Explore the vast range of titles available.

1. This account presents comprehensive information on the biology of Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud. (P. communis Trin.; common reed) that is relevant to understanding its ecological characteristics and behaviour. The main topics are presented within the standard framework of the Biological Flora of the British Isles: distribution, habitat, communities, responses to biotic factors and to the abiotic environment, plant structure and physiology, phenology, floral and seed characters, herbivores and diseases, as well as history including invasive spread in other regions, and conservation. 2. Phragmites australis is a cosmopolitan species native to the British flora and widespread in lowland habitats throughout, from the Shetland archipelago to southern England. It is widespread throughout Ireland and is native in the Channel Islands. Native populations occur naturally in temperate zones and on every continent except Antarctica. Some populations in Australia and North America have been introduced from elsewhere and have become naturalized, and in North America, some of these are known to be invasive where they compete with native local populations of P. australis. Typical habitats in Britain range from shallow still water along waterbody edges to marshlands, saltmarshes and drier habitat on slopes up to 470 m above sea level. Additional habitats outside Britain are springs in arid areas, riverine lowlands (— 5 m above sea level) and groundwater seepage points up to 3600 m above sea level. Although it occurs on a wide range of substrates and can tolerate pH from 2.5 to 9.8, in Britain it prefers pH >4.5 and elsewhere it thrives in mildly acidic to mildly basic conditions (pH 5.5-7.5). The species plays a pivotal role in the successional transition from open water to woodland. 3. Phragmites australis is a tall, helophytic, wind-pollinated grass with annual shoots up to 5 m above-ground level from an extensive system of rhizomes and stolons. A single silky inflorescence develops at the end of each fertile stem and produces 500—2000 seeds. The plant is highly variable genetically and morphologically. 4. Expansion of established populations is mainly through clonal growth of the horizontal rhizome system and ground-surface stolons, while new populations can establish from rhizomes, stem fragments and seeds. Shoots generally emerge in spring, with timing determined primarily by physiology that is mediated by external conditions (e.g. local climate including frost). 5. Many populations in the British Isles have experienced some decline over the past two decades and there is concern that there might be further losses along the east coast as sea level rises. There have recently also been localized expansions, especially in highly modified habitats, where P. australis reedbeds have been planted as wildlife habitat, rehabilitated mineral and gravel beds, and bioremediation filter beds for industrial and transport infrastructure. Native populations outside Britain also demonstrate both types of trend: they are declining in many parts of Western Europe and North America, yet also colonize many disturbed, ruderal habitats (e.g. the edges of agricultural fields and motorways) throughout its native and non-native range and can form 'weedy' monodominant populations (e.g. in Australia and China).

The overwintering strategy of the mosquito Culex modestus , an important West Nile virus (WNV) vector in Europe, was explored under field conditions in reedbed ( Phragmites australis ) ecosystems in early 2019. A total of 30 Cx. modestus females were found in a BG-Sentinel trap placed in a plastic greenhouse as well as in a reference BG-Sentinel trap placed under the open sky, both set up within the reedbeds and inspected every 2–3 days from February 27 to April 10, 2019. Moreover, 186 females of Cx. pipiens , 3 females of Anopheles hyrcanus , and 3 females of Culiseta annulata were trapped in the monitored time span. While all Cx. modestus females tested negative for the presence of WNV and other arboviruses circulating in Central Europe, we confirmed WNV lineage 2 and Ťahyna virus infection in several pools of the collected Cx. pipiens , demonstrating arbovirus overwintering. This pilot study highlights the need for large-scale monitoring activities covering different regions to identify the overwintering strategy of both mosquito-borne viruses and their vectors in Central Europe.

Hájek, M., Jiménez-Alfaro, B., Hájek, O., Brancaleoni, L., Cantonati, M., Carbognani, M., Dedić, A., Díte, D., Gerdol, R., Hájková, P., Horsáková, V., Jansen, F., Kamberović, J., Kapfer, J., Kolari, T.H.M., Lamentowicz, M., Lazarević, P., Mašić, E., Moeslund, J.E., Pérez-Haase, A., Peterka, T., Petraglia, A., Pladevall-Izard, E., Plesková, Z., Segadelli, S., Semeniuk, Y., Singh, P., Šímová, A., Šmerdová, E., Tahvanainen, T., Tomaselli, M., Vystavna, Y., Bita-Nicolae, C., Horsák, M.

