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"Brewer, Stephen"
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Frommer's EasyGuide to Naples, Sorrento & the Amalfi Coast
Covers he dynamic city of Naples (along with nearby Pompeii), the colorful seaside city of Sorrento, and the enchanting Amalfi Coast alongside Capri. The authors are long-recognized and well-acclaimed travel journalists, who have each devoted considerable time to formulating their personal recommendations for these major Italian destinations.
Book
Mesophication of Oak Landscapes
Pyrophytic oak landscapes across the central and eastern United States are losing dominance as shade-tolerant, fire-sensitive, or opportunistic tree species encroach into these ecosystems in the absence of periodic, low-intensity surface fires. Mesophication, a hypothesized process initiated by intentional fire exclusion by which these encroaching species progressively create conditions favorable for their own persistence at the expense of pyrophytic species, is commonly cited as causing this structural and compositional transition. However, many questions remain regarding mesophication and its role in declining oak dominance. In the present article, we review support and key knowledge gaps for the mesophication hypothesis. We then pose avenues for future research that consider which tree species and tree traits create self-perpetuating conditions and under what conditions tree-level processes might affect forest flammability at broader scales. Our goal is to promote research that can better inform restoration and conservation of oak ecosystems experiencing structural and compositional shifts across the region.
Journal Article
Venice day by day
10 favorite moments -- The best full-day tours -- The best special-interest tours -- The best neighborhood walks -- The best shopping -- The best of the outdoors -- The best dining -- The best nightlife -- The best arts & entertainment -- The best lodging -- The best day trips & excursions -- The savvy traveler.
Book
Aboveground versus soil‐mediated effects of an invasive grass on fire‐dependent forbs in an oak woodland
Most work on plant competition intensity in general has focused on how aboveground and belowground competition for resources between plants changes with soil resource availability. In contrast, much work on the competitive effects of non‐native invasive species on native species has focused on other mechanisms (e.g., allelopathy and microbial changes) and has largely ignored how these effects interact with mechanisms of resource competition along productivity gradients. We examined aboveground effects of an invasive grass, Microstegium vimineum, along with soil differences between invaded and non‐invaded areas on two native perennial herbs at a productive and an unproductive oak woodland site in north Mississippi, USA. We transplanted 32 individuals each of Helianthus silphioides and Potentilla simplex from uninvaded areas into natural patches dominated by M. vimineum at each of the sites. Each transplant was randomly assigned to a pot with either native soil or soil from around M. vimineum roots. Aboveground competition was manipulated by securing M. vimineum shoots in a non‐shading position around the transplant. We monitored survival of all transplants weekly in the growing seasons of 2020 and 2021. Transplant survival of H. silphioides was lowest in M. vimineum soil at the more productive site when M. vimineum was not pinned back. Transplant survival of P. simplex was lower at the more productive site but was mostly unresponsive to pinning and soil treatments. Synthesis. Our results suggest that soil‐mediated legacy effects of an invader may reduce some native species' ability to compete for light at productive sites. Most work on plant competition intensity has focused on how aboveground and belowground competition for resources between plants changes with soil resource availability, while work on the competitive effects of non‐native invasive species on native species has focused on non‐resource‐related mechanisms (e.g., allelopathy) and has largely ignored how these effects interact with other mechanisms of competition along productivity gradients. We examined aboveground and soil‐mediated legacy effects of an invasive grass, Japanese stilt grass, Microstegium vimineum, on two native perennial herbs at a productive and an unproductive oak woodland site in north Mississippi, USA. Transplant survival of the Ozark sunflower, Helianthus silphioides, was lowest in M. vimineum soil at the more productive site when M. vimineum was not pinned back, while transplant survival of the common cinquefoil, Potentilla simplex, was lower at the more productive site but did not show a statistically significant response to competition treatments, suggesting that soil‐mediated legacy effects of an invader have the potential to reduce some native species' ability to compete for light, especially at productive sites.
