commonmeta-ruby 3.2.4 → 3.2.6
Sign up to get free protection for your applications and to get access to all the features.
- checksums.yaml +4 -4
- data/Gemfile.lock +7 -6
- data/lib/commonmeta/cli.rb +17 -21
- data/lib/commonmeta/readers/json_feed_reader.rb +6 -11
- data/lib/commonmeta/utils.rb +2 -4
- data/lib/commonmeta/version.rb +1 -1
- data/spec/cli_spec.rb +2 -4
- data/spec/fixtures/vcr_cassettes/Commonmeta_CLI/json_feed/blog_post_uuid.yml +980 -0
- data/spec/fixtures/vcr_cassettes/Commonmeta_Metadata/get_json_feed/all_posts.yml +977 -0
- data/spec/readers/json_feed_reader_spec.rb +1 -19
- data/spec/utils_spec.rb +1 -7
- metadata +3 -2
@@ -2622,4 +2622,981 @@ http_interactions:
|
|
2622
2622
|
betont.</p>\\n\",\"tags\":[\"Open Science\",\"G7\"],\"language\":\"de\",\"blog_id\":\"34zkv26\",\"blog\":{\"id\":\"34zkv26\",\"title\":\"wisspub.net\",\"language\":\"de\",\"favicon\":null,\"feed_url\":\"https://wisspub.net/feed/atom/\",\"home_page_url\":\"https://wisspub.net/\",\"license\":\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode\",\"category\":\"Engineering
|
2623
2623
|
and Technology\"}}]"
|
2624
2624
|
recorded_at: Mon, 05 Jun 2023 09:02:38 GMT
|
2625
|
+
- request:
|
2626
|
+
method: get
|
2627
|
+
uri: https://rogue-scholar.org/api/posts/unregistered
|
2628
|
+
body:
|
2629
|
+
encoding: UTF-8
|
2630
|
+
string: ''
|
2631
|
+
headers:
|
2632
|
+
Connection:
|
2633
|
+
- close
|
2634
|
+
Host:
|
2635
|
+
- rogue-scholar.org
|
2636
|
+
User-Agent:
|
2637
|
+
- http.rb/5.1.1
|
2638
|
+
response:
|
2639
|
+
status:
|
2640
|
+
code: 200
|
2641
|
+
message: OK
|
2642
|
+
headers:
|
2643
|
+
Age:
|
2644
|
+
- '0'
|
2645
|
+
Cache-Control:
|
2646
|
+
- public, max-age=0, must-revalidate
|
2647
|
+
Content-Length:
|
2648
|
+
- '89570'
|
2649
|
+
Content-Type:
|
2650
|
+
- application/json; charset=utf-8
|
2651
|
+
Date:
|
2652
|
+
- Fri, 09 Jun 2023 08:44:55 GMT
|
2653
|
+
Etag:
|
2654
|
+
- '"11mjjad3boy1wxv"'
|
2655
|
+
Server:
|
2656
|
+
- Vercel
|
2657
|
+
Strict-Transport-Security:
|
2658
|
+
- max-age=63072000
|
2659
|
+
X-Matched-Path:
|
2660
|
+
- "/api/posts/unregistered"
|
2661
|
+
X-Vercel-Cache:
|
2662
|
+
- MISS
|
2663
|
+
X-Vercel-Id:
|
2664
|
+
- fra1::iad1::plqll-1686300295176-51e11356d066
|
2665
|
+
Connection:
|
2666
|
+
- close
|
2667
|
+
body:
|
2668
|
+
encoding: UTF-8
|
2669
|
+
string: '[{"id":"https://irishplants.org/blog/2022/12/26/why-care-about-grasslands/","uuid":"e4872b3e-cd15-407d-8406-33642c1a98b0","url":"https://irishplants.org/blog/2022/12/26/why-care-about-grasslands/","title":"Why
|
2670
|
+
care about grasslands?","summary":"As someone who has been deeply interested
|
2671
|
+
by plants as long as I can remember, I have grown to appreciate all the different
|
2672
|
+
habitats I come across in Ireland. Each has its own unique set of species,
|
2673
|
+
but one...","date_published":"2022-12-26T00:10:05Z","date_modified":"2022-12-26T17:12:30Z","authors":[{"url":null,"name":"Jake
|
2674
|
+
Dalzell"}],"image":null,"content_html":"\n<p>As someone who has been deeply
|
2675
|
+
interested by plants as long as I can remember, I have grown to appreciate
|
2676
|
+
all the different habitats I come across in Ireland. Each has its own unique
|
2677
|
+
set of species, but one that has always particularly caught my attention is
|
2678
|
+
our grasslands. Part of this is probably because my family have been <a rel=\"noreferrer
|
2679
|
+
noopener\" href=\"https://irishplants.org/field.html\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://irishplants.org/field.html\"
|
2680
|
+
target=\"_blank\">managing our small field for biodiversity</a>, and seeing
|
2681
|
+
plants, animals, and fungi flourish there has massively influenced my interest
|
2682
|
+
in ecology. But there’s also something special about grasslands.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure
|
2683
|
+
class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"
|
2684
|
+
src=\"https://irishplants.org/images/islands/roe/landscape2.jpg\" width=\"650\"
|
2685
|
+
height=\"400\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Species-rich grassland
|
2686
|
+
dominated by Knapweed (<i>Centaurea nigra</i>) on <a href=\"https://irishplants.org/islands/roe.html\">Roe
|
2687
|
+
Island</a>, Strangford Lough.</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For one, species-rich
|
2688
|
+
grassland is rare – <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://pollinators.ie/the-importance-of-species-rich-meadows-and-grasslands-even-mini-ones/\"
|
2689
|
+
data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://pollinators.ie/the-importance-of-species-rich-meadows-and-grasslands-even-mini-ones/\"
|
2690
|
+
target=\"_blank\">most has been destroyed through fertiliser input or reseeding</a>.
|
2691
|
+
Finding even a small area feels like stumbling across a lost world, especially
|
2692
|
+
in the intensely farmed northern part of Down, on the edge of East Belfast
|
2693
|
+
where I’ve grown up. Grasslands can be incredibly diverse, with ten
|
2694
|
+
or twenty plant species in a single square metre (ten species per square metre
|
2695
|
+
is generally the benchmark for species-rich grassland), from orchids to grasses,
|
2696
|
+
and from dainty annuals like Eyebright to beefy perennials like Devil’s
|
2697
|
+
Bit.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\"
|
2698
|
+
loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/images/islands/roe/euphrasia.jpg\"
|
2699
|
+
width=\"650\" height=\"488\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An Eyebright
|
2700
|
+
species (<i>Euphrasia nemorosa</i>) on Roe Island.</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Grasslands
|
2701
|
+
also harbour a huge diversity of arthropod species: butterflies and moths,
|
2702
|
+
bees and wasps, flies, beetles, spiders, harvestmen and many more. In our
|
2703
|
+
field we have resident Small Heath (<em>Coenonympha pamphilus</em>) and Cryptic
|
2704
|
+
Wood White (<em>Leptidea juvernica</em>) butterflies among others. These species
|
2705
|
+
are uncommon and rapidly declining, and it’s only in the small pockets
|
2706
|
+
of remaining habitat that they can still be seen. Protecting these species’
|
2707
|
+
habitat means they will continue to be seen every year and not go the way
|
2708
|
+
of the Wall Brown (<em>Lasiommata megera</em>), which is now so rare <a rel=\"noreferrer
|
2709
|
+
noopener\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/savebutterflies/photos/a.210247922322596/6669593713054619/\"
|
2710
|
+
data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://www.facebook.com/savebutterflies/photos/a.210247922322596/6669593713054619/\"
|
2711
|
+
target=\"_blank\">it has been seen once in Down in the last five years</a>.
|
2712
|
+
Habitat loss and nitrogen pollution from run-off and the air now threaten
|
2713
|
+
once-common species with extinction.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image
|
2714
|
+
size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/images/other_grasslands/lagan_meadows/courting_flight.jpg\"
|
2715
|
+
width=\"650\" height=\"464.3\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Cryptic
|
2716
|
+
Wood White courtship flight at <a href=\"https://irishplants.org/other_grasslands/lagan_meadows.html\">Lagan
|
2717
|
+
Meadows</a> in Belfast. These butterflies live in young bramble scrub on the
|
2718
|
+
edges of species-rich grassland, where they can find the vetches that they
|
2719
|
+
and their larvae feed on. This population is now threatened as the site is
|
2720
|
+
no longer grazed.</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>So what can we do to protect
|
2721
|
+
grasslands? Firstly, we need to know what a healthy species-rich grassland
|
2722
|
+
needs:</p>\n\n\n\n<ol>\n<li>Grazing and/or mowing: grasslands are inherently
|
2723
|
+
always in flux – they almost always require disturbance and removal
|
2724
|
+
of plant material, or they turn into something else! <em>Succession</em> is
|
2725
|
+
the process where grassland becomes scrub and then woodland, and this isn’t
|
2726
|
+
necessarily a bad thing – natural regeneration is a great way to create
|
2727
|
+
woodland. However, with species-rich grassland so rare, it’s important
|
2728
|
+
succession is prevented on these special sites.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Low soil fertility:
|
2729
|
+
most species-rich grasslands occur on low-fertility soils (the richest are
|
2730
|
+
often on extremely infertile chalk). Nitrate pollution from fertiliser run-off
|
2731
|
+
and air pollution (eg. from transport) increase soil fertility, usually allowing
|
2732
|
+
grasses to out-compete other species and reducing species-richness. There
|
2733
|
+
are exceptions of course, like <a href=\"https://irishplants.org/islands/bsbiposter.html#communities\"
|
2734
|
+
data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://irishplants.org/islands/bsbiposter.html#communities\"
|
2735
|
+
target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">weird, guano-filled islands
|
2736
|
+
on Strangford Lough</a>!</li>\n\n\n\n<li>A healthy landscape: fragmentation
|
2737
|
+
of grasslands causes extinction of plants and animals, both in the short-
|
2738
|
+
and long-term. Fragmented habitats may take decades to lose species following
|
2739
|
+
loss of neighbouring sites (this is known as <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"
|
2740
|
+
href=\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01457.x\"
|
2741
|
+
data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01457.x\"
|
2742
|
+
target=\"_blank\">extinction debt</a>), and maintaining and restoring the
|
2743
|
+
connectivity of habitats is vital to ensure <em>metapopulations</em> stay
|
2744
|
+
intact – this means even if a species goes extinct at one site, individuals
|
2745
|
+
from other, connected sites can still re-colonise (the <em>metapopulation</em>
|
2746
|
+
is this “population of populations”). Loss of connectivity prevents
|
2747
|
+
this re-colonisation, and also <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2008.0724\"
|
2748
|
+
data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2008.0724\"
|
2749
|
+
target=\"_blank\">colonisation of new sites</a>, which stops species from
|
2750
|
+
responding to climate change. Extinction debt means small fragments of habitat
|
2751
|
+
can still have many rare species which can return to the wider landscape,
|
2752
|
+
but only if connectivity is restored.</li>\n</ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image
|
2753
|
+
size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/images/other_grasslands/lagan_meadows/map.jpg\"
|
2754
|
+
width=\"650\" height=\"381\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Grassland
|
2755
|
+
sites like Lagan Meadows are mostly isolated and fragmented. A lot of the
|
2756
|
+
Lagan Valley actually has relatively good connectivity for the area but it
|
2757
|
+
is limited here by surrounding urban development.</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>To
|
2758
|
+
protect our grasslands we need to maintain and improve management at species-rich
|
2759
|
+
sites, reduce nitrate pollution, and create a healthy landscape by stopping
|
2760
|
+
the destruction of grasslands as well as creating new ones. In Kent, <a rel=\"noreferrer
|
2761
|
+
noopener\" href=\"https://youtu.be/gho7BvctPyY\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://youtu.be/gho7BvctPyY\"
|
2762
|
+
target=\"_blank\">Nature Recovery Networks</a> aim to create extensive networks
|
2763
|
+
of species-rich grassland to link together existing sites. The team working
|
2764
|
+
personally with farmers has led to great success, with species like the Black-veined
|
2765
|
+
Moth (<em>Siona lineata</em>) benefiting. This kind of habitat restoration
|
2766
|
+
could be replicated in Down, but what would it require? Restored sites would
|
2767
|
+
have reduced yields, so farmers could be compensated for participating, and
|
2768
|
+
subsidies for species-rich habitats would be essential. Communicating the
|
2769
|
+
importance of these sites would be important; engaging with schools by arranging
|
2770
|
+
trips and linking with biology and geography curricula would help. Site managers
|
2771
|
+
from different organisations would have to work together over a large area,
|
2772
|
+
requiring networks and cooperation that doesn’t currently exist. These
|
2773
|
+
things aren’t an issue, but an opportunity to improve how conservation
|
2774
|
+
operates.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As someone who loves the natural world, I have no
|
2775
|
+
choice but to care about grasslands. I can’t lack ambition for local
|
2776
|
+
conservation – we <em>need </em>landscape-scale restoration, and sooner
|
2777
|
+
rather than later, before fragmentation and habitat-loss degrades what’s
|
2778
|
+
left. It won’t be easy, but anything less amounts to giving up. If we
|
2779
|
+
can imagine a network of semi-natural grasslands in our intensively agricultural
|
2780
|
+
landscapes, maybe we can work towards a more biodiverse future.</p>\n","tags":["Ecology","Conservation","Plants","Writing"],"language":"en","blog_id":"2bzkh64","blogs":{"id":"2bzkh64","title":"Irish
|
2781
|
+
Plants","description":"Jake''s blog.","language":"en","icon":null,"favicon":"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/favicon32.png","feed_url":"http://irishplants.org/blog/feed/atom/","home_page_url":"https://irishplants.org/blog","base_url":null,"user_id":"8498eaf6-8c58-4b58-bc15-27eda292b1aa","created_at":"2023-05-31T13:47:52+00:00","indexed_at":"2023-01-04","feed_format":"application/atom+xml","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode","generator":"WordPress","category":"Natural
