Dr. Steffen Boch

Assessing multi-taxon biodiversity is crucial to understand forests' response to environmental changes and to inform management strategies. In Europe, forest biodiversity monitoring is still scattered and heterogeneous, although a long-term monitoring network has long been advocated. Given the monitoring aims reported in various EU policies, this network should be accurately designed also through the estimation of its sampling effort, here intended as the number of sampling plots and sites.
We used a novel database of forest multi-taxon biodiversity for a pilot study to: estimate the minimum sampling effort needed to: assess variation in species richness and composition; compare these estimates with the efforts invested in the pilot database; discuss estimates' differences across taxonomic groups and forest categories.
We focused on six taxonomic groups (vascular plants, birds, epiphytic lichens and bryophytes, wood-inhabiting fungi and saproxylic beetles) across six forest categories. Based on 6,165 plots at 2,084 different locations across Europe, we benchmarked the effort to achieve: a complete species richness estimate through interpolation/extrapolation curves, and a precise evaluation of species composition variation through multivariate standard error.
Our estimates differed widely, especially among taxonomic groups. For species richness, estimates range from 3 to 147 plots per site across 3 to 29 sites per forest category, with birds and epiphytic bryophytes requiring the least effort. For species composition, estimates range from 5 to over 25 plots per site across 5 to 20 sites per forest category, with saproxylic beetles, vascular plants, and fungi displaying the highest estimates.
The taxonomic groups requiring an effort comparable to existing data were the least diverse, all the others need greater efforts, either for species richness (e.g., saproxylic beetles), or species composition (e.g., vascular plants), or both (e.g., wood-inhabiting fungi). An effective monitoring network of European forests' biodiversity should thoroughly account for these benchmarks and for their taxon-dependency.

Grasslands’ high diversity is threatened by land-use changes, such as nitrogen fertilization, leading to productive but low-richness, fast-growing plant communities. Bryophytes are a key component of grassland diversity and react strongly to land use. However, it is unclear whether land-use effects are direct or mediated by changes in vascular plants. Increases in vascular plant cover are likely to decrease bryophyte abundance through light competition. Whether changes in vascular plant composition and richness also play a role remains unclear. We sampled bryophytes in a factorial grassland experiment manipulating nitrogen fertilization, fungicide, species richness, and functional composition of vascular plants crossed with moderate disturbances by weeding. Disturbance increased bryophyte richness and modulated treatment effects. In contrast to previous studies reporting indirect negative fertilization effects via increasing vascular plant productivity and reduced light levels, nitrogen fertilization directly reduced bryophyte cover and species richness, possibly because of toxic effects. Low vascular plant richness and dominance of fast-growing species reduced bryophyte richness. This might be because of decreased structural and resource niche heterogeneity in species-poor communities. Our results highlight novel mechanisms by which land-use intensification can affect bryophytes and suggest that a loss of vascular plant richness might have cascading effects on other taxonomic groups.

Aim: Global biodiversity loss resulting from anthropogenic land-use activities is a pressing concern, requiring precise assessments of impacts at large spatial extents. Existing models mainly focus on species richness and abundance, lacking insights into ecological mechanisms and species' roles in ecosystem functioning. To bridge this gap, we conducted an extensive analysis of the impact of human land use on vascular plant functional diversity across diverse land-use classes and bioregions in Europe, comparing it to traditional metrics.
Location: Europe.
Time period: 1992–2019.
Major taxa studied: Vascular plants.
Methods: Integrating extensive databases of vegetation plots with spatial data on land use and land cover, we paired plots from areas actively used and modified by humans with plots from natural habitats under similar environmental conditions. Using species occurrences and traits, in each plot we computed three complementary functional diversity metrics (functional richness, evenness and divergence), species richness and abundance. We assessed the impact of land use by comparing the metrics in the paired plots.
Results: Our findings revealed that, compared to natural habitats, anthropogenic land use exhibits lower functional richness and divergence but higher functional evenness across most land-use classes and bioregions. The response of functional richness was more marked than the other two metrics and especially pronounced in croplands and urban areas and in northern bioregions. Functional richness exhibited a pattern that did not fully overlap with the trend in species richness, providing useful complementary information.
Main conclusions: We provide a large-scale precise assessment of anthropogenic land-use impacts on functional diversity across Europe. Our findings indicate that: (i) human disturbance significantly alters plant functional diversity compared to natural habitats; (ii) this alteration goes in the direction of functional homogenisation within sites; (iii) functional diversity metrics complement traditional metrics by offering deeper insights into the ecological mechanisms in response to anthropogenic land use.

