Global reduction of snow cover in ski areas under climate change.

Ongoing climate change substantially alters snowfall patterns with severe but diverging consequences for global ski areas. A global assessment as well as the investigation of potential implications for mountain ecosystems is currently lacking. We quantify future trends in natural snow cover days under different climate change scenarios until 2100 in seven major global skiing regions and discuss implications for mountainous biodiversity by analysing how natural snow cover days relate to regional human population density.

Floristic homogenization of South Pacific islands commenced with human arrival.

The increasing similarity of plant species composition among distinct areas is leading to the homogenization of ecosystems globally. Human actions such as ecosystem modification, the introduction of non-native plant species and the extinction or extirpation of endemic and native plant species are considered the main drivers of this trend. However, little is known about when floristic homogenization began or about pre-human patterns of floristic similarity.

Volcanic tephra deposition dataset based on interpolated field measurements following the 2021 Tajogaite Eruption on La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain.

In 2021, the Tajogaite Volcano erupted along the western slope of the Cumbre Vieja on the island of La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. Volcanic tephra blanketed a substantial proportion of the island. By our estimations, approximately 23,000,000 m of pyroclastic ashes and more coarse-grained particles were deposited unto La Palma's land surface in addition to the lava flow.

A multitaxonomic assessment of Natura 2000 effectiveness across European biogeographic regions.

The Natura 2000 (N2K) protected area (PA) network is a crucial tool to limit biodiversity loss in Europe. Despite covering 18% of the European Union's (EU) land area, its effectiveness at conserving biodiversity across taxa and biogeographic regions remains uncertain. Testing this effectiveness is, however, difficult because it requires considering the nonrandom location of PAs, and many possible confounding factors.

Volcanic ash deposition as a selection mechanism towards woodiness.

The high proportion of woody plant species on oceanic islands has hitherto been explained mainly by gradual adaptation to climatic conditions. Here, we present a novel hypothesis that such woodiness is adaptative to volcanic ash (tephra) deposition. Oceanic islands are subject to frequent eruptions with substantial and widespread ash deposition on evolutionary time scales.

Impact of climatic conditions on radial growth of non-native Cedrus libani compared to native conifers in Central Europe.

Ongoing climate change increasingly affects growth conditions of native conifers such as Picea abies (Norway spruce) and Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine) in Central Europe. These conifers are primarily cultivated for wood production. To obtain ecologically and economically stable forests, forestry seeks alternative species that might be less prone to novel climatic conditions, such as Cedrus libani (Lebanon cedar).

Long-term trajectories of non-native vegetation on islands globally.

Human-mediated changes in island vegetation are, among others, largely caused by the introduction and establishment of non-native species. However, data on past changes in non-native plant species abundance that predate historical documentation and censuses are scarce. Islands are among the few places where we can track human arrival in natural systems allowing us to reveal changes in vegetation dynamics with the arrival of non-native species.

Invasive blackberry outcompetes the endemic Galapagos tree daisy Scalesia pedunculata.

Island florae are under threat from habitat loss and competition with introduced species worldwide. In the Galapagos Islands, the endemic tree daisy Scalesia pedunculata (Asteraceae) is the dominant tree in the cloud forest of Santa Cruz Island but suffers from competition with the invasive blackberry Rubus niveus. At the site Los Gemelos, a S.

Limited natural regeneration of unique Scalesia forest following invasive plant removal in Galapagos.

More than 60% of the flora of the Galapagos Islands is introduced and some of these species have become invasive, severely altering ecosystems. An example of an affected ecosystem is the Scalesia forest, originally dominated by the endemic giant daisy tree Scalesia pedunculata (Asteraceae). The remnant patches of this unique forest are increasingly being invaded by introduced plants, mainly by Rubus niveus (blackberry, Rosaceae).

Vegetation plot and trait data from phonolitic and basaltic rocks on La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain).

Geodiversity promotes biodiversity by increasing habitat heterogeneity. In times of a global biodiversity decline, data about diversity on such geological elements gains importance, also regarding conservation and restoration. In the Canary Islands, phonolitic rocks are geological elements of volcanic origin that represent additional habitat for species.

Outdoor cycling activity affected by COVID-19 related epidemic-control-decisions.

Aim: The lockdown of sports infrastructure due to the COVID-19 pandemic has substantially shifted people's physical activity towards public green spaces. With Germany's lockdown as one of the more severe governmentally imposed epidemic-control-decisions, we tested to what extent the frequency of outdoor cycling activities changed from March to June 2020.

Methods: User behaviour and frequency in 15 urban and 7 rural German public green spaces was quantified using cycling data from the fitness application Strava.