ABSTRACT Aims Boreal ombrotrophic peatlands provide essential ecosystem services but are increasingly intersected by permanent roads. Roads can modify hydrology and water chemistry, but their impacts on plant communities remain poorly documented. The study compared plant communities near roads with those in undisturbed areas to estimate the extent of road impacts and identify the species, plant groups, and road‐altered environmental variables best explaining vegetation changes. Location Fourteen ombrotrophic peatlands, crossed by roads, perpendicular to groundwater flow, in Minganie and Lower North Shore regions, Quebec, Canada. Methods Peatlands were surveyed along transects perpendicular to the road with vegetation plots (1 m 2 ) sampled at systematic distances up to 100 m on both sides of the road. Plant cover and environmental variables were measured. Redundancy analysis (RDA), indicator species analysis, and nonparametric tests were used to evaluate vegetation responses and identify disturbance‐associated species. Results Vegetation‐composition shifted within approximately 25 m of the road, and up to 75 m for certain species. Sphagnum mosses and lichens declined sharply near roads, whereas deciduous shrubs increased. Species richness decreased within 5–10 m of the road, mainly due to the loss of ombrotrophic species. Peat water pH and electrical conductivity (EC) were elevated near roads, especially downgradient. Mineral enrichment, likely from runoff and groundwater seepage of granular construction materials and road maintenance salts, appeared to be the main driver of vegetation change. Conclusions Permanent roads transform ombrotrophic peatland ecology by altering nutrient and mineral availability, reducing specialized taxa, and promoting shrub‐dominated vegetation. These changes may weaken their long‐term carbon‐sequestration capacity. Mitigation should focus on reducing mineral inputs and stabilizing road embankments with native vegetation.
ABSTRACT Aims Trampled vegetation in Europe has traditionally been classified based on expert judgement, often relying on a limited number of relevés from relatively small areas and without the use of statistical analyses that would enable a robust delimitation of higher syntaxonomic units. As a consequence, numerous units have been described, despite the relatively small pool of diagnostic species characteristic of trampled vegetation. In the phytosociologically understudied region of Transcaucasia, we aimed to (1) compare the classification of trampled vegetation based on expert knowledge of European vegetation with results obtained from numerical classification, (2) describe the diversity of trampled vegetation and (3) identify the main environmental factors shaping species composition. Location Armenia, Georgia. Methods Expert‐based classification of the Transcaucasian dataset was compared with two unsupervised numerical hierarchical classifications, using alluvial diagrams to interpret cluster stability and sources of inconsistency. The degree of agreement between the expert‐based and numerical classifications was quantified using the Adjusted Rand Index (ARI), Normalised Mutual Information (NMI) and Cramér's V measures. Numerical classification with the highest congruence of similarity measures with expert‐based classification was selected for interpretation. Descriptions of species composition and ecological characteristics of particular vegetation types are provided. Results Expert‐based classification distinguished 16 groups of vegetation types, whereas numerical classifications yielded 12 and 14 ecologically meaningful vegetation groups. Classification agreement was overall high. Each classification consistently reproduced, apart from common trampled vegetation types, also locally unparalleled stands, which were interpreted as a new association at the community level. Numerical classifications failed to distinguish rare vegetation types in the dataset, which were recognised by expert judgement. Altitude, distribution of precipitation together with disturbance frequency caused differentiation of trampled communities in Transcaucasia. Conclusions This study brings the first insights into the diversity of trampled vegetation in the underexplored region of Transcaucasia. Statistically distinguished communities contribute not only to a better understanding of the vegetation diversity of the Transcaucasian region but also to a more detailed overall knowledge of trampled plant communities across Europe. The floristic resemblance of thermophilous communities with alien species, together with inconsistencies in their assignment within the current phytosociological system of the class Digitario sanguinalis‐Eragrostietea minoris , calls for a more comprehensive syntaxonomic comparison of trampled vegetation in Europe.
