Effects of laundry washing on germination of cloth-dispersed seeds depends on washing intensity not on detergent type.

Unintentional human-vectored seed dispersal (HVD) occurs when the seed dispersal vectors are humans, and the seeds are attached to clothing or footwear during various outdoor activities. Since most plant species spread by HVD are invasives or weeds, the process can have globally relevant adverse environmental effects due to the growing global tourism industry. Here we evaluated whether the germination capacity of seeds can be reduced by laundry washing treatments used in households, in order to decrease the chance of unintended dispersal of plant species by clothing.

The ecological footprint of outdoor activities: Factors affecting human-vectored seed dispersal on clothing.

In the Anthropocene, humans are among the most abundant long-distance seed dispersal vectors globally, due to our increasing mobility and the growing global population. However, there are several knowledge gaps related to the process of human-vectored dispersal (HVD) on clothing. In a multi-site field experiment covering various habitat types in three countries of Central-Europe, we involved 88 volunteer participants and collected 251 HVD samples and 2008 subsamples from their socks and shoes.

Contribution of cultural heritage values to steppe conservation on ancient burial mounds of Eurasia.

Civilizations, including ancient ones, have shaped global ecosystems in many ways through coevolution of landscapes and humans. However, the cultural legacies of ancient and lost civilizations are rarely considered in the conservation of the Eurasian steppe biome. We used a data set containing more than 1000 records on localities, land cover, protection status, and cultural values related to ancient steppic burial mounds (kurgans); we evaluated how these iconic and widespread landmarks can contribute to grassland conservation in the Eurasian steppes, which is one of the most endangered biomes on Earth.

Better safe than sorry - Understanding the attitude and habits of drivers can help mitigating animal-vehicle collisions.

The rapidly growing global road networks put serious pressures on terrestrial ecosystems and increase the number and severity of human-wildlife conflicts, which in most cases manifest in animal-vehicle collisions (AVCs). AVCs pose serious problems both for biodiversity conservation and traffic safety: each year, millions of vertebrates are roadkilled globally and the related economic damage is also substantial. For a comprehensive understanding of factors influencing AVC it is essential to explore the human factor, that is, the habits and attitude of drivers; however, to date, comprehensive surveys are lacking on this topic.

Vertical distribution of soil seed bank and the ecological importance of deeply buried seeds in alkaline grasslands.

Background: Soil seed banks play a central role in vegetation dynamics and may be an important source of ecological restoration. However, the vast majority of seed bank studies examined only the uppermost soil layers (0-10 cm); hence, our knowledge on the depth distribution of seed bank and the ecological significance of deeply buried seeds is limited. The aim of our study was to examine the fine-scale vertical distribution of soil seed bank to a depth of 80 cm, which is one of the largest studied depth gradients so far.

Ecosystem engineering by foxes is mediated by the landscape context-A case study from steppic burial mounds.

In intensively used landscapes, remnant grassland fragments are often restricted to places unsuitable for agricultural cultivation. Such refuges are the ancient burial mounds called "kurgans," which are typical landscape elements of the Eurasian steppe and forest steppe zone. Due to their hill-like shape, loose soil structure and undisturbed status kurgans provide proper habitats for burrowing mammals.