@article{MTMT:36973290, title = {A globally consistent scaling relationship reveals stabilizing effects of dominant species in plant communities}, url = {https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/36973290}, author = {Gracia, Clara and Segrestin, Jules and Lepš, Jan and Adler, Peter B. and Harrison, Susan P. and Götzenberger, Lars and Valencia, Enrique and Lecegui, Víctor and Bazzichetto, Manuele and Canullo, Roberto and Chelli, Stefano and Dengler, Jürgen and Dolezal, Jiri and Eldridge, David J. and Essl, Franz and Fischer, Felícia M. and Guido, Anaclara and Hallet, Lauren and Herben, Tomas and Hölzel, Norbert and Jentsch, Anke and Kertész, Miklós and Li, Xiaofei and Ónodi, Gábor and Pakeman, Robin J. and Paquette, Alain and Pussa, Kersti and Risch, Anita C. and Rueda, Marta and Schmidt, Wolfgang and Schmiedel, Ute and Zhong, Zhiwei and Zobel, Martin and Bello, Francesco de}, doi = {10.1002/ecog.08242}, journal-iso = {ECOGRAPHY}, journal = {ECOGRAPHY}, volume = {2026}, unique-id = {36973290}, issn = {0906-7590}, abstract = {Despite extensive research, stabilizing mechanisms in ecosystems remain uncertain. Taylor's power law (TPL) is a pervasive ecological pattern that describes how variance scales with mean abundance (σ 2 = aμᵇ). While TPL has been widely studied within populations, its role across species within communities and its implications for stability remain largely unexplored. A TPL scaling factor (b) < 2 implies an unexplored stabilizing effect of dominant species (hereafter the ‘dominance effect'), where community stability arises from dominant species being relatively more stable than subordinates. This study aims to explore the influence of TPL exponent b on the dominance effect on stability and identify the biotic and abiotic community factors shaping it. Using data from over 9000 permanent vegetation plots globally, we investigated within‐community TPL, linked it to the dominance effect, and examined drivers of b values. Results reveal a strong contribution of b, together with species evenness, to dominance effects on stability. A ubiquitous TPL (mode R 2 = 0.92) with a consistent b < 2 highlights widespread dominance effects. Lower b values were linked to resource‐conservative strategies and climatic seasonality, reinforcing the role of environmental filtering in stability. These findings highlight the widespread dominance effect on community temporal stability, particularly driven by woody, large‐seeded species in cold, seasonal climates. Moreover, results identify the TPL exponent b as a powerful indicator of dominant species' stabilizing effects, complementing the well‐known role of species diversity.}, year = {2026}, eissn = {1600-0587}, orcid-numbers = {Gracia, Clara/0009-0001-3855-4012; Segrestin, Jules/0000-0001-7661-6061; Lepš, Jan/0000-0001-7693-9629; Adler, Peter B./0000-0002-4216-4009; Götzenberger, Lars/0000-0003-3040-2900; Dengler, Jürgen/0000-0003-3221-660X; Dolezal, Jiri/0000-0002-5829-4051; Eldridge, David J./0000-0002-2191-486X; Essl, Franz/0000-0001-8253-2112; Herben, Tomas/0000-0002-6636-0012; Ónodi, Gábor/0000-0003-4308-7997; Pakeman, Robin J./0000-0001-6248-4133; Paquette, Alain/0000-0003-1048-9674; Zhong, Zhiwei/0000-0001-8598-961X} } @article{MTMT:37012558, title = {Precipitation change and biomass allocation in a temperate grassland: The role of intraspecific variation and species composition change}, url = {https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/37012558}, author = {Vörös, Amira Fatime and Götzenberger, Lars and Kalapos, Tibor and Kertész, Miklós and Lepš, Jan and Mojzes, Andrea and Ónodi, Gábor and Segrestin, Jules and Szitár, Katalin and Kröel-Dulay, György}, doi = {10.1016/j.gecco.2026.e04160}, journal-iso = {GLOB ECOL CONSERV}, journal = {GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION}, volume = {67}, unique-id = {37012558}, issn = {2351-9894}, year = {2026}, eissn = {2351-9894}, orcid-numbers = {Kalapos, Tibor/0000-0002-1393-5580; Mojzes, Andrea/0000-0003-2171-403X; Ónodi, Gábor/0000-0003-4308-7997; Szitár, Katalin/0000-0002-8810-540X} } @article{MTMT:37325167, title = {Extreme drought facilitates shift to non-native C4 perennial grass dominance in a temperate grassland in Central Europe}, url = {https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/37325167}, author = {Mojzes, Andrea and Ónodi, Gábor and Rigó, Attila and Szitár, Katalin and Kröel-Dulay, György}, doi = {10.1007/s10530-026-03851-1}, journal-iso = {BIOL INVASIONS}, journal = {BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS}, volume = {28}, unique-id = {37325167}, issn = {1387-3547}, abstract = {Climate change is expected to facilitate the spread of many alien C 4 grasses, which perform better in warmer climates than C 3 species. Furthermore, extreme climatic events may promote plant invasions by suppressing native species. Despite several well-documented cases of C 4 perennial grass invasions, the role of extreme events in facilitating plant invasions is rarely documented. Sporobolus cryptandrus , a North American C 4 perennial bunchgrass, has recently been established in several European locations, including mass invasions in natural grasslands. Given the early stage of S. cryptandrus invasion and its potential for future spread, a better understanding of the dynamics and mechanisms of its invasion is urgently needed. In a natural sand steppe in Hungary, an EU priority habitat type with one of the largest S. cryptandrus populations in Europe, we monitored S. cryptandrus invasion and changes in species dominance in permanent plots annually from 2022 to 2024, which included an extreme drought in 2022. In the post-drought years, we found a gradual increase in both the frequency of S. cryptandrus and the number of plots where it was the dominant species. Following the drought-induced dieback of the dominant native grass, Festuca vaginata , the cover of S. cryptandrus almost doubled from 2023 to 2024 and approached that of F. vaginata . This expansion was positively related to F. vaginata dieback. Our study demonstrates that S. cryptandrus can spread and become dominant rapidly in natural grasslands. Furthermore, our results provide empirical evidence on how extreme events can accelerate an ongoing plant invasion process.}, year = {2026}, eissn = {1573-1464}, orcid-numbers = {Mojzes, Andrea/0000-0003-2171-403X; Ónodi, Gábor/0000-0003-4308-7997; Szitár, Katalin/0000-0002-8810-540X} } @article{MTMT:37381379, title = {Estimating Grassland Production in Central Europe Using Multi-Source Remote Sensing Data and a Novel Compilation of Field Observations}, url = {https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/37381379}, author = {Pacskó, Vivien and Barcza, Zoltán and Balogh, János and Balogh, Szabolcs and Belényesi, Márta and Bellocchi, Gianni and Birinyi, Edina and Fóti, Szilvia and Hollós, Roland and Kristóf, Dániel and Kröel-Dulay, György and Nagy, Zoltán and Ónodi, Gábor and Pataki, Róbert and Petrik, Ottó and Pintér, Krisztina and Richter-Cserey, Mátyás and Simon, Máté and Tusjak, Mirtill and Timár, Gábor and Kern, Anikó}, doi = {10.3390/agronomy16141302}, journal-iso = {AGRONOMY-BASEL}, journal = {AGRONOMY (BASEL)}, volume = {16}, unique-id = {37381379}, abstract = {Monitoring the condition of grasslands is essential given their vital role in food security, carbon sequestration and other ecosystem services. Harvested aboveground biomass (HAB) and aboveground net primary production (ANPP) are among the most important grassland state indicators. However, spatially explicit production estimates are largely lacking, and grassland area estimations also remain uncertain. This study addresses these gaps for drought-prone Central European grasslands over 2017–2024. We synthesized grassland extent data, collected extensive field measurements on biomass (BM), and used remote sensing-based biophysical proxies to build an ensemble of six linear models for spatial extrapolation at 10 m resolution. Bayesian framework was used for the linear model fitting that also considers uncertainty of the observations. The ensemble mean ANPP was 310.7 ± 19 gBM m−2, with modest interannual variability. Upscaled country-wide mean ANPP was 34.3 ± 13.3 Mt year−1. The results indicate that, within the frame of the present study, the remote sensing-based linear model selection has a larger influence on the country totals than the grassland area database selection. The results highlight that both grassland area uncertainty and model construction are major sources of uncertainty in biomass estimation that have to be addressed in future studies.}, year = {2026}, eissn = {2073-4395}, orcid-numbers = {Pacskó, Vivien/0000-0003-4673-6833; Barcza, Zoltán/0000-0002-1278-0636; Balogh, János/0000-0003-3211-5120; Bellocchi, Gianni/0000-0003-2712-7979; Kristóf, Dániel/0000-0002-1056-9001; Nagy, Zoltán/0000-0003-2839-522X; Ónodi, Gábor/0000-0003-4308-7997; Richter-Cserey, Mátyás/0009-0007-3856-4169; Simon, Máté/0009-0002-6390-6208; Timár, Gábor/0000-0001-9675-6192; Kern, Anikó/0000-0002-3504-1668} } @article{MTMT:37471890, title = {Can we trust vegetation resurveys?