Understanding the factors that regulate the functioning of our ecosystems in response to environmental changes can help to maintain the stable provisioning of ecosystem services to mankind. This is especially relevant given the increased variability of environmental conditions due to human activities. In particular, maintaining a stable production and plant biomass during the growing season (intra-annual stability) despite pervasive and directional changes in temperature and precipitation through time can help to secure food supply to wild animals, livestock, and humans. Here, we conducted a 29-year field observational study in a temperate grassland to explore how the intra-annual stability of primary productivity is influenced by biotic and abiotic variables through time. In particular, we analyzed the relationship of community biomass intra-annual stability with plant diversity and seasonal distribution patterns of temperature and precipitation. We found that lower accumulated precipitation between June and September during the 29-year investigated contributed to lower intra-annual community stability because of a decrease in compensatory mechanisms among species (species asynchrony). Additionally, higher precipitation in July contributed to higher intra-annual stability because higher species richness with higher precipitation led to higher average intra-annual stability of all species in the community (species stability). In contrast, we found no evidence that temperature influenced community intra-annual stability. Our results indicates that ongoing reduced seasonal precipitation leading to reduced intra-annual stability in the temperate grassland, which has important theoretical significance for us to take active measures to deal with climate change.

The critical information for conserving endangered species is to identify how different niche dimensions affect the bottlenecks in the life history stages of populations. However, it is often difficult to quantify how each niche dimension affects different life history stages because environmental factors may affect each fitness component of organisms to various degrees. Here, we applied the recently developed hypervolume method that follows the idea of Hutchinson’s n-dimensional hypervolume. We analyzed the niche space of different life history stages of the endangered landlocked salmon Oncorhynchus masou formosanus, the most southerly distributed of all salmonoids. We found no direct effect of water pollution on adult population density but a significant negative effect on their embryo hatching rate. Surprisingly, the niche hypervolume analysis showed that the size of embryo niche hypervolume was only 42% and 45.3% of the natural redd density or adult population density, respectively. This result suggests that water quality requirements during the embryonic stage are a key bottleneck in the life history stages of O. m. formosanus. Our results suggest that understanding the behavioral and physiological mechanisms that influence crucial life history stages in the wild is critical to developing effective conservation programs, and the niche hypervolume is a valuable method to achieve this.

Background: Black-faced spoonbill (BFS) is a global endangered species, distributed only in the coastal zones of East Asia. Xinghua Bay is one of the main wintering sites and migration stopovers of BFS in mainland China. However, with the reduction and degradation of natural wetlands, it is uncertain whether the constructed wetland can provide habitat for the endangered BFS. Research on diet of BFS will help to understand their preference between natural and artificial wetlands, and also provide reference for their conservation and habitat restoration. Methods: From December 2017 to February 2020, 45 potential food samples and 199 fecal samples of BFS were collected during six sampling period, of which Cyprinidae, Mugilidae, Portunidae, Gobiidae and Palaemonidae were collected from natural wetlands and Crucian (Carassius auratus) and Whiteshrimp (Litopenaeus Vannamei) were collected from artificial wetland. Their stable isotope values (δ13C, δ15N) were measured to obtain the food composition information of BFS. Results: In the early winter, the proportion of Palaemonidae in BFS’s food was as high as 74.4%, while that of other food was only 3.0% to 6.0%. In the late winter, the food contribution of BFS was as follow: Portunidae 39.3% > Palaemonidae 26.1% > Cyprinidae 8.8% > Mugilidae 8.5% > Gobiidae 7.3% > Crucian 5.1% > Whiteshrimp 4.8%. The proportion of Portunidae exceeded that of Palaemonidae, and together with Palaemonidae, it has become the main food of BFS in late winter. Conclusion: The diet composition of BFS between the early and late winter was significantly different, which may be due to seasonal changes in food resources. Natural wetlands are the main feeding grounds of BFS, but artificial wetlands also provide them with supplementary feeding grounds and resting places. Aquaculture ponds play an important ecological function in maintaining the overwintering population of BFS in Xinghua Bay.

