Publications by authors named "Idoia Biurrun"

Article Synopsis
  • Plant communities consist of species with varying functional traits and evolutionary backgrounds, leading to the expectation that functional diversity increases with phylogenetic diversity.* -
  • Contrary to this expectation, a study of over 1.7 million vegetation plots showed that functional and phylogenetic diversity are weakly and negatively correlated, suggesting they operate independently.* -
  • Phylogenetic diversity is more pronounced in forests and reflects recent climate, while functional diversity is influenced by both past and recent climate, highlighting the need to assess both types of diversity for ecosystem studies and conservation strategies.*
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The globalization in plant material trading has caused the emergence of invasive pests in many ecosystems, such as the alder pathogen Phytophthora ×alni in European riparian forests. Due to the ecological importance of alder to the functioning of rivers and the increasing incidence of P. ×alni-induced alder decline, effective and accessible decision tools are required to help managers and stakeholders control the disease.

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Terrestrial ecosystems affect climate by reflecting solar irradiation, evaporative cooling, and carbon sequestration. Yet very little is known about how plant traits affect climate regulation processes (CRPs) in different habitat types. Here, we used linear and random forest models to relate the community-weighted mean and variance values of 19 plant traits (summarized into eight trait axes) to the climate-adjusted proportion of reflected solar irradiation, evapotranspiration, and net primary productivity across 36,630 grid cells at the European extent, classified into 10 types of forest, shrubland, and grassland habitats.

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Ecological theory predicts close relationships between macroclimate and functional traits. Yet, global climatic gradients correlate only weakly with the trait composition of local plant communities, suggesting that important factors have been ignored. Here, we investigate the consistency of climate-trait relationships for plant communities in European habitats.

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As the number of introduced species keeps increasing unabatedly, identifying and prioritising current and potential Invasive Alien Species (IAS) has become essential to manage them. Horizon Scanning (HS), defined as an exploration of potential threats, is considered a fundamental component of IAS management. By combining scientific knowledge on taxa with expert opinion, we identified the most relevant aquatic IAS in the Iberian Peninsula, i.

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Aim: Understanding the variation in community composition and species abundances (i.e., β-diversity) is at the heart of community ecology.

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Species abundance distributions (SADs) link species richness with species abundances and are an important tool in the quantitative analysis of ecological communities. Niche-based and sample-based SAD models predict different spatial scaling properties of SAD parameters. However, empirical research on SAD scaling properties is largely missing.

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Article Synopsis
  • Understanding what makes alien species successful can help predict future invasions.
  • Researchers identified three key dimensions of invasiveness: local abundance, geographic range size, and habitat breadth, analyzing data from over one million vegetation plots across Europe.
  • The study found that earlier introductions and certain traits, especially from acquisitive growth strategists, contributed to higher success rates in invasiveness, while also highlighting unique patterns in specific habitats.
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Article Synopsis
  • Plant functional traits influence ecosystem functions and vary based on ecological strategies, with species-level trade-offs not directly aligning at the community level.
  • A global analysis of over 1.1 million vegetation plots reveals that while 17 functional traits are filtered, community trait values can differ significantly despite similar environmental conditions.
  • The study suggests that local factors like disturbance and biotic interactions play a larger role in shaping trait combinations than broader macro-environmental drivers.
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Alien species invasion represents a global threat to biodiversity and ecosystems. Explaining invasion patterns in terms of environmental constraints will help us to assess invasion risks and plan control strategies. We aim to identify plant invasion patterns in the Basque Country (Spain), and to determine the effects of climate and human pressure on that pattern.

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