TY - JOUR A1 - Moradi, H. A1 - Fakheran, S. A1 - Peintinger, M. A1 - Bergamini, A. A1 - Schmid, B. A1 - Joshi, Jasmin Radha T1 - Profiteers of environmental change in the Swiss Alps increase of thermophilous and generalist plants in wetland ecosystems within the last 10 years JF - Alpine botany N2 - It has been predicted that Europe will experience a rise in temperature of 2.2-5.3 A degrees C within this century. This increase in temperature may lead to vegetation change along altitudinal gradients. To test whether vegetation composition has already changed in the recent decade due to current warming (and other concomitant environmental changes), we recorded plant species composition in 1995 and 2005/2006 in Swiss pre-alpine fen meadows (800-1,400 m a.s.l.). Despite no obvious changes in the management of these fens, overall, plant species richness (cumulative number of plant species at five plots per site) significantly increased over this period. This was mainly due to an increase in the number of thermophilous, rich-soil-indicator and shade-indicator species, which corresponded to increased community productivity and shading within the vegetation layer. In contrast, fen specialists significantly declined in species numbers. The strongest species shifts occurred at the lowest sites, which overall had a higher colonization rate by new species than did sites at higher altitudes. Vegetation change along the altitudinal gradient was also affected by different types of land management: early-flowering species and species with low habitat specificity had high colonization rates in grazed fens, especially at low altitudes. KW - Altitudinal gradient KW - Fen meadows KW - Global change KW - Multi-factorial environmental change KW - Land management KW - Vegetation change KW - Land use Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00035-012-0102-3 SN - 1664-2201 VL - 122 IS - 1 SP - 45 EP - 56 PB - Springer CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lischeid, Gunnar A1 - Kalettka, Thomas T1 - Grasping the heterogeneity of kettle hole water quality in Northeast Germany JF - Hydrobiologia : acta hydrobiologica, hydrographica, limnologica et protistologica N2 - In the young moraine landscape in Northeast Germany, small glacially created ponds, the so-called kettle holes, are very abundant. They exhibit large spatial heterogeneity, seemingly rendering each kettle hole unique. However, this would not be consistent with any scientific approach. Thus, a classification scheme has been developed for kettle holes in Northeast Germany based on morphology, hydrodynamics and connection to stream networks of the kettle holes as well as size, topography and land use of the respective catchment. These indices are assumed to be related both to water quality as well as to biological issues of the kettle holes. Starting in the mid-1990s, an extensive monitoring program has been established in the federal state of Brandenburg, Germany. In this study, a subset comprising 1,316 samples from 79 kettle holes was analysed, where 21 parameters had been determined. Sampling intervals varied widely, and were between bi-weekly and three-monthly at most sites. A nonlinear principal component analysis was performed. The first four components explained 90% of the variance. These components seem to provide quantitative measures of phosphorus release from the sediments during hypoxic periods, agricultural solute input, algae primary production, and geogenic compounds. This allowed differentiating between the natural and anthropogenic impact factors on water quality. In addition, scores of single components were related to properties of the kettle holes and their environments. The results contribute to a better understanding of biological and biogeochemical processes and can be used to verify the effects of conservation and management strategies for kettle holes. KW - Kettle holes KW - Water quality KW - Monitoring KW - Land use KW - Isomap Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-011-0764-7 SN - 0018-8158 SN - 1573-5117 VL - 689 IS - 1 SP - 63 EP - 77 PB - Springer CY - Dordrecht ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Blumroeder, J. A1 - Eccard, Jana A1 - Blaum, Niels T1 - Behavioural flexibility in foraging mode of the spotted sand lizard (Pedioplanis l. lineoocellata) seems to buffer negative impacts of savanna degradation JF - Journal of arid environments N2 - In this field experiment we investigate the impact of land use induced savanna degradation on movement behaviour of the spotted sand lizard (Pedioplanis l. lineoocellata) in the southern Kalahari. Foraging behaviour of lizards was tested in a factorial design (low vs. high prey availability) in degraded and non-degraded habitats. An interaction between habitat structure and prey availability affected movement behaviour. In degraded habitats with low prey availability and in non-degraded habitats with high prey availability the spotted sand lizard moved more like an active forager. In contrast, in degraded habitats with high prey availability and in non-degraded habitats with low prey availability lizards moved like sit-and-wait foragers. Interestingly, the behavioural flexibility of the spotted sand lizard seems to buffer extreme conditions and negative effects of land use impacts. KW - Kalahari KW - Land use KW - Movement ecology KW - Overgrazing KW - Shrub encroachment Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.10.005 SN - 0140-1963 VL - 77 IS - 2 SP - 149 EP - 152 PB - Elsevier CY - London ER -