August Emanuel von Reuss

Carex liparocarpos s. str., die Glanzfrüchtige Segge, wurde durch Albert Oesau im NSG Lennebergwald bei Mainz erstmals sicher für Deutschland nachgewiesen. Der Neufund wird hier areal- und vegetationskundlich eingeordnet und diskutiert. Dabei werden zahlreiche interessante Fakten, aber auch Fragen und Unklarheiten aufgeworfen. Die Art ist nah verwandt mit C. supina, mit der sie oft verwechselt wurde und wird. In der Ukraine ist die Abgrenzung zu C. schkuhrii (Syn. C. liparocarpos subsp. bordzilowskii) unklar. Mit C. turkestanica kommt der engere Verwandtschaftskreis als Subsektion Nitidae bis in mittelasiatische Gebirge vor. Das Hauptareal der Art wird – genauer als bisher – als submediterran-westpannonisch charakterisiert. Azonale Arealbereiche sind durch südatlantische, nordadriatische und pontische Dünenregionen repräsentiert. Mediterran-alpine, isolierte Vorposten wurden in Nordafrika bis auf ca. 30° n. Br. gefunden. In Frankreich gibt es wenige, bis auf ca. 50° n. Br. vorgeschobene, isolierte Vorposten, von denen viele gefährdet bzw. erloschen sind. C. liparocarpos s. str. besiedelt vorrangig neutral-basische Sandsteppen-, Dünen-, Fluss-Schotter- und Felserosionsstandorte und ist u. a. typisch für die Festucetalia vaginatae, Festucetalia valesiacae, Artemisio albae-Brometalia erecti, Scorzoneretalia villosae, Trachynietalia (Brachypodietalia) distachyi, Ononidetalia striatae und Artemisio-Koelerietalia. Auf Grundlage der gewonnenen Gesamtübersicht zu Verbreitung und Habitatbindung wird der Einbürgerungsstatus des Neufundes bewertet. Nach dem derzeitigem floristischen Kenntnisstand erscheint eine neophytische Einschleppung wahrscheinlich – ist aber nicht zwingend anzunehmen, da der Wuchsort in einem für die Art vegetationskundlich nahezu perfekt typischen Lebensraum liegt, der allerdings floristisch gut durchforscht ist.

The genus Viola (Violaceae) is among the 40–50 largest genera among angiosperms, yet its taxonomy has not been revised for nearly a century. In the most recent revision, by Wilhelm Becker in 1925, the then-known 400 species were distributed among 14 sections and numerous unranked groups. Here, we provide an updated, comprehensive classification of the genus, based on data from phylogeny, morphology, chromosome counts, and ploidy, and based on modern principles of monophyly. The revision is presented as an annotated global checklist of accepted species of Viola, an updated multigene phylogenetic network and an ITS phylogeny with denser taxon sampling, a brief summary of the taxonomic changes from Becker’s classification and their justification, a morphological binary key to the accepted subgenera, sections and subsections, and an account of each infrageneric subdivision with justifications for delimitation and rank including a description, a list of apomorphies, molecular phylogenies where possible or relevant, a distribution map, and a list of included species. We distribute the 664 species accepted by us into 2 subgenera, 31 sections, and 20 subsections. We erect one new subgenus of Viola (subg. Neoandinium, a replacement name for the illegitimate subg. Andinium), six new sections (sect. Abyssinium, sect. Himalayum, sect. Melvio, sect. Nematocaulon, sect. Spathulidium, sect. Xanthidium), and seven new subsections (subsect. Australasiaticae, subsect. Bulbosae, subsect. Clausenianae, subsect. Cleistogamae, subsect. Dispares, subsect. Formosanae, subsect. Pseudorupestres). Evolution within the genus is discussed in light of biogeography, the fossil record, morphology, and particular traits. Viola is among very few temperate and widespread genera that originated in South America. The biggest identified knowledge gaps for Viola concern the South American taxa, for which basic knowledge from phylogeny, chromosome counts, and fossil data is virtually absent. Viola has also never been subject to comprehensive anatomical study. Studies into seed anatomy and morphology are required to understand the fossil record of the genus.

