Biogeographic patterns of base‐rich fen vegetation across E urope
Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: Questions What is the distribution of base‐rich fen vegetation and the specialist species along European biogeographic regions? How do the gradients in species composition correlate to geography and climate at continental scale? What are the implications of such patterns for the classification of these habitats? Location Fifteen countries of Central, Western and Northern Europe. Methods We compiled a vegetation plot database of base‐rich fens and related communities including vascular plants and bryophytes. The initial data set with 6943 plots was filtered according to the presence of specialists using discriminant analysis. We used DCA to analyse the correlation of species composition with geography and climate, and kriging interpolation for mapping gradients in the study area. Modified TWINSPAN was used to detect major vegetation groups. The results of the whole data set (plot size 1–100 m2) were compared with those obtained from two subsets with plots of 1–5 m2 and 6–30 m2. Results Most of the specialists were distributed among all the biogeographic regions, but many were more represented in the Alpine than in the Atlantic, Boreal and Continental regions. Variation in species composition was mainly correlated to temperature, precipitation and latitude in the three data sets, showing a major gradient from (1) alpine belt fens characterized by spring species to (2) small sedge fens mainly distributed in mountain regions and (3) boreo‐temperate fens reflecting waterlogged conditions. Conclusions Base‐rich fen communities are widely distributed across European biogeographic regions, but the Alpine region can be considered as the compositional centre of this vegetation type. Large‐scale gradients of species composition are mainly explained by climate, while the influence of latitude is probably correlated to increasing water table in the boreo‐temperate regions. These gradients can be better understood by differentiating three major vegetation types, which should be considered when establishing classification systems of base‐rich fens in Europe.
Source: Applied Vegetation Science
DOI: 10.1111/avsc.12065
Authors: Borja Jiménez‐Alfaro, Michal Hájek, Rasmus Ejrnaes, John Rodwell, Paweł Pawlikowski, Eddy J. Weeda, Jarmo Laitinen, Absjørn Moen, Ariel Bergamini, Liene Aunina, Lucia Sekulová, Teemu Tahvanainen, François Gillet, Ute Jandt, Daniel Dítě, Petra Hájková, Gilles Corriol, Hanna Kondelin, Tomás E. Díaz
Institutions: Masaryk University, Czech Academy of Sciences, Aarhus University, Cranfield University, University of Warsaw, Wageningen University & Research, University of Oulu, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, University of Latvia, University of Eastern Finland, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Laboratoire Chrono-Environnement, Université de Franche-Comté, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Botany of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Conservatoire botanique national des Pyrénées et de Midi-Pyrénées, Finnish Environment Institute, Universidad de Oviedo
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2003274398