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Ungulate populations are increasing across Europe with important implications for forest plant communities. Concurrently, atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition continues to eutrophicate forests, threatening many rare, often more nutrient-efficient, plant species. These pressures may critically interact to shape biodiversity as in grassland and tundra systems, yet any potential interactions in forests remain poorly understood. Here, we combined vegetation resurveys from 52 sites across 13 European countries to test how changes in ungulate herbivory and eutrophication drive long-term changes in forest understorey communities. Increases in herbivory were associated with elevated temporal species turnover, however, identities of winner and loser species depended on N levels. Under low levels of N-deposition, herbivory favored threatened and small-ranged species while reducing the proportion of non-native and nutrient-demanding species. Yet all these trends were reversed under high levels of N-deposition. Herbivores also reduced shrub cover, likely exacerbating N effects by increasing light levels in the understorey. Eutrophication levels may therefore determine whether herbivory acts as a catalyst for the “N time bomb” or as a conservation tool in temperate forests. Ungulate herbivory is an important driver of ecological change in forests. Here, the authors combine vegetation resurveys showing herbivory effects are highly dependent on soil eutrophication, promoting non-natives under high N-conditions, yet benefiting threatened species under low N-conditions.

In the face of a rapidly changing global environment, detailed research into the actual role of protected areas (PAs) in preventing the destruction of ecosystems and the loss of biodiversity became particularly important. Using 304 phytosociological relevés of oak forests from SW Poland, we monitored their state of preservation reflected by the share of synanthropes (Ws-c index) in relation to (i) duration of protection, (ii) status of protected area, (iii) main topographic factors, and (iv) bedrock type. We show that the Ws-c index of studied forests depends primarily on the habitat conditions, especially bedrock type, while both the duration and status of protection are not relevant. The most disturbed are forests developing on serpentine substrates regardless of whether they are protected or not. Within the rest of the investigated sites, the Ws-c index is significantly lower and does not meaningfully differ between protected and unprotected areas. On the one hand, our results suggest that the fact of establishing protection does not ensure a favourable state of conservation of forest communities. On the other hand, well-preserved forest communities can also be expected outside PAs what makes them an important target for nature protection in the future.

The LAURA database is a resurvey dataset documenting long-term changes in forest vegetation across southwestern Poland. It currently includes 842 phytosociological relevés from 409 plots across 20 sites. The dataset covers a wide range of forest types, from lowland riparian forests up to subalpine woods. The database primarily relies on archival data collected between 1955 and 2000, which are revisited at the originally described locations, mostly in nature reserves. The average time span between surveys is 35 years, with a minimum of 14 years. The LAURA database provides valuable insights into the long-term effects of environmental change on forest communities. It may facilitate studies on species composition shifts, biodiversity trends, and forest succession in response to factors such as climate change, land-use history, and conservation efforts. Additionally, by integrating part of its dataset (35%) with forestREplot and ReSurveyEurope, it contributes to large-scale comparative analyses of European forest ecosystems.

Aim: Revisits of non-permanent, relocatable plots first surveyed several decades ago offer a direct way to observe vegetation change and form a unique and increasingly used source of information for global change research. Despite the important insights that can be obtained from resurveying these quasi-permanent vegetation plots, their use is prone to both observer and relocation errors. Studying the combined effects of both error types is important since they will play out together in practice and it is yet unknown to what extent observed vegetation changes are influenced by these errors. Methods: We designed a study that mimicked all steps in a resurvey study and that allowed determination of the magnitude of observer errors only vs the joint observer and relocation errors. Communities of vascular plants growing in the understorey of temperate forests were selected as study system. Ten regions in Europe were covered to explore generality across contexts and 50 observers were involved, which deliberately differed in their experience in making vegetation records. Results: The mean geographic distance between plots in the observer+relocation error data set was 24 m. The mean relative difference in species richness in the observer error and the observer+relocation data set was 15% and 21%, respectively. The mean \"pseudo-turnover\" between the five records at a quasi-permanent plot location was on average 0.21 and 0.35 for the observer error and observer+relocation error data sets, respectively. More detailed analyses of the compositional variation showed that the nestedness and turnover components were of equal importance in the observer data set, whereas turnover was much more important than nestedness in the observer+relocation data set. Interestingly, the differences between the observer and the observer+relocation data sets largely disappeared when looking at temporal change: both the changes in species richness and species composition over time were very similar in these data sets. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that observer and relocation errors are nonnegligible when resurveying quasi-permanent plots. A careful interpretation of the results of resurvey studies is warranted, especially when changes are assessed based on a low number of plots. We conclude by listing measures that should be taken to maximally increase the precision and the strength of the inferences drawn from vegetation resurveys.

