Dataset Information

Ground layer plant species turnover and beta diversity in southern-European old-growth forests.

ABSTRACT: Different assembly processes may simultaneously affect local-scale variation of species composition in temperate old-growth forests. Ground layer species diversity reflects chance colonization and persistence of low-dispersal species, as well as fine-scale environmental heterogeneity. The latter depends on both purely abiotic factors, such as soil properties and topography, and factors primarily determined by overstorey structure, such as light availability. Understanding the degree to which plant diversity in old-growth forests is associated with structural heterogeneity and/or to dispersal limitation will help assessing the effectiveness of silvicultural practices that recreate old-growth patterns and structures for the conservation or restoration of plant diversity. We used a nested sampling design to assess fine-scale species turnover, i.e. the proportion of species composition that changes among sampling units, across 11 beech-dominated old-growth forests in Southern Europe. For each stand, we also measured a wide range of environmental and structural variables that might explain ground layer species turnover. Our aim was to quantify the relative importance of dispersal limitation in comparison to that of stand structural heterogeneity while controlling for other sources of environmental heterogeneity. For this purpose, we used multiple regression on distance matrices at the within-stand extent, and mixed effect models at the extent of the whole dataset. Species turnover was best predicted by structural and environmental heterogeneity, especially by differences in light availability and in topsoil nutrient concentration and texture. Spatial distances were significant only in four out of eleven stands with a relatively low explanatory power. This suggests that structural heterogeneity is a more important driver of local-scale ground layer species turnover than dispersal limitation in southern European old-growth beech forests.

SUBMITTER: Sabatini FM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3991708 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Ground layer plant species turnover and beta diversity in southern-European old-growth forests.

Sabatini Francesco Maria FM Burrascano Sabina S Tuomisto Hanna H Blasi Carlo C

PloS one 20140418 4

Different assembly processes may simultaneously affect local-scale variation of species composition in temperate old-growth forests. Ground layer species diversity reflects chance colonization and persistence of low-dispersal species, as well as fine-scale environmental heterogeneity. The latter depends on both purely abiotic factors, such as soil properties and topography, and factors primarily determined by overstorey structure, such as light availability. Understanding the degree to which pla ...[more]

PMID: 24748155

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Project description:AimThe mechanisms underlying the maintenance of biodiversity remain to be elucidated. Taxonomic diversity alone remains an unresolved issue, especially in terms of the mechanisms of species co-existence. We hypothesized that phylogenetic information could help to elucidate the mechanism of community assembly and the services and functions of ecosystems. The aim of this study was to explore the mechanisms driving floral diversity in subtropical forests and evaluate the relative effects of these mechanisms on diversity variation, by combining taxonomic and phylogenetic information.LocationWe examined 35 1-ha tree stem-mapped plots across eight national nature reserves in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.TaxonTrees.MethodsWe quantified the taxonomic and phylogenetic β-diversity between each pair of plots using the (abundance-based) Rao's quadratic entropy and the (incidence-based) Sørensen dissimilarity indices. Using a null model approach, we compared the observed β-diversity with the expected diversity at random and calculated the standard effect size of the observed β-diversity deviation. Furthermore, we used distance-based redundancy analysis (dbRDA) to partition the variations in taxonomic and phylogenetic observed β-diversity and β-deviation into four parts to assess the environmental and spatial effects.ResultsThe taxonomic β-deviation was related to and higher than the phylogenetic β-deviation (r = .74). This indicated that the species turnover between pairwise plots was mainly the turnover of closely related species. Higher taxonomic and phylogenetic β-deviation were mainly concentrated in the pairwise karst and nonkarst forest plots, indicating that the species in karst forests and nonkarst forests were predominantly from distantly related clades. A large proportions of the variation in taxonomic and phylogenetic β-deviation were explained by the joint effect of environmental and spatial variables, while the contribution of environmental variables was greater than that of spatial variables, probably owing to the influence of the sampling scale dependence, integrality of sampling size and species pool, and the unique climatic and geomorphic characteristics.Main conclusionsOur study highlights the importance of phylogeny in biodiversity research. The incorporation of taxonomic and phylogenetic information provides a perspective to explore potential underlying mechanisms that have shaped species assemblages and phylogenetic patterns in biodiversity hotspots.

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Dataset Information

Ground layer plant species turnover and beta diversity in southern-European old-growth forests.

Publications

Ground layer plant species turnover and beta diversity in southern-European old-growth forests.

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