}, url = {https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/37471890}, author = {Chytry, Krystof and Clark, Adam Thomas and Dullinger, Stefan and Chytry, Milan and Tesitel, Jakub and Bruelheide, Helge and Dolezal, Jiri and Fenu, Giuseppe and Hajek, Michal and Hajkova, Petra and Jandt, Ute and Kertész, Miklós and Ónodi, Gábor and Petrik, Petr and Cerny, Tomas and Friesova, Klara}, doi = {10.1111/1365-2745.70425}, journal-iso = {J ECOL}, journal = {JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY}, volume = {114}, unique-id = {37471890}, issn = {0022-0477}, abstract = {Revisiting and resurveying historical vegetation plots has become a central tool for documenting changes in plant communities. However, theoretical studies suggest that reliable detection of long-term trends from a single resurvey is nearly impossible for species with high stochastic population fluctuations, though it may be relatively informative in more stable plant communities dominated by perennial species. To empirically test how well data from a single resurvey align with estimated long-term trends in species richness and community turnover in European grasslands, we compiled permanent-plot time series from dry to wet grasslands that were sampled multiple times (most often annually) during the monitoring period. We then extracted pairs of surveys (baseline survey and one resurvey) from the individual time series and compared changes inferred from these pairs with trends inferred from the full time series using Bayesian multilevel regressions. We found that in studied grasslands, data from a single resurvey can reliably reflect long-term trends in community turnover but deliver less reliable inferences of trends in species richness. Synthesis. Despite limitations, single resurveys remain a useful tool for describing and understanding changes in plant diversity, at least in perennial grasslands. However, they should be used cautiously, especially regarding changes in species richness. In general, trend inference becomes more accurate as the number of resurveys increases and the monitoring period lengthens. Unfortunately, such long-term, multiple-resurvey schemes still remain scarce.}, keywords = {DIVERSITY; VEGETATION; BIAS; Species richness; sampling; vegetation dynamics; Global change; BIODIVERSITY CHANGE; Plant Sciences; temperate grasslands}, year = {2026}, eissn = {1365-2745}, orcid-numbers = {Ónodi, Gábor/0000-0003-4308-7997} } @article{MTMT:35748014, title = {Decline in plant species richness with a chronic decrease of precipitation: The mediating role of the dominant species}, url = {https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/35748014}, author = {Ónodi, Gábor and Kertész, Miklós and Bede-Fazekas, Ákos and Batáry, Péter and Kröel-Dulay, György and Botta-Dukát, Zoltán}, doi = {10.1111/1365-2745.14483}, journal-iso = {J ECOL}, journal = {JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY}, volume = {113}, unique-id = {35748014}, issn = {0022-0477}, abstract = {Despite the increased frequency and severity of droughts in many regions and declining biodiversity, existing experimental evidence for changes in plant species richness associated with altered water availability is limited. The growing extent of drylands highlights the need to predict precipitation‐related changes in species richness, which requires a better understanding of the mechanisms. We carried out a field experiment applying a single extreme drought event and combined it with subsequent chronic alteration of summer precipitation for 7 years in a water‐limited temperate grassland. We assessed how altered precipitation regimes and a previous extreme drought affect species richness. We compared a simple analysis assuming only the net effect of precipitation on species richness to a complex approach by structural equation modelling that included both the direct effects of precipitation and indirect effects through the biomass of dominant grass species. Using simple analysis, we found significant positive and nonsignificant precipitation–species richness relationships in the presence and absence of extreme drought, respectively. The complex analysis disentangled direct and indirect pathways between precipitation and species richness. The indirect pathway acted only in the absence of drought. In this case, increasing precipitation increased the biomass of dominant species, which, in turn, decreased species richness, acting as a mediator variable. The direct relationship was positive, independent of the presence of drought. Synthesis . Consistent with the global relationship between water availability and species richness, we experimentally showed that decreasing precipitation decreases species richness. Furthermore, we found that increasing precipitation may also decrease plant species richness via an indirect pathway acting through the biomass of the dominant species. Our results highlight that species richness can become more sensitive to changes in precipitation after extreme drought events that eliminate or set back dominant species.