Questions: Have compositional changes occurred in thermophiious oak forests in Poland during the past two decades? What kinds of drivers might be responsible for these changes? Are the thermophiious oak woods still rich in species or have they rather lost their diversity? Location: Sudetes Mts., SW Poland. Methods: The vegetation of thermophiious oak forests within four distinct areas was surveyed on 92 semi-permanent plots in the time periods from 1992 to 1994 and from 2010 to 2014. The overall pattern in vegetation changes, trends in species composition and site parameters, as well as the diversity of studied communities were analysed using ordination and permutation techniques. Results: The species composition of thermophiious oak forests has changed significantly. We recorded a decrease in the share of oligotrophic light-demanding species, whereas mesotrophic light-demanding and nitrophilous species showed an upward trend. Regarding the fourth group of shade-tolerant species, their share varied depending on the site. The analysis of habitat parameters revealed that the studied oak forest communities generally shifted from communities of moderately oligotrophic and mesic character towards forests growing on nutrient-richer but drier habitats. Interestingly, the observed change in species composition was not accompanied by the loss of biodiversity that has generally been reported in other types of thermophiious forests in Europe. Conclusions: Changes observed within thermophiious and previously coppiced oak forests of southwest Poland are going in a direction which has not been recognized so far in analogous communities. The transition of studied communities is probably a result of the cumulative influence of several drivers, the most crucial of which seem to be soil regeneration, after the period of intensive acidity caused by sulphur emission between 1960 and 2000, and decreasing moisture. The observed changes are independent of the type of forest management (or the lack thereof) within the study sites.

The herb layer of temperate forests contributes to long-term forest ecosystem functioning and provisioning of ecosystem services. Therefore, a thorough understanding of its dynamics in the face of environmental changes is essential. This paper focuses on the species and functional diversity of the herb layer of riparian forests to verify how these two community components changed over time and under strict protection. The understory vegetation was surveyed on 42 semi-permanent plots in three time periods between 1960 and 2020. The overall pattern in vegetation changes that related to species richness and diversity, functional structure, and habitat conditions was analyzed using ordination and permutation techniques. We found significant changes in species composition and the functional structure of herbaceous vegetation over the last six decades. Forests were enriched with nutrient-demanding and alien species. A significant increase in functional diversity and the proportion of species with high SLA and canopy height was also observed, whereas changes in habitat conditions were insignificant. The observed trends indicate that the strict protection of forest communities within small and isolated reserves does not fully protect their species composition. Forest reserves should be surrounded by unmanaged forests and spatially connected to allow species mobility.

Research Highlights: Differentiation of Scots pine forests of the class Vaccinio-Piceetea in Poland has been the subject of numerous studies, including revisions. Despite that, the area of southwestern Poland was hitherto practically unexplored in this respect. Background and Objectives: The aim of this work was therefore (i) to present the diversity of the pine forests in the Sudetes and their foreland; (ii) to compare the ecology of studied communities. Materials and Methods: We analyzed 175 phytosociological relevés collected between 1991 and 2020 in natural and anthropogenic pine stands. To identify vegetation types, we used the modified TWINSPAN algorithm; principal coordinate analysis, distance-based redundancy analysis and permutational tests were applied to identify the variation explained and the main environmental gradients shaping the studied plant communities. Results: Five associations were distinguished: thermophilous Asplenio cuneifolii-Pinetum sylvestris Pišta ex Husová in Husová et al. 2002, which develops on shallow soils over ultrabasic substrates, Hieracio pallidi-Pinetum sylvestris Stöcker 1965, which prefers outcrops of acidic rocks; Betulo carpaticae-Pinetum sylvestris Mikyška 1970, which is relict in origin and occurs on the upper Cretaceous sandstones, the peatland pine–birch forests of the Vaccinio uliginosi-Betuletum pubescentis Libbert 1933 and the Vaccinio myrtilli-Pinetum sylvestris Juraszek 1928. Moreover, community Brachypodium sylvaticum-Pinus sylvestris with the occurrence of many thermophilous and basiphilous species was also found on limestone substratum. The analysis of the species composition of pine plantations established on deciduous and mixed forests habitats revealed that these anthropogenic communities were marked by a random combination of species in which a certain group of common forest generalists participated. The distinguished communities differed clearly among each other also in habitat characteristics. Particularly important for their differentiation were soil reaction and nutrients, supported by differences in moisture, temperature and light availability. Apart from the edaphic factors, altitude and the bedrock type proved to be equally important. Conclusions: Our study provides new remarks to the typology and synecology of pine forest communities in SW Poland.

