Iwona Dembicz

Iwona Dembicz
University of Warsaw | UW · Department of Ecology and Environmental Conservation

PhD

About

215
Publications
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Publications

Publications (215)
Article
Full-text available
We compiled a list of the known maxima of vascular plant species richness in the steppe zone of Ukraine at different sampling scales (0.0001-100 m²) and compared them with the world records. Detailed information on each of the identified species-rich grassland plots is provided, including site descriptions, plot characteristics, coordinates, and sp...
Article
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During a recent expedition of the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group in the steppes of southern Ukraine, we discovered on sand dunes a new sterile crustose aspicilioid lichen with rhizomorphs. It is described here as new to science under the name Circinaria ucrainica ( Megasporaceae ). The new combination Circinaria reptans (Looman) Khodos. & Darmostuk i...
Article
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While sampling the vegetation of the semi-natural grasslands with the EDGG standard methodology on the Swedish island of Gotland, the terricolous lichen species Cladonia homosekikaica Nuno from the C. pyxidata-chlorophaea complex was found in 2022. This is the first record of this species from Sweden. We provide here detailed information on its dif...
Article
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This Long Database Report describes the historical background and current contents of the Nordic-Baltic Grassland Vegetation Database (NBGVD) (GIVD-code EU-00-002). NBGVD is the EDGG-associated collaborative vegetation-plot database that collects vegetation-plot data of grasslands and other open habitats (except segetal and deep aquatic vegetation)...
Article
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Aim: To provide the first syntaxonomic, plot-based classification of the dry grasslands and thorn-cushion communities in Armenia. Study area: Armenia. Methods: We sampled 111 vegetation plots (10 m²) and recorded environmental and structural parameters. We collected additional 487 relevés from surrounding countries for a broad-scale comparison. We...
Article
Centuries of gold-arsenic ore mining activities in Czarnów village within the Evelinens glück mine (SW Poland) have left an enduring impact on the local environment, characterized by distinct geochemical anomalies and contamination in water and plants. We have comprehensively investigated the spatial distribution of arsenic and metals in soils, pla...
Article
Full-text available
Considering the growing demand for plant trait data and taking into account the lack of trait data from Eastern Europe, especially from its steppic region, we launched a new Ukrainian Plant Trait Database (UkrTrait v. 1.0) aiming at collecting all the available plant trait data from Ukraine. To facilitate further use of this database, we linked the...
Article
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Questions European steppes are among the most threatened ecosystems in the Palaearctic region, mainly because of conversion to arable land. Abandonment may allow for the passive recovery of steppes. We made use of an exceptional old‐field succession chronosequence of nearly 100 years to answer the following questions: (a) Are the plant species comp...
Technical Report
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Dear members of the GrassPlot Consortium, With this second Newsletter of this year, we would like to update you on recent developments of our database. Not overly much has happened in the past half of a year, which was a busy field season for all of us like probably most of you. However, stay tuned for many upcoming exciting new paper projects, whi...
Article
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Civilizations, including ancient ones, have shaped global ecosystems in many ways through coevolution of landscapes and humans. However, the cultural legacies of ancient and lost civilizations are rarely considered in the conservation of the Eurasian steppe biome. We used a data set containing more than 1000 records on localities, land cover, prote...
Article
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Question : We explored the error resulting from different methods for recording the cover of plants in vegetation plots, specifically the direct estimation of percent cover vs. the use of ordinal cover scales (7-step Braun-Blanquet and 5-step Hult-Sernander-Du Rietz). Methods : We simulated 121 plant species of different cover, sampled with 13 diff...
Article
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This paper presents two sampling-event datasets with occurrences of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens collected in May-June 2021 in southern Ukraine. We aimed to collect high-quality biodiversity data in an understudied region and contribute it to international databases and networks. The study was carried out during the 15th Eurasian Dry Gra...
Article
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The dataset contains the records of vascular plant species occurrences and distribution in old cemeteries (OC) of the Lower Dnipro region (Southern Ukraine). The analysed cemeteries were located in different types of landscapes (agricultural, rural and urban) and represent various ways of using their area (currently used, closed, abandoned). The fl...
Article
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This work is a long-term outcome of an international Ukrainian-Polish teamwork, aiming to assess the role of ancient settlements for steppe conservation and protection. The dataset contains georeferenced occurrences of vascular plant species on 18 ancient settlements (Lower Dnipro, southern Ukraine), collected during the 2015-2020 period. Additiona...
Article
Full-text available
The dataset contains the records of vascular plant species occurrences and distribution on Ukrainian kurgans (burial mounds, barrows), located in various zones of steppe vegetation: desert steppe, grass steppe, herb-rich grass steppe and forest steppe. Much of the studied kurgans belongs to the territory historically known as the “Wild Fields”. Bes...
Preprint
Full-text available
This work is the long-term outcome of an international Ukrainian-Polish team work, aiming to assess the role of ancient settlements for steppe conservation and protection. The dataset contains georeferenced occurrences of vascular plant species on 18 ancient settlements (Lower Dnipro, Southern Ukraine), collected during 2015-2020 period. Additional...