|
2782
|
+
Sciences","prefix":"10.59350"}},{"id":"https://irishplants.org/blog/2023/03/26/comparing-parasite-and-host-strategies-in-a-portuguese-grassland/","uuid":"27add77e-66af-402c-b462-d050516ae65b","url":"https://irishplants.org/blog/2023/03/26/comparing-parasite-and-host-strategies-in-a-portuguese-grassland/","title":"Comparing
|
2783
|
+
parasite and host strategies in a Portuguese grassland","summary":"by Jake
|
2784
|
+
Dalzell, Hazel Garrett, Catriona Forrest, Wayne Liang, Rosalind Mackey, Denis
|
2785
|
+
Pavlov, and Josh Simpson This was a small project we threw together over three
|
2786
|
+
days on our Plant Sciences fieldtrip to...","date_published":"2023-03-26T20:00:04Z","date_modified":"2023-05-07T15:28:38Z","authors":[{"url":null,"name":"Jake
|
2787
|
+
Dalzell"}],"image":null,"content_html":"\n<p>by Jake Dalzell, Hazel Garrett,
|
2788
|
+
Catriona Forrest, Wayne Liang, Rosalind Mackey, Denis Pavlov, and Josh Simpson</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This
|
2789
|
+
was a small project we threw together over three days on our Plant Sciences
|
2790
|
+
fieldtrip to Portugal. Everyone on the fieldtrip used six different techniques
|
2791
|
+
to explore plant physiology and ecology, and each group came up with a research
|
2792
|
+
question that could be answered using some of these techniques. Given the
|
2793
|
+
short time frame, our samples were biased and small (too small for robust
|
2794
|
+
statistics!). We can’t really draw any hard conclusions from our results,
|
2795
|
+
but they do show interesting trends.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our project compared the
|
2796
|
+
strategies used by two parasitic plants in the Orobanchaceae and a shared
|
2797
|
+
host species in the Fabaceae. We also compared host individuals which were
|
2798
|
+
parasitised by each species with each other and with uninfected hosts. We
|
2799
|
+
were particularly interested in how water use differed between the different
|
2800
|
+
plants. We expected to see a lower water potential in the parasites than in
|
2801
|
+
their host, as has been shown in other Orobanchaceae︎¹<sup>,</sup>². This
|
2802
|
+
water potential gradient generates a sink, so there is a flux of xylem fluid
|
2803
|
+
from host roots to parasite¹.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Study
|
2804
|
+
species</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We chose to study a holoparasite, <em>Phelipanche ramosa</em>;
|
2805
|
+
a hemiparasite, <em>Bellardia trixago</em>; and a legume that they both parasitise,
|
2806
|
+
<em>Medicago polymorpha</em>. These were abundant in the grassland where we
|
2807
|
+
were staying, Quinta de São Pedro.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group
|
2808
|
+
is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-1\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image
|
2809
|
+
size-medium\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/phelipanche-225x300.jpg\"
|
2810
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-414\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/phelipanche-225x300.jpg
|
2811
|
+
225w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/phelipanche-768x1024.jpg
|
2812
|
+
768w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/phelipanche-1152x1536.jpg
|
2813
|
+
1152w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/phelipanche-1536x2048.jpg
|
2814
|
+
1536w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/phelipanche.jpg
|
2815
|
+
1619w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Phelipanche
|
2816
|
+
ramosa</em></figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium\"><img
|
2817
|
+
decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/bellardia-225x300.jpg\"
|
2818
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-415\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/bellardia-225x300.jpg
|
2819
|
+
225w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/bellardia-768x1023.jpg
|
2820
|
+
768w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/bellardia.jpg
|
2821
|
+
1069w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Bellardia
|
2822
|
+
trixago</em></figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium\"><img
|
2823
|
+
decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/medicago-225x300.jpg\"
|
2824
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-416\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/medicago-225x300.jpg
|
2825
|
+
225w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/medicago-768x1024.jpg
|
2826
|
+
768w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/medicago.jpg
|
2827
|
+
1013w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Medicago
|
2828
|
+
polymorpha</em></figcaption></figure>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image
|
2829
|
+
aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"
|
2830
|
+
src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/haustoria.jpg\"
|
2831
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-422\" width=\"270\" height=\"349\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/haustoria.jpg
|
2832
|
+
1080w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/haustoria-232x300.jpg
|
2833
|
+
232w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/haustoria-768x993.jpg
|
2834
|
+
768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 270px) 100vw, 270px\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">root
|
2835
|
+
connections are visible between the <em>Phelipanche</em> and a host Fabaceae
|
2836
|
+
sp.</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mycorrhizal
|
2837
|
+
staining</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We cleared the roots using Sodium hydroxide, then
|
2838
|
+
stained for mycorrhizal fungi by using a blue dye that binds to chitin, followed
|
2839
|
+
by washing with Hydrochloric acid and then water.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group
|
2840
|
+
alignfull is-content-justification-center is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-2\">\n<figure
|
2841
|
+
class=\"wp-block-image size-medium\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"
|
2842
|
+
width=\"225\" height=\"300\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/washingRoots-225x300.jpg\"
|
2843
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-412\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/washingRoots-225x300.jpg
|
2844
|
+
225w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/washingRoots-768x1024.jpg
|
2845
|
+
768w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/washingRoots-1152x1536.jpg
|
2846
|
+
1152w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/washingRoots.jpg
|
2847
|
+
1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Josh
|
2848
|
+
and Catriona washing roots</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image
|
2849
|
+
size-medium\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\"
|
2850
|
+
src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/mycorrhizalStain-300x225.jpg\"
|
2851
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-413\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/mycorrhizalStain-300x225.jpg
|
2852
|
+
300w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/mycorrhizalStain-768x576.jpg
|
2853
|
+
768w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/mycorrhizalStain-1536x1152.jpg
|
2854
|
+
1536w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/mycorrhizalStain.jpg
|
2855
|
+
2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Wayne,
|
2856
|
+
Jake, and Rosalind staining mycorrhiza</figcaption></figure>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>The
|
2857
|
+
results were fairly clear: the parasites had minimal fungal infection (holoparasite)
|
2858
|
+
or none (hemiparasite), while the host had many hyphae and arbuscules. The
|
2859
|
+
hyphae visible in the holoparasite may have been an early stage of mycorrhization
|
2860
|
+
but the way the samples were prepared means the context of the root was lost.
|
2861
|
+
Fungal structures are visible in blue:</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group
|
2862
|
+
is-content-justification-center is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-3\">\n<figure
|
2863
|
+
class=\"wp-block-image size-medium\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"
|
2864
|
+
width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/holoRoot-300x300.jpg\"
|
2865
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-417\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/holoRoot-300x300.jpg
|
2866
|
+
300w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/holoRoot-150x150.jpg
|
2867
|
+
150w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/holoRoot-768x768.jpg
|
2868
|
+
768w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/holoRoot-1536x1536.jpg
|
2869
|
+
1536w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/holoRoot-2048x2048.jpg
|
2870
|
+
2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">holoparasite
|
2871
|
+
root with some hyphae visible</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image
|
2872
|
+
size-medium\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\"
|
2873
|
+
src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/hemiRoot-300x300.jpg\"
|
2874
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-418\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/hemiRoot-300x300.jpg
|
2875
|
+
300w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/hemiRoot-150x150.jpg
|
2876
|
+
150w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/hemiRoot-768x768.jpg
|
2877
|
+
768w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/hemiRoot-1536x1536.jpg
|
2878
|
+
1536w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/hemiRoot-2048x2048.jpg
|
2879
|
+
2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">hemiparasite
|
2880
|
+
roots with no fungal structures visible</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure
|
2881
|
+
class=\"wp-block-image size-medium\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"
|
2882
|
+
width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/hostRoot-300x300.jpg\"
|
2883
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-419\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/hostRoot-300x300.jpg
|
2884
|
+
300w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/hostRoot-150x150.jpg
|
2885
|
+
150w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/hostRoot-768x768.jpg
|
2886
|
+
768w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/hostRoot-1536x1536.jpg
|
2887
|
+
1536w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/hostRoot-2048x2048.jpg
|
2888
|
+
2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">host
|
2889
|
+
root with many hyphae and arbuscules</figcaption></figure>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<figure
|
2890
|
+
class=\"wp-block-table is-style-regular\"><table class=\"has-base-background-color
|
2891
|
+
has-background has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td></td><td>Host</td><td>Holoparasite</td><td>Hemiparasite</td></tr><tr><td>Hyphae?</td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td><td>No</td></tr><tr><td>Arbuscules?</td><td>Yes</td><td>No</td><td>No</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The
|
2892
|
+
lack of mycorrhizae in the parasites suggests that they do not need fungi
|
2893
|
+
to acquire resources as they can just steal them (and hence the carbon cost
|
2894
|
+
of mycorrhizae is not worth it). The resources are acquired from mycorrhizae
|
2895
|
+
at a carbon cost by the host, and then promptly stolen by the parasites. It
|
2896
|
+
would be interesting to compare with a hemiparasite grown without a host –
|
2897
|
+
does it now form mycorrhizae, as it cannot steal resources from other plants?</p>\n\n\n\n<h3
|
2898
|
+
class=\"wp-block-heading\">Water relations</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Licor was used to
|
2899
|
+
measure stomatal conductance and other metrics, and estimate water use efficiency.
|
2900
|
+
A pressure bomb was used to measure instantaneous water potential in stems
|
2901
|
+
cut around 3cm from the base. The holoparasite could not be measured using
|
2902
|
+
licor as it does not have substantial leaves.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image
|
2903
|
+
aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/waterPotential.png\"
|
2904
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-423\" width=\"650\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/waterPotential.png
|
2905
|
+
3750w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/waterPotential-300x200.png
|
2906
|
+
300w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/waterPotential-768x512.png
|
2907
|
+
768w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/waterPotential-1536x1024.png
|
2908
|
+
1536w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/waterPotential-2048x1365.png
|
2909
|
+
2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 3750px) 100vw, 3750px\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The
|
2910
|
+
shoot water potential was much lower in the hemiparasite than in the host,
|
2911
|
+
as expected. The holoparasite had a very high water potential, which was unexpected.
