Human activity has greatly increased the amount of biologically available nitrogen entering the natural environment. Addition of N can affect growth of and competitive interactions between native and invasive plants, thus increasing or decreasing the risk of invasion by alien species. Bidens frondosa is an invasive weed native to North America that recently has begun to spread in China. The influence of soil nutrient content on B. frondosa invasion has not yet been reported. In a common garden experiment, we compared the growth and competitive effects between B. frondosa and its co-occurring native congeners — B. tripartita and B. biternata — under three N levels (0 g m^-2, 1 g m^-2, 5 g m^-2) to assess whether increased levels of N modifies risk of B. frondosa invasion. Our results showed that while N additions increased both the growth and competitive advantage of B. frondosa as compared with that of the native congener species, results are particularly pronounced under high N levels. While growth responses to N addition varied little among invasive populations under high N levels, the competitive effect of B. frondosa did vary among populations and was significantly greater than that of the congeners. Anthropogenic N additions are likely to increase risks of B. frondosa invasions. Thus, management efforts should focus on the reduction of N input to ecosystems to mitigate invasions by B. frondosa.

Quantifying the pattern of habitat distribution for range plant species can assist sustainable planning of rangeland use and management. However, data of plant species distribution are often scarce and modeling of habitat distribution using commonly used models is difficult. In this study, the Maximum Entropy Method (MaxEnt) was used to model the distribution of plant habitat to find the effective variables in plant species occurrence in the Poshtkouh rangelands on Yazd province, central Iran. Maps of the environmental variables were generated using GIS and Geostatistics facilities. Accuracy of model output was assessed using area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic and keeping 30 percent of the data. Evaluation of model accuracy by AUC indicated good and acceptable predictive accuracy for all plant species habitats, except Artemisia sieberi which had high frequency. The predictive maps of Artemisia aucheri, Scariola orientalis — Astragalus albispinus, A. sieberi₂ and A. sieberi — Zygophyllum eurypterum had fair agreement with their corresponding observed maps. In addition, the accuracy of S. orientalis — A. sieberi and Tamarix ramosissima predictive maps was low and the estimated conformity rate of prediction and observed maps was poor. In fact, due to differences in the optimal ecological range, level of agreement of predictive and observed maps at each site was different. MaxEnt was substantially excellent to predict distributions of plant species habitat with narrow ecological niches e.g. Rheum ribes — A. sieberi, Seidlitzia rosmarinus and Cornulaca monacantha. It can also perform well with fairly few samples due to employing regularization.

Although urea is the simplest N-containing organic compound ubiquitous in all aquatic environments, its role in N-nutrition of planktonic biota and relevance for eutrophication of freshwater ecosystems is still insufficiently defined and often bypassed. The dynamics of production of autochthonous urea as well as maximal potential net ureolytic activity (net URA V_max) of phyto- and bacterioplakton were studied in mesocosm experiment and verified during the field studies conducted in the Great Mazurian Lake system (GMLS). Analysis of the obtained results revealed that the proteins were the main autochthonous urea precursors. Urea concentration in the studied mesocosms and in GMLS surface waters was positively correlated with flagellate, ciliate and crustacean biomass and, less evidently, with bacterial biomass (BB). In surface waters of GMLS net URA V_max, similarly as urea concentrations, increased with their trophic status. Analysis of correlation of potential ureolytic activity with chlorophyll_a, (Chl_a) BB and L-leucine aminopeptidase activity (AMP) in lakes of different trophic status suggests that although both groups of planktonic microorganisms participated in urea decomposition processes, in eutrophic ones bacterial decomposition of urea is more evident. In highly eutrophic lakes excess of phosphorus induced higher nitrogen requirement resulting in the increase in protein decomposition rate. Intensified protein degradation resulted faster urea production, which finally induced higher ureolytic activity of planktonic microorganisms. In profundal waters of GMLS potential ureolytic activity was distinctly lower than in surface waters. This was caused by low temperature of hypolymnetic waters, inhibitory effect of hydrogen sulphide and lack of phytoplankton, which is known as a primary urea consumer.