Herbaceous vegetation species’ responses to different frequencies of cutting regimes have not been evaluated in the Borana rangelands of southern Ethiopia. The present study was aimed to determine the grass and non-grass species’ yield responses to four cutting frequencies over two years (2019 and 2020). The four cutting frequencies were cutting once after the end of the main growing season (T1), cutting every week (T2), cutting every two weeks (T3), and cutting every three weeks (T4). Treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications. In total, 37 different herbaceous species comprising 15 grass and 22 non-grass species were sampled. Cutting frequencies had a significant effect (P<0.01) on herbaceous biomass with yield decreasing as cutting frequencies increased. Herbaceous species richness and both non-grass species richness and diversity were significantly (P<0.05) high for T4 while T3 significantly (P<0.05) promoted non-grass density. Grass dried biomass was significantly (P<0.001) high for T1. Subsequent cutting over years significantly (P<0.05) affected grass species composition and biomass. Continuous application of T3 over years significantly (P<0.05) favored non-grass species composition and density. Only herbaceous biomass was significantly (P<0.05) affected by subsequent application of cutting frequencies over years being high for T1. T1 enhanced the percentages dry matter, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, and acid detergent lignin of both grass and non-grass species. T2 favored the percentages of crude protein and true in-vitro organic matter digestibility for grass and non-grass species. For short-term rangeland management in terms of plant yield and better quality, T4 (intermediate cutting frequency) will be suggested when applied subsequently over years.

1. Non-native ungulate grazing has negatively impacted native species across the globe, leading to massive loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Despite their pervasiveness, interactions between grazers and native species are not fully understood. We often observe declines in demography or survival of these native species, but lack understanding about the mechanisms underlying these declines. Physiological stress represents one mechanism of (mal)adaptation but data are sparse. 2. We investigated glucocorticoid levels in a native avian herbivore exposed to different intensities of non-native grazing in the cold desert Great Basin ecosystem, USA. We measured corticosterone, a glucocorticoid in birds, in feathers for a large sample (n = 280) of female Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) from three study areas in Northern Nevada and Southern Oregon with different grazing regimes of livestock and feral horses. 3. We found greater feral horse density was associated with higher corticosterone levels, and this effect was exacerbated by drought conditions. Livestock grazing produced similar results; however there was more model uncertainty about the livestock effect. Subsequent nesting success was lower with increased feather corticosterone, but corticosterone levels were not predictive of other vital rates. 4. Our results indicate a physiological response by sage-grouse to grazing pressure from non-native grazers. We found substantial among-individual variation in the strength of the response. These adverse effects were intensified during unfavorable weather events, highlighting the need to reevaluate management strategies in the face of climate change.

Marine heatwaves (MHWs) emerge as a severe stressor in marine ecosystems. Extreme warm sea surface temperatures during MHWs are often beyond the optimal thermal range and beyond one generation of tropical coastal zooplankton. However, it is relatively unknown whether transgenerational MHW effect may shape the offspring fitness, particularly in an ecologically relevant context with biotic interactions such as predation stress. We addressed these novel research questions by quantifying the reproductive success, grazing, and survival of copepod Pseudodiaptomus incisus exposed to MHW and fish predator cues (FPC) for two generations (F1 and F2). There were four F1 treatments [(control or F1-MHW) × (no FPC or F1-FPC)] and 16 F2 treatments [(control or F1-MHW) × (no F1-FPC or F1-FPC)] × [(control or F2-MHW × no F2-FPC or F2-FPC)]. In both generations, P. incisus performance was substantially lowered in MHW, but slightly higher in FPC, particularly in control temperature. F2 reproductive success and cumulative faecals were reduced by 20-30% in F1-MHW, but increased by ~2% in F1-FPC. Strikingly, direct MHW exposure strongly reduced survival, but transgenerational MHW exposure ameliorated its lethal effect and was independent of FPC. The increased survival came with a cost of reduced reproductive success, constrained by reduced grazing. The rapid transgenerational MHW acclimation and its associated costs are likely widespread and crucial mechanisms underlying the resilience of coastal tropical zooplankton to MHWs under high predation pressure in the tropical coastal marine ecosystems.