Im Rahmen des Bryolich-Projektes 'Flechten und Moose in Gärten' wurden in 28 Gärten die Moos- und/oder Flechtenarten erfasst sowie Informationen über die Umweltfaktoren gesammelt, um datenbasierte Empfehlungen für moos- und flechtenfreundliche Gärten machen zu können. Insgesamt wurden 138 Moosarten und 164 Flechtenarten erfasst, darunter auch gefährdete und potenziell gefährdete Arten. Am wichtigsten für einen hohen Artenreichtum in einem Garten ist eine grosse Anzahl verschiedener Lebensräume.

As part of the Bryolich project 'Lichens and Bryophytes in Gardens', bryophyte and/or lichen species were recorded in 28 gardens and information on environmental factors was collected in order to make data-based recommendations for bryophyte- and lichen-friendly gardens. A total of 138 bryophyte and 164 lichen species were recorded, including vulnerable and near threatened species. Most important for a high species richness in a garden is to have a high number of different habitats.

While sampling the vegetation of the semi-natural grasslands with the EDGG standard methodology on the Swedish island of Gotland, the terricolous lichen species Cladonia homosekikaica Nuno from the C. pyxidata-chlorophaea complex was found in 2022. This is the first record of this species from Sweden. We provide here detailed information on its differentiation from similar Cladonia species, characterize its overall distribution and its site conditions on Gotland. The new locality is far away from the next occurrences, which are mainly in southern Europe, with isolated records in Iceland and Finland. The vegetation type was a nutrient-poor sandy grassland near the coast, belonging to the association Festucetum polesicae (alliance: Koelerion glaucae, order: Sedo acris-Festucetalia, class: Koelerio-Corynephoretea canescentis). The overall distribution of Cladonia homosekikaica indicates that the species is slightly xero-thermophilous and occurs in slightly acidic grasslands. It thus might be found in other sandy dry grasslands around the Baltic Sea.

Werden Pflanzenarten einer bestimmten Fläche erfasst, spricht man von einer Vegetationsaufnahme. Damit lässt sich die Vegetation anhand der vorkommenden Arten charakterisieren und einem Vegetationstyp zuordnen. Vegetationsaufnahmen sind ein wichtiges Instrument von Wissenschaft und Praxis, um zeitliche Lebensraumveränderungen zu verstehen und daraus geeignete Naturschutz-
und Bewirtschaftungsmassnahmen abzuleiten. Im Interview gibt Geoökologin Susanne Riedel Auskunft zu ihrer Projektarbeit.

Members of the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) and its predecessor organizations have been publishing grassland Special Features in Tuexenia since 2005. This year's Special Feature includes five articles highlighting different aspects of grassland research: Riedel et al. (2024) compared cover- and biomass-based methods for recording the abundance of plant species in permanent plots, with regard to the comparability of re-surveys in grasslands. Schindler et al. (2024) investigated the effects of sprinkler irrigation on the diversity, species composition and site conditions of grasslands in inner-alpine dry valleys such as the Valais (Switzerland). Marcenó et al. (2024) present a syntaxonomic revi-sion of the dry grassland alliances Plantaginion cupanii, Cerastio-Astragalion nebrodensis and Armerion nebrodensis of northern Sicily, describing the two new associations Androsaco breistrofferi-Potentilletum calabrae and Helianthemo tomentosi-Festucetum crassifoliae. Willner et al. (2024) pre-sent a syntaxonomic revision of the dry grassland orders Festucetalia valesiacae, Stipo-Festucetalia pallentis and Brachypodietalia of the Eastern Alps. Borovyk et al. (2024) provide an overview of records of plant species richness in Ukrainian steppes. The study emphasizes the importance of steppes as global biodiversity hotspots and draws attention to their conservation in the context of land-use changes and the consequences of the war in Ukraine.

