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The results of a study of communities of zooperiphyton from stone embankments of shore protection structures in the downstream of Kaniv hydroelectric in the autumn period has been presented. Inverse relationship between quantitative indexes of zooperiphyton (as density and biomass) its diversity and the distance from the hydroelectric dam was founded.

14 páginas.-- 5 figuras.-- 77 referencias.-- Additional Supporting Information may be downloaded via the online version of this article at Wiley Online Library (www.ecologyletters.com). Ecology Letters 18(12): 1406-1419 (2015) Siefert, Andrew et al. ; Recent studies have shown that accounting for intraspecific trait variation (ITV) may better address major questions in community ecology. However, a general picture of the relative extent of ITV compared to interspecific trait variation in plant communities is still missing. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis of the relative extent of ITV within and among plant communities worldwide, using a data set encompassing 629 communities (plots) and 36 functional traits. Overall, ITV accounted for 25% of the total trait variation within communities and 32% of the total trait variation among communities on average. The relative extent of ITV tended to be greater for whole-plant (e.g. plant height) vs. organ-level traits and for leaf chemical (e.g. leaf N and P concentration) vs. leaf morphological (e.g. leaf area and thickness) traits. The relative amount of ITV decreased with increasing species richness and spatial extent, but did not vary with plant growth form or climate. These results highlight global patterns in the relative importance of ITV in plant communities, providing practical guidelines for when researchers should include ITV in trait-based community and ecosystem studies. ; We thank Mark Westoby, Ian Wright and three anonymous reviewers for providing valuable comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. AS was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (DGE-1247399) and NSF grant DEB-03089. CV was supported by a Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship within the 7th European Community Framework Program (DiversiTraits project, no. 221060) and by the European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant Project 'Ecophysiological and biophysical constraints on domestication in crop plants' (Grant ERC-StG- 2014-639706-CONSTRAINTS). LC received funding from the European Research Council under the 7th European Community Framework Program FP7/2007-2013 Grant Agreement no. 281422 (TEEMBIO). Financial support to AF came from the Chilean Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (FONDECYT) project No. 1120171. FdB was supported by the Czech Science Foundation, grant P505/12/1296. LWA and BSS were supported by Discovery Grants from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada. CS was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (PA00P3_136474 and PZ00P3_148261). MBC, MVC, LDSD, VDP and CRF were supported by CAPES-Brazil (grants BEX 7913/13-3 and PNPD #1454013) and CNPq-Brazil (grants 479083/2008-8, 141451/2011-4, 306573/2009-1, 303534/2012-5 and 303714/2010-7). MK received support from the JSPS as a Postdoctoral Fellow for Research Abroad. VLD was supported by Sao Paulo Research Foundation (processes: 2013/50169-1 and 2014/06453-0). DAP, SJR and NWHM were supported by the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment core funding to Crown Research Institutes and the Ministry for the Environment. YLBP was supported by the project Postdoc USB (reg.no. CZ.1.07/2.3.00/30.0006) realised through EU Education for Competitiveness Operational Programme and received funding from the European Social Fund and Czech State Budget. The Forest Dynamics Plot of Yasuni National Park has been made possible through the generous support of the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, the government of Ecuador, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the University of Aarhus of Denmark. ; Peer reviewed

Scotch broom [Cytisus scoparius (L.) Link] is a globally important nitrogen (N)-fixing invasive plant species that has potential to alter soil water dynamics, soil chemistry, and plant communities. We evaluated the effects of Scotch broom on soil moisture, soil chemistry, soil temperature, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), and vegetation communities over 4years at a site recently harvested for timber. Treatments of Scotch broom (either present via planting or absent) and background vegetation (either present or absent via herbicide treatments) were applied to 4m(2) plots. Background vegetation was associated with the greatest decrease of soil water content (SWC) among treatments. During the driest year, Scotch broom showed some evidence of increased early-and late-season soil water usage, and, briefly, a high usage relative to background vegetation plots. On a percent cover basis, Scotch broom had a substantially greater negative influence on SWC than did background vegetation. Surprisingly, Scotch broom was not consistently associated with increases in total soil N, but there was evidence of increasing soil water N when Scotch broom was present. Scotch broom-only plots had greater concentrations of soil water magnesium (Mg2+) and calcium (Ca2+) than other treatments. On a percent cover basis, Scotch broom had a uniquely high demand for potassium (K+) relative to the background vegetation. Average soil temperature was slightly greater, and soil surface PAR lower, with Scotch broom present. Scotch broom-absent plots increased in species diversity and richness over time, while Scotch broom-present plots remained unchanged. Scotch broom presence was associated with an increase in cover of nonnative sweet vernalgrass (Anthoxanthum odoratum L.). Scotch broom generated positive feedbacks with resource conditions that favored its dominance and the establishment of nonnative grass. ; USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture [GRANT 11325729] ; Financial support for this research was provided by the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture (Grants.gov number: GRANT 11325729). We wish to thank Green Diamond Resource Company for use of their land and logistical support. We would like to thank James Dollins for all of his efforts on this project. ; Public domain authored by a U.S. government employee

BACKGROUND: The global consumption of herbal medicine is increasing steadily, posing an extinction risk to medicinal plants. Uganda is among the top ten countries with a high threat of herbal medicine extinction, and Traditional Medicinal Knowledge (TMK) erosion. This might be attributed to the inadequate documentation, plus many more unclear hindrances. In this study, plant species used to treat human diseases in Butaleja district in Eastern Uganda and their associated TMK were documented. The conservation methods for medicinal plants were also evaluated. The rationale was to support the preservation of ethnopharmacological knowledge. METHODS: Data were collected from 80 herbalists using semi-structured questionnaires, from July 2020 to March 2021. Additionally, guided field walks and observations were conducted. Quantitative indices such as, use categories and informant consensus factor (ICF) were evaluated to elucidate the importance of the medicinal plants. Data were analyzed using STATA version-15.0 software. RESULTS: In total, 133 species, belonging to 34 families and 125 genera were identified. Fabaceae (65%), and Solanaceae (29%) were the dominant families. Leaves (80%), and roots (15%), were the commonest parts used in medicinal preparations; mostly administered orally as decoctions (34.6%) and infusions (16%). The commonest illnesses treated were cough (7.74%), gastric ulcers (7.42%), and malaria (4.52%). The informant consensus factor was high for all disease categories (≥ 0.8), indicating homogeneity of knowledge about remedies used. Only 73% of the respondents made efforts to conserve medicinal plants. The commonest conservation strategy was preservation of forests with spiritually valued species (100%), while compliance with government regulations was the rarest (4.5%). Overall, efforts to stop the extinction of medicinal plants and TMK were inadequate. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: There was enormous dependency on a rich diversity of medicinal plant species and TMK for healthcare and income ...