|
2912
|
+
This may have been due to issues in measurement, as the texture of the stems
|
2913
|
+
made gauging the point at which water was visible at the cut end difficult.
|
2914
|
+
It may be that the water potential in the tubercle of the holoparasite was
|
2915
|
+
lower as in <em>Cistanche</em>², so it could still act as a sink on the host
|
2916
|
+
plant. The extremely high water potential is still strange though, and merits
|
2917
|
+
further research.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full
|
2918
|
+
is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/conductance.png\"
|
2919
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-420\" width=\"500\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/conductance.png
|
2920
|
+
3000w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/conductance-300x250.png
|
2921
|
+
300w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/conductance-768x640.png
|
2922
|
+
768w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/conductance-1536x1280.png
|
2923
|
+
1536w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/conductance-2048x1707.png
|
2924
|
+
2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 3000px) 100vw, 3000px\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Stomatal
|
2925
|
+
conductance was considerably higher in the hemiparasite than in the host,
|
2926
|
+
providing a mechanism for its low water potential.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image
|
2927
|
+
aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/wue.png\"
|
2928
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-424\" width=\"500\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/wue.png
|
2929
|
+
3000w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/wue-300x250.png
|
2930
|
+
300w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/wue-768x640.png
|
2931
|
+
768w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/wue-1536x1280.png
|
2932
|
+
1536w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/wue-2048x1707.png
|
2933
|
+
2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 3000px) 100vw, 3000px\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The
|
2934
|
+
water use efficiency of the hemiparasite was much lower than that of the host.
|
2935
|
+
This can be explained by its high conductance.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall the hemiparasite
|
2936
|
+
has a strong “spender” strategy, freely using resources that it
|
2937
|
+
gains from its host and transpiring a lot of water to pull a low water potential
|
2938
|
+
and get more host resources.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">References</h3>\n\n\n\n<ol>\n<li>Ackroyd,
|
2939
|
+
Robert D., and Jonathan D. Graves. 1997. ‘The Regulation of the Water Potential
|
2940
|
+
Gradient in the Host and Parasite Relationship between <em>Sorghum bicolor</em>
|
2941
|
+
and <em>Striga hermonthica</em>’. <em>Annals of Botany</em> 80 (5): 649–56.
|
2942
|
+
<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1006/anbo.1997.0506\">https://doi.org/10.1006/anbo.1997.0506</a>.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fahmy,
|
2943
|
+
Gamal Mohammad. 2013. ‘Ecophysiology of the Holoparasitic Angiosperm <em>Cistanche
|
2944
|
+
phelypaea</em> (Orobanchaceae) in a Coastal Salt Marsh’. <em>Turkish Journal
|
2945
|
+
of Botany</em> 37: 908–19. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.3906/bot-1210-48\">https://doi.org/10.3906/bot-1210-48</a>.</li>\n</ol>\n","tags":["Plants","Ecology","Fieldwork","Parasitic
|
2946
|
+
plants","Research"],"language":"en","blog_id":"2bzkh64","blogs":{"id":"2bzkh64","title":"Irish
|
2947
|
+
Plants","description":"Jake''s blog.","language":"en","icon":null,"favicon":"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/favicon32.png","feed_url":"http://irishplants.org/blog/feed/atom/","home_page_url":"https://irishplants.org/blog","base_url":null,"user_id":"8498eaf6-8c58-4b58-bc15-27eda292b1aa","created_at":"2023-05-31T13:47:52+00:00","indexed_at":"2023-01-04","feed_format":"application/atom+xml","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode","generator":"WordPress","category":"Natural
|
2948
|
+
Sciences","prefix":"10.59350"}},{"id":"https://irishplants.org/blog/2022/12/27/hemiparasitic-plants-in-irish-grasslands/","uuid":"121cba29-9f66-40a5-a434-0c2390955c09","url":"https://irishplants.org/blog/2022/12/27/hemiparasitic-plants-in-irish-grasslands/","title":"Hemiparasitic
|
2949
|
+
plants in Irish grasslands","summary":"Hemiparasitic plants are those which
|
2950
|
+
steal water and nutrients from other plants, but still photosynthesise (so
|
2951
|
+
are green). They are an interesting part of the Irish flora, and some can
|
2952
|
+
play an important role...","date_published":"2022-12-27T22:45:56Z","date_modified":"2023-05-07T15:40:14Z","authors":[{"url":null,"name":"Jake
|
2953
|
+
Dalzell"}],"image":null,"content_html":"\n<p>Hemiparasitic plants are those
|
2954
|
+
which steal water and nutrients from other plants, but still photosynthesise
|
2955
|
+
(so are green). They are an interesting part of the Irish flora, and some
|
2956
|
+
can play an important role in grasslands by weakening other plants –
|
2957
|
+
particularly Yellow Rattle. I want to run through some of the common hemiparasites
|
2958
|
+
found in Irish grasslands and look at their importance for conservation, both
|
2959
|
+
as species in themselves and as <em>keystone species</em> which affect the
|
2960
|
+
ecosystem they live in. Note that all of these species are in the broomrape
|
2961
|
+
family <em>Orobanchaceae</em>. Also note that apart from the Louseworts these
|
2962
|
+
are all annuals.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#rhinanthus\" data-type=\"internal\"
|
2963
|
+
data-id=\"#rhinanthus\">Yellow Rattle (<em>Rhinanthus minor</em>)</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><a
|
2964
|
+
href=\"#odontites\" data-type=\"internal\" data-id=\"#odontites\">Red Bartsia
|
2965
|
+
(<em>Odontites vernus</em>)</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#euphrasia\" data-type=\"internal\"
|
2966
|
+
data-id=\"#euphrasia\">Eyebright (<em>Euphrasia</em> spp.)</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><a
|
2967
|
+
href=\"#pedicularis\" data-type=\"internal\" data-id=\"#pedicularis\">Lousewort
|
2968
|
+
(<em>Pedicularis</em> spp.)</a></li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#parentucellia\"
|
2969
|
+
data-type=\"internal\" data-id=\"#parentucellia\">Yellow Bartsia (<em>Parentucellia
|
2970
|
+
viscosa</em>)</a></li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>N.B.</em>
|
2971
|
+
These aren’t the only groups, note that Cow-wheats (<em>Melampyrum</em>
|
2972
|
+
spp.) are also present in Ireland, but I don’t know very much about
|
2973
|
+
them and I don’t have any good photos. Note also that Mistletoe (<em>Viscum
|
2974
|
+
album</em>) is a hemiparasite, though obviously very different to those in
|
2975
|
+
the <em>Orobanchaceae</em>. It is not native but does occur in Ireland.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure
|
2976
|
+
class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"
|
2977
|
+
width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/DSC_0984-min-scaled.jpg\"
|
2978
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-395\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/DSC_0984-min-scaled.jpg
|
2979
|
+
2560w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/DSC_0984-min-300x200.jpg
|
2980
|
+
300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Calcareous
|
2981
|
+
grassland at Crom Estate, Fermanagh. Both Yellow Rattle and an Eyebright species
|
2982
|
+
(probably <em>E. nemorosa</em>) are abundant here.</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<h3
|
2983
|
+
class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"rhinanthus\">Yellow Rattle</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyone
|
2984
|
+
who has an interest in species-rich grassland in Ireland or Britain is likely
|
2985
|
+
to have come across the “meadow-maker” Yellow Rattle. We are told
|
2986
|
+
that it increases biodiversity by weakening grasses, letting light through
|
2987
|
+
to other plants and reducing competition. The results are often self-evident,
|
2988
|
+
as in<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://irishplants.org/field.html\"
|
2989
|
+
target=\"_blank\">our field</a>, where Bird’s-foot Trefoil (<em>Lotus
|
2990
|
+
corniculatus</em>) grows happily through the Yellow Rattle, providing food
|
2991
|
+
for the larvae of the Common Blue butterfly (<em>Polyommatus icarus</em>):</p>\n\n\n\n<figure
|
2992
|
+
class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-4
|
2993
|
+
is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\"
|
2994
|
+
loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1459\" data-id=\"232\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/DSC_0778_edit-scaled.jpg\"
|
2995
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-232\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/DSC_0778_edit-scaled.jpg
|
2996
|
+
2560w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/DSC_0778_edit-300x171.jpg
|
2997
|
+
300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure
|
2998
|
+
class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"
|
2999
|
+
width=\"2560\" height=\"1244\" data-id=\"231\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20200812_124229-scaled.jpg\"
|
3000
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-231\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20200812_124229-scaled.jpg
|
3001
|
+
2560w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20200812_124229-300x146.jpg
|
3002
|
+
300w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20200812_124229-768x373.jpg
|
3003
|
+
768w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20200812_124229-1536x747.jpg
|
3004
|
+
1536w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20200812_124229-2048x996.jpg
|
3005
|
+
2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" /></figure>\n</figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I
|
3006
|
+
don’t doubt that introducing Yellow Rattle has benefited biodiversity
|
3007
|
+
in our field, but how?</p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Determining
|
3008
|
+
<em>community structure</em></h4>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Community</em> here means
|
3009
|
+
the plant species found in a place, and their relative abundance. By changing
|
3010
|
+
the structure of plant communities, Yellow Rattle is a <em><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_species\"
|
3011
|
+
data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_species\"
|
3012
|
+
target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">keystone species</a></em>.</p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Yellow
|
3013
|
+
Rattle will try to parasitise all of the plants growing around it, but grasses
|
3014
|
+
can’t defend themselves from its attacks as well as some herbaceous
|
3015
|
+
perennials (forbs) can (Jiang et al., 2010). The sensitivity to attack varies,
|
3016
|
+
for example Meadow Vetchling (<em>Lathyrus pratensis</em>) is sensitive but
|
3017
|
+
Lady’s Bedstraw (<em>Galium verum</em>) is unaffected (Cameron et al.,
|
3018
|
+
2005).</li>\n\n\n\n<li>By outcompeting grassses, Yellow Rattle can become
|
3019
|
+
very dominant in a grassland, as in our field. This increases the amount of
|
3020
|
+
light available to plants in the understory. <strong>Light competition is
|
3021
|
+
a major driving factor in grassland plant diversity</strong> (Eskelinen et
|
3022
|
+
al., 2022), so increasing the amount of light available to low-growing plants
|
3023
|
+
can increase biodiversity.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>There are <strong>winners and losers</strong>
|
3024
|
+
when community structure changes – some plants (not just grasses!) decrease
|
3025
|
+
in abundance due to parasitism and others increase as they are ‘released’
|
3026
|
+
from the pressures of competition. Desey et al. (2015) found that the Common
|
3027
|
+
Spotted Orchid (<em>Dactylorhiza fuchsii</em>) is at a massive advantage when
|
3028
|
+
another Rattle species is present in Belgian grasslands, as it is not parasitised,
|
3029
|
+
and in the parasite’s absence is vulnerable to being shaded out.</li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<figure
|
3030
|
+
class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-6
|
3031
|
+
is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\"
|
3032
|
+
loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" data-id=\"261\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/DSC_0061-min1.jpg\"
|
3033
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-261\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/DSC_0061-min1.jpg
|
3034
|
+
1500w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/DSC_0061-min1-300x200.jpg
|
3035
|
+
300w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/DSC_0061-min1-768x512.jpg
|
3036
|
+
768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The
|
3037
|
+
Field in Jun 2016. Grasses like Yorkshire Fog (<em>Holcus lanatus</em>) are
|
3038
|
+
dominant.</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img
|
3039
|
+
decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1444\" height=\"614\" data-id=\"260\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/DSC_0805_edit-min1.jpg\"
|
3040
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-260\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/DSC_0805_edit-min1.jpg
|
3041
|
+
1444w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/DSC_0805_edit-min1-300x128.jpg
|
3042
|
+
300w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/DSC_0805_edit-min1-768x327.jpg
|
3043
|
+
768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1444px) 100vw, 1444px\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The
|
3044
|
+
Field in June 2021. Yellow Rattle is now one of the most abundant species.</figcaption></figure>\n</figure>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Yellow
|
3045
|
+
Rattle dominance isn’t necessarily static over time – Yellow Rattle
|
3046
|
+
can invade a stand of grass, but once it is dominant it can be outcompeted
|
3047
|
+
by herbaceous perennials (forbs), which can be themselves outcompeted by grasses.