Mitglieder der Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) und deren Vorgängerorganisationen geben seit 2005 Grasland-Sonderausgaben (Special Features) in Tuexenia heraus. Das diesjährige Special Feature umfasst fünf Artikel, die verschiedene Aspekte der Graslandforschung beleuchten: Riedel et al. (2024) verglichen deckungs- und biomassebasierte Methoden zum Erfassen der Abundanz von Pflanzenarten in Daueruntersuchungsflächen, im Hinblick auf die Vergleichbarkeit von wiederholten Erhebungen in Grasländern. Schindler et al. (2024) untersuchten die Auswirkungen von Sprinkler-Beregnung auf die Diversität, die Artenzusammensetzung und Standortbedingungen von Grasländern in inneralpinen Trockentälern wie dem Wallis (Schweiz). Marcenó et al. (2024) präsentieren eine syntaxo-nomische Revision der Trockenrasen-Verbände Plantaginion cupanii, Cerastio-Astragalion nebro-densis und Armerion nebrodensis Nord-Siziliens, und beschrieben dabei die beiden neuen Gesell-schaften Androsaco breistrofferi-Potentilletum calabrae und Helianthemo tomentosi-Festucetum crassifoliae. Willner et al. (2024) präsentieren eine syntaxonomische Revision der Trockenrasen-Ordnungen Festucetalia valesiacae, Stipo-Festucetalia pallentis und Brachypodietalia der Ostalpen. Borovyk et al. (2024) geben einen Überblick über Rekorde des Pflanzenartenreichtums in ukrainischen Steppen. Die Studie hebt die Bedeutung der Steppen als globale Hotspots der biologischen Vielfalt hervor und lenkt die Aufmerksamkeit auf ihren Schutz im Zusammenhang mit Landnutzungs-änderungen und den Folgen des Krieges in der Ukraine.

The high plant diversity in alpine to subalpine grasslands is threatened by the abandonment of land use. In addition, changing environmental conditions might lead to vegetation shifts even when traditional land use is maintained, as observed in grasslands in Switzerland during the last decades. Maintaining and restoring the diversity of such grasslands might therefore require modified management methods. We conducted a six-year experiment to assess the responses of plant species richness, mean ecological indicator values, and vegetation composition to five management treatments, including scraping as additional management measure: haymaking (in autumn), haymaking complemented by scraping (i.e. manual raking) in autumn, haymaking complemented by scraping in spring, only scraping in spring, and abandonment of land use. We hypothesized that haymaking complemented by scraping in either season would remove additional biomass and increase species richness by creating open patches that can reduce inter-specific competition and promote species establishment. We found positive effects of haymaking complemented by scraping on plant species richness and habitat quality, indicated by the increased mean indicator value for light. Abandonment showed the opposite effects and increased mean indicator values for nutrients. Interestingly, haymaking combined with scraping in autumn promoted the development of the vegetation towards the composition similar to the resident vegetation type. Our findings show that extensive land use is essential to maintain species-rich alpine to subalpine grasslands. Further, they imply that modified land use can compensate for the negative developments such as reduced habitat quality and species richness caused by environmental changes and help restore the vegetation.