Light environments can have a considerable influence on how plants respond to defoliation through influencing the biomass allocation patterns and internal C/N ratio. Seedlings of Lolium perenne, a common perennial grass species, were grown for eight weeks under three different light environments (natural light, red light and shading) and two different defoliation treatments (no defoliation versus 50% aboveground biomass removal). This study was conducted to examine (1) the effects of light regimes and defoliation on biomass accumulation, biomass allocation and internal C/N ratio status in plants; (2) how the light regimes influence the pattern of compensatory growth after defoliation; and (3) the relationship between compensatory growth and the internal C/N ratio status. We found that red light altered the shoot-to-root allometry, enhanced the leaf C concentrations and induced N deficiency. By contrast, the leaf N concentrations of L. perenne were greater during shading treatment, which simultaneously enhanced shoot growth and stopped root growth. Under defoliation, red light increased shoot growth, not at the expense of root growth, which was not the same as in natural light and shading treatment. Moreover, regardless of the unclipped (no defoliation) and defoliation conditions, the L. perenne biomass partitioning between roots and shoots was significantly correlated with the leaf N concentrations and C/N ratio, indicating that allometric biomass allocation can be largely modulated by signals related to the C and N status of the plants. These results demonstrated that the leaf C and N status would be an appropriate indicator of compensatory growth after defoliation.

The capacity of plants to occupy different habitats is made possible by the plastic responses of their presenting in heterogeneous habitats. Light directly influences the plastic responses of plant architectural traits. We measured five years-old saplings of Chinese cork oak growing in different light intensity habitats (forest edge, forest gap and understory). A suite of architectural and leaf morphological attributes indicated a pronounced ability of Chinese cork oak to adapt to shade. Under low light intensity habitats, Chinese cork oak had a significant tendency to invest more in crown growth, characterized by the highest crown area, the lowest crown length ratio and the largest angle of the inclination of the main stem to the vertical. It expressed marked plagiotropic growth in shade indicating a horizontal light-foraging strategy. In addition, Chinese cork oak significantly exhibited the highest specific leaf area and the lowest total leaf area under low light intensity habitats. In shade, they showed some plasticity in displaying most of their leaf area at the top of the crown to minimize self-shading and to enhance light interception. This differentiation can be defined as a plastic phenomenon, likely related to the higher efficiency of light interception and absorption by saplings.

Linking the response of tree growth to global warming is a key to fully appreciating the impact of climate change on forests. To examine the impacts of temperature and precipitation on tree growth, we studied the radial growth of Pinus tabulaeformis along an altitude gradient from 2032 m a.s.l. to 2361 m a.s.l. on the Helan Mountains, which is almost the northwestern limit of P. tabulaeformis distribution in China. The results showed that, radial growth of P. tabulaeformis decreased significantly (P <0.05) at the low altitude (2032 m a.s.l.) and remained almost steady at the middle and high altitude (2200 m a.s.l. and 2361 m a.s.l.) during the past decades, which was attributed to different climate-radial growth relationships at different altitudes. Total precipitation from the previous July to the current June was an important and effective climatic factor for radial growth at all altitudes. Radial growth was negatively correlated with the mean temperature of the current March at the low altitude and was positively and negatively correlated with the mean temperature of the previous October and the current July at the high altitude, respectively. Increasing temperature of the March under the context of global warming was the main reason for growth reduction at the low altitude. Radial growth at the middle and high altitudes didn't suffer from global warming. It was inferred that conifers at low altitudes of the species' dry distribution limit were more vulnerable to global warming. To cope with possible intensified drought in the growing season and growth reduction in the future, thinning and afforestation should be carried out in the forests, especially at low altitudes.

