Papers by Peter Borchardt
Zentralblatt für Geologie und Paläontologie, Teil I, 2014
Tree species are of particular importance at the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and ... more Tree species are of particular importance at the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia). In this region of low forest cover, but high diversity of shrub and tree species, the remnant forest stands are adversely affected by anthropogenic disturbance and climate change. Land-use and frequently occurring droughts – reinforced by climate warming – result in a constant loss of forest habitats with high diversity of tree and shrub species. More than 90 percent of the total energy used in Ethiopia is produced from biomass, with fuelwood being the major component. Under these circumstances, the restoration
Nature, 2015
In the first boldface paragraph of this Article, the global number of trees should be approximate... more In the first boldface paragraph of this Article, the global number of trees should be approximately '1.30 trillion' (rather than '1.39 trillion') for tropical and subtropical forests and '0.66 trillion' (rather than '0.61 trillion') for temperate regions. These errors have been corrected in the online versions of the paper. In addition, the global tree density map can be found at
Bryophyte Diversity and Evolution, 2003
All species of rhe genus Rhizogonium are keyed out, described and illustrated. Rhizogonium sublim... more All species of rhe genus Rhizogonium are keyed out, described and illustrated. Rhizogonium sublimbatum Crum is regarded as synonymous with Rh. novae-hollandiae.
Global Ecology and Biogeography
Journal of Vegetation Science
Journal of Vegetation Science
Aims: Vegetation-plot records provide information on the presence and cover or abundance of plant... more Aims: Vegetation-plot records provide information on the presence and cover or abundance of plants co-occurring in the same community. Vegetation-plot data are spread across research groups, environmental agencies and biodiversity research centers and, thus, are rarely accessible at continental or global scales. Here we present the sPlot database, which collates vegetation plots worldwide to allow for the exploration of global patterns in taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity at the plant community level. Results: sPlot version 2.1 contains records from 1,121,244 vegetation plots, which comprise 23,586,216 records of plant species and their relative cover or abundance in plots collected worldwide between 1885 and 2015. We complemented the information for each plot by retrieving climate and soil conditions and the biogeographic context (e.g., biomes) from external sources, and by calculating community-weighted means and variances of traits using gap-filled data from the global plant trait database TRY. Moreover, we created a phylogenetic tree for 50,167 out of the 54,519 species identified in the plots. We present the first maps of global patterns of community richness and community-weighted means of key traits. Conclusions: The availability of vegetation plot data in sPlot offers new avenues for vegetation analysis at the global scale.
Journal of Mountain Science
Biodiversity & Ecology, 2012
The following factsheet provides a brief overview of the Vegetation Database of South Western Kyr... more The following factsheet provides a brief overview of the Vegetation Database of South Western Kyrgystan (GIVD ID AS-KG-001) of the project "The Impact of the Transformation Process on Human-Environmental Interactions in Southern Kyrgyzstan". Within the framework of this project phytosociological relevés of the walnut-fruit forest and adjacent subalpine and alpine pastures has been sampled since 2001. Currently, there are 698 relevés available from the walnut-wildfruit forest region (Arslanbob, Bazaar Korgon Rayon, Jalalabad Oblast, Kyrgyzstan). At present the dataset is used by the members of the study group for analysing quantitative and qualitative effects of varying grazing pressure with respect to site-ecological conditions, vegetation patterns, productivity and grazing impact.
Mountain Research and Development
The following factsheet provides a brief overview of the vegetation database of the project "The ... more The following factsheet provides a brief overview of the vegetation database of the project "The Impact of the Transformation Process on Human-Environmental Interactions in Southern Kyrgyzstan". Within the framework of this project phytosociological relevés of the walnut-fruit forest and adjacent subalpine and alpine pastures has been sampled since 2001. Currently there are 698 relevés available from the walnut-wildfruit forest region (Arslanbob, Bazaar Korgon Rayon, Jalalabad Oblast, Kyrgyzstan). At present the dataset is used by the members of the study group for analyzing quantitative and qualitative effects of varying grazing pressure with respect to site-ecological conditions, vegetation patterns, productivity and grazing impact.
Phytocoenologia, 2013
Transformation processes in countries like Kyrgyzstan often lead to intensifi cation or extensifi... more Transformation processes in countries like Kyrgyzstan often lead to intensifi cation or extensifi cation of grazing on mountain pastures. In order to reveal the impact of livestock grazing on vegetation patterns, we examined traits of dominant and frequent species in four previously classifi ed plant communities. In particular we analysed trait-environment relationships using multivariate RLQ analysis and univariate fourth-corner statistics in order to identify most relevant environmental gradients. Functional Response Groups (FRG's) of plant taxa were derived from clustered RLQ ordination space, and were subsequently analysed for their proportionality in previously identifi ed plant communities. Plant height, growth form, lateral spread, fl owering time and life cycle showed a high degree of correlation with grazing. RLQ analysis revealed a high differentiation of plant trait values along a grazing gradient on the fi rst RLQ axis. FRG's matched three of four vegetation types by constancy and fi delity values (phi) well. Thus, trait-based analyses were successfully used to identify functionally similar groups of species with regard to different regimes of grazing pressure.
Mountain Research and Development, 2012
BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access t... more BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.
Mountain Research and Development, 2012
Journal of Mountain Science, 2011
Vast grasslands are found in the walnut-fruit forest region of southern Kyrgyzstan, Middle Asia. ... more Vast grasslands are found in the walnut-fruit forest region of southern Kyrgyzstan, Middle Asia. Located above the worldwide unique walnut-fruit forests and used for grazing, they play a pivotal role in the mixed mountain agriculture of local farmers. Accordingly, these pastures are subject to an increasing utilization pressure reflecting the changing political and social conditions in the transformation process from a Soviet republic to an independent state. A first detailed analysis of mountain pasture vegetation in the Ferghana Range answers the following questions: What are the main plant community types among Kyrgyzstan’s mountain pastures? What are the main environmental gradients that shape their species composition? Which phytogeographical distribution types are predominant? How does grazing affect community composition and species richness in these grasslands? Species composition was classified by cluster analysis; underlying environmental gradients were explored using DCA. A dataset of 395 relevés was used for classification, and a subset of 79 relevés was used in a DCA to analyze the correlation between vegetation, environment, and grazing impact. The investigated pastures were classified into four distinctive plant communities. The site factors altitude, heat load, inclination and grazing impact were found to be the major determinants of the vegetation pattern. A significant overlap between floristic composition and structural and spatial properties was shown. The majority of the species pool consisted of Middle Asian endemics and Eurosiberian species. However, disturbance-tolerant species played a significant role with respect to species composition and coverage of the herbaceous layer in vast areas of southern Kyrgyzstan’s mountain pastures. In general, an intense grazing impact is clearly reflected by both species composition and structural variables of plant communities. The highly diverse and unique ecosystem is modified by an increasing utilization pressure. In order to maintain vital processes and functioning of this valuable ecosystem — in both economical and ecological terms -, it is indispensable to adopt appropriate pasture management strategies.
Uploads
Papers by Peter Borchardt