Robust estimates of demographic parameters are critical for effective wildlife conservation and management, but are difficult to obtain for elusive species. We estimated the breeding and adult population sizes, as well as the minimum population size, in a high-density brown bear population on the Shiretoko Peninsula, in Hokkaido, Japan, using DNA-based pedigree reconstruction. A total of 1,288 individuals, collected in and around the Shiretoko Peninsula between 1998 and 2020, were genotyped at 21 microsatellite loci. Among them, 499 individuals were identified by intensive genetic sampling conducted in two consecutive years (2019 and 2020) mainly by noninvasive methods (e.g., hair and fecal DNA). Among them, both parents were assigned for 330 bears, and either maternity or paternity was assigned to 47 and 76 individuals, respectively. The subsequent pedigree reconstruction indicated a range of breeding and adult (≥4 years old) population sizes: 128–173 for female breeders and 66–91 male breeders, and 155–200 for female adults and 84–109 male adults. The minimum population size was estimated to be 449 (252 females and 197 males) in 2019. Long-term continuous genetic sampling prior to a short-term intensive survey would enable parentage to be identified in a population with a high probability, thus enabling reliable estimates of breeding population size for elusive species.

Metabolic rate is a trait that may evolve in response to the direct and indirect effects of predator-induced mortality. Predators may indirectly alter selection by lowering prey densities and increasing resource availability or by intensifying resource limitation through changes in prey behaviour (e.g. use of less productive areas). In the current study we quantify evolution of metabolic rate in the zooplankton Daphnia pulicaria following an invasive event by the predator Bythotrephes longimanus in Lake Mendota, Wisconsin, US. This invasion has been shown to dramatically impact D. pulicaria, causing a ~60% decline in their biomass. Using a resurrection ecology approach, we compared the metabolic rate of D. pulicaria clones originating from prior to the Bythotrephes invasion with that of clones having evolved in the presence of Bythotrephes. We observed a 7.4% reduction in metabolic rate among post-invasive clones compared to pre-invasive clones, and discuss the potential roles of direct and indirect selection in driving this change.

Danthonia californica is a native perennial bunchgrass commonly used in the restoration of prairie ecosystems in the western United States. Plants of this species simultaneously produce both chasmogamous (potentially outcrossed) and cleistogamous (obligately self-fertilized) seeds. Restoration practitioners almost exclusively use chasmogamous seeds for outplanting, which are predicted to perform better in novel environments due to their greater genetic diversity. Meanwhile, cleistogamous seeds may exhibit greater local adaptation to the conditions in which the maternal plant exists. We performed a common garden experiment at two sites in the Willamette Valley, Oregon to assess the influence of seed type and source population (eight populations) on germination and found no evidence of local adaptation for either seed type. Cleistogamous seeds outperformed chasmogamous seeds regardless of whether seeds were sourced directly from the common gardens (local seeds), or other populations (nonlocal seeds). Furthermore, average seed weight had a strong positive effect on germination success, despite the fact that chasmogamous seeds had significantly greater mass than cleistogamous seeds. At one common garden we observed that seeds of both types sourced from north of our planting site performed significantly better than local or southern-sourced seeds. We also found a significant seed type and distance-dependent interaction, with cleistogamous germination peaking approximately 125km from the garden, which may be explained by differences in the pathogen content of cleistogamous and chasmogamous seeds. These results suggest that cleistogamous seeds should be considered for greater use in D. californica restoration.

