents and shrews in Alaska.

Wetlands are impacted by surrounding land use and land cover (LULC), but little information is available specifically on headwater wetlands. A total of 30 headwater wetlands were examined in coastal Alabama, USA, representing a range of surrounding LULC. Percent cover by forest, agriculture, and impervious surface area (ISA) (i.e., urban land use) were quantified in each corresponding watershed.

NO₃, Mn, Fe, and SO₄act as terminal electron acceptors (TEAs), modifying mineralization pathways and coupling biogeochemical cycles. Although single TEA concentrations and fluxes have been intensively studied, the factors regulating the simultaneous fluxes and molar ratios of TEAs are poorly elucidated. We studied the mean concentrations, exports, and molar ratios of TEAs from 27 boreal catchments differing in land cover (percentage of agricultural land, peatland, forest, and built-up area) during the years 2000–2011.

We investigated the distribution, storage and landscape partitioning of soil amorphous silica (ASi) in a central Canadian region dominated by tundra and peatlands to provide a first estimate of the amount of ASi stored in Arctic permafrost ecosystems. We hypothesize that, similar to soil organic matter, Arctic soils store large amounts of ASi which may be affected by projected climate changes and associated changes in permafrost regimes. Average soil ASi storage (top 1 m) ranged between 9600 and 83,500 kg SiO₂ ha⁻¹among different land-cover types.

CONTEXT: Century-long interaction between societies and their environment has shaped the cultural landscapes across Europe. Specific farming systems have persisted for long periods, and their abandonment has led to far-reaching and rapid changes in patterns of land use and land cover. OBJECTIVE: Taking the example of the municipality of Limpach, located in the Swiss lowlands, we studied the dynamics of cultural landscape and related driving forces in a long-term perspective.

Land use and land cover change (LUCC) have a significant influence on regional ecosystems and on the carbon cycle. The Sanjiang Plain is one of the largest grain production bases in China, and has experienced rapid land cover change, making it a critical area in which to assess the environmental impact of LUCC and propose strategies for minimizing its impact on net primary productivity (NPP). In this study, land cover was estimated from remote sensing images to quantify LUCC on the Sanjiang Plain from 2000 to 2010.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the spatial distribution of annual soil loss in the Danjiangkou Reservoir Region, China. Soil erosion was estimated by integrating the universal soil loss equation (USLE) model with GIS. The main factors affecting soil erosion including rainfall erosivity, soil erodibility, slope length and steepness, cover and management factor, and conservation supporting practice factor were determined from precipitation data, soil sample analysis, digital elevation model, land use and land cover, and empirical assessment, respectively.

Extreme droughts, heat waves, frosts, precipitation, wind storms and other climate extremes may impact the structure, composition and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, and thus carbon cycling and its feedbacks to the climate system. Yet, the interconnected avenues through which climate extremes drive ecological and physiological processes and alter the carbon balance are poorly understood. Here, we review the literature on carbon cycle relevant responses of ecosystems to extreme climatic events.

Biodiversity conservation is a primary function of protected areas. However, protected areas also attract people, and therefore, land use has intensified at the boundaries of these lands globally. In the USA, since the 1970s, housing growth at the boundaries (

Human‐induced land cover change threatens species diversity and ecosystem services. The rapid pace of current change makes predicting species’ declines imperative, but leaves little time for thorough study of all species. One solution is to make generalizations about species’ vulnerability to urbanization based on traits common among studied species in decline. To date, most generalizations about traits associated with species’ declines in response to urbanization are based on presence or abundance, or detailed studies of a few species.