ABSTRACT Aims Semi‐natural grasslands have been part of European landscapes for millennia, and their persistence and high biodiversity depend on continued low‐intensity management. However, carbon assessments often aggregate semi‐natural and cultivated grasslands despite their contrasting land‐use histories, management and soil conditions. We quantified soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks across semi‐natural and cultivated grassland habitat types in northeastern Europe and identified environmental variables associated with variation in SOC stocks. Location Estonia, northeastern Europe. Methods We measured SOC stocks in the topsoil (0–10 cm) at 227 sites representing 12 semi‐natural grassland habitat types occurring in Estonia that are listed in Annex I of the EU Habitats Directive, together with dry and wet cultivated grasslands. Linear regression models were used to assess associations between topsoil SOC stocks and vegetation structure, management, soil characteristics and climatic variables. Results SOC stocks in the upper 10 cm of soil ranged among grassland types from 21.7 ± 8.3 to 50.3 ± 14.3 t C/ha (mean ± SD). Dry cultivated grasslands had the lowest SOC stocks and significantly lower values than most semi‐natural grassland types. Wet cultivated grasslands on drained, peat‐influenced hydromorphic soils had intermediate SOC stocks. Among semi‐natural grassland types, calcareous alvar grasslands had the highest SOC stocks, whereas mesic grasslands had the lowest. Annual precipitation and precipitation seasonality were negatively associated with SOC stocks, while moss cover and Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were positively associated with SOC stocks. In grasslands on alluvial and coastal soils, grazed sites had higher SOC stocks than unmanaged sites. Conclusions Topsoil SOC stocks varied markedly among Natura 2000 semi‐natural grassland habitat types and between cultivated grassland types, reflecting the combined influence of soil characteristics, climate, vegetation structure and management. These findings highlight semi‐natural grasslands as important long‐term carbon reservoirs. Land‐use policies should account for habitat type and soil hydrology and prioritise the protection of carbon‐rich semi‐natural grasslands.
ABSTRACT Questions Africa's largest alpine ecosystem is perceived as relatively pristine; nonetheless, it contains numerous pastoral settlements and some of the world's oldest evidence of human presence in an alpine ecosystem. This study aims to address (i) demarcation of settlement vegetation and boundary delineation, (ii) investigation of settlement indicator plants, (iii) species composition of settlement vegetation, and (iv) since when the time of human footprint amplified by pastoralism. Location Bale Mountains National Park, South‐eastern Ethiopia, sub‐Saharan Africa. Methods Vegetation records were collected from 84 plots in 14 pastoral settlement sites along an altitudinal gradient at regular distances between 0 and 1600 m. Vegetation boundaries were detected using Moving Split Window methods, and indicator species were identified using relevant sources. Diversity indices were calculated and a piecewise structural equation modeling was applied to assess relationships among species richness, distance, and elevation. Onset of pastoralism investigated using mammal‐derived molecular markers trapped in sediments. Results The Moving Split Window revealed a distinct assemblage of plant species confined to settlement areas, extending up to 200 m. Of the 92 plant species surveyed, 12 settlement indicator plant species were identified, including both endemic and disturbance‐associated taxa. Three disturbance‐associated taxa with broad Eurasian distributions were strongly associated with settlement habitats. Structural equation models showed species richness increased with diversity but declined slightly with elevation; distance from settlements had a minor positive effect. In contrast, vegetation cover increased significantly with distance. Biomarker data revealed two distinct phases of elevated herbivore presence: early phase from approximately 17–13 ka BP, followed by a substantial decline until around 6.5 ka BP, after which herbivore activity resumes and steadily increases alongside grazing‐indicator sporo‐pollen types. Conclusions Human settlements have a significant edge effect and alter the surrounding native vegetation. Settlement‐associated indicator species are consistent with long‐standing human impacts, suggesting a potentially human‐facilitated floristic legacy since the mid‐to‐late Holocene.
ABSTRACT Aims Wooded meadows are species‐rich seminatural grasslands historically maintained by haymaking and selective retention of scattered trees, but have largely been abandoned or afforested across northern Europe. We describe how the field layer changed over a century after abandonment. Location Southern Sweden. Methods We quantified century‐scale changes in field‐layer vegetation (1921–2024) in permanent plots within a wooded meadow, protected in 1923 and left to undergo natural succession without management. One cohort of six plots was established in 1921 and another with 22 in 1937. Results Pooled species richness across the two plot systems declined by about 70% over the study period, from a mean of 89 species in the initial surveys to 26 species in 2024, with the steepest losses occurring early in succession. Ordination analyses showed that this decline was driven by directional compositional change associated with canopy closure, with grassland specialists ( Trifolium pratense , Rhinanthus minor ) showing strongly negative ordination scores (< −0.7); light‐demanding species had 2.7 times higher odds of local extinction per unit increase in light index. The main winners were not classic shade‐tolerant understorey herbs, but spring geophytes ( Anemone nemorosa , Convallaria majalis ) that complete their annual life cycle before canopy leaf‐out, suggesting that vernal phenology and temporal niche partitioning underpin survival under closed deciduous canopies. Conclusion Meadow abandonment triggers a rapid loss of grassland species, while few forest specialists colonise despite a century of succession. The understorey remains species‐poor, dominated by spring geophytes that escape shade through early phenology rather than tolerating it. Such century‐scale unmanaged trajectories are rare, essential for understanding successional dynamics, and merit protection from intervention.