It is widely acknowledged that population structure can have a substantial impact on evolutionary trajectories. In social animals, this structure is strongly influenced by relationships among the population members, so studies of differences in social structure between diverging populations or nascent species are of prime interest. Ideal models for such a study are two house mouse subspecies, Mus musculus musculus and M. m. domesticus, meeting in Europe along a secondary contact zone. Though the latter subspecies has usually been supposed to form tighter and more isolated social units than the former, the evidence is still inconclusive. Here, we carried out a series of radio-frequency identification experiments in semi-natural enclosures to gather large longitudinal datasets on individual mouse movements. The data were summarised in the form of uni- and multi-layer social networks. Within them, we could delimit and describe the social units (‘modules’). While the number of estimated units was similar in both subspecies, domesticus revealed a more ‘modular’ structure. This subspecies also showed more intramodular social interactions, higher spatial module separation, higher intramodular persistence of parent-offspring contacts, and lower multiple paternity, suggesting more effective control of dominant males over reproduction. We also demonstrate that long-lasting modules can be identified with basic reproductive units or demes. We thus provide the first robust evidence that the two subspecies differ in their social structure and dynamics of the structure formation.

Plastic pollution has become a global problem with the proliferation many plastic goods. This study thus hypothesized that accumulated plastic waste will have adverse effect on mangrove growth. The study was carried out at a sand-filled and deforested mangrove forest at Eagle Island. Ten soils samples each (n =20) were collected underneath accumulated plastic waste vertically and horizontally. The soils were put in polythene bags and sent to the laboratory for analysis of total hydrocarbon content (THC), and heavy metals i.e., Zinc (Zn), Lead (Pb) and Cadmium (Cd) using the HACH DR 890 colorimeter (wavelength 420 nm) and microwave accelerated reaction system (MARS Xpress, North Carolina) respectively. In addition, mangrove (Rhizophora species) seedlings were also collected with soils from the plastic waste and non-plastic waste sites (control). The result shows that there is no significant difference in heavy metal concentration along the profile i.e., surface, and sub-surface soils (F1, 30 = 1.83, P = 0.186), and soil gradients (F3, 28 = 0.60, P = 0.619) of the soil. In contrast, there is significant difference in seedling growth between the control and plastic soils (F4, 200 , 65.24, P<0.001). Furthermore, microbial population showed significant difference horizontally (F3, 11 = 3.86, P = 0.04) but not vertically (F1, 11 = 4.60, P = 0.055) in plastic soil. This result implies that plastic pollutants can migrate horizontally to contaminate nearby mangroves. Thus, plastic waste should be managed to prevent pollutants from entering the food chain to contaminate humans.

Climate change is affecting species and their mutualists and can lead to interaction weakening and loss. Through independent shifts in partner phenology and distribution, climatic stress can separate mutualists, leading to alterations in partner functional traits and fitness. Here, we explored the effects of drying soils and the loss of microbial mutualists via soil sterilization on legume germination success and phenology, focusing on how a loss of mutualisms with soil microbial species can alter legume early life traits. In particular, we assessed the effects of mutualism loss via soil sterilization, increased drought, or introduction to novel soils found beyond the current distributions of two focal legume species in subalpine environments. Through common garden experiments in controlled environments, we found evidence that soil sterilization (and consequent microbial absence) and dry soils caused phenological delays of 2-5 weeks in germination date, likely as a result of interaction loss between legumes and germination-promoting soil microbes, such as mutualistic rhizobia. Delays in germination caused by a mismatch between legumes and beneficial microbes could negatively affect legume fitness through increased plant-plant competition later in the season. Additionally, we found evidence of the presence of beneficial microbes beyond the current elevational range of our focal legumes which may allow for expansion of the leading edge, though harsh abiotic factors in the alpine may hinder this. Alterations in the strength of soil microbe-legume mutualisms may lead to reduced fitness and altered demography for both soil microbes and legumes.