|
3048
|
+
These “rock-paper-scissors” dynamics where no strategy can win
|
3049
|
+
out the others can result in the community structure changing constantly (Cameron
|
3050
|
+
et al., 2009). This is itself an increase in structural diversity within the
|
3051
|
+
grassland.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Most studies have found Yellow Rattle has a positive
|
3052
|
+
or neutral effect on plant biodiversity in grasslands (Chaudron et al., 2021).</li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<h3
|
3053
|
+
class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"odontites\">Red Bartsia</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Red
|
3054
|
+
Bartsia is another common species found in many open habitats from machair
|
3055
|
+
and saltmarsh to more common types of lowland grassland. It can be very abundant
|
3056
|
+
in places, like on <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://irishplants.org/islands/roe.html\"
|
3057
|
+
data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://irishplants.org/islands/roe.html\" target=\"_blank\">Roe
|
3058
|
+
Island</a> where it grows along animal trails with another hemiparasite, the
|
3059
|
+
Eyebright species <em>Euphrasia nemorosa</em>:</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image
|
3060
|
+
size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/images/islands/roe/path.jpg\"
|
3061
|
+
width=\"700\" height=\"340\"></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The effects of Red Bartsia
|
3062
|
+
on community structure aren’t well-researched, but I did find a cool
|
3063
|
+
article showing how it indirectly affects the competition of two grass species
|
3064
|
+
on a saltmarsh. When it is absent, Creeping Bent (<em>Agrostis stolonifera</em>)
|
3065
|
+
is more competitive than a Salt Grass species (<em>Puccinellia phryganodes</em>),
|
3066
|
+
but when it is present the competitive advantage of Bent is reduced (Niemelä
|
3067
|
+
et al., 2008; note <em>Odontites litoralis</em> subsp. <em>litoralis </em>is
|
3068
|
+
a synonym of <em>Odontites vernus</em> subsp. <em>litoralis</em>, a subspecies
|
3069
|
+
not found in Ireland). It seems fairly likely that it affects other interspecies
|
3070
|
+
interactions too, and at the high densities it sometimes gets to it could
|
3071
|
+
have a notable effect on community structure.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"
|
3072
|
+
id=\"euphrasia\">Eyebright</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Eyebrights are fab wee plants. They
|
3073
|
+
mostly grow in grasslands and heathlands. There are at least twenty species
|
3074
|
+
in Ireland, and some are generalist on many host species, while others are
|
3075
|
+
more specialised. There are quite a few species of conservation concern in
|
3076
|
+
this genus, including the famous limestone specialist Irish Eyebright (<em>Euphrasia
|
3077
|
+
salisburgensis</em>). A fairly common one in lowland grassland is <em>Euphrasia
|
3078
|
+
nemorosa</em>, which I saw on Roe Island this summer:</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image
|
3079
|
+
size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/images/islands/roe/euphrasia.jpg\"
|
3080
|
+
width=\"650\" height=\"488\"></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I couldn’t find any
|
3081
|
+
research looking at how Eyebrights affect community structure. They don’t
|
3082
|
+
seem to be looked at as keystone species in the way larger hemiparasites are,
|
3083
|
+
but they can be pretty abundant in the understory so this is maybe worth researching.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure
|
3084
|
+
class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"
|
3085
|
+
width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/DSC_0981-min-scaled.jpg\"
|
3086
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-393\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/DSC_0981-min-scaled.jpg
|
3087
|
+
2560w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/DSC_0981-min-300x200.jpg
|
3088
|
+
300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Eyebright
|
3089
|
+
in the understory of calcareous grassland at Crom Estate, Fermanagh</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure
|
3090
|
+
class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"
|
3091
|
+
width=\"2560\" height=\"1244\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20210613_105324-scaled.jpg\"
|
3092
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-243\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20210613_105324-scaled.jpg
|
3093
|
+
2560w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20210613_105324-300x146.jpg
|
3094
|
+
300w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20210613_105324-768x373.jpg
|
3095
|
+
768w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20210613_105324-1536x747.jpg
|
3096
|
+
1536w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20210613_105324-2048x996.jpg
|
3097
|
+
2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An
|
3098
|
+
Eyebright species is abundant in this damp grassland at Crom, Fermanagh, with
|
3099
|
+
Forget-Me-Not (<em>Myosotis</em>), Red Clover (<em>Trifolium pratense</em>)
|
3100
|
+
and Orchids (<em>Dactylorhiza </em>sp.).</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<h3
|
3101
|
+
class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"pedicularis\">Lousewort</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>There
|
3102
|
+
are two Louseworts in Ireland. The smaller Common Lousewort (<em>Pedicularis
|
3103
|
+
sylvatica</em>) is more common, probably most common on damp heath and bog,
|
3104
|
+
but it can be abundant on some neutral and acidic lowland grassland –
|
3105
|
+
there just isn’t a whole lot of species-rich grassland about to find
|
3106
|
+
it in! The other, Marsh Lousewort (<em>P. palustris</em>) is a specialist
|
3107
|
+
of wetter habitats like damp grasslands and fens.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Note that
|
3108
|
+
Common Lousewort is <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://plantatlas.brc.ac.uk/plant/pedicularis-sylvatica\"
|
3109
|
+
target=\"_blank\">“perennial, rarely biennial”</a> while Marsh
|
3110
|
+
Lousewort is <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://plantatlas.brc.ac.uk/plant/pedicularis-palustris\"
|
3111
|
+
data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://plantatlas.brc.ac.uk/plant/pedicularis-palustris\"
|
3112
|
+
target=\"_blank\">“annual to biennial”</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Common
|
3113
|
+
Lousewort could be seen on lowland damp grassland at <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"
|
3114
|
+
href=\"https://irishplants.org/other_grasslands/lagan_meadows.html\" data-type=\"URL\"
|
3115
|
+
data-id=\"https://irishplants.org/other_grasslands/lagan_meadows.html\" target=\"_blank\">Lagan
|
3116
|
+
Meadows</a>, growing alongside Devil’s Bit (<em>Succisa pratensis</em>).
|
3117
|
+
Grazing was stopped at this site so the habitat is no longer appropriate (I
|
3118
|
+
suspect it may recover from the seedbed if grazing returned). I got nice photos
|
3119
|
+
during lockdown:</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img
|
3120
|
+
decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/images/other_grasslands/lagan_meadows/lousewort_closeup.jpeg\"
|
3121
|
+
width=\"650\" height=\"519.4\"></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image
|
3122
|
+
size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/images/other_grasslands/lagan_meadows/lousewort_sward.jpg\"
|
3123
|
+
width=\"650\" height=\"474.0\"></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Marsh Lousewort is known
|
3124
|
+
to have a large impact on fen community structure in England and has been
|
3125
|
+
used to encourage less vigorous plant species (Webb, 2020). Decleer et al.
|
3126
|
+
(2013) recommended (re)introduction to help with fen-meadow conservation.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Demey
|
3127
|
+
et al. (2015) found that Common Lousewort had a fairly minor effect on community
|
3128
|
+
structure in semi-natural grasslands in Belgium, but some species did better
|
3129
|
+
when it was removed, indicating its parasitism suppresses at least some plants.</p>\n\n\n\n<h3
|
3130
|
+
class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"parentucellia\">Yellow Bartsia</h3>\n\n\n\n<p>I’ve
|
3131
|
+
never seen this species, but I found an interesting paper (Suetsugu et al.,
|
3132
|
+
2012) that showed it had a significant impact on grasses and legumes (vetches
|
3133
|
+
etc) but <em>not other herbaceous perennials</em> in floodplain grasslands
|
3134
|
+
in Japan, where it is an invasive species.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">References</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Cameron,
|
3135
|
+
D. D., Hwangbo, J. K., Keith, A. M., Geniez, J. M., Kraushaar, D., Rowntree,
|
3136
|
+
J., & Seel, W. E. (2005). Interactions between the hemiparasitic angiosperm
|
3137
|
+
Rhinanthus minor and its hosts: From the cell to the ecosystem. <em>Folia
|
3138
|
+
Geobotanica</em>, <em>40</em>(2–3), 217–229. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02803236</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cameron,
|
3139
|
+
D. D., White, A., & Antonovics, J. (2009). Parasite–grass–forb interactions
|
3140
|
+
and rock–paper– scissor dynamics: predicting the effects of the parasitic
|
3141
|
+
plant Rhinanthus minor on host plant communities. <em>Journal of Ecology</em>,
|
3142
|
+
<em>97</em>(6), 1311–1319. https://doi.org/10.1111/J.1365-2745.2009.01568.X</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chaudron,
|
3143
|
+
C., Mazalová, M., Kuras, T., Malenovský, I., & Mládek, J. (2021). Introducing
|
3144
|
+
ecosystem engineers for grassland biodiversity conservation: A review of the
|
3145
|
+
effects of hemiparasitic Rhinanthus species on plant and animal communities
|
3146
|
+
at multiple trophic levels. In <em>Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution
|
3147
|
+
and Systematics</em> (Vol. 52). Elsevier GmbH. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2021.125633</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Decleer,
|
3148
|
+
K., Bonte, D., & van Diggelen, R. (2013). The hemiparasite Pedicularis palustris:
|
3149
|
+
“Ecosystem engineer” for fen-meadow restoration. <em>Journal for Nature Conservation</em>,
|
3150
|
+
<em>21</em>(2), 65–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2012.10.004</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Demey,
|
3151
|
+
A., de Frenne, P., Baeten, L., Verstraeten, G., Hermy, M., Boeckx, P., & Verheyen,
|
3152
|
+
K. (2015). The effects of hemiparasitic plant removal on community structure
|
3153
|
+
and seedling establishment in semi-natural grasslands. <em>Journal of Vegetation
|
3154
|
+
Science</em>, <em>26</em>(3), 409–420. https://doi.org/10.1111/JVS.12262</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eskelinen,
|
3155
|
+
A., Harpole, W. S., Jessen, M.-T., Virtanen, R., & Hautier, Y. (2022). Light
|
3156
|
+
competition drives herbivore and nutrient effects on plant diversity. <em>Nature</em>,
|
3157
|
+
1–5. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05383-9</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jiang, F., Jeschke,
|
3158
|
+
W. D., Hartung, W., & Cameron, D. D. (2010). Interactions Between Rhinanthus
|
3159
|
+
minor and Its Hosts: A Review of Water, Mineral Nutrient and Hormone Flows
|
3160
|
+
and Exchanges in the Hemiparasitic Association. <em>Folia Geobotanica</em>,
|
3161
|
+
<em>45</em>(4), 369–385. https://doi.org/10.1007/S12224-010-9093-2</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Niemelä,
|
3162
|
+
M., Markkola, A., & Mutikainen, P. (2008). Modification of competition between
|
3163
|
+
two grass species by a hemiparasitic plant and simulated grazing. <em>Basic
|
3164
|
+
and Applied Ecology</em>, <em>9</em>(2), 117–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2007.01.001</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Suetsugu,
|
3165
|
+
K., Takeuchi, Y., Futai, K., & Kato, M. (2012). Host selectivity, haustorial
|
3166
|
+
anatomy and impact of the invasive parasite Parentucellia viscosa on floodplain
|
3167
|
+
vegetative communities in Japan. <em>Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society</em>,
|
3168
|
+
<em>170</em>(1), 69–78. https://doi.org/10.1111/J.1095-8339.2012.01263.X</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Webb,
|
3169
|
+
J.A. (2020). Marsh Lousewort as an Ecosystem Engineer in Oxfordshire Fen Restoration
|
3170
|
+
Projects. <em>Freshwater Habitats Trust</em>. https://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Marsh-louse-wort-as-an-ecosystem-engineerV3-JW-July-2020for-OFP.pdf
|
3171
|
+
[Accessed 27th Dec. 2022]</p>\n","tags":["Plants","Conservation","Ecology","Parasitic
|
3172
|
+
plants","Review"],"language":"en","blog_id":"2bzkh64","blogs":{"id":"2bzkh64","title":"Irish
|
3173
|
+
Plants","description":"Jake''s blog.","language":"en","icon":null,"favicon":"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/favicon32.png","feed_url":"http://irishplants.org/blog/feed/atom/","home_page_url":"https://irishplants.org/blog","base_url":null,"user_id":"8498eaf6-8c58-4b58-bc15-27eda292b1aa","created_at":"2023-05-31T13:47:52+00:00","indexed_at":"2023-01-04","feed_format":"application/atom+xml","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode","generator":"WordPress","category":"Natural
|
3174
|
+
Sciences","prefix":"10.59350"}},{"id":"https://irishplants.org/blog/2022/08/04/the-islands-project/","uuid":"0765c67d-a40a-463e-b243-a0dd7eda9aa7","url":"https://irishplants.org/blog/2022/08/04/the-islands-project/","title":"The
|
3175
|
+
Islands Project","summary":"This summer I am cataloguing the flora and plant
|
3176
|
+
communities of twelve islands [EDIT 20/11/22: it ended up being eleven islands!]
