The phylogeographical structure amongst 39 populations of the temperate forest plant Carex pilosa in Europe was studied using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), and sequencing of non-coding regions of plastid DNA. No plastid DNA polymorphisms were found within almost the entire 14 000 bp investigated, and it seems that chloroplast sequence analysis is not appropriate for studying the migration history of this species. The AFLP data also showed no clear genetic pattern. Marginal separation of central and north-eastern European populations did not allow for the detection of glacial refugia in this species. Rare AFLP fragments showed no association with geography and led to speculations regarding the possibility of glacial survival of C. pilosa in microenvironmentally suitable patches in central Europe. This is in accordance with recent palaeopalynological and macrofossil evidence.
Questions: Do differences in previous land use cause long‐lasting changes in soil chemistry? Is vegetation composition affected by the previous land use after 50 years of secondary succession? Is the effect of previous land use caused by pre‐existing differences in environmental conditions or mediated through changes in soil chemistry? How important is the effect of previous land use in relation to other factors?
Location: Doupovské Mountains, Czech Republic.
Methods: A stratified random sampling design was used to collect 91 vegetation relevés with accompanying soil samples. The effects of previous land use (arable field, meadow, pasture) on soil pH, organic carbon (C), total nitrogen (N), C:N ratio and available phosphorus were tested by an analysis of covariance. A canonical correspondence analysis and variation partitioning procedure were used to reveal relationships among previous land use, environmental factors and species composition.
Results: Organic C, total N and C:N ratio were significantly influenced by previous land use, while available phosphorus and soil pH were not. Previous land use explained a significant part of the variation in species composition and its effects only partly overlapped with the effects of soil chemistry and terrain attributes. However, the species composition of post‐agricultural forests was mostly determined by environmental factors not modified by previous land use.
Conclusions: Forest communities that originate on abandoned agricultural land are primarily determined by natural environmental conditions. Nevertheless, the type of previous land use also modifies the species assemblages of these forests and needs to be considered as an important determinant of their composition.
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