Lichens are an important part of forest ecosystems, contributing to forest biodiversity, the formation of micro-niches and nutrient cycling. Assessing the diversity of lichenised fungi in complex ecosystems, such as forests, requires time and substantial skills in collecting and identifying lichens. The completeness of inventories thus largely depends on the expertise of the collector, time available for the survey and size of the studied area. Molecular methods of surveying biodiversity hold the promise to overcome these challenges. DNA barcoding of individual lichen specimens and bulk collections is already being applied; however, eDNA methods have not yet been evaluated as a tool for lichen surveys. Here, we assess which species of lichenised fungi can be detected in eDNA swabbed from bark surfaces of living trees in central European forests. We compare our findings to an expert floristic survey carried out in the same plots about a decade earlier. In total, we studied 150 plots located in three study regions across Germany. In each plot, we took one composite sample based on six trees, belonging to the species Fagus sylvatica, Picea abies and Pinus sylvestris. The eDNA method yielded 123 species, the floristic survey 87. The total number of species found with both methods was 167, of which 48% were detected only in eDNA, 26% only in the floristic survey and 26% in both methods. The eDNA contained a higher diversity of inconspicuous species. Many prevalent taxa reported in the floristic survey could not be found in the eDNA due to gaps in molecular reference databases. We conclude that, currently, eDNA has merit as a complementary tool to monitor lichen biodiversity at large scales, but cannot be used on its own. We advocate for the further development of specialised and more complete databases.

Zu den am stärksten gefährdeten und in Deutschland kurz vor dem Aussterben stehenden Pflan-zengesellschaften zählt der Flechten-Kiefernwald (Cladino-Pinetum sylvestris, Syn. Cladonio-Pinetum sylvestris). Aus diesem Grund wurde er von der Floristisch-soziologischen Arbeitsgemeinschaft als „Pflanzengesellschaft des Jahres 2025“ ausgewählt. Flechten-Kiefernwälder sind wenig produktive, lichte und unterwuchsarme Nadelwald-Ökosysteme vorwiegend der planaren und kollinen Stufe. Prägende Standortfaktoren sind extrem nährstoffarme und saure, meist auch sehr trockene Böden mit gering entwickelter Humusauflage. Flechten-Kiefernwälder kommen auf Sandern, Moränen, Dünen und Talsanden und im Bergland punktuell auf Felsen aus Granit, Quarzit oder Sandstein vor. In Deutschland sind Bestände dieses Waldtyps aktuell nur noch kleinflächig und überwiegend in subkontinental geprägten Regionen vorhanden. Die Hauptvorkommen liegen im nordostdeutschen Binnenland von der niedersächsischen Elbtalniederung an ostwärts (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen-Anhalt, Brandenburg) sowie in Mittelfranken und der Oberpfalz (Bayern). Neben sehr offenen Beständen mit Arten der Silbergras-Rasen gibt es Flechten-Kiefernwälder fast ohne Gefäßpflanzen sowie solche mit Vaccinium-Arten, die zu den weiter verbreiteten Beerstrauch-Kiefernwäldern und -forsten überleiten. Flechten-Kiefernwälder repräsentieren in Mitteleuropa einen Biodiversitätshotspot für bodenbewohnende Strauchflechten, insbesondere Rentierflechten und andere Vertreter der Gattung Cladonia. Außerdem beherbergen sie eine Vielzahl von anderen Flechten, Moosen und Großpilzen und sind auch für den zoologischen Artenschutz von Bedeutung. Sie stellen einen FFH-Lebensraumtyp gemäß Anhang I der FFH-Richtlinie der EU (Code 91T0) dar. Flechten-Kiefernwälder stehen am Anfang einer natürlichen Waldentwicklung auf Rohböden über Sand oder Quarzgestein und wurden in der Neuzeit durch Streuentnahme und Plaggenhieb, teilweise auch Waldweide, auf entsprechenden Standorten stark gefördert. Ihre größte Ausdehnung hatten sie vermutlich im 19. und frühen 20. Jahr-hundert. Nach Aufgabe dieser Nutzungsformen sind sie gegenwärtig vor allem durch Eutrophierung infolge von Stickstoffeinträgen stark gefährdet. Durch das erhöhte Nährstoffangebot breiten sich konkurrenzkräftige Laubmoose, teils auch Zwergsträucher und die Draht-Schmiele aus, die die typi-schen Flechten und niedrigwüchsigen Moose verdrängen. Allein seit den 1990er Jahren sind in Deutschland ca. 90 % der Bestände verloren gegangen. Weitere Gefährdungsursachen sind Flächenver-brauch durch Sand- und Gesteinsabbau oder Bebauung, aktiver Waldumbau, fehlende Morphodynamik und in den letzten Jahren auch Hitze- und Dürreperioden. Die gegenwärtig noch vorhandenen, teilweise kurz vor der Extinktion stehenden Restbestände müssen nicht nur vor direkter Zerstörung geschützt, sondern – ähnlich wie bei vielen Offenlandhabitaten – durch aktive Schutzmaßnahmen erhalten werden. In degenerierten Beständen muss zunächst eine Entfernung der Streu- und Humusauflage und anschließend eine Beimpfung der Rohböden mit Flechten-Bruchstücken erfolgen. Erste Ergebnisse aus solchen Renaturierungsprojekten aus der niedersächsischen Elbtalaue und aus Mittelfranken werden hier präsentiert. Wir möchten lokale und regionale Akteure im Naturschutz ermuntern, entsprechend aktiv zu werden. In Sandgruben und Steinbrüchen können bei einem Verzicht auf Rekultivierungen Flechten-Kiefernwälder auch neu entstehen.