|
3177
|
+
in Strangford Lough, with the help of a BSBI Plant Study Grant. The goal is
|
3178
|
+
to...","date_published":"2022-08-04T22:00:32Z","date_modified":"2022-12-24T23:25:11Z","authors":[{"url":null,"name":"Jake
|
3179
|
+
Dalzell"}],"image":null,"content_html":"\n<p>This summer I am cataloguing
|
3180
|
+
the flora and plant communities of twelve islands [EDIT 20/11/22: it ended
|
3181
|
+
up being eleven islands!] in Strangford Lough, with the help of a BSBI Plant
|
3182
|
+
Study Grant. The goal is to have a complete species list of each island and
|
3183
|
+
a map showing all of the plant communities and where they occur. I have been
|
3184
|
+
kayaking to these islands and doing a thorough survey, and also quadrats in
|
3185
|
+
each distinct plant community. I hope to publish this in a suitable journal,
|
3186
|
+
under the (working) title <em>The Vascular Flora of Darragh and nearby Islands
|
3187
|
+
in Strangford Lough</em>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This project has been a huge opportunity
|
3188
|
+
for me to improve my skills as an all-round botanist and ecologist, and challenge
|
3189
|
+
myself with groups like grasses and sedges that I have mostly ignored before.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure
|
3190
|
+
class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/20210912_182142-1024x498.jpg\"
|
3191
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-79\"/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Darragh
|
3192
|
+
Island, the most diverse and species-rich of the twelve</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>One
|
3193
|
+
thing I hadn’t appreciated about fieldwork before beginning this project
|
3194
|
+
– it generates a huge amount of data! Finding time to actually ID difficult
|
3195
|
+
specimens I brought home and enter and analyse all my data, then create figures
|
3196
|
+
based on it has been exhausting! On the other hand, working hard on figures
|
3197
|
+
and being really satisfied with the results is a great feeling, and I think
|
3198
|
+
my maps are going to turn out really well.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image
|
3199
|
+
size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"593\"
|
3200
|
+
src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/darragh-map-1024x593.png\"
|
3201
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-90\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/darragh-map-1024x593.png
|
3202
|
+
1024w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/darragh-map-300x174.png
|
3203
|
+
300w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/darragh-map-768x445.png
|
3204
|
+
768w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/darragh-map-1536x890.png
|
3205
|
+
1536w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/darragh-map-2048x1187.png
|
3206
|
+
2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">my
|
3207
|
+
(work in progress) plant community map of Darragh – light green is grassland,
|
3208
|
+
grassland/scrub mosaic, saltmarsh, iris and rush pasture communities (obviously
|
3209
|
+
those all need split up still!), dark green is scrub, brown is mature scrub,
|
3210
|
+
pink is H7b heath, grey is rocky shore</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It
|
3211
|
+
has also been nice to spend a lot of time kayaking and exploring the islands,
|
3212
|
+
seeing the wildlife that lives there, particularly birds and insects. Sharing
|
3213
|
+
the wildlife I encounter here has been great, especially with the people who
|
3214
|
+
live and work in the area.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img
|
3215
|
+
decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"498\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/20220804_191146-1024x498.jpg\"
|
3216
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-71\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/20220804_191146-1024x498.jpg
|
3217
|
+
1024w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/20220804_191146-300x146.jpg
|
3218
|
+
300w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/20220804_191146-768x373.jpg
|
3219
|
+
768w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/20220804_191146-1536x747.jpg
|
3220
|
+
1536w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/20220804_191146-2048x996.jpg
|
3221
|
+
2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">me
|
3222
|
+
and my friend Ashley spent half a day surveying Shamrock – her first
|
3223
|
+
time kayaking and her first time doing botanical fieldwork!</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure
|
3224
|
+
class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"
|
3225
|
+
width=\"1024\" height=\"559\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/20220726_150722-scaled-e1659651675728-1024x559.jpg\"
|
3226
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-82\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/20220726_150722-scaled-e1659651675728-1024x559.jpg
|
3227
|
+
1024w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/20220726_150722-scaled-e1659651675728-300x164.jpg
|
3228
|
+
300w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/20220726_150722-scaled-e1659651675728-768x419.jpg
|
3229
|
+
768w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/20220726_150722-scaled-e1659651675728-1536x838.jpg
|
3230
|
+
1536w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/20220726_150722-scaled-e1659651675728.jpg
|
3231
|
+
2028w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">a
|
3232
|
+
Humingbird Hawkmoth larva (<em>Macroglossum stellatarum</em>) on Darragh,
|
3233
|
+
a rare sight in Ireland as the migrant moths rarely lay eggs</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure
|
3234
|
+
class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"
|
3235
|
+
width=\"755\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/20220731_152422-scaled-e1659651787975-755x1024.jpg\"
|
3236
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-83\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/20220731_152422-scaled-e1659651787975-755x1024.jpg
|
3237
|
+
755w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/20220731_152422-scaled-e1659651787975-221x300.jpg
|
3238
|
+
221w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/20220731_152422-scaled-e1659651787975-768x1042.jpg
|
3239
|
+
768w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/20220731_152422-scaled-e1659651787975-1133x1536.jpg
|
3240
|
+
1133w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/20220731_152422-scaled-e1659651787975.jpg
|
3241
|
+
1241w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 755px) 100vw, 755px\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">a
|
3242
|
+
Six-Spot Burnet moth (<em>Zygaena filipendulae</em>) nectaring on Sneezewort
|
3243
|
+
(<em>Achillea ptarmica</em>) on Darragh</figcaption></figure>\n","tags":["Islands","Ecology","Fieldwork","Plants","Strangford
|
3244
|
+
Lough Islands"],"language":"en","blog_id":"2bzkh64","blogs":{"id":"2bzkh64","title":"Irish
|
3245
|
+
Plants","description":"Jake''s blog.","language":"en","icon":null,"favicon":"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/favicon32.png","feed_url":"http://irishplants.org/blog/feed/atom/","home_page_url":"https://irishplants.org/blog","base_url":null,"user_id":"8498eaf6-8c58-4b58-bc15-27eda292b1aa","created_at":"2023-05-31T13:47:52+00:00","indexed_at":"2023-01-04","feed_format":"application/atom+xml","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode","generator":"WordPress","category":"Natural
|
3246
|
+
Sciences","prefix":"10.59350"}},{"id":"https://irishplants.org/blog/2023/05/07/water-stress-an-overlooked-factor-in-grassland-hemiparasite-ecology/","uuid":"47f3a4f9-4950-4ff3-ac38-73f1d286920f","url":"https://irishplants.org/blog/2023/05/07/water-stress-an-overlooked-factor-in-grassland-hemiparasite-ecology/","title":"Total
|
3247
|
+
ecosystem evapotranspiration – an overlooked factor in grassland hemiparasite
|
3248
|
+
ecology?","summary":"The water relations of parasitic plants and their hosts
|
3249
|
+
are fairly well documented¹,². The effect of hemiparasites such as Rhinanthus
|
3250
|
+
(Yellow Rattle) on community structure³,⁴ and functional traits⁵ has also...","date_published":"2023-05-07T15:22:05Z","date_modified":"2023-05-07T15:44:31Z","authors":[{"url":null,"name":"Jake
|
3251
|
+
Dalzell"}],"image":null,"content_html":"\n<p>The water relations of parasitic
|
3252
|
+
plants and their hosts are fairly well documented¹<sup>,</sup>². The effect
|
3253
|
+
of hemiparasites such as <em>Rhinanthus</em> (Yellow Rattle) on community
|
3254
|
+
structure³<sup>,</sup>⁴ and functional traits⁵ has also been studied. However,
|
3255
|
+
a factor that I believe has been overlooked is the interaction of these two
|
3256
|
+
phenomena: that hemiparasitic plants could have a significant effect on water
|
3257
|
+
availability in grassland communities, by increasing the total evapotransiration
|
3258
|
+
in the ecosystem.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Rhinanthus</em> maintains a significantly
|
3259
|
+
higher stomatal conductance than its hosts⁶. This creates a low water potential,
|
3260
|
+
so the parasite acts as a sink for xylem sap, drawing water and other resources
|
3261
|
+
in from the host root system, and potentially increasing the total amount
|
3262
|
+
of evapotranspiration relative to that from an unparasitised host. This could
|
3263
|
+
increase water loss from the soil. However, parasitism also reduces host growth,
|
3264
|
+
so the total amount of water taken up by the host is reduced⁶. Hence the effect
|
3265
|
+
of parasitism on total evapotranspiration is complex, and an increase won’t
|
3266
|
+
necessarily be the result. This is further complicated by water and nutrient
|
3267
|
+
availability, which also affect the interaction of <em>Rhinanthus</em> and
|
3268
|
+
its hosts⁷.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A second effect to consider is gaps in the sward
|
3269
|
+
which several authors have proposed the annual death of <em>Rhinanthus</em>
|
3270
|
+
creates in the sward⁸<sup>,</sup>⁹. This could potentially increase evaporation
|
3271
|
+
from the soil for part of the year, although bare soil evaporation is only
|
3272
|
+
the dominant way water is lost in dry grasslands receiving less than 370 mm
|
3273
|
+
of precipitation annually¹⁰, so this effect may be negligible.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I
|
3274
|
+
propose that high densities of <em>Rhinanthus</em> could have a significant
|
3275
|
+
effect on water availability in grasslands. Drought tolerant plants could
|
3276
|
+
be favoured both because they can withstand the water stress caused by parasitism
|
3277
|
+
directly, and also because <em>Rhinanthus</em> parasitism increases the total
|
3278
|
+
evapotranspiration of water from the ecosystem. This could be tested both
|
3279
|
+
by looking at whether drought-tolerance is favoured in grasslands with <em>Rhinanthus</em>
|
3280
|
+
and direct measurement of evapotranspiration and soil moisture.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4
|
3281
|
+
class=\"wp-block-heading\">References</h4>\n\n\n\n<ol>\n<li>Fahmy, Gamal Mohammad.
