Aim Macroclimate is a major determinant of large‐scale diversity patterns. However, the influence of smaller‐scale factors on local diversity across large spatial extents is not well documented. Here, we quantify the relative importance of local (patch‐scale), landscape‐scale and macroclimatic drivers of herbaceous species diversity in small forest patches in agricultural landscapes across Europe. Location Deciduous forest pat...

Aim In response to environmental changes and to avoid extinction, species may either track suitable environmental conditions or adapt to the modified environment. However, whether and how species adapt to environmental changes remains unclear. By focusing on the realized niche (i.e. the actual space that a species inhabits and the resources it can access as a result of limiting biotic factors present in its habitat), we here e...

Aim Seed banks are central to the regeneration strategy of many plant species. Any factor altering seed bank density thus affects plant regeneration and population dynamics. Although seed banks are dynamic entities controlled by multiple environmental drivers, climatic factors are the most comprehensive, but still poorly understood. This study investigates how climatic variation structures seed production and resulting seed ba...

Slow‐colonizing forest understorey plants are probably not able to rapidly adjust their distribution range following large‐scale climate change. Therefore, the acclimation potential to climate change within their actual occupied habitats will likely be key for their short‐ and long‐term persistence. We combined transplant experiments along a latitudinal gradient with open‐top chambers to assess the effects of temperature on ph...

Negative effects of habitat fragmentation on individual performance have been widely documented, but relatively little is known about how simultaneous effects on multiple vital rates translate into effects on population viability in long‐lived species. In this study, we examined relationships between population size, individual growth, survival and reproduction, and population growth rate in the perennial plant Phyteuma spicat...

Aim For a large set of forest herbs we tested: (1) whether there is a positive relationship between local abundance and geographical range size; (2) whether abundance or range size are affected by the niche breadths of species or niche availability; and (3) whether these are affected by the species life‐history traits. Location Northwestern Germany. Methods We measured abundance as mean density in 22 base‐rich deciduous forest...

Knowing the general principles of plant‐environment relationships is required to be able to predict changes in species occurrence and abundance in changing landscapes. Because habitat fragmentation may affect the dispersal, establishment, and persistence of species in various ways, we expected associations between species life‐history traits related to these processes and their responses to fragmentation. We tested (1) whether...