One of the most endangered plant communities in Germany, and one that is on the verge of extinction, is the lichen pine forest (Cladino-Pinetum sylvestris, syn. Cladonio-Pinetum sylvestris). For this reason, it has been selected by the Floristisch-soziologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft as the “Plant Community of the Year 2025”. Lichen pine forests are unproductive, sparse and understorey-poor coniferous forest ecosystems, mainly in the planar and colline altitudinal zone. The soils are extremely nutrient-poor and acidic, usually very dry with a poorly developed humus layer. Lichen pine forests occur on outwash plains, moraines, dunes and valley sands, but also in mountainous areas with granite, quartzite or sandstone as parent rock. In Germany, this forest type is currently found only in small areas, mainly in sub-continental regions. Lichen pine forests occur mainly in the northeastern German inland lowlands from the Elbe valley in Lower Saxony eastward (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg) as well as in Middle Franconia and Upper Palatinate (Bavaria). In addi-tion to open woodlands with species of grey hair-grass swards (Corynephorion), there are lichen pine forests with almost no vascular plants and others with Vaccinium species, transitioning to the more widespread blueberry pine forests. Lichen pine forests represent a biodiversity hotspot in Central Europe for ground-dwelling fruticose lichens, especially reindeer lichens and other members of the genus Cladonia. They also host a variety of other lichens, bryophytes and macrofungi, and are impor-tant for faunal biodiversity. They represent an Annex I habitat type under the EU Habitats Directive (code 91T0). Lichen pine forests are at the beginning of natural forest development on immature soils on sand or quartz-rich rocks and have been strongly promoted by litter-raking and sod-cutting, and sometimes by grazing. They probably reached their greatest extent in the 19th and early 20th centuries. After the abandonment of the historical forest use, current stands are highly endangered, mainly by eutrophication due to natural succession and airborne nitrogen loads. Since the 1990s lichen pine forests in Germany have lost about 90 % of their former area. With an increased nutrient availability, com-petitive pleurocarpous mosses, sometimes dwarf shrubs and the wavy hair-grass, spread and displace the typical lichens and small-growing bryophytes. Other threats include land use (sand and stone mining, building areas), active forest conversion, a lack of morphodynamics and, in recent years, prolonged periods of heat and drought. Existing stands, some of which on the verge of extinction, must not only be protected from direct destruction, but also require active protection measures, similar to many open-land habitats. The restoration of lichen pine forests is only possible by removing the litter (together with the humus layer) and subsequently inoculating the raw soil with lichen fragments. First results from restoration projects in the Elbe valley of Lower Saxony and in Middle Franconia are presented. With these, we would like to encourage local and regional actors and conservationists to take appropriate action. In sand pits and quarries, refraining from recultivation measures can promote the formation of new lichen pine forests.

