Effect of intra-seasonal variability on vegetation data
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2012 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Journal of Vegetation Science |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2012.01416.x/full |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2012.01416.x |
| Field | Botany |
| Keywords | Budburst; Central Europe; Dry grasslands; Life forms;Mesic forests; Symphenological groups; Vernal species |
| Attached files | |
| Description | In the Forest data set, spring plots significantly differed in their species composition from summer and autumn plots, while we found significant differences between different periods of the growing season in the Dry grasslands data set. We confirmed, that the forest species richness was highest in summer plots, while the a-diversity in spring and summer dry grassland plots were comparable and notably declined in autumn. Although most plant life forms were best recorded in summer, both forest geophytes and dry grassland therophytes were best recorded in spring. We suggest that before analysing vegetation plot data, large databases should be carefully stratified according to date of sampling. Based on our results from temperate broad-leaved forests and dry grasslands, we recommend excluding plots sampled before June, as they might be a potential source of misinterpretation of species composition analyses (with the exception of studies focused on vernal species). The use of autumn plots does not have any strong effect on the results, except in a-diversity analyses in forest plots, while dry grassland plots are significantly different fromthe rest of the growing season. |
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