Flower colour polymorphism is attributed to pollinator or non-pollinator mediated selection. Geranium nepalense has common white morph and very rare pink morph. We compared pollinator visitation frequencies, temperature and soil moisture between two morphs in the mixed morph population. We also compared morph ratio and reproductive success between white and pink flower individuals. Our results indicated that no visitor groups were different between two colour morphs. But visitor groups differed in visits between two years. Halictidae preferred pink morph in the year of 2012 but showed no discrimination in 2014, whereas Syrphidae preferred white morph in 2014 but no discrimination in 2012. Overall, pink morph produced more seeds than white morph, but exhibited variation between two years. However, visitor discrimination was not the main cause of the difference in female fitness. Soil moisture was not different between two colour morphs. Temperature of white morph was lower than pink in evening but not different in morning and noon. The results indicated that non-pollinator factors may exert the selective pressure to maintain the flower colour polymorphism in this species. Although pollinators did not exert selection on the flower colour polymorphism, we suggest that they provided potential pollination environment of fluctuating selection to drive flower colour evolution if visitors were limited.

Earthworms, as ecosystem engineers, strongly regulate microbial activities and microorganism-mediated processes in the soil; their effects differ among species and ecological groups. Lumbricids are suggested to have density-dependent regulation of species populations, but it is not known whether their effects on soil processes are density-dependent. In a field experiment, litter/soil microcosms contained monocultures of five common lumbricid species belonging to epigeic, anecic and endogeic ecological groups, at various density levels. After 6 and 15 weeks, respiration rates of soil systems were measured and (after subtraction of approximately calculated earthworm respiration) microbial respiration rates estimated. In the presence of earthworms, respiration of soil systems tended to increase. After 6 weeks, this increment was explained by earthworm's own respiration. However, after 15 weeks earthworm respiration comprised 12–80% of the respiration increment; hence, microbial respiration was stimulated by earthworm activities. In any earthworm species, total community and microbial respiration were correlated with its density increase. However, specific respiration increments (per unit earthworm biomass) were not significantly affected by lumbricid density. The lack of density-dependent patterns indicates a weak impact of lumbricid intraspecific interactions on soil respiration. However, specific respiration increments and stimulation of microbial respiration varied across earthworm species, being higher for endogeic than for epigeic/anecic species. This is explained by a relatively lower microbial grazing by endogeics and a depletion of litter (a resource and environment for the microbial community) by epigeic/anecic earthworms. Overall, the results support the view that microbial community adapts to the presence of earthworms by switching to a smaller, but a more active one.

Agricultural practices in organic farming theoretically are supposed to lead to higher diversity and activity of soil organisms, which correlates with the stability or resilience of the soil system. In a 3-year study, we tested that hypothesis by comparing the nematode abundance, genera composition and community structure in the soil of winter wheat crop under organic and conventional management.

We found the soil type to be a stronger predictor for the total nematodes abundance than the farming system itself. In both systems nematode densities were higher in the sandy than in the clayey soil. Total abundance of nematodes was significantly higher in the organic than conventional farm only in sandy soil and only in the autumn. Significantly more plant feeders was observed in organic than in the conventional crops regardless the soil type. In the clayey soil more bacterial feeders were found in the conventional farm, while in the sandy soil — in the organic one.

Nematode generic richness was higher in the organic (a range of 15–35 genera) than in the conventional crops (a range of 15–29) on most sampling dates. Higher generic diversity (H') in the organic crop than in conventional was found for total nematodes in the clayey soil, and for hyphal feeders in sandy soil. H' for plant feeders were higher under organic than conventional system in both types of soil.

In both farming systems bacterial feeding genera (Rhabditis, Panagrolaimus, Cephalobus and Acrobeloides) dominated in the communities. Plant feeders and omnivores were found among dominant genera only in the clayey soil, first under both systems, the latter only in the organic crops.

The evaluation based on the ecological indices such as Maturity Index, Plant Parasite Index, Enrichment and Structure Index, and ratios between nematode trophic groups, showed that nematode communities under both farming systems most of the time were low matured and the soil food webs strongly disturbed.