Aim: The enemy release hypothesis states that the invasion success of non-native species is partly due to their escape from natural enemies, e.g., herbivores. Large-scale studies of herbivory using multiple species across multiple sites are needed to test the generality of herbivory release in non-native plants.
Location: Europe.
Methods: We carried out leaf-herbivory surveys from 2007 to 2021 in 15 botanical gardens ranging in latitude from 47°N (Switzerland) to 63°N (Norway) to investigate how herbivory levels differed between (i) native and non-native species, and (ii) native and non-naturalised or naturalised species.
Results: Overall, we found that herbivory levels were lower on non-native than native species. In addition, we found that non-naturalised plants suffered less herbivory than natives and that naturalised plants showed similar levels of herbivory to native plants.
Main Conclusions: We find broad support for lower herbivory of non-native plant species compared to natives. However, the stronger reduction in herbivory for non-naturalised plants suggests that herbivore release may be transient and less pronounced for naturalised non-native species that have become abundant and integrated into resident communities. This has implications for the management of naturalised non-native plants, which are performing well in their non-native ranges despite suffering comparable herbivory levels to native species.

As a result of human activities, a considerable part of European vascular plants and their populations are non-native. Since the publication of previous studies summarizing the composition and structure of European alien flora, our knowledge has increased, and new alien plant inventories and updates to existing ones have been published. The aim of our work was to create an overview of currently available inventories in Europe, compare them and identify the main gaps and inconsistencies. We compiled 111 national or regional inventories published up to 2022 for 55 European territories, i.e. countries, selected regions within countries, large islands and archipelagos. Using a standardized methodological approach, we unified taxonomy, nomenclature, residence time, invasion status categories, and origin. At the level of the European species pool, we identified 7,335 alien vascular plant species, which is 1,546 more than in the previous study from 2008. Regarding residence time, 1.5% of plants were considered as archaeophytes, 77.2% as neophytes, 9.3% as archaeophytes in one part and neophytes in another part of Europe, while 12.0% of species had undistinguished alien status. Regarding invasion status, 33.3% of aliens were casual, 36.3% were naturalized, and 14.4% were invasive in at least one European territory; for 5.8% of taxa, the invasion status could not be reliably assessed. At the level of individual territories, archaeophytes and neophytes were recognized in 40.0% of the European territories with data available. Regarding the invasion status, the full categorization was available only for 43.6% of territories, while in 20.0%, only invasive species were listed. We found 114 species reported to occur in more than half of the territories. The most widespread species were Erigeron canadensis, Amaranthus retroflexus, Galinsoga parviflora and Robinia pseudoacacia. Most aliens belonged to the families Asteraceae, Poaceae, Rosaceae and Fabaceae. The highest proportions of alien species in Europe originated from temperate Asia (20.4%), temperate Europe (19.6%) and the Mediterranean region (19.0%). Invasive species originated predominantly from the American continent (22.9%) and temperate Asia (19.7%). We found gaps and significant persisting inconsistencies not only in the recognition of residence time and invasion status across territories but also in contradicting status assignments of individual species. This raises the need for a critical reassessment of species’ status across Europe, most notably on the Balkan Peninsula and in north-eastern Europe. Updated and standardized national alien checklists are crucial for reliable analysis of the magnitude, mechanisms and impact of invasions, as well as for risk assessments and management across Europe.