|
3282
|
+
2013. ‘Ecophysiology of the Holoparasitic Angiosperm <em>Cistanche Phelypaea</em>
|
3283
|
+
(Orobanchaceae) in a Coastal Salt Marsh’. <em>Turkish Journal of Botany</em>
|
3284
|
+
37: 908–19. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.3906/bot-1210-48\">https://doi.org/10.3906/bot-1210-48</a>.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jiang,
|
3285
|
+
Fan, W. Dieter Jeschke, Wolfram Hartung, and Duncan D. Cameron. 2010. ‘Interactions
|
3286
|
+
Between Rhinanthus Minor and Its Hosts: A Review of Water, Mineral Nutrient
|
3287
|
+
and Hormone Flows and Exchanges in the Hemiparasitic Association’. <em>Folia
|
3288
|
+
Geobotanica</em> 45 (4): 369–85. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1007/S12224-010-9093-2/TABLES/1\">https://doi.org/10.1007/S12224-010-9093-2/TABLES/1</a>.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Chaudron,
|
3289
|
+
Clémence, Monika Mazalová, Tomáš Kuras, Igor Malenovský, and Jan Mládek. 2021.
|
3290
|
+
‘Introducing Ecosystem Engineers for Grassland Biodiversity Conservation:
|
3291
|
+
A Review of the Effects of Hemiparasitic Rhinanthus Species on Plant and Animal
|
3292
|
+
Communities at Multiple Trophic Levels’. <em>Perspectives in Plant Ecology,
|
3293
|
+
Evolution and Systematics</em> 52 (October). <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2021.125633\">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2021.125633</a>.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Heer,
|
3294
|
+
Nico, Fabian Klimmek, Christoph Zwahlen, Markus Fischer, Norbert Hölzel, Valentin
|
3295
|
+
H. Klaus, Till Kleinebecker, Daniel Prati, and Steffen Boch. 2018. ‘Hemiparasite-Density
|
3296
|
+
Effects on Grassland Plant Diversity, Composition and Biomass’. <em>Perspectives
|
3297
|
+
in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics</em> 32 (June): 22–29. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2018.01.004\">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2018.01.004</a>.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mudrák,
|
3298
|
+
Ondřej, Francesco de Bello, Jiří Doležal, and Jan Lepš. 2016. ‘Changes in
|
3299
|
+
the Functional Trait Composition and Diversity of Meadow Communities Induced
|
3300
|
+
by <em>Rhinanthus Minor</em> L.’ <em>Folia Geobotanica</em> 51 (1): 1–11.
|
3301
|
+
<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1007/S12224-016-9238-Z/FIGURES/2\">https://doi.org/10.1007/S12224-016-9238-Z/FIGURES/2</a>.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jiang,
|
3302
|
+
Fan, W. Dieter Jeschke, and Wolfram Hartung. 2003. ‘Water Flows in the Parasitic
|
3303
|
+
Association Rhinanthus Minor/Hordeum Vulgare’. <em>Journal of Experimental
|
3304
|
+
Botany</em> 54 (389): 1985–93. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erg212\">https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erg212</a>.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Těšitel,
|
3305
|
+
Jakub, Tamara Těšitelová, James P. Fisher, Jan Lepš, and Duncan D. Cameron.
|
3306
|
+
2015. ‘Integrating Ecology and Physiology of Root-Hemiparasitic Interaction:
|
3307
|
+
Interactive Effects of Abiotic Resources Shape the Interplay between Parasitism
|
3308
|
+
and Autotrophy’. <em>New Phytologist</em> 205 (1): 350–60. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.13006\">https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.13006</a>.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Joshi,
|
3309
|
+
Jasmin, Diethart Matthies, and Bernhard Schmid. 2000. ‘Root Hemiparasites
|
3310
|
+
and Plant Diversity in Experimental Grassland Communities’. <em>Journal of
|
3311
|
+
Ecology</em> 88 (4): 634–44. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2745.2000.00487.x\">https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2745.2000.00487.x</a>.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pywell,
|
3312
|
+
Richard F., James M. Bullock, Kevin J. Walker, Sarah J. Coulson, Steve J.
|
3313
|
+
Gregory, and Mark J. Stevenson. 2004. ‘Facilitating Grassland Diversification
|
3314
|
+
Using the Hemiparasitic Plant Rhinanthus Minor’. <em>Journal of Applied Ecology</em>
|
3315
|
+
41 (5): 880–87. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0021-8901.2004.00940.x\">https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0021-8901.2004.00940.x</a>.</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sala,
|
3316
|
+
Osvaldo. 2001. ‘Productivity of Temperate Grasslands’. In <em>Terrestrial
|
3317
|
+
Global Productivity</em>. Academic Press.</li>\n</ol>\n","tags":["Plants","Uncategorised","Ecology","Parasitic
|
3318
|
+
plants","Soil"],"language":"en","blog_id":"2bzkh64","blogs":{"id":"2bzkh64","title":"Irish
|
3319
|
+
Plants","description":"Jake''s blog.","language":"en","icon":null,"favicon":"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/favicon32.png","feed_url":"http://irishplants.org/blog/feed/atom/","home_page_url":"https://irishplants.org/blog","base_url":null,"user_id":"8498eaf6-8c58-4b58-bc15-27eda292b1aa","created_at":"2023-05-31T13:47:52+00:00","indexed_at":"2023-01-04","feed_format":"application/atom+xml","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode","generator":"WordPress","category":"Natural
|
3320
|
+
Sciences","prefix":"10.59350"}},{"id":"https://irishplants.org/blog/2022/12/31/the-cryptic-wood-white-butterfly/","uuid":"e17b2574-a9c2-4c01-91cf-ebed02873e8b","url":"https://irishplants.org/blog/2022/12/31/the-cryptic-wood-white-butterfly/","title":"The
|
3321
|
+
Cryptic Wood White butterfly","summary":"My favourite butterfly, which I first
|
3322
|
+
saw during lockdown. They are the most delicate of the white species (Pieridae)
|
3323
|
+
found in Ireland and flutter through grasslands in May and June. June 2021
|
3324
|
+
A male Wood...","date_published":"2022-12-31T21:44:43Z","date_modified":"2023-01-06T19:16:06Z","authors":[{"url":null,"name":"Jake
|
3325
|
+
Dalzell"}],"image":null,"content_html":"\n<p>My favourite butterfly, which
|
3326
|
+
I first saw during lockdown. They are the most delicate of the white species
|
3327
|
+
(Pieridae) found in Ireland and flutter through grasslands in May and June.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure
|
3328
|
+
class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"
|
3329
|
+
src=\"https://irishplants.org/images/other_grasslands/lagan_meadows/courting_flight.jpg\"
|
3330
|
+
width=\"650\" height=\"464.3\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><b>June
|
3331
|
+
2021</b> A male Wood White courting a female.</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<h4
|
3332
|
+
class=\"wp-block-heading\">Taxonomy</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>For a long time, scientists
|
3333
|
+
wondered why Wood Whites (<em>Leptidea sinapis</em>) were fairly widespread
|
3334
|
+
and common in Ireland, when they were so rare in England. Then, first in the
|
3335
|
+
80s and then in 2011, it was realised that there were two more “cryptic
|
3336
|
+
species” hidden within the Wood White¹. Réal’s Wood White (<em>Leptidea
|
3337
|
+
reali</em>) was the first to be discovered and said to be found throughout
|
3338
|
+
Ireland (except for the Burren, where <em>L. sinapis</em> is found). However,
|
3339
|
+
when it was further split in two in 2011, our species was named the Cryptic
|
3340
|
+
Wood White (<em>Leptidea juvernica</em>)². It’s a great demonstration
|
3341
|
+
that insect taxonomy is challenging and that there is a lot of hidden biodiversity
|
3342
|
+
yet to be discovered.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img
|
3343
|
+
decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1900\" height=\"1497\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20210524_121244.jpg\"
|
3344
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-295\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20210524_121244.jpg
|
3345
|
+
1900w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20210524_121244-300x236.jpg
|
3346
|
+
300w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20210524_121244-768x605.jpg
|
3347
|
+
768w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20210524_121244-1536x1210.jpg
|
3348
|
+
1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1900px) 100vw, 1900px\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A
|
3349
|
+
Cryptic Wood White butterfly at Lagan Meadows, Belfast.</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<h4
|
3350
|
+
class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ecology</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Cryptic Wood Whites can
|
3351
|
+
be difficult to see during the flight period in May and June, but at the right
|
3352
|
+
site they can be common. The best site I have found for them was <a rel=\"noreferrer
|
3353
|
+
noopener\" href=\"https://irishplants.org/other_grasslands/lagan_meadows.html\"
|
3354
|
+
data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://irishplants.org/other_grasslands/lagan_meadows.html\"
|
3355
|
+
target=\"_blank\">Lagan Meadows</a>, in a patchy mosaic of damp species-rich
|
3356
|
+
grassland and bramble scrub. Here the foodplants (vetches) are common in young,
|
3357
|
+
developing scrub and in long grass. I have also seen them at Murlough NNR
|
3358
|
+
on mature dune grassland. The species can exist on very small and fragmented
|
3359
|
+
sites: the site at Lagan Meadows is small (around 5 ha)³; I believe <a rel=\"noreferrer
|
3360
|
+
noopener\" href=\"https://irishplants.org/field.html\" target=\"_blank\">our
|
3361
|
+
field</a> was colonised from a hedgerow/road verge population with little-to-no
|
3362
|
+
species-rich grassland nearby.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img
|
3363
|
+
decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/images/other_grasslands/lagan_meadows/wood_white_on_cardamine.jpg\"
|
3364
|
+
width=\"700\" height=\"340.3\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><b>May
|
3365
|
+
2021</b> A Wood White nectars on Cuckooflower (<i>Cardamine pratensis</i>)
|
3366
|
+
in a damper part of Lagan Meadows.</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Foodplants</h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Warnock⁴
|
3367
|
+
studied the species’ preferences in Armagh and found they mostly prefer
|
3368
|
+
to lay their eggs on Meadow Vetchling (<em>Lathyrus pratensis</em>), also
|
3369
|
+
using Lesser Bird’s-foot Trefoil (<em>Lotus corniculatus</em>), Greater
|
3370
|
+
Bird’s-foot Trefoil (<em>Lotus pedunculatus</em>), and rarely Bush Vetch
|
3371
|
+
(<em>Vicia sepium</em>). At Murlough they mostly use Lesser Bird’s-foot
|
3372
|
+
Trefoil⁴. in Edenderry, O’Neill and Montgomery³ only saw egg-laying
|
3373
|
+
on Meadow Vetchling.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the same study⁴ nectar plants included
|
3374
|
+
Bush Vetch, Meadow Vetchling, Lesser Bird’s-foot Trefoil, Tufted Vetch
|
3375
|
+
(<em>Vicia cracca</em>), Ragged Robin (<em>Lychnis flos-cuculi</em>), and
|
3376
|
+
Red Clover (<em>Trifolium pratense</em>). At Murlough they have been observed
|
3377
|
+
using Tormentil (<em>Potentilla erecta</em>).</p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Courtship</h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Courtship
|
3378
|
+
generally occurs on the nectar plant. I have observed two courtship displays
|
3379
|
+
on Bush Vetch, and one on grass. The male hovers behind and above the female,
|
3380
|
+
then lands facing her and begins to wave his proboscis on either side of her,
|
3381
|
+
while she occasionally flaps her wings. If she approves of the male, mating
|
3382
|
+
follows, but I have never seen this and it seems to be rare⁴ – most
|
3383
|
+
males are rejected.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><iframe
|
3384
|
+
loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/N_0K4bzqarA\" width=\"350\"
|
3385
|
+
height=\"437.5\">\n</iframe><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><b>May
|
3386
|
+
2020</b> A video of two pairs at Lagan Meadows courting. In both, the female
|
3387
|
+
rejected the male.</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This fairly complex ritual
|
3388
|
+
has evolved as a response to the similarity of the different <em>Leptidea</em>
|
3389
|
+
species – the female has to spend a long time working out if the male
|
3390
|
+
is actually the same species as her⁵. Why do they stay separate species at
|
3391
|
+
all then? Well, the different species occupy different niches in the areas
|
3392
|
+
where their ranges overlap. It is advantageous for them to make sure they
|
3393
|
+
mate with those of the same species, as the offspring will then share the
|
3394
|
+
specialisation to that niche⁶. Hybrid offspring would be less well-adapted
|
3395
|
+
to either of the niches of its parents; this is a form of <em><a rel=\"noreferrer
|
3396
|
+
noopener\" href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outbreeding_depression\" data-type=\"URL\"
|
3397
|
+
data-id=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outbreeding_depression\" target=\"_blank\">outbreeding
|
3398
|
+
depression</a></em>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conservation</h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Heal⁷
|
3399
|
+
reported that the Cryptic Wood White spread rapidly northwards into north-east
|
3400
|
+
Ulster along the railways in the mid-20th century. It is now in retreat⁴<sup>,</sup>⁸;
|
3401
|
+
the main concern is habitat loss⁹. At Lagan Meadows the habitat is quickly
|
3402
|
+
becoming inappropriate as grazing has stopped – this will stop the disturbance
|
3403
|
+
needed to create new areas of young scrub, and lead to the loss of the species-rich
|
3404
|
+
grassland.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\"
|
3405
|
+
loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/images/other_grasslands/lagan_meadows/leptidea_print.jpeg\"
|
3406
|
+
width=\"650\" height=\"457\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><b>December
|
3407
|
+
2021</b> A linocut print I made inspired by the Wood Whites I saw over lockdown.</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<h2
|
3408
|
+
class=\"wp-block-heading\">References</h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>N.B.</em>
|
3409
|
+
I have changed the format to superscript numbers Vancouver style as I think
|
3410
|
+
it is less intrusive!</p>\n\n\n\n<ol>\n<li>Dincǎ, V., Lukhtanov, V. A., Talavera,
|
3411
|
+
G., & Vila, R. (2011). Unexpected layers of cryptic diversity in wood white
|
3412
|
+
<em>Leptidea </em>butterflies. <em>Nature Communications</em>, <em>2</em>(1).