Most of Central European rocky scrub communities formed by Cotoneaster integerrimus , Juniperus communis and Amelanchier ovalis are included in the association Cotoneastro-Amelanchieretum (= Junipero-Cotoneasteretum ). However, this leads to the creation of syntaxon whose internal diversity is so great that it seems necessary to examine validity of its existence in the current form. This diversity entails species composition, habitat requirements and geographical distribution. Therefore, we posed the following objectives: i) to investigate the variability of species composition of the rocky scrub; (ii) to determine if there are ecological differences between the communities distinguished by species variability; (iii) to determine the geographical ranges of individual syntaxa. Altogether we analyzed 387 phytosociological relevés from Central Europe. Vegetation types of rocky scrubs were identified using the unsupervised K-means algorithm and detrended correspondence analysis. Mean Ellenberg’s indicator values were applied to identify the environmental gradients shaping the plant communities. Obtained results confirmed the validity of dividing this broadly defined syntaxon into six distinct vegetation units. In order to present the studied communities in a broader context, we included into our analyses other rocky scrub with the occurrence of Cotoneaster sp. and A . ovalis , which formed the remaining three clusters. The observed differences in species composition were further supported by significant differences in soil reaction, temperature and continentality between the syntaxa. Moreover, the distinguished communities differed among one another in geographical range. Our study provides a new typology of the selected type of natural rocky scrub vegetation in Central Europe which involves environmental aspects, hence better reflects community-habitat relationships. This study also indicates a need for further revision of the classification of other types of natural scrub communities. Such classification should be based on modern data analysis methods and should primarily focus on lower vegetation units at pan-European scale.

“VESTA - resurvey of natural, non-forest vegetation (Central Europe)” is a thematic, resurvey database focused on documentation of changes in natural, non-forest communities. Currently, the database includes 549 relevés (231 replots for 84 sites) corresponding to the classes Asplenietea trichomanis (incl. Polypodietea ), Koelerio-Corynephoretea (rocky grasslands), Loiseleurio-Vaccinietea and Betulo carpaticae-Alnetea viridis . The project is continuous in character. It is based on the phytosociological relevés from own field studies which have been carried out in the Sudetes Mts. and their foothills since 1989. The subject of research have been all types of rocky communities (chasmophytic, grasslands, thickets), mountain and submountain tall-herb communities, subalpine thickets and heathlands. Relevés are collected according to the standard Braun-Blanquet method (species coverage scale: r, +, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) and on rectangular or square-shaped surfaces with possible adjustment to the shape of the rocky outcrops. Initially (until 2008), the location of plots was marked on maps and field sketches. However, the fact that all relevés were collected by the owners of the database made it easier to revisit all plots and assigned a location compatible with GPS with SiRFstar III chipset. The accuracy of position measurements varies between 2 and 15 meters (on average 10 meters). Aspect is determined using electronic compass linked to GPS. Altitude is obtained from Google Earth and corrected with landmarks from topographical maps if necessary. The shading of the plots has been visually assessed so far. The bedrock type is derived from a Detailed Geological Map of the Sudetes (http://sudety.pgi.gov.pl/). Subsequent resurveys of the plots are conducted during field visits planned specifically for this purpose or during other research carried out in the same area.

Aims : To describe the compositional and ecological diversity of Mulgedio-Aconitetea communities in the Sudetes Mts. and their foothills. Study area : The Sudetes Mts. (Southwestern Poland). Methods : A total of 399 vegetation relevés from own field studies and the literature were sorted into groups that match the higher syntaxa of the EuroVegChecklist and associations described in the literature. Diagnostic species of the so delimited associations were determined with the phi-coefficient of association, and maps of the associations produced. Direct ordination methods were applied to identify the main environmental gradients shaping the plant communities. Results : We distinguished nine associations, belonging to four alliances: submontane and colline communities ( Petasition officinalis : Geranio phaei-Urticetum dioicae , Petasitetum hybridi , Chaerophyllo hirsuti-Petasitetum albi , Prenanthetum purpureae ), upper montane nitrophilous communities ( Rumicion alpini : Rumicetum alpini ); subalpine communities with a dominance of graminoids and ferns ( Calamagrostion villosae : Poo chaixii-Deschampsietum cespitosae , Crepido conyzifoliae-Calamagrostietum villosae , Athyrietum filicis - feminae ) and subalpine tall-herb communities ( Adenostylion alliariae : Cicerbitetum alpinae ). Altitude, light availability, and bedrock type, which determines nutrient availability and soil reaction, played an important role in differentiating the studied communities. Conclusions : For convenience, we placed the four alliances in four separate orders as in the EuroVegChecklist. The fact that our ordination diagram separated only two main groups suggests the need of further research in this matter. Taxonomic reference : Euro+Med (2006-) for vascular plants. Syntaxonomic reference : Higher syntaxa follow Mucina et al. (2016). Abbreviations : db-RDA = distance-based redundancy analysis; EIV = Ellenberg indicator value; pANOVA = permutational analysis of variance; PCoA = principal coordinates analysis.