Testing inter-regional variation in pH niches of fen mosses
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2016 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Journal of Vegetation Science |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jvs.12348/abstract |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12348 |
| Field | Botany |
| Keywords | Sphagnum; Bryophytes; Fen; GAM; Realized niche; pH; Calcitolerant sphagna; Niche width |
| Attached files | |
| Description | Mosses are important ecosystem engineers in mires. Their pH optima and tolerances differ between regions, even though the high dispersal ability of mosses should prevent local adaptations. Nutrient availability is sometimes suggested as a reason for local niche differentiation. Are patterns in moss niche diversification, optima and tolerance with respect to pH consistent between regions differing in nutrient availability and abundance of calcareous bedrock? Location: Western Carpathians (a predominantly calcareous P- and K-poor region), Bohemian Massif (a predominantly crystalline, P- and K-rich region). Although the regions differ in abundance of calcareous fens, species pH optima were consistent between the regions and data sets. Calcium-tolerant peat mosses showed an optimum at pH 6 and rather narrow niches. Sphagnum fallax was the most acidophilous, and both S.palustre and S.flexuosum had rather wide intermediate niches. The pH amplitudes were largely consistent between the regions, but S.fallax and Aulacomnium palustre exhibited wider niches in the Bohemian Massif. Despite no significant difference in niche optimum and width, some more nutrient demanding and more generalist species occurred at higher frequency in specific parts of the pH gradient in the Bohemian Massif, while some fen specialists showed the opposite pattern. The small stratified data set and the database data set yielded rather consistent results regarding fen moss niches in the Bohemian Massif and the Western Carpathians. The consistency in pH niches corresponds to the lack of large-scale genetic differentiation in moss species. The observed inter-regional differences in species response curves may thus reflect an increased frequency of competitively strong species in certain parts of the pH/Ca gradient in the nutrient-richer Bohemian Massif rather than genetically conditioned niche shifts. |
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