Search Results (4)

Woody plants in roadside green spaces of rural settlements provide a wide range of ecosystem functions and services. The study presented in this paper was conducted in three rural settlements in Western Slovakia, representing three different rural landscape types—lowland, basin, and mountainous landscapes. The assessed woody vegetation is situated in diverse settlement structures, with various spatial patterns. A comprehensive woody plant assessment was conducted in selected central streetscapes of three model settlements, examining spatial, compositional, visual, aesthetic, and other values, as well as the characteristics of woody plants. These attributes were clustered according to five main functions and fourteen value parameters and the results were assigned to three quality categories, to objectivise a qualitative woody plant assessment in roadside vegetation structures in the countryside. The findings show the level of suitability of woody plants based on how they fulfil aesthetic, compositional, climate, safety, cultural, and historical functions. Full article

Invasive alien species are considered the second greatest global threat to biodiversity. This study is aimed at determining the impacts of Parthenium hysterophorus on herbaceous and woody plant species diversity in the Ginir district, southeast Ethiopia. Data on vegetation were collected from the three study sites’ four land use types, with each land use type having invaded and non-invaded land units. A systematic random sampling method was used for establishing sampling plots. To examine the impacts of the invasive on native plant diversity, a total of 160 plots (120 plots of 1 m² on grazing lands, roadsides, and abandoned agricultural lands and 40 plots of 20 m² for sampling herbaceous and tree (shrub) species, respectively) were established. The number of plots was equally distributed in both invaded and adjacent non-invaded areas. Plant species from each plot were recorded and identified. In each plot, all the individuals of P. hysterophorus were counted, the heights of the five tallest individuals were measured, and the mean height was calculated. The percentage cover of P. hysterophorus was visually estimated. The data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. A total of 105 plant species (45 trees/shrubs and 60 herbaceous) belonging to 84 genera and 42 families were documented in the study area. The result showed a strong negative relationship between the density of P. hysterophorus and other plant species richness (r = −0.82, p = 0.013) and species abundance (r = −0.917, p = 0.001) per study site of the invaded community. Species richness in the non-invaded site was higher (105 species) than in the invaded area (63 species), demonstrating the negative impact of P. hysterophorus on local biodiversity. Furthermore, the number of plant families was 42 in the non-invaded area, in contrast to only 32 in the invaded areas, a 23.8% decline. Of the plant communities, similarity indices between non-invaded and invaded sites among different land use types were >50%. It was concluded that P. hysterophorus was one of the most dominant invasive alien species in the study area that reduced the species diversity of various plant species. Putting in place a strategy and effective planning for the control and management of this invasive alien species is strongly recommended. Full article

Coastal forested wetlands provide important ecosystem services along the southeastern region of the United States, but are threatened by anthropogenic and natural disturbances. Here, we examined the species composition, mortality, aboveground biomass, and carbon content of vegetation and soils in natural pine forests of the lower coastal plain in eastern North Carolina, USA. We compared a forest clearly in decline (termed “ghost forest”) adjacent to a roadside canal that had been installed as drainage for a road next to an adjacent forest subject to “natural” hydrology, unaltered by human modification (termed “healthy forest”). We also assessed how soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation changed over time using ¹⁴C radiocarbon dating of wood sampled at different depths within the peat profile. Our results showed that the ghost forest had a higher tree density at 687 trees ha⁻¹, and was dominated by swamp bays (Persea palustric), compared to the healthy forest, which had 265 trees ha⁻¹ dominated by pond pine (Pinus serotina Michx). Overstory tree mortality of the ghost forest was nearly ten times greater than the healthy forest (p < 0.05), which actually contributed to higher total aboveground biomass (55.9 ± 12.6 Mg C ha⁻¹ vs. 27.9 ± 8.7 Mg ha⁻¹ in healthy forest), as the dead standing tree biomass (snags) added to that of an encroaching woody shrub layer during ecosystem transition. Therefore, the total aboveground C content of the ghost forest, 33.98 ± 14.8 Mg C ha⁻¹, was higher than the healthy forest, 24.7 ± 5.2 Mg C ha⁻¹ (p < 0.05). The total SOC stock down to a 2.3 m depth in the ghost forest was 824.1 ± 46.2 Mg C ha⁻¹, while that of the healthy forest was 749.0 ± 170.5 Mg C ha⁻¹ (p > 0.05). Carbon dating of organic sediments indicated that, as the sample age approaches modern times (surface layer year 2015), the organic soil accumulation rate (1.11 to 1.13 mm year⁻¹) is unable to keep pace with the estimated rate of recent sea level rise (2.1 to 2.4 mm year⁻¹), suggesting a causative relationship with the ecosystem transition occurring at the site. Increasing hydrologic stress over recent decades appears to have been a major driver of ecosystem transition, that is, ghost forest formation and woody shrub encroachment, as indicated by the far higher overstory tree mortality adjacent to the drainage ditch, which allows the inland propagation of hydrologic/salinity forcing due to SLR and extreme storms. Our study documents C accumulation in a coastal wetland over the past two millennia, which is now threatened due to the recent increase in the rate of SLR exceeding the natural peat accumulation rate, causing an ecosystem transition with unknown consequences for the stored C; however, much of it will eventually be returned to the atmosphere. More studies are needed to determine the causes and consequences of coastal ecosystem transition to inform the modeling of future coastal wetland responses to environmental change and the estimation of regional terrestrial C stocks and flux. Full article

The article is on the effects of woody vegetation growing on the roadside on the temperature of the surface of cycle paths. The main hypothesis of the study is that vegetation has the effect of lowering the temperature of the surroundings in its shadow and thus improves the comfort of users of cycle paths in the summer months. The second hypothesis is to find out which type of road surface is most suitable for the thermal well-being of users. This goal was achieved by measuring the temperature of selected locations on cycle paths with different types of construction surfaces with nearby woody vegetation using a contactless thermometer over several days at regular intervals. The positions of the selected locations were measured using GNSS and the whole locality of interest was photographed using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or drone, and subsequently a digital surface model (DSM) of the area was created using a Structure from Motion (SfM) algorithm. This model served for the calculation of incident solar radiation during the selected days using the Solar Area Graphics tool with ArcGIS software. Subsequently, the effect of the shade of the surrounding vegetation on the temperature during the day was analysed and statistically evaluated. The results are presented in many graphs and their interpretation used to evaluate the effects of nearby woody vegetation and the type of road surface on the surrounding air temperature and the comfort of users of these routes. The results demonstrate the benefits of using UAVs for the purpose of modelling the course of solar radiation during the day, showing the effect of roadside vegetation on reducing the surface temperature of the earth’s surface and thus confirming the need for planting and maintaining such vegetation. Full article