The production of nitroaromatic compounds has not only agravated from some decades but their accidental or intentional release into the nearby environment, causes serious health problems. Lab-scale horizontal-subsurface-down-flow-constructed-wetland (HSDF-CW) was developed and planted with reeds to treat 2,4,6-Tri-nitro-toluene (TNT) contaminated soil collected from the site of industrial complex and was subjected to bioremediation, where domestic wastewater and TNT degrading bacterial strains were added as co-substrates for effective removal of nitro-aromatic compounds. Results showed that 80.1%, 60.08%, 85.7% &67.9% removal of COD, Total-Nitrogen, nitrate and sulphate respectively was attained through bioremediation, bio-stimulation (91%, 85.9%, 94% &80.01%) and bio-augmentation (90.5%, 90.9%, 95% & 91%)respectively after thirty days of incubation.FTIR results indicated the biotransformation of nitro-aromatic compounds into different intermediates.Moreover, phytotoxicity results suggested that treated-water had no toxic effect on seed germinations and could be used for irrigation. Thus,assisted bioremediation through CW proved to be an excellent alternate for in-situ treatment of nitro-aromatic-compounds.

Methane (CH4) is one of the substantial greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, and its concentration has increased by ∼ 4 % over the last decade. Although sources driving these increases are not well constrained, one potential contribution comes from wetlands, which are usually intertwined with rivers, channels and lakes, creating a considerable need to acquire higher-resolution data to facilitate modelling and predictions. Here we took a fully contained sensor set-up to obtain measurements of CH4, O2 and auxiliary parameters, installed on a houseboat for accessibility, to assess and analyse surface water concentrations within the Danube Delta, Romania. During three expeditions in different seasons, we transected a ∼ 400 km route with concentration mapping and two additional stations for monitoring diel cycles. Overall, the delta was a source for CH4 throughout all seasons, with concentrations ranging between 0.113–15.6 µmol L−1. Calculated diffusive CH4 fluxes for the overall delta yielded an average of 49 ± 61 µmol m−2 h−1, corresponding to an extrapolated annual flux of 0.43 ± 0.53 mol m−2 yr−1. The dataset was split into three different subsystems – lakes, rivers and channels – with channels showing the highest variability. We found overlapping CH4 concentrations throughout each subsystem, with large inflows coming from reed beds and channels into the lakes. Seasonal variability and water flow direction also influenced the overall dynamics in each region. We found large to extreme diel cycles in both the lakes and channels, with concentrations varying by an order of magnitude between these two systems. The lake diel cycle showed a clear linear trend with an O2:CH4 molar ratio of -50:1 during the phase of nocturnal convection, with the two water stratified bodies mixing during the night, suggesting daily vertical stratification allowing for macrophytes to create a temporal oxycline due to a lack of light and movement between the stems as previously suggested, and potentially incurring an uncertainty range of a factor of 4.5. Our data illustrate the importance of high-resolution spatio-temporal data collection throughout the entire delta and the increased need for diel cycles in different habitats to improve the concentration and emission estimates from wetland systems.

Reed beds can be managed for commercial or conservation purposes, with effects on its inhabitants. In this paper, we assess the effect of management on the reed bed Coleoptera community by investigating reed beds subject to winter cutting, winter harvest, short-term unmanaged (3 years), and long-term unmanaged (25 years). Using pit fall traps, we collected Coleoptera across a summer season to estimate Coleoptera biomass, abundance, size, richness, diversity, and community composition across the four types of management of reed beds. Cutting and harvest both show to increase Coleoptera biomass compared to unmanaged reed beds, with the highest Coleoptera abundance found in the harvested reed bed. The species richness and diversity, on the other hand, peaked in the long-term unmanaged reed bed. Community composition differed between the different management types, and across time. Species of conservation concern were most abundant in recently managed areas. These results have implications for the conservation of the reed bed Coleoptera community. First, to maintain a high Coleoptera diversity, some areas must be left unmanaged. Secondly, to secure habitats for species of conservation concern as well as boost the Coleoptera biomass, frequent management of other areas is advised. This mosaic management pattern will also create the overall most species rich reed bed, as unique Coleoptera communities were found in each management type.

Aim The increasing availability of remote sensing (RS) products from airborne laser scanning (ALS) surveys, synthetic aperture radar acquisitions and multispectral satellite imagery provides unprecedented opportunities for describing the physical structure and seasonal changes of vegetation. However, the added value of these RS products for predicting species distributions and animal habitats beyond land cover maps remains little explored. Here, we aim to assess how metrics derived from different types of high‐resolution (10 m) RS products predict the habitat suitability of wetland birds. Location North‐eastern part of the Netherlands. Methods We built species distribution models (SDMs) with occurrence observations from territory mapping of two selected wetland bird species (great reed warbler and Savi's warbler) and metrics from a Dutch land cover map, country‐wide ALS and Sentinel‐1 and Sentinel‐2 RS products. We then compared model performance, relative variable importance and response curves of the SDMs to assess the contribution and ecological relevance of each RS product and metric. Results Our results showed that ALS and Sentinel metrics improve SDMs with only land cover metrics by 11% and 10% of the Area Under Curve (AUC) for the great reed warbler and the Savi's warbler respectively. Assessments of feature importance revealed that all types of RS products contributed substantially to predicting the habitat suitability of these wetland birds, but that the most important variables vary among species. Main conclusions Our study demonstrates that metrics from different high‐resolution RS products capture complementary ecological information on animal habitats, including aspects such as the proportional cover of habitat types, vegetation density and the horizontal variability of vegetation height. Land cover maps with detailed spatial and thematic information can already achieve high model accuracies, but adding metrics derived from ALS point clouds and Sentinel imagery further improve model accuracy and enhance the understanding of animal–habitat relationships.

