Contrasting Holocene environmental histories may explain patterns of species richness and rarity in a Central European landscape

Hájek, Michal; Dudová, Lydie; Hájková, Petra; Roleček, Jan; Moutelíková, Jitka; Jamrichová, Eva; Horsák, Michal

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.12.012

Cited by 51 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…The unimodal, right‐skewed effect of landscape openness for the current richness of dark coniferous forests is interpretable by the absence of this habitat in the steppe regions and its rarity in the regions where taiga had been confined to azonal habitats (Dudová et al, ). Moreover, the number of specialized taiga‐forest species can be reduced by competition for light in areas where dark deciduous forests had already been well developed during the Early Holocene (Hájek et al, ; Juřičková et al, ; Kołaczek et al, ). The steppe‐like grasslands appeared to be species‐richer in regions where light hemiboreal forests with an enhanced abundance of temperate species had been documented since the Late Glacial.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some authors (Feurdean et al, ; Novák, Roleček, Dresler, & Hájek, ) explained the distribution of exceptionally species‐rich grasslands and open forests by the existence of Middle‐Holocene refugia of steppe grasslands. Palaeoecological studies indeed confirmed higher Middle‐Holocene representation of steppe grasslands in those regions where hotspots of grassland species richness occur today (Feurdean et al, ) in comparison to nearby regions with less species‐rich grasslands (Hájek et al, ; Jamrichová et al, ). Jamrichová et al () also showed that the occurrence of rare species of boreal coniferous forests in the Western Carpathians coincides with the persistence of these forests during the Late‐Holocene beech expansion.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 86%

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Holocene matters: Landscape history accounts for current species richness of vascular plants in forests and grasslands of eastern Central Europe

Divíšek

Hájek

Jamrichová

et al. 2020

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim Current species‐richness patterns are sometimes interpreted as a legacy of landscape history, but historical processes shaping the distribution of species during the Holocene are frequently omitted in biodiversity models. Here, we test their importance in modelling current species richness of vascular plants in forest and grassland vegetation. Location Western Carpathians and adjacent regions. Taxon Vascular plants. Methods Numbers of all species and of habitat specialists were extracted from plot records of forest and grassland vegetation. For each plot, environmental and historical data were derived from thematic maps. Historical data related to the persistence of (a) temperate taxa during the Late Glacial and Early Holocene, (b) open‐landscape taxa during the Middle Holocene and (c) taiga taxa during the Late Holocene were based on 112 fossil pollen profiles. Boosted regression trees were used to model spatial patterns in species richness. Results Historical variables always appeared among the best predictors of current species richness. In light forests, species richness highly mirrored both the Late Glacial (12.5% contribution) and Middle‐Holocene (8.6%) landscape history. The latter factor became an important predictor also for species richness of steppe grasslands (8.3%) along with temperature seasonality (11.9%). Species richness of dark coniferous forests was best predicted by the Late‐Holocene occurrence of taiga forests (14.8%), which had an even stronger effect on the richness of habitat specialists (20.5%). Main conclusions Landscape changes since the Last Glacial Maximum are important predictors of current plant species richness. The historical effects were found to be habitat specific and, because they may interact with recent environmental conditions and anthropogenic pressures, they often show a nonlinear relationship with species richness. We provide one possible direction of incorporating past landscape changes to the models of species richness.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Holocene matters: Landscape history accounts for current species richness of vascular plants in forests and grasslands of eastern Central Europe