Soil moisture is an important factor that affects terrestrial vegetation ecosystems and biological growth and development, and water deficit is one of the major environmental factors threatening vegetation restoration in the Loess Plateau. To determine the change in the soil water deficit characteristics from farmland to forestland on the Loess Plateau, in this study, we measured the soil water storage and deficit in abandoned grassland, shrubland, pioneer forestland and climax forestland along with vegetation succession. The results showed that the soil water content and the soil water storage with natural vegetation recovery from the abandoned grassland to shrubland and forestland showed a gradual declining trend, while on the contrary, the soil water deficit was increasing during succession, it was more severe in the deep soil than in the shallow soil layers, and the soil water deficit in July and September of the rainy season as well as that the vigorous growing period of plants was more serious than that in May and November, which are in the non-rainy season of the Chinese Loess Plateau. The vegetation types, soil texture and soil depth were the key factors affecting the soil water deficiency status in the process of vegetation succession. The results could have great potential in the sustainable development of forestry and provide a theoretical basis for effective water management and reasonable vegetation restoration in arid and semiarid loess regions.

Studying the interrelation of soil water and plant water is essential for an in-depth understanding of eco-hydrological processes. However, water use relationships and comparative studies between shrubs and alpine grassland of the northern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau remain poorly understood. In this study, we compared δ18O and δ2H values of water from soil, plant, precipitation, and groundwater between P. fruticosa shrub and alpine grassland locations at two neighboring sites in order to better understand the interface between plant and surrounding soils of shrubs and grasslands in the northern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Our results showed that δ18O and δ2H of soil water, precipitation, and plant water varied significantly over time and water sources in P. fruticosa shrub and alpine grassland sites. Both soil evaporation and plant transpiration at the P. fruticosa shrub site were relatively lower than they were at the alpine grassland site. Alpine grassland plant water had a stronger dynamic fractionation effect in the process of transportation and was more sensitive to environmental conditions. However, plants at the P. fruticosa shrub site displayed more flexible water use patterns, shifted their water sources between shallow soil water and deep soil water. Shrubs from alpine grassland leaded to changes in grassland water use, thereby changing soil water storage. The results of this study will provide theoretical basis for improving the availability and sustainability of soil water, provide guidance for meadow management from ecohydrological processes on the northern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

1. Above- and belowground biomass allocation is an essential plant functional trait that reflects plant survival strategies and affects belowground biomass estimation in grasslands. However, due to the difficulty in distinguishing fine and living roots, field-based studies show large uncertainties in estimating the biomass allocation. In addition, how plant density regulates biomass allocation across various species remains poorly addressed. 2. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted greenhouse manipulation experiments to explore patterns of above- and belowground biomass allocation and its regulation by planting density in six common grass species of different functional types (i.e., C3 vs C4; annuals vs perennials) in China’s temperate grasslands. The six species were Chenopodium glaucum, Cleistogenes squarrosa, Leymus chinensis, Medicago sativa, Setaria viridis, and Stipa grandis. 3. We found that the mean values of root to shoot ratio (R/S) ranged from 0.04 to 0.92 across the six species, with much lower R/S values in annuals than in perennials (C. glaucum and S. viridis vs C. squarrosa, L. chinensis, M. sativa and S. grandis) and in C4 plants than in C3 plants (C. squarrosa vs L. chinensis, M. sativa and S. grandis). For C. squarrosa, increasing the planting density decreased the shoot biomass fraction (SMF) but increased the root biomass fraction (RMF) and R/S. In contrast, for the other five species, planting density had nonsignificant effects on the SMF, RMF, and R/S. In addition, the planting density significantly affected the allometric relationships between above- and belowground biomass. 4. Synthesis. Our results suggest that R/S values obtained from field investigations are severely overestimated and that the pattern and density regulation of the biomass allocation vary across species of different functional types. Our findings provide important insights into approximating difficult-to-measure belowground biomass with easier-to-measure aboveground biomass in grassland ecosystems, and also provide important theoretical foundations for grass-based livestock husbandry practices.