Wetland habitats experienced a dramatic reduction and fragmentation of biodiversity, because of human activities such as urbanization and agriculture. Now birds, as indicator of this biodiversity, have to breed, winter or stopover in wetlands embedded in a complex and highly altered human matrix. They may concentrate their activities in the wet remnant (wet reedbed) or suboptimal habitats (dry reedbed) and surroundings such as agricultural fields (maize). In a wide wetland area situated south-west of France in a main migration route, we tested if the abundance of passerine species differs among habitats according to their specialization and ecology (wet reedbed vs dry habitats; aquatics vs generalists; migrant vs local), We attempt to identify the underlying mechanisms of observed variation, looking at: arthropod availability in each habitat, bird diet of five insectivorous species and refuelling capacity of birds. Maize crops hosted more invertebrates and biomass than reedbeds for Coleoptera, Diptera, Araneida and Cicadellidae. This may explain why crops were used by aquatic passerines (Bluethroat, Sedge warblers, Reed warblers), migrant or local generalists (Robin, Blue tit, Great tit, Willow Warblers and Nightingale). Bluethroat’s diet was more focused on Formicidae and used the both habitats. In spite of the available food in maize, specialist birds preferred reedbed: Cetti warbler feeding in mainly Araneida and Cicadellidae; Sedge warbler Aphid and Coleoptera. Dry reedbed were better used by Grasshopper Warblers foraging Formicidae. Sedge and Reed warblers were more abundant in wet reedbed. We also noted for this last species youngs refuelling in maize crop. Therefore, the strategy to use maize crop may be different if resident or migrant. Generalist resident may disperse searching for food or transit area in continuity of vegetation; migrant need refuelling, particularly the aquatic trans-saharans more specialist on reedbed than the others. Finally, maize crop provided food resources and suitable shelter for a large group of species. It may be a supplement habitat of the wet and dry reedbeds, but not a substitute. Our study reaffirms to conserve and extend wet reedbed habitats threatened by clogging bush encroachment and drying.

French vertical flow constructed wetlands, treating directly raw wastewater, have become the main systems implemented for communities under 2,000 population equivalent in France. Like in sludge drying reed beds, an organic deposit layer is formed over time at the top surface of the filter. This deposit layer is a key factor in the performance of the system as it impacts hydraulic, gas transfers, filtration efficiency and water retention time. The paper discusses the role of this deposit layer on the hydraulic and biological behaviour of the system. It presents results from different studies to highlight the positive role of the layer but, as well, the difficulties in modelling this organic layer. As hydraulic, oxygen transfers, and biological activity are interlinked and impacted by the deposit layer, it seems essential to focus on its role (and its quantification) to find new developments of vertical flow constructed wetlands fed with raw wastewater.

Obligate brood parasitic birds have evolved a rare avian strategy for reproduction by laying eggs in the nests of other species. In doing so, their breeding ranges, but not necessarily their foraging habitats, have become intimately related to the nesting territories of their hosts. We studied home range sizes and distribution patterns in Common Cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) on their breeding grounds in central Hungary, where cuckoos parasitize only Great Reed Warblers (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) in channel-side reed-beds at a high frequency (>50%). The geographic coordinates of tagged cuckoos were monitored by high-precision, remotely downloadable non-Platform Terminal Transmitter global positioning system (GPS) loggers, attached to 9 females and 6 males. Our results revealed bimodal use of habitat patches: (1) the home ranges of male and female cuckoos were packed densely along the channels where the hosts breed, and their distribution maps had high overlaps between sexes; (2) ∼71% of cuckoos also visited nearby woodland patches, presumably for foraging, where the host species was not present. The size of cuckoo home ranges varied to an unusually great extent: 0.3–185 km2 as calculated by the minimum convex polygon method (85%), or 1–17 km2 when calculated by the more suitable kernel density estimation (KDE) method (Utilization Distribution 85%) for patchy habitats. Male and female cuckoos had similar home range sizes as estimated by the KDE method, consisting of 1–4 areas within the 2 habitat types of channel reed-beds and woodlands. No preference was revealed for night roosting locations between the 2 habitats or sexes. Female cuckoos were more likely to use reed-beds in the afternoons, when females parasitize host nests. Remote downloadable GPS methods offer an effective way of tracking cuckoos across large areas, but the estimation of home range sizes requires caution due to this species' patchy and disconnected habitat use.