Jürgen Dengler

Zurich University of Applied Sciences | ZHAW · Institute of Natural Resource Sciences (IUNR)

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...

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...

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...

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...

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. We p...

Ecological theory posits that temporal stability patterns in plant populations are associated with differences in species ecological strategies. However, empirical evidence is lacking about which traits, or trade-offs, underlie species stability, specially across different ecosystems. To address this, we compiled a global collection of long-term pe...

With this editorial, we introduce the Special Collection “Classification of grasslands and other open vegetation types in the Palaearctic”. Searching the Web of Science for classification papers on Palaearctic grasslands, we found 207 studies from 1972–2021, including 106 typical classification works. These studies originated mainly from Europe, wi...

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 of SAD scaling properties is largely missing. Here,...

Vegetation-plot resurvey data are a main source of information on terrestrial biodiversity change, with records reaching back more than one century. Although more and more data from re-sampled plots have been published, there is not yet a comprehensive open-access dataset available for analysis. Here, we compiled and harmonised vegetation-plot resu...

Im September 2021 kamen wieder Dutzende von Freund/-innen der Biodiversität zusammen, um auf dem Campus Grüental aufregende Entdeckungen zu machen. Mittels sieben verschiedener Kartiergruppen konnte die Gesamtartenliste auf 740 Arten erweitert werden. Wir können nur davon träumen, welche Tier- oder Pflanzenarten wir bei der nächsten Durchführung im...

1. Niche filtering predicts that abundant species in communities have similar traits that are suitable for the environment. However, niche filtering can operate on distinct axes of trait variation in response to different ecological conditions. Here, we use a trait-based approach to infer niche filtering processes and (1) test if abundant and rare...

Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we...

The first comprehensive checklist of European phytosociological alliances, orders and classes (EuroVegChecklist) was published by Mucina et al. (2016, Applied Vegetation Science). However, this checklist did not contain detailed information on the distribution of individual vegetation types. Here we provide the first maps of all alliances in Europe...

Analysing temporal patterns in plant communities is extremely important to quantify the extent and the consequences of ecological changes, especially considering the current biodiversity crisis. Long‐term data collected through the regular sampling of permanent plots represent the most accurate resource to study ecological succession, analyse the s...

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...

We report on the completed second volume of Vegetation Classification and Survey (VCS), whose content grew by 41% compared to the first volume. We were able to diversify article types, geographic coverage, authors and editorial team, the latter now consisting of 62 researchers from 29 countries with a female ratio of 31%. Three newly started Specia...

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...

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...

The Asian Grassland Conference (AGC) is a virtual event organised by the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG; www.edgg.org). It is free of charge, owing to the generous support of the International Association for Vegetation Sci-ence (IAVS), the mother organization of EDGG, and the Inner Mongolia University. Due to important cultural and scientific...

Aims : The spring habitats of Central Europe are insular biotopes of high ecological value. Although subject to severe exploitation pressures, they do not yet have a comprehensive protection status in Switzerland. Contributing to this challenge is the controversy involved with their syntaxonomic classification. In the context of the development of...

Ongoing climate warming affects vegetation in multiple ways, although it is difficult to distinguish its influence from other drivers of vegetation change. We studied how forest vegetation in the Albiskette (canton of Zurich, Switzerland), mainly dominated by European beech (Fagus sylvatica), changed from 1993 to 2019, while the mean temperature ro...

Many studies have demonstrated significant alterations in the species composition of grasslands in Central Europe over the past decades due to multiple drivers of anthropogenic environmental change. Most such studies deal with dry, acidic, wet or alpine grassland types, while little is known about changes in mesic grasslands, particularly in urban...

Meso-xeric grasslands have declined sharply in Central Europe during the last century. These species-rich habitats are threatened by intensification or abandonment of agricultural use, eutrophication, climate change and landscape fragmentation. However, different studies in various regions of Central Europe are inconsistent in their findings about...

The Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG; http://www.edgg.org) is a network of re-searchers and conservationists interested in the biodiversity, ecology, conservation and resto-ration of Palaearctic natural and semi-natural grasslands (DENGLER et al. 2021). The main aims of the EDGG are to facilitate research and scientific discussions on any aspect...

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...

Analysing temporal patterns in plant communities is extremely important to quantify the extent and the consequences of ecological changes, especially considering the current biodiversity crisis. Long-term data collected through the regular sampling of permanent plots represent the most accurate resource to study ecological succession, analyse the s...

Assessing biodiversity status and trends in plant communities is critical for understanding, quantifying and predicting the effects of global change on ecosystems. Vegetation plots record the occurrence or abundance of all plant species co‐occurring within delimited local areas. This allows species absences to be inferred, information seldom provid...

Ecological theory is built on trade-offs, where trait differences among species evolved as adaptations to different environments. Trade-offs are often assumed to be bidirectional, where opposite ends of a gradient in trait values confer advantages in different environments. However, unidirectional benefits could be widespread if extreme trait value...

Christensen et al. criticized the application of Beals’ index of sociological favourability to adjust for incomplete species lists when comparing repeated surveys. Their main argument was that using Beals’ conditional occurrence probabilities would systematically underestimate biodiversity change compared to using observed frequencies. Although thi...