}, year = {2025}, eissn = {1365-2745}, pages = {621-634}, orcid-numbers = {Ónodi, Gábor/0000-0003-4308-7997; Bede-Fazekas, Ákos/0000-0002-2905-338X; Batáry, Péter/0000-0002-1017-6996; Botta-Dukát, Zoltán/0000-0002-9544-3474} } @article{MTMT:35762500, title = {The Negative Legacy Effect of Extreme Drought on Soil Respiration Is Unaffected by Post‐Drought Precipitation Regime in a Temperate Grassland}, url = {https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/35762500}, author = {Lelleiné Kovács, Eszter and Botta-Dukát, Zoltán and Ónodi, Gábor and Mojzes, Andrea and Kröel-Dulay, György}, doi = {10.1111/gcb.70083}, journal-iso = {GLOBAL CHANGE BIOL}, journal = {GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY}, volume = {31}, unique-id = {35762500}, issn = {1354-1013}, abstract = {Soil respiration, the main ecosystem process that produces carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, is sensitive to extreme climatic events. The immediate, usually negative effect of droughts on soil respiration has often been observed, but the recovery of soil respiration following drought is rarely documented. Soil respiration can be reduced beyond the drought year if drought‐induced changes suppress soil activity. Alternatively, reduction in soil respiration may be overcompensated in the subsequent years due to increased substrate input and soil moisture, resulting from plant dieback during drought. In addition, post‐drought weather patterns may also affect the recovery of soil respiration. In a full‐factorial grassland experiment, we combined an extreme (5 months) summer drought in 2014 with four levels of post‐drought precipitation regimes, including severe (2 months) droughts, moderate (1 month) droughts, ambient weather, and water addition (four large rain events) in summers of 2015 and 2016. We measured soil respiration monthly between May and November, from 2013 to 2016. The extreme drought had an immediate strong negative effect, decreasing soil respiration by 50.8% in 2014 compared to the control plots, and it had a negative legacy effect in 2015 (14.5% reduction), but not in 2016. This legacy effect was unaffected by the post‐drought precipitation regime. Moderate drought decreased soil respiration by 12.1% and 18.6%, while severe drought decreased soil respiration by 18.3% and 27.3% in 2015 and 2016, respectively, while water addition had no effect. Since soil water content in extreme drought plots recovered by 2015, we hypothesize that changes in soil biota and reduced root activity are responsible for extreme drought's long‐term negative effects. Overall, our results highlight that extreme droughts may have negative effects on soil respiration well beyond the event, and thus the full effect on carbon cycling may be much larger than what is estimated solely based on the immediate effects.}, year = {2025}, eissn = {1365-2486}, orcid-numbers = {Botta-Dukát, Zoltán/0000-0002-9544-3474; Ónodi, Gábor/0000-0003-4308-7997; Mojzes, Andrea/0000-0003-2171-403X} } @article{MTMT:36101617, title = {Nearby woody patches and microtopography reduce grass dieback during extreme drought}, url = {https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/36101617}, author = {Gyalus, Adrienn and Bertalan, László and Csonka, Anna Cseperke and Halassy, Melinda and Kertész, Miklós and Kröel-Dulay, György and Nagy, Anna Fruzsina and Ónodi, Gábor and Orbán, Ildikó and Rédei, Tamás and Sáradi, Nóra and Szabó, Gergely and Vörös Márton, Vörös and Somodi, Imelda and Csecserits, Anikó}, doi = {10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03596}, journal-iso = {GLOB ECOL CONSERV}, journal = {GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION}, volume = {60}, unique-id = {36101617}, issn = {2351-9894}, abstract = {Extreme droughts related to climate change can be a driver of habitat transition by affecting the survival and reproduction of dominant plant species, while different microrefugia can buffer against this. The extreme drought of 2022 caused a significant dieback of the dominant perennial grasses in open sandy grasslands, in Hungary. We used this event to test our hypothesis: nearby woody cover and certain microtopography support the survival and recovery of dominant grasses after drought. We surveyed grass