Intraspecific variability of leaf form and function across habitat types.

Trait-based ecology has already revealed main independent axes of trait variation defining trait spaces that summarize plant adaptive strategies, but often ignoring intraspecific trait variability (ITV). By using empirical ITV-level data for two independent dimensions of leaf form and function and 167 species across five habitat types (coastal dunes, forests, grasslands, heathlands, wetlands) in the Italian peninsula, we found that ITV: (i) rotated the axes of trait variation that define the trait space; (ii) increased the variance explained by these axes and (iii) affected the functional structure of the target trait space. However, the magnitude of these effects was rather small and depended on the trait and habitat type. Our results reinforce the idea that ITV is context-dependent, calling for careful extrapolations of ITV patterns across traits and spatial scales. Importantly, our study provides a framework that can be used to start integrating ITV into trait space analyses.

Spatial scales of variation in lichens: implications for sampling design in biomonitoring surveys.

The variability of biological data is a main constraint affecting the quality and reliability of lichen biomonitoring surveys for estimation of the effects of atmospheric pollution. Although most epiphytic lichen bioindication surveys focus on between-site differences at the landscape level, associated with the large scale effects of atmospheric pollution, current protocols are based on multilevel sampling, thus adding further sources of variation and affecting the error budget. We test the hypothesis that assemblages of lichen communities vary at each spatial scale examined, in order to determine what scales should be included in future monitoring studies. We compared four sites in Italy, along gradients of atmospheric pollution and climate, to test the partitioning of the variance components of lichen diversity across spatial scales (from trunks to landscapes). Despite environmental heterogeneity, we observed comparable spatial variance. However, residuals often overcame between-plot variability, leading to biased estimation of atmospheric pollution effects.

Dose-Dependent and Species-Specific Effects of Wood Distillate Addition on the Germination Performance of Threatened Arable Plants.

Wood distillate (WD) is a bio-based product applied to crop plants for its known action in terms of growth promotion and yield enhancement, but studies are lacking on its effects on the germination of arable plants. To test such effects, we applied WD at six different concentrations on the diaspores of three threatened arable plants: Bromus secalinus, Centaurea cyanus, and Legousia speculum-veneris. For all the studied species, the effect of WD was dose-dependent and species-specific. In B. secalinus, the germination percentage (GP) decreased at 0.125% WD but then remained stable at higher concentrations up to 1%. At 2% WD, almost no germination was observed. Mean germination time (MGT) was not influenced up to 1% WD but significantly increased at 2% WD. The germination rate index (GRI) and germination energy (GE) remained unaffected up to 1% WD but decreased at 2% WD. In C. cyanus, WD had no effects on GP and GE at any concentration. MGT showed no difference with the control up to 1% WD, but significantly increased at 2% WD. GRI increased only at low concentrations (0.125% and 0.25%). The germination performance of L. speculum-veneris was unaffected up to 0.25% WD for all the tested parameters. From 0.5% WD, a reduction in GP, GRI, and GE and an increase in MGT were observed. At 2% WD, germination was totally blocked. Our results suggest that using WD at low concentrations (<0.5%), those commonly used in arable crops, does not affect the germination of the three investigated plant species.

Robotic monitoring of forests: a dataset from the EU habitat 9210* in the Tuscan Apennines (central Italy).

Effective monitoring of habitats is crucial for their preservation. As the impact of anthropic activities on natural habitats increases, accurate and up-to-date information on the state of ecosystems has become imperative. This paper presents a new dataset collected from the forests located in the Tuscan Apennines (Italy) using the ANYmal robot. The dataset provides information regarding the structure and composition of the EU priority habitat 9210*. The dataset, which is publicly available through a Zenodo repository, includes photos, videos, and point clouds of the environment. This dataset is a valuable resource for the scientific community working in the field of forest ecology and conservation and has the potential to inform future research and conservation efforts on habitat 9210*. The collaboration between robotic engineers and plant scientists provides a unique perspective on the forest ecosystem and underscores the potential for interdisciplinary work in this field. This dataset constitutes an important contribution to the ongoing effort to monitor and conserve habitats globally, particularly in light of the challenges posed by global changes.

Arable plant communities as a surrogate of crop rhizosphere microbiota.

Soil microbiota is a crucial component of agroecosystem biodiversity, enhancing plant growth and providing important services in agriculture. However, its characterization is demanding and relatively expensive. In this study, we evaluated whether arable plant communities can be used as a surrogate of bacterial and fungal communities of the rhizosphere of Elephant Garlic (Allium ampeloprasum L.), a traditional crop plant of central Italy. We sampled plant, bacterial, and fungal communities, i.e., the groups of such organisms co-existing in space and time, in 24 plots located in eight fields and four farms. At the plot level, no correlations in species richness emerged, while the composition of plant communities was correlated with that of both bacterial and fungal communities. As regards plants and bacteria, such correlation was mainly driven by similar responses to geographic and environmental factors, while fungal communities seemed to be correlated in species composition with both plants and bacteria due to biotic interactions. All the correlations in species composition were unaffected by the number of fertilizer and herbicide applications, i.e., agricultural intensity. Besides correlations, we detected a predictive relationship of plant community composition towards fungal community composition. Our results highlight the potential of arable plant communities to be used as a surrogate of crop rhizosphere microbial communities in agroecosystems.

Teamwork makes the dream work: Disentangling cross-taxon congruence across soil biota in black pine plantations.