|
3413
|
+
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1329</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cryptic Wood White. [online]
|
3414
|
+
<em>UK Butterflies</em>. https://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species.php?species=juvernica
|
3415
|
+
[accessed 31 Dec 2022]</li>\n\n\n\n<li>O’Neill, J., & Montgomery, I. (2018).
|
3416
|
+
Demographics and spatial ecology in a population of cryptic wood white butterfly
|
3417
|
+
Leptidea juvernica in Northern Ireland. <em>Journal of Insect Conservation</em>,
|
3418
|
+
<em>22</em>(3–4), 499–510. https://doi.org/10.1007/S10841-018-0077-5</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Warnock,
|
3419
|
+
N. (2008). The ecology and conservation of <em>Leptidea reali</em> (Real’s
|
3420
|
+
Wood White) in Northern Ireland. MSc Thesis, Queen’s University Belfast. http://ns340113.ip-5-196-79.eu:7080/images/3_programmes/papillons/biblio/43.pdf</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Friberg,
|
3421
|
+
M., Vongvanich, N., Borg-Karlson, A. K., Kemp, D. J., Merilaita, S., & Wiklund,
|
3422
|
+
C. (2008). Female mate choice determines reproductive isolation between sympatric
|
3423
|
+
butterflies. <em>Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology</em>, <em>62</em>(6),
|
3424
|
+
873–886. https://doi.org/10.1007/S00265-007-0511-2</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Friberg,
|
3425
|
+
M., Leimar, O., & Wiklund, C. (2013). Heterospecific courtship, minority effects
|
3426
|
+
and niche separation between cryptic butterfly species. <em>Journal of Evolutionary
|
3427
|
+
Biology</em>, <em>26</em>(5), 971–979. https://doi.org/10.1111/JEB.12106</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Heal,
|
3428
|
+
H. (1965). The Wood White, <em>Leptidea sinapis</em> L., and the Railways.
|
3429
|
+
<em>The Irish Naturalists’ Journal</em>, <em>15</em>(1), 8–13. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25536916</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Staats,
|
3430
|
+
W. T., & Regan, E. C. (2014). Initial population trends from a 5-year butterfly
|
3431
|
+
monitoring scheme. <em>Journal of Insect Conservation</em>, <em>18</em>(3),
|
3432
|
+
365–371. https://doi.org/10.1007/S10841-014-9644-6</li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Leptidea
|
3433
|
+
juvernica</em> – cryptic wood white. [online] <em>Northern Ireland Priority
|
3434
|
+
Species</em>. http://www.habitas.org.uk/priority/species.asp?item=430857 [accessed
|
3435
|
+
31 Dec 2022]</li>\n</ol>\n","tags":["Invertebrates","Conservation","Ecology","Insects","Review"],"language":"en","blog_id":"2bzkh64","blogs":{"id":"2bzkh64","title":"Irish
|
3436
|
+
Plants","description":"Jake''s blog.","language":"en","icon":null,"favicon":"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/favicon32.png","feed_url":"http://irishplants.org/blog/feed/atom/","home_page_url":"https://irishplants.org/blog","base_url":null,"user_id":"8498eaf6-8c58-4b58-bc15-27eda292b1aa","created_at":"2023-05-31T13:47:52+00:00","indexed_at":"2023-01-04","feed_format":"application/atom+xml","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode","generator":"WordPress","category":"Natural
|
3437
|
+
Sciences","prefix":"10.59350"}},{"id":"https://irishplants.org/blog/2022/12/25/belfasts-urban-flora/","uuid":"b2106939-601c-489c-9b1e-64cea2e5b18c","url":"https://irishplants.org/blog/2022/12/25/belfasts-urban-flora/","title":"Belfast’s
|
3438
|
+
urban flora","summary":"In the nineties, the Belfast Naturalists’ Field Club
|
3439
|
+
extensively surveyed the urban flora of Belfast, resulting in a book, Urban
|
3440
|
+
Flora of Belfast. Many plants new to Down and Antrim were found, and most
|
3441
|
+
of...","date_published":"2022-12-25T00:36:34Z","date_modified":"2022-12-26T17:12:40Z","authors":[{"url":null,"name":"Jake
|
3442
|
+
Dalzell"}],"image":null,"content_html":"\n<p>In the nineties, the Belfast
|
3443
|
+
Naturalists’ Field Club extensively surveyed the urban flora of Belfast,
|
3444
|
+
resulting in a book, <em>Urban Flora of Belfast</em>. Many plants new to Down
|
3445
|
+
and Antrim were found, and most of these were new to Ireland as well. This
|
3446
|
+
was a three-year effort involving some thirty-one recorders. Since this survey,
|
3447
|
+
Belfast has seen many new species arrive: Yellow-wort (<em>Blackstonia perfoliata</em>),
|
3448
|
+
at one of its only stations in Ulster; Annual Beard-grass (<em>Polypogon monspeliensis</em>),
|
3449
|
+
new to Down (<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/2022/10/07/annual-beard-grass-a-new-species-for-county-down-h38/\"
|
3450
|
+
data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/2022/10/07/annual-beard-grass-a-new-species-for-county-down-h38/\"
|
3451
|
+
target=\"_blank\">after I found it!</a>); and Narrow-leaved Ragwort (<em>Senecio
|
3452
|
+
inaequidens</em>), which has exploded onto the radar as a pavement plant.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Urban
|
3453
|
+
areas are a hotspot for new, potentially invasive, non-native species which
|
3454
|
+
arrive in ports and on people all the time. They can also provide new niches
|
3455
|
+
for native plants, like the many species which have colonised tarmac and concrete,
|
3456
|
+
and those which find brownfield sites similar enough to their normal habitat.
|
3457
|
+
In Belfast, scarce natives like Fairy Flax (<em>Linum catharticum</em>) and
|
3458
|
+
Common Centaury (<em>Centaurium erythraea</em>) mingle with recent colonists
|
3459
|
+
on the gravel of building sites and industrial estate.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It’s
|
3460
|
+
important to remember that urban areas aren’t devoid of semi-natural
|
3461
|
+
habitats either. Belfast has species-rich grassland in the Lagan Valley, like
|
3462
|
+
at <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https://irishplants.org/other_grasslands/lagan_meadows.html\"
|
3463
|
+
data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://irishplants.org/other_grasslands/lagan_meadows.html\"
|
3464
|
+
target=\"_blank\">Lagan Meadows</a>, and in the Belfast Hills; some parks
|
3465
|
+
have been growing increasingly rich, like the now flower-and-butterfly-filled
|
3466
|
+
Orangefield Park. There are old woodlands and even small fens at Cregagh Glen.
|
3467
|
+
Belfast has retained an area of semi-natural ecosystems that rivals rural
|
3468
|
+
Down just to the south – we should not be dismissive of our forests
|
3469
|
+
and meadows!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, many of these habitats do go under-appreciated.
|
3470
|
+
The fantastic new arrivals go unrecorded, increasing the risk of invasive
|
3471
|
+
species going undetected until it’s too late. Recording of native species
|
3472
|
+
is little better, and our knowledge of what we have to cherish and protect
|
3473
|
+
is lacking as a result. Lagan Meadows has not been grazed by cattle for several
|
3474
|
+
years, leaving the grassland and pond plants that rely on disturbance doomed
|
3475
|
+
to the tide of vegetational succession. <em>Rhododendron</em>, Cherry Laurel
|
3476
|
+
(<em>Prunus laurocerasus</em>) and other species are invading Cregagh Glen,
|
3477
|
+
threatening to smother the woodland plants and trees, while Himalayan Balsam
|
3478
|
+
(<em>Impatiens glandulifera</em>) runs rampant along riversides and in damp
|
3479
|
+
woodland.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I hope to see changes in the urban flora of Belfast:
|
3480
|
+
not just new arrivals, but changes in our knowledge and understanding of what’s
|
3481
|
+
already here; not just knowledge, but changes in how we treat our precious,
|
3482
|
+
irreplaceable habitats. Recording, campaigning, appreciating, <em>seeing</em>,
|
3483
|
+
I think there’s something we can all do for Belfast’s urban flora.</p>\n","tags":["Plants","Ecology","Writing"],"language":"en","blog_id":"2bzkh64","blogs":{"id":"2bzkh64","title":"Irish
|
3484
|
+
Plants","description":"Jake''s blog.","language":"en","icon":null,"favicon":"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/favicon32.png","feed_url":"http://irishplants.org/blog/feed/atom/","home_page_url":"https://irishplants.org/blog","base_url":null,"user_id":"8498eaf6-8c58-4b58-bc15-27eda292b1aa","created_at":"2023-05-31T13:47:52+00:00","indexed_at":"2023-01-04","feed_format":"application/atom+xml","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode","generator":"WordPress","category":"Natural
|
3485
|
+
Sciences","prefix":"10.59350"}},{"id":"https://irishplants.org/blog/2022/11/19/british-and-irish-botanical-conference-november-22/","uuid":"22f1f8a5-20ee-42eb-992e-ce851238a10b","url":"https://irishplants.org/blog/2022/11/19/british-and-irish-botanical-conference-november-22/","title":"British
|
3486
|
+
and Irish Botanical Conference, November 22","summary":"Today I went to the
|
3487
|
+
BSBI’s November conference in the Natural History Museum in London! I presented
|
3488
|
+
my poster on my summer project surveying islands on Strangford Lough, and
|
3489
|
+
got to do a 60 second flash talk....","date_published":"2022-11-19T22:13:11Z","date_modified":"2022-12-24T23:29:18Z","authors":[{"url":null,"name":"Jake
|
3490
|
+
Dalzell"}],"image":null,"content_html":"\n<p>Today I went to the BSBI’s
|
3491
|
+
November conference in the Natural History Museum in London! I presented my
|
3492
|
+
poster on my summer project surveying islands on Strangford Lough, and got
|
3493
|
+
to do a 60 second flash talk. It was really great to meet other people who
|
3494
|
+
are passionate about plants and learn from them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer
|
3495
|
+
noopener\" href=\"https://irishplants.org/islands/bsbiposter.html\" data-type=\"URL\"
|
3496
|
+
data-id=\"https://irishplants.org/islands/bsbiposter.html\" target=\"_blank\">Read
|
3497
|
+
the html version of my poster here.</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://youtu.be/VCne0d2bH34\"
|
3498
|
+
data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://youtu.be/VCne0d2bH34\" target=\"_blank\"
|
3499
|
+
rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Watch my (very brief!) flash talk here.</a></p>\n\n\n\n<figure
|
3500
|
+
class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"
|
3501
|
+
width=\"3500\" height=\"2472\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/poster_compress.png\"
|
3502
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-120\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/poster_compress.png
|
3503
|
+
3500w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/poster_compress-300x212.png
|
3504
|
+
300w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/poster_compress-768x542.png
|
3505
|
+
768w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/poster_compress-1536x1085.png
|
3506
|
+
1536w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/poster_compress-2048x1446.png
|
3507
|
+
2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 3500px) 100vw, 3500px\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">my
|
3508
|
+
poster “Plants and plant communities of Strangford Lough islands”</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This
|
3509
|
+
was an exciting day for me as I had never been to a scientific conference
|
3510
|
+
before, and getting to present some of my findings from the summer was a great
|
3511
|
+
experience. The BSBI have been so encouraging throughout this project and
|
3512
|
+
I am very thankful for this opportunity. Next step: writing up and publishing
|
3513
|
+
a paper!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Something I found particularly interesting and inspiring
|
3514
|
+
was the very high resolution, detailed distribution work some other botanists
|
3515
|
+
have achieved, particularly David Barden’s work on Llantrisant Common.