Biological communities are reshuffling owing to species range shifts in response to climate change. This process inherently leads to novel assemblages of interacting species. Yet, how climatic change and local dynamics in biotic interactions jointly affect range shifts is still poorly understood.We combine a unique long‐term transplant competition‐exclusion experiment with species distribution models (SDMs) to test the effects of biotic interactions on understorey species range shifts under climate change in European temperate forests. Using a time‐series of 18 years of individual‐level demographic data of four common understorey plant species transplanted beyond their cold range edge to plots with and without interspecific competition, we built integral projection models (IPMs) and analysed the effects of competition on five key vital rates and population growth. We assessed the results of the transplant experiment in the context of the modelled species’ current and future potential distributions.We find that species’ population performances in the transplant experiment decreased with lower predicted habitat suitability from the SDMs. The population performance at the transplant sites was mediated by biotic interactions with the local plant community: for two species with intermediate levels of predicted habitat suitability at the transplant sites, competition effects could explicitly differentiate between net population growth (λ > 1) or shrinkage (λ < 1).Synthesis: Our findings contest the long‐standing idea that at cold range edges, mainly abiotic factors structure species’ distributions. We conclude that biotic interactions, through acting on local population dynamics, may impact species distributions at the continental scale. Hence, predicting climate‐change impacts on biodiversity redistributions ultimately requires us to also integrate dynamics in biotic interactions.

Today plants often flower earlier due to climate warming. Herbarium specimens are excellent witnesses of such long‐term changes. However, the magnitude of phenological shifts may vary geographically, and the data are often clustered. Therefore, large‐scale analyses of herbarium data are prone to pseudoreplication and geographical biases.We studied over 6000 herbarium specimens of 20 spring‐flowering forest understory herbs from Europe to understand how their phenology had changed during the last century. We estimated phenology trends with or without taking spatial autocorrelation into account.On average plants now flowered over 6 d earlier than at the beginning of the last century. These changes were strongly associated with warmer spring temperatures. Flowering time advanced 3.6 d per 1°C warming. Spatial modelling showed that, in some parts of Europe, plants flowered earlier or later than expected. Without accounting for this, the estimates of phenological shifts were biased and model fits were poor.Our study indicates that forest wildflowers in Europe strongly advanced their phenology in response to climate change. However, these phenological shifts differ geographically. This shows that it is crucial to combine the analysis of herbarium data with spatial modelling when testing for long‐term phenology trends across large spatial scales.

Background and Aims Petioles are important plant organs connecting stems with leaf blades and affecting light-harvesting ability of the leaf as well as transport of water, nutrients and biochemical signals. Despite the high diversity in petiole size, shape and anatomy, little information is availabl…

Aim: Due to the sessile nature of flowering plants, movements to new geographical areas occur mainly during seed dispersal. Frugivores tend to be efficient dispersers because animals move within the boundaries of their preferable niches, so seeds are more likely to be transported to environments tha…

The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) harbors abundant and diverse plant life owing to its high habitat heterogeneity. However, the distribution pattern of biodiversity hotspots and their conservation status remain unclear. Based on 148,283 high-resolution occurrence coordinates of 13,450 seed plants, w…

Every species experiences limits to its geographic distribution. Some evolutionary models predict that populations at range edges are less well‐adapted to their local environments due to drift, expansion load, or swamping gene flow from the range interior. Alternatively, populations near range edges…

Understanding seasonal variation in the distribution and movement patterns of migratory species is essential to monitoring and conservation efforts. While there are many species of migratory bats in North America, little is known about their seasonal movements. In terms of conservation, this is impo…

Question: Do invasions by invasive plant species with contrasting trait profiles (Arctotheca calendula, Carpobrotus spp., Conyza bonariensis, and Opuntia dillenii) change the climatic niche of coastal plant communities? Location: Atlantic coastal habitats in Huelva (Spain). Methods: We identifi…