This study aims at examining the applicability of a novel approach based on species distribution models (SDMs) to establish spatial predictions of EBVs for birds based on bird diversity metrics such as the distributions of properties of key bird habitats. A major objective of this study is to build bird SDMs which can be used to derive spatial EBVs for bird species at a regional scale. We used as predictors 16 environmental variables that are known to be ecologically meaningful for birds at 100 m spatial resolution, including two bioclimatic variables (Bio17 = precipitation of driest quarter and Bio7 = temperature annual range) for three periods of ‘current’, ‘future 2050’, and ‘future 2070’, eleven land-cover (land use) predictors, the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and two topographic variables (slope and topography). We used multiple modeling techniques to build presence-only SDMs relating bird presence to environmental features of each species. Here, we show that the suitability estimated according to the SDMs can be used as a spatial ‘species distribution’ EBV (SD EBV) and reflect the habitat quality and trends in land use and climatic impacts on populations of bird species. These developments could facilitate monitoring of bird species across space and time, ultimately helping to identify priority conservation areas, estimate habitat suitability and provide early warning signs regarding bird distribution trends. In general, bioclimatic variables, topography and forest structure were identified to have important ties to the species probability maps generated on the basis of the SDMs, signifying a dominant role of bioclimatic variable Bio17 in the development of habitat suitability patterns. Keywords: Essential biodiversity variables, species distribution modelling, species distribution essential biodiversity variables (SDEBV), bird species, Swiss Alps

In many -but not all- recalcitrant Quercus seeds, water loss during drying only occurs through scar. Consequently, embryo sitting on the opposite side of scar is well protected from desiccation. However, whether such mechanism is common throughout Fagaceae species is unexplored. Similarly, little is known about the desiccation response of other Fagaceae genera. Germination and desiccation tolerance of Castanopsis sclerophylla (Fagaceae) were studied by drying the seeds. Fresh seeds had a moisture content (MC) of 36% and germinated to 93% when incubated at 15/20°C. Drying seeds to 22.5 and 20.7% MC decreased germination to 27 and 0%, respectively; indicating seeds are recalcitrant. X-ray computed tomography and photomicrographs showed that embryo of C. sclerophylla sits just below scar. Regardless of drying occurring either through only scar or whole pericarp, embryo drying was deemed unavoidable. Nevertheless, germination percentage during drying showed exceptional similarities with the other Fagaceae species.

Street trees assemblage is a widespread natural component in the cities and provides a wide range of ecosystem services to the cities. However, the distribution of street trees assemblage within a city is inequal. In this paper, we took air purification benefit provided by street trees for example to examine how urban form, urban geography and drivers of vegetation management affect the variation of ecosystem services provided by street trees in metropolitan Shenyang, Northeastern China. The i-Tree Street (2018) was utilizing to evaluate air purification benefit provided by street trees. We analyze the results using 2 indices: per kilometer benefit (PKB) and average tree benefit (ATB). The results showed us that (1) both indices didn’t vary along the population gradient. (2) The PKB had a decreasing trend along the urban-suburban gradient. (3) The districts which had the highest PKB and ATB are neither the old ones nor the newest one, but the districts start to develop from around 2002 and 2003. Therefore, we infer that the public policy is a main driver of vegetation management, especially for street trees, because street tree is closely related to road/street development which is closely related to economic development of a region. Besides, there could be a time lag effect for ecosystem services provided by trees.

Visually aposematic prey warns their potential predators about their noxious condition by exhibiting conspicuous coloration. The larvae of some phyllomedusine frogs bear bright patches on the body or tail that suggest an anti-predator role, yet the experimental evidence of aposematism in anuran larvae is notoriously scarce. Here, we assessed and compared the conspicuousness and skin toxicity of three species of phyllomedusine larvae which differ in coloration: Phyllomedusa vaillanti, P. bicolor, and Callimedusa tomopterna. The conspicuous colorations found on the dorsal area of the larvae could be directed to aerial predators, therefore we evaluated the distribution of the larvae in the depth of the water column. We also experimentally assessed their palatability to dragonfly naiads as model predators. Additionally, we observed that all these traits that make up the antipredatory syndrome are modified along the ontogeny of the larvae. For this reason, we assessed body size as another trait that conforms to the syndrome. Our results support an antipredatory syndrome in larvae of P. vaillanti and to a lesser degree in P. bicolor. The most conspicuous larvae were indeed the most toxic. Moreover, these larvae were attacked less often by predators which, in turn, died within a few hours. In both species, the larvae remained close to the water column surface longer to advertise their noxious condition towards predators. After we included body size in the anti-predator syndrome, we observed that only the P. vaillanti larger larvae were more conspicuous. Toxicity and palatability were not related to body size. Nevertheless, vertical distribution varied ontogenetically in P. bicolor. The largest larvae remained close to the water surface most of the time, while the small ones were distributed evenly throughout the water column.

