Species richness, community specialization and soil-vegetation relationships of managed grasslands in a geologically heterogeneous landscape
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2012 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Folia Geobotanica |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12224-012-9131-3 |
| Field | Ecology |
| Keywords | specialists; environmental gradients; soil chemistry |
| Description | In the Strážovské vrchy Mountains we sampled the species composition of vascular plants and bryophytes and measured soil chemistry, slope angle, heat index, altitude and soil depth. We classified species into community specialists or generalists based on the analysis of a large phytosociological database. We delimited five vegetation types that clearly differed in response to soil characteristics. The main compositional gradient correlated with measured soil pH and calcium, but species richness was not significantly correlated with these factors. Soil available phosphorus was not associated with species composition, but it did correlate negatively with species richness and the richness of specialists. Overall, species richness was largely driven by the number of specialists in the plot and particular vegetation types differed conspicuously in their number. We further found significant effects of iron, potassium and sodium on species richness and composition. |
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