The area occupied by semi-natural grasslands has constantly declined in Baltic region during the last century. Understanding how they naturally recover is crucial for conservation.  A lot is known about vegetation changes along time, but mosses and lichens are generally overlooked. This study looked how plant, moss and lichen communities develop after limestone quarry abandonment. We found that plants arrive fastest, then come the mosses, and the lichens are the slowest to arrive to a newly exposed habitat. We can conclude that during secondary succession the changes in vascular plant and cryptogam communities do not correspond.

García de León, D.; Neuenkamp, L.; Gerz, M.; Oja, E. & Zobel, M. 2017. Secondary succession in alvar grasslands – do changes in vascular plant and cryptogam communities correspond? Folia Geobotanica doi: 10.1007/s12224-016-9260-1.

On the 10^th of February, students from Tallinn French Lyceum visited University of Tartu. Maarja Öpik and Inga Hiiesalu introduced the ongoing works in our workgroup. In addition, our colleagues Jane Oja and Sergei Põlme from chair of mycology introduced their work.

Members of the Plant Ecology Laboratory gathered recently to renew the group photo. From the top left: Maarja Öpik, Mari Moora, Lena Neuenkamp, Ede Oja, Maret Gerz, John Davison, Teele Jairus, Inga Hiiesalu, Guillermo Bueno, Siim-Kaarel Sepp, David Garcia de Leon, Martin Zobel, Tanel Vahter. Martti Vasar is missing from the photo.

Oikos Finland hold a conference in Helsinki from 31st January to 1st February to celebrate 100 years of Finnish ecology. Our team was represented by Maarja Öpik who was invited to give a plenary. She spoke about AM fungal species pools and dark diversity. The conference was preceded by a symposium in memory of late academician Ilkka Hanski.