Facing to the harsh environmental constraints, natural populations of widespread plant species may express plastic response, evolve local adaptation or combine both mechanisms in order to maintain their genetic variation and pervasiveness across a wide ecological niche. Here, 79 lines representing height Tunisian populations of Brachypodium hybridum were cultivated in two contrasting phosphorus (P) availability levels and their genetic variation was investigated using forage quality traits to identify the main mechanisms governing their genetic variation. Our results revealed large variation among populations for most traits. PCA analysis showed the separation between coastal and inland populations in both P levels. Importantly, all traits revealed high heritability in both P treatments and the response of most of them to P deficiency was highly influenced by the population effect, which accounted 52.38% of the total variation, indicating strong population differentiation. However, although significant for most traits, only 18.13% of variation was attributed to P treatment, suggesting little plastic response to P deficiency. Importantly, as revealed by the lack of population*treatment effect for most traits, the plastic response was probably common to all populations. Moreover, we found that 56.99% of variation was attributed to environmental factors with distance to coastline, precipitation seasonality, and annual precipitation being the most important factors, suggesting that the strong population differentiation likely reflects local adaptation to specific environmental conditions. Contrary to the coastal populations, which were characterized by high levels of fiber-related traits levels, the inland ones displayed the high values of most energy-related traits, suggesting that these latter were characterized by relatively higher forage quality. Overall, our results suggested that the effect of local adaptation overrides the effect of phenotypic plasticity in explaining the variation of forage quality traits, which indicate a broad adaptive genetic differentiation among the Tunisian populations of B. hybridum in response to P deficiency.

Abstract The availability of accurate data on forest resources is an essential requirement for species documentation, community identification, and planning within the context of sustainable use of the forest. A survey of mammalian species was conducted in Yotyet/Yewezera Forest southern Ethiopia to assess their diversity and abundance in the area. Transect method was used to collect data for the study. Data was collected from the established line transect in each habitat from February 2019 to April 2019. A total of 553 individuals of 10 medium and large sized mammalian species distributed in to five orders and six families were recorded. Chlorocebus aethiops (42.9%) was the most abundant mammalian species followed by Colobus guereza (22.2%). Leptus starcki (1.6%), Traglaphus scriptus (2.9%), Crocuta crocuta (3.3%) were the less abundant species. The highest diversity of mammals was recorded from open grassland (H´=2.082; Simpson´s index of diversity (1-D) = 0.8626) and the less was from human plantations area (H´= 1.044; Simpson´s index of diversity (1-D) = 0.6311). Though, Yotyet/Yewezera community forest is with high potential of conserving biodiversity, it is not free from anthropogenic factors that threatened the biological components of it. Therefore, awareness should be created for the local people about the effects of forest destruction on the wildlife and start biodiversity conservation program in the area. Key words: Abundance, diversity, mammals, Yotyet/Yewezera forest, Southern Ethiopia