Soil plays a fundamental role in many ecological processes, throughout a complex network of above- and below-ground interactions. This has aroused increasing interest in the use of correlates for biodiversity assessment and has demonstrated their reliability with respect to proxies based on environmental data alone. Although co-variation of species richness and composition in forests has been discussed in the literature, only a few studies have explored these elements in forest plantations, which are generally thought to be poor in biodiversity, being aimed at timber production. Based on this premise our aims were 1) to test if cross-taxon congruence across different groups of organisms (bacteria, vascular plants, mushrooms, ectomycorrhizae, mycelium, carabids, microarthropods, nematodes) is consistent in artificial stands; 2) to evaluate the strength of relationships due to the existing environmental gradients as expressed by abiotic and biotic factors (soil, spatial-topographic, dendrometric variables). Correlations between groups were studied with Mantel and partial Mantel tests, while variance partition analysis was applied to assess the relative effect of environmental variables on the robustness of observed relationships. Significant cross-taxon congruence was observed across almost all taxonomic groups pairs. However, only bacteria/mycelium and mushrooms/mycelium correlations remained significant after removing the environmental effect, suggesting that a strong abiotic influence drives species composition. Considering variation partitioning, the results highlighted the importance of bacteria as a potential indicator: bacteria were the taxonomic group with the highest compositional variance explained by the predictors used; furthermore, they proved to be involved in the only cases where the variance attributed solely to the pure effect of biotic or abiotic predictors was significant. Remarkably, the co-dependent effect of all predictors always explained the highest portion of total variation in all dependent taxa, testifying the intricate and dynamic interplay of environmental factors and biotic interactions in explaining cross-taxon congruence in forest plantations.

Ambient levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) may reduce pollen viability in Austrian pine (Pinus nigra Arnold) trees--correlative evidence from a field study.

A fully randomized sampling design was adopted to test whether pollen viability of Austrian pine (Pinus nigra Arnold) was impacted by NO(2) pollution. Spatial strata (500500 m each) with high (41.9-44.6 microg m(-3)) and low (15.4-21.0 microg m(-3)) NO(2) were selected from a defined population in a small area (236.5 km(2), <200 m range in elevation) in Northern Italy. Pollen viability was measured by means of the Tetrazolium (TTC) test. Analysis of variance by means of a generalised linear model showed that NO(2) was a significant factor (P=0.0425) affecting pollen viability. Within the treatment, no significant differences were detected among replicates. Within each replicate, sampling unit data were significantly different (P=0.000) and this suggested some improvement in the applied sampling design was needed. Pollen viability was significantly related to pollen germination (P<0.01) and tube length (P<0.01). This suggested a possible impact of NO(2) on the regeneration of Austrian pine in polluted environments.

Beneficial effects of restoration practices can be thwarted by climate extremes.

The impacts of climate extremes on species, communities and ecosystems have become critical concerns to science and society. Under a changing climate, how restoration outcomes are affected by extreme climate variables is a largely unknown topic. We analyzed the effects of experimental factors (grazing and sowing of native species), extreme climate events (intense precipitation and extreme temperatures indexes) and their combination on the restoration progress of a dry, calcareous grassland in Tuscany (Italy) with a 1 year before/15 years continuous annual monitoring after, control/impact (BACI) experiment. Grazing had a beneficial effect on the diversity of the grassland, while sowing had a limited impact. The climatic index that most affected the entire plant community composition was the number of very heavy precipitation days. The interaction of grazing and extreme climatic indexes had a significant detrimental effect on restoration outcomes, increasing the cover of synanthropic and Cosmopolitan-Subcosmopolitan generalist species and decreasing the cover of more valuable species such endemic species. In the richest grazed plots, species richness showed a lower sensitivity to the average precipitation per wet day but in grazed site, restoration outcomes can be negatively influenced by the intensification of precipitation and temperature extremes. In a context of progressive tropicalization of the Mediterranean area, to assist managers setting achievable restoration goals, restoration practitioners should consider that climate extremes might interfere with the beneficial effects of restoration practices.

Scarce evidence of ozone effect on recent health and productivity of alpine forests-a case study in Trentino, N. Italy.

We investigated the significance of tropospheric ozone as a factor explaining recent tree health (in terms of defoliation) and productivity (in terms of basal area increment, BAI) in 15 ICP Forests level I and one level II plots in alpine forests in Trentino (N. Italy). Mean daily ozone summer concentrations varied between 30 and 72 parts per billion (ppb) leading to large exceedance of concentration-based critical levels set to protect forest trees. Phytoxic ozone dose (POD0) estimated at the level II plot over the period 1996-2009 was 31-61 mmol m-2 projected leaf area (PLA). The role of ozone was investigated taking into account other site and environmental factors. Simple linear regression, multiple linear regression (MLR, to study mean periodical defoliation and mean periodical BAI), and linear mixed models (LMM, to study annual defoliation data) were used. Our findings suggest that-regardless of the metric adopted-tropospheric ozone is not a significant factor in explaining recent status and trends of defoliation and BAI in the alpine region examined. Both defoliation and BAI are in turn driven by biotic/abiotic damage, nutritional status, DBH (assumed as a proxy for age), and site characteristics. These results contrast with available ozone-growth dose response relationships (DRRs) and other observational studies. This may be due to a variety of concurrent reasons: (i) DRRs developed for individual saplings under controlled condition are not necessarily valid for population of mature trees into real forest ecosystems; (ii) some observational studies may have suffered from biased design; and (iii) since alpine forests have been exposed to high ozone levels (and other oxidative stress) over decades, possible acclimation mechanisms cannot be excluded.