Widespread species are on the rise in several European ecosystems, replacing rarer plant species. As a result, distinct habitats are becoming increasingly similar in species composition. An international team led by the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) supported by the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) found supporting evidence for this development in mountain summits, forests and lowland grasslands. A proposed reason for this species shift could be increased nutrient levels in soils caused by agriculture and air pollution. The results of the study have been published in the journal Ecology Letters.