Since water deficit (WD) and ultraviolet radiation (UV) trigger similar protective mechanisms in plants, we tested the hypothesis that UV modulates grassland acclimation to WD, mainly through changes in the root/shoot (R/S) ratio, enhances the ability of grassland to acquire water from the soil and hence affects its productivity. We also tested the potential of spectral reflectance and thermal imaging for monitoring the impacts of WD and UV on grassland production parameters. The experimental plots were manipulated by lamellar shelters allowing precipitation to pass through or to exclude it. The lamellas were either transmitting or blocking the UV. The results show that WD resulted in a significant decrease in above-gound biomass (AB). In contrast, below-ground biomass (BB), R/S ratio and total biomass (TB) increased significantly in response to WD, especially in UV exclusion treatment. UV exposure had a significant effect on AB and BB, but only in the last year of the experiment. The differences in the effect of WD between years show that the effect of precipitation removal is largely influenced by the potential evapotranspiration (PET) in a given year and hence mainly by air temperatures, while the resulting effect on production parameters is best correlated with the water balance given by the difference between precipitation and PET. Canopy temperature and selected spectral reflectance indices showed a significant response to WD and also significant relationships with morphological (AB, R/S) and biochemical (C/N ratio) parameters. In particular, the vegetation indices NDVI and RDVI provided the best correlations of biomass changes caused by WD and thus the highest potential to remotely sens drought effects on terrestrial vegetation.

Discussions of the factors regulating nutrient recycling by consumers have focused on predictions from Ecological Stoichiometry (ES) and the Metabolic Theory of Ecology (MTE). ES posits that imbalances between the composition of an animal’s body tissues and its diet should determine its nutrient excretion rates, whereas the MTE predicts that excretion should directly reflect metabolic activity arising from body size and temperature. Each framework has been supported by data, but they are rarely tested together. In this study, we measured excretion rates of nitrogen (NH4), phosphorus (SRP) and N:P excretion ratio, body N:P stoichiometry, body size, and temperature for 12 species of fish from an Atlantic rainforest stream in Brazil. We fitted 8 competing models reflecting different combinations of ES (body N:P, armor classification, diet group) and MTE (body size, temperature) variables. For both N and P excretion, as well as excreted N:P ratio, only body size was included in the best model, and interspecific differences in size-scaling were greater for N than for P. Fitted size scaling coefficients were lower than the MTE prediction of 0.75 for both N (0.59, 95% CI = 0.45, 0.73) and P (0.56, 95% CI = 0.40, 0.77). There was only weak evidence that body armor in 3 of 12 species led to more retention of P, and there was no discernable effect of diet group, body N:P, or water temperature. We conclude that differences in nutrient excretion among species within a shared environment primarily reflect contrasts in metabolic rates arising from body size, rather than disparities between consumer and resource stoichiometry. Our findings align with those from other ecosystems and synthesis across aquatic taxa, expanding support for the MTE as the primary framework for predicting nutrient excretion rates. Key words: ecological stoichiometry, metabolic ecology, animals, nitrogen, phosphorus, freshwater.

Ecological restoration of former agricultural land can improve soil condition, recover native vegetation, and provide fauna habitat. However, restoration benefits are often associated with time lags, as many attributes, such as leaf litter and coarse woody debris, need time to accumulate. Here we experimentally tested whether adding fine and coarse woody debris to a decade-old restoration sites can accelerate restoration benefits. We used a Multi-site Before-After / Control-Impact design to test the effects on 30 response variables over a period of two years, including those describing soil physical and biochemical properties, herbaceous vegetation and ant communities. We analysed the data using linear mixed-effect models and perMANOVAs. Of the 30 response variables, a significant effect of mulch or log additions was found for just four variables: volumetric water content, decomposition of tea leaves, native herbaceous species cover and species richness of opportunistic ants. Mulch addition had a positive effect on soil moisture when compared to controls but suppressed growth of native (but not exotic) herbaceous plants. Whilst other soil properties such as organic matter and dissolved organic carbon showed a positive response to mulch addition, the effect was not statistically significant. On plots with log additions, decomposition rates of tea leaves decreased, and species richness of opportunistic ants increased. However, we found no effect on total species richness and abundance of other ant functional groups. The benefit of mulch to soil moisture was offset by its disbenefit to native herbs in our study. Logs increased species richness of opportunistic ants, but given time, may provide habitat for cryptic species. Indeed, benefits to other soil biophysical properties, vegetation and ant fauna may require longer timeframes to be detected. Further research is needed to determine whether the type, quantity and context of mulch and log additions may improve restoration outcomes.