Divíšek

Hájek

Jamrichová

et al. 2020

Journal of Biogeography

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“…Climate and humans played crucial roles in the Holocene development of European landscapes (Gaillard et al, ; Jalut, Dedoubat, Fontugne, & Otto, ; Kalis, Merkt, & Wunderlich, ; Kuneš et al, ). Regional differences in environmental conditions and timing and intensity of human impact lead, however, to diverse pathways and outcomes of this development (Fyfe, Woodbridge, & Roberts, ; Hájek et al, ; Marquer et al, ; Palang et al, ; Pokorný, ). Particularly, the modern transformation by humans might completely alter landscape structure and erase the traces of historical events (Antrop, ; Klijn, ; Vos & Meekes, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Contrary to this view, several earlier scholars (Ložek, ; Martinovský, ; Podpěra, ) hypothesized that grasslands in the region are of ancient origin but were unable to support their claims with reliable palaeoecological evidence. We developed this line of thinking and suggested that a long continuity of grasslands in the White Carpathians determines their large species pool and enables a high alpha diversity at favourable circumstances (Hájek et al, ; Hájková et al, ; ; Roleček, Čornej, & Tokarjuk, ). However, paucity of data on environmental history of the region has hampered proper testing of this hypothesis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Soil charcoal elucidates the role of humans in the development of landscape of extreme biodiversity

et al. 2019

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The south‐western White Carpathians (Czech Republic, Slovakia) are one of the few places in low‐elevation Central Europe where a diverse landscape, including extremely species rich meadows, scattered oak trees, and mixed oak woodlands, has escaped modern transformation. We studied C14‐dated and taxonomically identified macroscopic soil charcoal record to elucidate the genesis of this landscape. Thirteen soil profiles were sampled in grasslands along a gradient of elevation and history of human settlement. We identified clear pattern in the taxonomic composition of woody soil charcoal and anthracomass along this gradient, which we ascribe to different pathways of landscape development. Charcoal assemblages of chernozem‐like soils in the promontories of the mountain range have a low anthracomass and are dominated by heliophilous and semishade species (Quercus, Pinus), with the oldest charcoals dated to pre‐Neolithic times. Soils of the middle elevations have a high anthracomass and often show pronounced differences in charcoal composition at different soil depths; the oldest charcoal samples date back between the Neolithic and Early Middle Ages, and heliophilous species increase towards the topsoil. The soil of the summit area shows a medium anthracomass and charcoal assemblage dominated by shade‐tolerant trees; the charcoal dates from the Middle Ages. Our results suggest continuity of an open to semiopen landscape in lower elevations of the White Carpathians, whereas middle and higher elevations experienced a forested period. Humans and fire played an important role in landscape development, as indicated by both soil charcoal and available palaeoecological and archaeological evidence. Local meadows with extremely high biodiversity thus appear to be a continuation of an ancient forest‐steppe‐like ecosystem.

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Effect of sample size and resolution on palaeomalacological interpretation: a case study from Holocene calcareous‐fen deposits

Frodlová

Hájková

Horsák

2017

J Quaternary Science

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This study investigates the effects of sample volume, resolution and accumulation time on the interpretation of a mollusc record from terrestrial deposits. We tested (i) if, and to what extent, small sample sizes impoverish the reconstructed mollusc species richness, and (ii) whether fine-resolution sampling is worth the effort. We analysed three mollusc sequences, covering continuously the entire Holocene, which were collected in a tufaforming spring fen and differed in sample size and resolution. More than 36 000 specimens of 76 species were processed. Using a rarefaction method, we observed that different sample volumes had a significant effect on the recorded species richness in this type of environment, and 100-cm 3 samples seemed to be sufficient for a reliable reconstruction in tufa deposits. Although the thickness of the sampled layers had no influence on the palaeoecological interpretation, we observed a shift in the mollusc diversity peak once different resolutions were applied. Furthermore, the layers of finer resolution allowed detailed radiocarbon dating and better understanding of trends in species dynamics. We also observed significant confounding relationships among the number of species, number of specimens and accumulation time that can be disentangled if a precise depth-age model is available.

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Contrasting Holocene environmental histories may explain patterns of species richness and rarity in a Central European landscape

Cited by 51 publications

References 48 publications

Holocene matters: Landscape history accounts for current species richness of vascular plants in forests and grasslands of eastern Central Europe

Holocene matters: Landscape history accounts for current species richness of vascular plants in forests and grasslands of eastern Central Europe

Soil charcoal elucidates the role of humans in the development of landscape of extreme biodiversity

Effect of sample size and resolution on palaeomalacological interpretation: a case study from Holocene calcareous‐fen deposits

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