Journal Article
Mechanisms of fire‐maintained plant species diversity in species‐rich wet pine savannas
Temperate savannas and grasslands maintained by frequent, low‐intensity disturbances such as fire contain among the most species‐rich plant communities in the world. Precisely how these disturbances maintain such high fine‐scale diversity is poorly understood. This study examined the effects of the frequency of simulated fire (clipping combined with litter removal) and the relative importance of recruitment and survival on species diversity and trait and species composition at each of two pine savannas in southeastern Mississippi (USA) that had not been recently burned. Ten 2 × 2 m plots at each site were clipped/cleared annually from 2014 to 2019 and again in spring 2021 (annual frequency). The other 10 clipping plots were not clipped from 2018 to 2020 (reduced frequency). Vegetation in small subplots in annual frequency and reduced frequency plots was compared in August 2021 to test the effects of a short period without clipping on diversity and composition. To test the relative importance of recruitment and survival on diversity and composition, four 0.25 × 0.25 m quarter plots were established within each of 10 annual frequency plots per site following a clipping treatment in fall 2019 and assigned a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of transplantation of sods from long‐unburned areas and herbicide application. Reducing the frequency of clipping reduced plant diversity and altered composition at both sites. A comparison of diversity and trait composition responses to transplant and herbicide treatments revealed how recruitment and survival combined to affect species diversity. Partial or complete recovery of diversity following clipping and litter removal at both sites was driven by rapid increases in short‐lived, resilient species that show fire‐stimulated emergence from a seed bank and the persistence of long‐lived species capable of surviving the prolonged period without fire or clipping. Species with reduced resilience and persistence were more likely to be lost in the reduced frequency treatment. Results are consistent with a model of short‐term coexistence of maximum species diversity maintained by the most frequent fire regime fuels will permit.
Journal Article
Frommer's Athens and the Greek Islands
The recent economic crisis in Greece has, paradoxically enough, created better travel conditions for tourism. The Greeks are painfully aware that tourism is their best-functioning remaining industry. They value the visitor as never before, treat them with a warmth and courtesy that exceeds what you{u2019}ll find in other parts of Europe. And more people are therefore coming here in unprecedented numbers. Includes information on the historic sights of Athens and the adjoining Peloponnese, as well as the recreational resorts and life of the enchanting Greek islands.
Book
Plant behavior and coexistence
For many species, facilitation can result in transient species coexistence, but subsequent competition can limit long-term coexistence. Adaptive phenotypic variation in response to increased competition following facilitation, however, could be a means of prolonging coexistence, although this hypothesis remains largely unexplored. Resprouting shrubs following fire in Mediterranean heathlands facilitate seedling establishment and growth of subshrub species such as the carnivorous plant Drosophyllum lusitanicum. Nevertheless, shrub canopies interfere with prey capture by established D. lusitanicum plants, potentially reducing fitness with increasing time since fire. At three heathland sites in southwestern Spain, we examined the relationship between stem morphology and shrub canopy cover to determine whether D. lusitanicum exhibited vertical or horizontal elongation to avoid shade or interference with prey capture. We also quantified individual performance responses (e.g., survival, growth, flower production) as a function of stem morphology and size of D. lusitanicum plants and shrub canopy cover. Adult plants of D. lusitanicum showed greater vertical elongation with increasing shrub canopy cover. Small adult plants showed an increased likelihood of flowering with increasing shrub canopy cover. The number of flowers produced by flowering plants decreased with vertical elongation when shrub cover was low. We illustrate how coexistence of foundational shrubs and D. lusitanicum could be maintained by a combination of facilitation of D. lusitanicum seedlings and small adults by shrubs and adaptive changes in stem morphology in established individuals to avoid shrub interference, allowing the replenishment of a fireregulated, persistent seed bank.
Journal Article
Impact of invasive slash pine (Pinus elliottii) on groundcover vegetation at home and abroad
Invasive trees can cause catastrophic reductions in diversity in invaded grasslands and savannas. Such reductions often appear to be particularly severe in the new biogeographic ranges of these invaders. We present results of a field study that examined the effect of slash pine (Pinus elliottii), native to the southeastern US, on savanna groundcover vegetation in the state of São Paulo in Brazil (cerrado) and in its native range in Mississippi (USA) following fire exclusion. We compared the difference in several community attributes between slash pine understories and adjacent open area in both São Paulo and Mississippi, and compared the effects of needle litter on native species in both continents. Slash pine was correlated with lower non-graminoid species richness and plant density in both São Paulo and Mississippi; however, these apparent negative effects were 4.6 and 11 times stronger in the non-native range of Brazil (for richness and density, respectively). Native graminoids were not present in invaded cerrado. Overhead slash pine canopy cover, pine density, and needle depth were 5.2, 3.7, and at 14 times higher, respectively, in Brazil than in Mississippi savannas, for similarly-aged pine stands. One year after implementing needle litter treatments in Brazilian cerrado and restored Mississippi savanna, plant density and non-graminoid species richness were highly suppressed, but to similar degrees in both ranges. Our results suggest that higher rates of needle deposition, associated with higher tree densities, contribute to the stronger suppression of native species in Brazil than in Mississippi.
Journal Article