We studied the species richness, diversity, abundance and guild composition of spider assemblages on the hummocks and in the hollows of the alder carr in the Białowieża National Park. We also assessed the effect of vegetation structure and soil humidity on spiders settled in these two microhabitats. The spiders were collected from 10 May until 27 October 2001 by pitfall trapping. The main factor which differed between the hummocks and the hollows was soil humidity. In the case of vegetation cover we found some differences between the microhabitats but it was particularly evident in the case of litter, which was higher on the hummocks. Spider species diversity was significantly higher on the hummocks than in the hollows, but the number of individuals captured in both microhabitats was similar. The collected spiders belonged to six guilds and the proportion of spider individuals in particular guilds was significantly different between the hummocks and the hollows. The most abundant guild in both microhabitats was ‘ground hunters’ and the most numerous species was Piratula hygrophila. Our analyses showed that soil humidity positively affected the number of spider species and the number of individuals. Sampling date strongly influenced the number of collected species and spider individuals. Vegetation and litter cover did not have a significant impact on the spider assemblages. Our findings suggest that research conducted only on hummocks in the alder carr does not reveal the real structure of spider assemblages.

Spiders are considered to be sensitive to habitat pollution, but the effect of sulphur contamination on spider communities is poorly known and studied, although the impact of sulphur can be realized by the changes of soils and forest community. This work examined the diversity of ground-dwelling spiders in sulphur-contaminated habitat among three types of studied biotopes (deforested area, thicket, spruce forest) in the area of the Karkonosze Mountains (Sudetes Mountain System) in Poland. In the late 1970s and 1980s, a large-area forest decline in Sudetes Mountains, mainly derived from industrial emissions caused drastic changes in abiotic environment leading to the fundamental forest ecosystem transformation. The results of these damages were studied directly after the forest decline took place. Nowadays, more than 20 years after the ecological disaster, 13 sites were chosen according to habitat type to study the long-term impact of sulphur on spiders. The sites with high and low sulphur content in soil were not significantly different with regard to spider species diversity, although the most deforested sites were characterized by the lower values of sulphur. The only significant positive correlation found was the dependence between spiders' diversity and plant richness. All studied habitats were characterized by different community structure, although thickets was the most diverse with predomination of Linyphiids and Lycosids.

Individual marking is necessary for determining various elements of species ecology, but toe-clipping — a method frequently used in amphibian studies, is recently being questioned. Three water bodies (of 0.3 to 1.5 ha in size) used by common Bufo bufo for breeding, located within a large city (Warsaw, Central Poland), were chosen for the study. Captured toads had Passive Integrated Transponders (PIT) subcutaneously implanted under laboratory conditions. Marked toads were searched in consecutive breeding seasons. The recapture rate of males in particular ponds was up to 13% — much lower than in other studies carried out in non-urban habitats. 77% of re-trapped individuals were found in the next season after tagging. There were no differences in the frequency of re-trapped individuals in relation to the toe-clipping treatment, as some marked individuals had part of the toe (two phalanges) clipped for skelotochronological analyses. An individual from this group was observed to have regenerated the clipped toe after one year. We did not find any indication of better body condition among the re-trapped individuals when comparing them to the marked toads at the time they were first captured. The important advantage of PIT tagging is the fact that all individuals are marked in the same way and their handling is similar. This makes it possible to compare various demographic parameters (growth rate, survival etc.). In addition, the number of animals that can be permanently marked using PITs is several times higher than through the use of codes resulting from the clipping of fingers and toes.

Invasive alien species are considered to be one of the most important causes for the extinction and the reason for diminishing of the wild native species. Considering that nowadays the raccoon (Procyon lotor, Linnaeus 1758) is found in several European and Asian countries where it can amplification its ranges remarkably, but it is actually native to North and Central America. Here, we use the Maxent model to generate a preliminary map of the potential distribution of the raccoon around the world and enumerate its relative risk of invasion across all countries. In a study, MaxEnt predicted a significantly large area as the eco-climatically suitable habitat for the raccoon in the world. The predicted habitats are consistent with the wide-ranging habitat associations of the raccoon in its well-established sites. The results identified the hotspots of the raccoon invasion and indicated the possible dispersal pathways. Results also showed that both precipitation and temperature variables were strongly correlated with the raccoon distribution and the species would be absent in cold environments with average sub-zero temperatures.