|
3516
|
+
He has made 10m scale distribution maps for particularly interesting or rare
|
3517
|
+
taxa, and these really give a sense of their local ecology. It is now something
|
3518
|
+
I am considering doing for the rarer plants I encounter while surveying. It
|
3519
|
+
emphasises the value of returning to a site year after year to build up a
|
3520
|
+
good dataset. You can read more about this work <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"
|
3521
|
+
href=\"https://aem.bsbi.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/BSBI-AEM-2020-poster-Barden-1.pdf\"
|
3522
|
+
data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https://aem.bsbi.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/BSBI-AEM-2020-poster-Barden-1.pdf\"
|
3523
|
+
target=\"_blank\">here (pdf download).</a></p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image
|
3524
|
+
size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\"
|
3525
|
+
src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_20221119_124524-768x1024.jpg\"
|
3526
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-114\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_20221119_124524-768x1024.jpg
|
3527
|
+
768w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_20221119_124524-225x300.jpg
|
3528
|
+
225w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_20221119_124524-1152x1536.jpg
|
3529
|
+
1152w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_20221119_124524-1536x2048.jpg
|
3530
|
+
1536w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/IMG_20221119_124524-scaled.jpg
|
3531
|
+
1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Another
|
3532
|
+
fun part of the day was a tour of the British and Irish herbarium in the NHM.
|
3533
|
+
We saw very old specimens, and I particularly liked these Spring Gentian specimens
|
3534
|
+
from the Burren. We learnt that the herbarium gets less specimens than it
|
3535
|
+
used to and that many areas and taxa are underrepresented, something we all
|
3536
|
+
as botanists can rectify! I’m definitely considering submitting some
|
3537
|
+
of my specimens now.</p>\n","tags":["Islands","Conference","Ecology","Fieldwork","Plants"],"language":"en","blog_id":"2bzkh64","blogs":{"id":"2bzkh64","title":"Irish
|
3538
|
+
Plants","description":"Jake''s blog.","language":"en","icon":null,"favicon":"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/favicon32.png","feed_url":"http://irishplants.org/blog/feed/atom/","home_page_url":"https://irishplants.org/blog","base_url":null,"user_id":"8498eaf6-8c58-4b58-bc15-27eda292b1aa","created_at":"2023-05-31T13:47:52+00:00","indexed_at":"2023-01-04","feed_format":"application/atom+xml","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode","generator":"WordPress","category":"Natural
|
3539
|
+
Sciences","prefix":"10.59350"}},{"id":"https://irishplants.org/blog/2022/11/25/fen-soil-carbon-flux/","uuid":"bd5d8342-09bb-4e41-a100-2b6139b8a8f0","url":"https://irishplants.org/blog/2022/11/25/fen-soil-carbon-flux/","title":"Fen
|
3540
|
+
soil carbon flux","summary":"Today I had the opportunity to work as a field
|
3541
|
+
assistant with a PhD student, Thomas Marquand. He is researching CO₂ and methane
|
3542
|
+
dynamics in soil in restored and reclaimed fens in East Anglia (with the Centre...","date_published":"2022-11-25T20:44:48Z","date_modified":"2022-12-31T11:37:39Z","authors":[{"url":null,"name":"Jake
|
3543
|
+
Dalzell"}],"image":null,"content_html":"\n<p>Today I had the opportunity to
|
3544
|
+
work as a field assistant with a PhD student, Thomas Marquand. He is researching
|
3545
|
+
CO₂ and methane dynamics in soil in restored and reclaimed fens in East Anglia
|
3546
|
+
(with the <a href=\"https://www.clr.conservation.cam.ac.uk/\" data-type=\"URL\"
|
3547
|
+
data-id=\"https://www.clr.conservation.cam.ac.uk/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer
|
3548
|
+
noopener\">Centre for Landscape Regeneration</a>). We took samples from the
|
3549
|
+
fen exhibit in the Cambridge Botanic Gardens and used a spectrometer to measure
|
3550
|
+
CO₂ and methane concentration, and also δ¹³C-CO₂.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image
|
3551
|
+
size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\"
|
3552
|
+
src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/FiqBPwvWAAEUGb_-scaled.jpeg\"
|
3553
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-138\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/FiqBPwvWAAEUGb_-scaled.jpeg
|
3554
|
+
1920w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/FiqBPwvWAAEUGb_-225x300.jpeg
|
3555
|
+
225w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/FiqBPwvWAAEUGb_-768x1024.jpeg
|
3556
|
+
768w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/FiqBPwvWAAEUGb_-1152x1536.jpeg
|
3557
|
+
1152w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/FiqBPwvWAAEUGb_-1536x2048.jpeg
|
3558
|
+
1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Me,
|
3559
|
+
Tom, and Margeaux (from the botanic gardens) at the fen exhibit</figcaption></figure>\n\n\n\n<figure
|
3560
|
+
class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"
|
3561
|
+
width=\"2311\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/9crop-scaled.jpg\"
|
3562
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-139\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/9crop-scaled.jpg
|
3563
|
+
2311w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/9crop-271x300.jpg
|
3564
|
+
271w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/9crop-768x851.jpg
|
3565
|
+
768w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/9crop-1386x1536.jpg
|
3566
|
+
1386w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/9crop-1849x2048.jpg
|
3567
|
+
1849w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2311px) 100vw, 2311px\" /><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Soil
|
3568
|
+
samples we took from the exhibit – note the one on the right is from
|
3569
|
+
the shallow layer of peat that has formed since the exhibit was created, while
|
3570
|
+
the others are a thick clay</figcaption></figure>\n","tags":["Earth Sciences","Fieldwork","Soil"],"language":null,"blog_id":"2bzkh64","blogs":{"id":"2bzkh64","title":"Irish
|
3571
|
+
Plants","description":"Jake''s blog.","language":"en","icon":null,"favicon":"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/favicon32.png","feed_url":"http://irishplants.org/blog/feed/atom/","home_page_url":"https://irishplants.org/blog","base_url":null,"user_id":"8498eaf6-8c58-4b58-bc15-27eda292b1aa","created_at":"2023-05-31T13:47:52+00:00","indexed_at":"2023-01-04","feed_format":"application/atom+xml","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode","generator":"WordPress","category":"Natural
|
3572
|
+
Sciences","prefix":"10.59350"}},{"id":"https://irishplants.org/blog/2022/10/07/annual-beard-grass-a-new-species-for-county-down-h38/","uuid":"dc120ed6-0759-4159-a158-42225cade34d","url":"https://irishplants.org/blog/2022/10/07/annual-beard-grass-a-new-species-for-county-down-h38/","title":"Annual
|
3573
|
+
Beard-grass: a new species for County Down (H38)","summary":"Earlier this
|
3574
|
+
year, I found a species of grass I didn’t recognise, growing as a pavement
|
3575
|
+
plant in East Belfast. With a guide I identified it as Polypogon monspeliensis
|
3576
|
+
(Annual Beard-grass), a new species for...","date_published":"2022-10-07T15:03:25Z","date_modified":"2022-12-24T23:24:37Z","authors":[{"url":null,"name":"Jake
|
3577
|
+
Dalzell"}],"image":null,"content_html":"\n<p>Earlier this year, I found a
|
3578
|
+
species of grass I didn’t recognise, growing as a pavement plant in
|
3579
|
+
East Belfast. With a guide I identified it as <em>Polypogon monspeliensis</em>
|
3580
|
+
(Annual Beard-grass), a new species for County Down.</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image
|
3581
|
+
size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1244\" height=\"2560\"
|
3582
|
+
src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/processed-dd44da64-4106-43b0-b63c-34f0dbbf9936_IL7IE1e9-edited-scaled.jpeg\"
|
3583
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-102\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/processed-dd44da64-4106-43b0-b63c-34f0dbbf9936_IL7IE1e9-edited-scaled.jpeg
|
3584
|
+
1244w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/processed-dd44da64-4106-43b0-b63c-34f0dbbf9936_IL7IE1e9-edited-146x300.jpeg
|
3585
|
+
146w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/processed-dd44da64-4106-43b0-b63c-34f0dbbf9936_IL7IE1e9-edited-498x1024.jpeg
|
3586
|
+
498w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/processed-dd44da64-4106-43b0-b63c-34f0dbbf9936_IL7IE1e9-edited-768x1580.jpeg
|
3587
|
+
768w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/processed-dd44da64-4106-43b0-b63c-34f0dbbf9936_IL7IE1e9-edited-747x1536.jpeg
|
3588
|
+
747w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1244px) 100vw, 1244px\" /></figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This
|
3589
|
+
species is known from Dublin and Cork, and there is a previous Ulster record
|
3590
|
+
from Keady in Armagh. It may continue to increase in urban areas, like many
|
3591
|
+
plants of pavements and waste ground that have recently colonised Ireland.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This
|
3592
|
+
record featured in the September 2022 edition of BSBI News – my first
|
3593
|
+
appearance!</p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\"
|
3594
|
+
loading=\"lazy\" width=\"860\" height=\"438\" src=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/my-record-in-BSBI-News.png\"
|
3595
|
+
alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-103\" srcset=\"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/my-record-in-BSBI-News.png
|
3596
|
+
860w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/my-record-in-BSBI-News-300x153.png
|
3597
|
+
300w, https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/my-record-in-BSBI-News-768x391.png
|
3598
|
+
768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 860px) 100vw, 860px\" /></figure>\n","tags":["Plants","Ecology","Fieldwork"],"language":null,"blog_id":"2bzkh64","blogs":{"id":"2bzkh64","title":"Irish
|
3599
|
+
Plants","description":"Jake''s blog.","language":"en","icon":null,"favicon":"https://irishplants.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/favicon32.png","feed_url":"http://irishplants.org/blog/feed/atom/","home_page_url":"https://irishplants.org/blog","base_url":null,"user_id":"8498eaf6-8c58-4b58-bc15-27eda292b1aa","created_at":"2023-05-31T13:47:52+00:00","indexed_at":"2023-01-04","feed_format":"application/atom+xml","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode","generator":"WordPress","category":"Natural
|
3600
|
+
Sciences","prefix":"10.59350"}}]'
|
3601
|
+
recorded_at: Fri, 09 Jun 2023 08:44:55 GMT
|
2625
3602
|
recorded_with: VCR 6.1.0
|