Aims: We introduce ReSurveyEurope — a new data source of resurveyed vegetation plots in Europe, compiled by a collaborative network of vegetation scientists. We describe the scope of this initiative, provide an overview of currently available data, governance, data contribution rules, and accessibility. In addition, we outline further steps, including potential research questions.
Results: ReSurveyEurope includes resurveyed vegetation plots from all habitats. Version 1.0 of ReSurveyEurope contains 283,135 observations (i.e., individual surveys of each plot) from 79,190 plots sampled in 449 independent resurvey projects. Of these, 62,139 (78%) are permanent plots, that is, marked in situ, or located with GPS, which allow for high spatial accuracy in resurvey. The remaining 17,051 (22%) plots are from studies in which plots from the initial survey could not be exactly relocated. Four data sets, which together account for 28,470 (36%) plots, provide only presence/absence information on plant species, while the remaining 50,720 (64%) plots contain abundance information (e.g., percentage cover or cover–abundance classes such as variants of the Braun-Blanquet scale). The oldest plots were sampled in 1911 in the Swiss Alps, while most plots were sampled between 1950 and 2020.
Conclusions: ReSurveyEurope is a new resource to address a wide range of research questions on fine-scale changes in European vegetation. The initiative is devoted to an inclusive and transparent governance and data usage approach, based on slightly adapted rules of the well-established European Vegetation Archive (EVA). ReSurveyEurope data are ready for use, and proposals for analyses of the data set can be submitted at any time to the coordinators. Still, further data contributions are highly welcome.

Aims: The Raunkiær's system classifies vascular plants into life forms based on the position of renewal buds during periods unfavourable for plant growth. Despite the importance of Raunkiær's system for ecological research, a study exploring the diversity and distribution of life forms on a continental scale is missing. We aim to (i) map the diversity and distribution of life forms in European vegetation and (ii) test for effects of bioclimatic variables while controlling for habitat-specific responses.
Location: Europe.
Methods: We used data on life forms of 8883 species recorded in 546,501 vegetation plots of different habitats (forest, grassland, scrub and wetland). For each plot, we calculated: (i) the proportion of species of each life form and (ii) the richness and evenness of life forms. We mapped these plot-level metrics averaged across 50 km × 50 km grid cells and modelled their response to bioclimatic variables.
Results: Hemicryptophytes were the most widespread life form, especially in the temperate zone of Central Europe. Conversely, therophyte and chamaephyte species were more common in the Mediterranean as well as in the dry temperate regions. Moreover, chamaephytes were also more common in the boreal and arctic zones. Higher proportions of phanerophytes were found in the Mediterranean. Overall, a higher richness of life forms was found at lower latitudes while evenness showed more spatially heterogeneous patterns. Habitat type was the main discriminator for most of the responses analysed, but several moisture-related predictors still showed a marked effect on the diversity of therophytes and chamaephytes.
Conclusions: Our maps can be used as a tool for future biogeographic and macro-ecological research at a continental scale. Habitat type and bioclimatic conditions are key for regulating the diversity and distribution of plant life forms, with concomitant consequences for the response of functional diversity in European vegetation to global environmental changes.

Organismal functional strategies form a continuum from slow- to fast-growing organisms, in response to common drivers such as resource availability and disturbance. However, whether there is synchronisation of these strategies at the entire community level is unclear. Here, we combine trait data for >2800 above- and belowground taxa from 14 trophic guilds spanning a disturbance and resource availability gradient in German grasslands. The results indicate that most guilds consistently respond to these drivers through both direct and trophically mediated effects, resulting in a 'slow-fast' axis at the level of the entire community. Using 15 indicators of carbon and nutrient fluxes, biomass production and decomposition, we also show that fast trait communities are associated with faster rates of ecosystem functioning. These findings demonstrate that 'slow' and 'fast' strategies can be manifested at the level of whole communities, opening new avenues of ecosystem-level functional classification.