Preprint
Full-text available
The dataset contains the records of vascular plant species occurrences and distribution in old cemeteries (OC) of the Lower Dnipro region (Southern Ukraine). The analysed cemeteries are located in different types of landscapes (agricultural, rural and urban), and represent various ways of using their area (currently used, closed, abandoned). The fl...
Article
Full-text available
Introduction Overgrazing and warming are thought to be responsible for the loss of species diversity, declined ecosystem productivity and soil nutrient availability of degraded grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau. Mineral elements in soils critically regulate plant individual’s growth, performance, reproduction, and survival. However, it is still unc...
Article
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The inneralpine dry valleys of the Swiss Alps are characterized by subcontinental climate, leading to many peculiarities in dry grassland species composition. Despite their well-known uniqueness, comprehensive studies on biodiversity patterns of the dry grasslands in these valleys were still missing. To close this gap, we sampled 161 10-m² vegetati...
Preprint
Full-text available
Civilisations including ancient ones, have shaped the global ecosystems in many ways through a co-evolution of landscapes and humans. However, the cultural legacies of ancient and lost civilisations are seldom considered in conservation. Here using a continental-scale dataset containing over 1,000 data records on the localities, land cover, protect...
Article
Full-text available
Aim: Understanding the variation in community composition and species abundances (i.e., β-diversity) is at the heart of community ecology. A common approach to examine β-diversity is to evaluate directional variation in community composition by measuring the decay in the similarity among pairs of communities along spatial or environmental distance...
Article
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Species abundance distributions (SADs) link species richness with species abundances and are an important tool in the quantitative analysis of ecological communities. Niche‐based and sample‐based SAD models predict different spatial scaling properties of SAD parameters. However, empirical research on SAD scaling properties is largely missing. Here...
Article
Questions Although bryophytes play an important role in grassland ecosystems, environmental factors that drive bryophyte assemblages were rarely studied, especially in low‐intensity traditional grasslands. Therefore, using fine‐scale data on bryophyte assemblages in traditionally managed secondary grasslands, we studied the relative importance of s...
Article
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The 15th EDGG Field Workshop took place from 24 May to 3 June 2021 in Southern Ukraine (Kherson and Mykolaiv administrative regions). Over 10 days, we sampled different types of grasslands, mainly focusing on dry grasslands of the classes Festuco-Brometea, Koelerio-Corynephoretea canescentis, and Festuco-Puccinellietea (steppic, sandy and saline, r...
Article
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We report the first record of Torilis pseudonodosa Bianca (Apiaceae) from Ukraine. It was found on 28th of May 2021 in the “Potiivska” section of the Black Sea Biosphere Reserve near the village of Zaliznyi Port (Southern Ukraine). Torilis pseudonodosa previously was known from various countries in the Mediterranean Basin and Western Asia, but not...
Article
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Aims : To quantify how fine-grain (within-plot) beta diversity differs among biomes and vegetation types. Study area : Palaearctic biogeographic realm. Methods : We extracted 4,654 nested-plot series with at least four different grain sizes between 0.0001 m² and 1,024 m² from the GrassPlot database spanning broad geographic and ecological gradients...
Article
Full-text available
Aims : To quantify how fine-grain (within-plot) beta diversity differs among biomes and vegetation types. Study area : Palaearctic biogeographic realm. Methods : We extracted 4,654 nested-plot series with at least four different grain sizes between 0.0001 m² and 1,024 m² from the GrassPlot database spanning broad geographic and ecological gradients...
Article
Full-text available
Changes in natural landscapes and economic activities lead to the loss of a large proportion of the steppes. Recent studies (2008–2017) have demonstrated the high importance of old cemeteries, that contribute to the preservation of steppe red-listed steppe species. The area of the old cemeteries of the Lower Dnieper varies from 0.43 ha to 6.79 ha....
Article
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Aims : To clarify the syntaxonomic position of the grasslands in Navarre, with special focus on the dry grasslands, and to characterise the resulting syntaxonomic units in terms of diagnostic species and ecological conditions. Study area : Navarre (northern Spain). Methods : We sampled 119 plots of 10 m ² following the standardised EDGG methodology...
Article
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Aims : We studied the syntaxonomic position, biodiversity, ecological features, nature conservation value and current status of dry grasslands investigated by Josias Braun-Blanquet more than 60 years ago. Study area : Inner-alpine valleys of Austria. Methods : We sampled 67 plots of 10 m ² , following the standardized EDGG methodology. We subjected...
Article
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Aims Understanding fine-grain diversity patterns across large spatial extents is fundamental for macroecological research and biodiversity conservation. Using the GrassPlot database, we provide benchmarks of fine-grain richness values of Palaearctic open habitats for vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens and complete vegetation (i.e., the sum of the...
Article
Full-text available
Questions: Which environmental factors influence fine-grain beta diversity of vegetation and do they vary among taxonomic groups? Location: Palaearctic biogeographic realm. Methods: We extracted 4,654 nested-plot series with at least four different grain sizes between 0.0001 m² and 1,024 m² from the GrassPlot database, covering a wide range of di...