Research over the past decade has shown that quantifying spatial variation in ecosystem
properties is an effective approach to investigating the effects of environmental change on …

Ecosystem engineers strongly influence the communities in which they live by modifying
habitats and altering resource availability. These biogenic changes can persist beyond the …

Peatlands are the “kidneys” of river basins. However, intensification of agriculture and
forestry in Europe has resulted in the degradation of peatlands and their biodiversity (ie …

Peat formation is the key process responsible for carbon sequestration in peatlands. In rich
fens, peat is formed by brown mosses and belowground biomass of vascular plants …

While the importance of conservation mowing for mesic grasslands is generally accepted, its
use for fens and fen grasslands interspersed within agricultural land is still controversial …

Increasing evidence for the effects of Holocene history on modern biotic communities
suggests that current explanations of community patterns and conservation strategies …

There has been an upsurge of interest and research activity in trait-based approaches in
ecology, biogeography, and macroecology. I discuss if this upsurge has impacted …

Continentality is a globally significant gradient influencing broad-scale biogeographical
patterns. An excellent example is the transition from the European temperate forest biome to …

Predicting the trajectory of ongoing diversity loss requires knowledge of historical
development of community assemblages. Long-term data from palaeoecological …

Rich fens are known as biodiversity hot spots among peatlands encompassing many
endangered bryophytes. In some European regions, specialised rich-fen bryophytes …