This study investigates classical scrapie (CS) and the risk of interspecies prion transmission by using presence data from wild cervids and infected small ruminant flocks. Employing remote sensing technologies, it derives vegetative and biophysical satellite indices to represent habitat features. A species distribution model integrates these data to identify suitable areas for CS and its hosts. The resultant consensus map and overlapping suitable areas create a detailed infection risk matrix.

We studied rates of litter decomposition in natural and disturbed vegetation on elevation gradients of Mount Kilimanjaro to disentangle effects of climate and disturbance. Decomposition was slower in disturbed than in natural forests, but we did not find a negative effect of disturbance for non-forest vegetation. Decomposition slowed down with increasing land-use intensity, but only in the warm wet season. Temperature and humidity were the most important drivers of decomposition in all analyses.

We focus on the consequences of land-use intensity on functional trait variation within species. In general, only few effects on intraspecific trait variation were found showing a decreasing variation with increasing land-use intensity in forests but an increasing variation in grasslands. Although many studies confirmed strong land-use impacts on arthropod communities, we were not able to confirm similar effects at the intraspecific level.

Here we introduce the BIODESERT survey, the first systematic field survey devoted to evaluating the joint impacts of grazing by domestic livestock and climate on the structure and functioning of dryland ecosystems worldwide. We describe the major characteristics and the field protocols used in this survey and the organizational aspects followed to carry it out succesfully.

Forest–steppe habitats have contrasting canopy structure with strong influence on the spatio-temporal variability of ecosystem functions. In our study, environmental and functional variables were evaluated in this transition zone. We found that topography and vegetation structure have co-varying effects on abiotic–biotic factors. Our observations are valuable for assessing the dynamics of functional and driving variables in this natural transition zone of the temperate vegetation.