Several regional initiatives and reporting efforts assess the state of forest biodiversity through broad-scale indicators based on data from national forest inventories. Although valuable, these indicators are essentially indirect and evaluate habitat quantity and quality rather than biodiversity per se. Therefore, their link to biodiversity may be weak, which decreases their usefulness for decision-making.
For several decades, Forest Europe indicators assessed the state of European forests, in particular their biodiversity. However, no extensive study has been conducted to date to assess their performance – i.e. the capacity of the indicators to reflect variations in biodiversity – against multitaxonomic data. We hypothesized that no single biodiversity indicator from Forest Europe can represent overall forest biodiversity, but that several indicators would reflect habitat quality for at least some taxa in a comprehensive way. We tested the set of Forest Europe's indicators against the species richness of six taxonomic and functional groups across several hundreds of sampling units over Europe. We showed that, while some indicators perform relatively well across groups (e.g. deadwood volume), no single indicator represented all biodiversity at once, and that a combination of several indicators performed better.
Forest Europe indicators were chosen for their availability and ease of understanding for most people. However, we showed that gaps in the monitoring framework persist, and that surveying certain taxa along with stand structure is necessary to support policymaking and tackle forest biodiversity loss at the large scale. Adding context (e.g. forest type) may also contribute to increase the performance of biodiversity indicators.

Europe's semi-natural grasslands support notably high levels of temperate biodiversity across multiple taxonomic groups. However, these ecosystems face unique conservation challenges. Contemporary agricultural practices have replaced historical traditional low-intensity agriculture in many regions, resulting in a spectrum of management intensities within these ecosystems, ranging from highly intensive methods to complete abandonment. Paradoxically, both extremes along this spectrum of management intensity can be detrimental to biodiversity of semi-natural grasslands. Moreover, while anthropogenic climate change is an overarching threat to these ecosystems, rapid changes in land use and its intensity often present more immediate pressures. Often occurring at a faster rate than climate change itself, these land-use changes have the potential to rapidly impact the biodiversity of these grasslands. Here, we divide the ecological processes, threats, and developments to semi-natural grasslands into three sections. First, we examine the different impacts of agricultural intensification and abandonment on these ecosystems, considering their different consequences for biodiversity. Second, we review seminal works on various evidence-based management practices and offer a concise summary that provides support for various conservation and management strategies. However, the socio-economic factors that drive both abandonment and intensification in semi-natural grasslands can also be used to develop solutions through strategic governmental and non-governmental interventions. Accordingly, we conclude with a way forward by providing several key policy recommendations. By synthesizing existing knowledge and identifying research gaps, this essay aims to provide valuable insights for advancing the sustainable management of semi-natural grasslands.

This Long Database Report describes the historical background and current contents of the Nordic-Baltic Grassland Vegetation Database (NBGVD) (GIVD-code EU-00-002). NBGVD is the EDGG-associated collaborative vegetation-plot database that collects vegetation-plot data of grasslands and other open habitats (except segetal and deep aquatic vegetation) from the Nordic-Baltic region excluding Germany, namely Belarus, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, N Poland, NW Russia, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, and Sweden. Target vegetation types are lowland grasslands and heathlands, arctic-alpine communities, coastal communities, non-forested mires and other wetlands, rocky, tall-herb and ruderal communities. As of March 2024, it included 12,694 relevés recorded between 1910 and 2023. These were mainly digitised from literature sources (84%), while the remainder comes from individual unpublished sources (16%). The data quality is high, with bryophytes and lichens being treated in more than 80% of all plots and measured environmental variables such as topography and soil characteristics often available in standardised form. A peculiarity of the Nordic-Baltic region are the relatively small plot sizes compared to other regions (median: 4 m²). The available data stem from 35 vegetation classes, with Koelerio-Corynephoretea, Festuco-Brometea, Sedo-Scleranthetea, Molinio-Arrhenatheretea and Scheuchzerio-Caricetea being most frequent. We conclude that NBGVD provides valuable data, allowing interesting analyses at the regional scale and fills gaps in continental to global analyses. Still, since there are many more data around, we ask interested readers to contribute their own data or help find and digitise old data from the literature.