dieback in 200 plots within an unmanaged grassland site. A fineresolution digital terrain model and aerial photos were used to determine topographic variables (slope, aspect, topographic position) and woody cover. We tested the effect of these factors on the ratio of dead grass and the amount of grass seedlings. Nearby woody cover had a significant sheltering effect: there was almost no grass dieback at high woody cover, modified by aspect and topographic position. High woody cover had the strongest effect on the northern aspect and on hilltops. While at low woody cover, aspect had no influence and valley position had a positive impact. The dead grass ratio was also lower on steeper slopes. Seedlings behaved differently: there were fewer seedlings on the more northern aspects and on steeper slopes, likely due to the lack of microhabitats available in the absence of grass dieback. We conclude that both woody cover and microtopography are important for survival and recovery of open sand grasslands, as they provide favourable microhabitats for grasses to survive extreme weather events.}, keywords = {climate change; microrefugia; Extreme climate event; tussock grassland; sand grassland; Woody patches}, year = {2025}, eissn = {2351-9894}, orcid-numbers = {Bertalan, László/0000-0002-5963-2710; Halassy, Melinda/0000-0001-8523-3169; Ónodi, Gábor/0000-0003-4308-7997; Orbán, Ildikó/0000-0003-1547-675X} } @article{MTMT:36203982, title = {The effects of an initial extreme drought and chronic change in precipitation on plant biomass allocation in a temperate grassland}, url = {https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/36203982}, author = {Vörös, Amira Fatime and Mojzes, Andrea and Cseresnyés, Imre and Kalapos, Tibor and Kertész, Miklós and Könnyű, Balázs and Ónodi, Gábor and Kröel-Dulay, György}, doi = {10.1002/ece3.71625}, journal-iso = {ECOL EVOL}, journal = {ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION}, volume = {15}, unique-id = {36203982}, issn = {2045-7758}, abstract = {Drying climate may strongly affect plant productivity and standing biomass and, thus, ecosystem carbon cycling. While drought effects on grassland aboveground plant biomass (AGB) have been widely studied and are generally negative, reports on belowground plant biomass (BGB) are much fewer, and results are more variable. In a full factorial experiment in a temperate grassland, we studied the legacy effect of an initial extreme drought, conducted in 2014, and the effect of four levels of chronic precipitation change, water addition, ambient precipitation, moderate drought, and severe drought between 2015 and 2018, on AGB, BGB, and BGB/AGB, in 2019. AGB was negatively affected by chronic drought, and also by extreme drought within each level of chronic precipitation change except severe drought. Total BGB was not influenced by extreme drought but was negatively impacted by chronic severe drought. Responses were the strongest in the shallow soil layer (0-10 cm), where both extreme and chronic droughts decreased belowground biomass, and weak in the deep soil layer (10-20 cm). BGB/AGB was not altered by extreme drought, but increased in chronic drought plots, because the decrease of AGB was much greater than the decrease in BGB. Our results indicate that lagged effects of previous extreme drought and chronic change in precipitation are both important in shaping biomass pools and allocation in grasslands, sometimes with interactive effects.}, keywords = {climate change; extreme event; phytomass; biomass allocation; Chronic drought; drought legacy}, year = {2025}, eissn = {2045-7758}, orcid-numbers = {Mojzes, Andrea/0000-0003-2171-403X; Cseresnyés, Imre/0000-0002-4198-9770; Kalapos, Tibor/0000-0002-1393-5580; Könnyű, Balázs/0000-0002-9729-1224; Ónodi, Gábor/0000-0003-4308-7997} } @article{MTMT:36725167, title = {Extreme drought and long-term vegetation change: Seedling establishment as a bottleneck of grassland recovery}, url = {https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/36725167}, author = {Mojzes, Andrea and Szitár, Katalin and Ónodi, Gábor and Orbán, Ildikó and Kröel-Dulay, György}, doi = {10.1002/ecs2.70475}, journal-iso = {ECOSPHERE}, journal = {ECOSPHERE}, volume = {16}, unique-id = {36725167}, issn = {2150-8925}, keywords = {climate change; Seedling emergence; steppe; Seedling survival; mass mortality; Dominance shift; post-drought recovery; grass dieback}, year = {2025}, eissn = {2150-8925}, orcid-numbers = {Mojzes, Andrea/0000-0003-2171-403X; Szitár, Katalin/0000-0002-8810-540X; Ónodi, Gábor/0000-0003-4308-7997; Orbán, Ildikó/0000-0003-1547-675X} }