Effects of fertilization and irrigation on vascular plant species richness, functional composition and yield in mountain grasslands

Boch, Steffen; Kurtogullari, Yasemin; Allan, Eric; Lessard‐Therrien, Malie; Rieder, Nora Simone; Fischer, Markus; León, Gerard Martínez‐De; Arlettaz, Raphaël; Humbert, Jean Yves

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111629

Cited by 21 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…These values are not based on measurements but on expert knowledge. However, as they often reflect site conditions better than exact point measurements [ 66 ], EIVs are often used in ecological studies, either averaged per plot to describe the environmental conditions of a site, e.g., to visualize temporal changes of ecological conditions in vegetation plots (e.g., [ 67 , 68 ]), or as additional functional traits in studies exploring the functional diversity patterns of lichens [ 4 , 18 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct and Indirect Effects of Management Intensity and Environmental Factors on the Functional Diversity of Lichens in Central European Forests

et al. 2021

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Using 642 forest plots from three regions in Germany, we analyzed the direct and indirect effects of forest management intensity and of environmental variables on lichen functional diversity (FDis). Environmental stand variables were affected by management intensity and acted as an environmental filter: summing direct and indirect effects resulted in a negative total effect of conifer cover on FDis, and a positive total effect of deadwood cover and standing tree biomass. Management intensity had a direct positive effect on FDis, which was compensated by an indirect negative effect via reduced standing tree biomass and lichen species richness, resulting in a negative total effect on FDis and the FDis of adaptation-related traits (FDisAd). This indicates environmental filtering of management and stronger niche partitioning at a lower intensity. In contrast, management intensity had a positive total effect on the FDis of reproduction-, dispersal- and establishment-related traits (FDisRe), mainly because of the direct negative effect of species richness, indicating functional over-redundancy, i.e., most species cluster into a few over-represented functional entities. Our findings have important implications for forest management: high lichen functional diversity can be conserved by promoting old, site-typical deciduous forests with a high richness of woody species and large deadwood quantity.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct and Indirect Effects of Management Intensity and Environmental Factors on the Functional Diversity of Lichens in Central European Forests

et al. 2021

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“…Cover‐weighted mean indicator values account for dominant species that likely better reflect the ecological conditions of a site and therefore are preferred when the goal is studying environmental differences among sites (e.g. Boch et al, 2021). In contrast, cover‐unweighted means rather overestimate the influence of low‐cover species, which may be growing outside their ecological optimum.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observer‐driven pseudoturnover in vegetation monitoring is context‐dependent but does not affect ecological inference

Boch

Küchler

et al. 2022

Applied Vegetation Science

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Aims: Resurveys of vegetation plots are prone to several errors that can result in misleading conclusions. Minimizing such errors and finding alternative approaches for analyzing resurvey data are therefore important. We focused on inter-observer error and excluded other sources of variation. Our main questions were: How large is the inter-observer error (i.e. pseudoturnover) in vegetation surveys, and can it be reduced by simple data aggregation approaches? Which factors are affecting pseudoturnover and does it vary between morphological species groups or change over time? Is ecological inference robust against inter-observer differences? Location: Switzerland. Methods:Over seven years, we double-surveyed a total of 224 plots that were marked once in the field and then sampled by two observers independently on the same day. Both observers conducted full vegetation surveys, recording all vascular plant species, their cover, and additional plot information. We then calculated mean ecological indicator values and pseudoturnover.Results: Average pseudoturnover was 29% when raw species lists were compared. However, by applying simple aggregation steps to the species list, pseudoturnover was reduced to 17%. Pseudoturnover further varied among habitat types and declined over the years, indicating a training effect among observers. Most overlooked taxa, responsible for pseudoturnover, had low cover values. Mean ecological indicator values were robust against inter-observer differences. Conclusions:To minimize pseudoturnover, we suggest continuous training of observers and species-list aggregation prior to analysis. As mean ecological indicator values were robust against inter-observer differences, we conclude that they can provide a reliable estimate of temporal vegetation and ecological changes.

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“…While dry grasslands in most other parts of Europe have been intensively studied during recent decades with respect to biodiversity, ecology and conservation (see reviews by Dengler et al 2014;2020c, Dengler andTischew 2018;Boch et al 2020), comprehensive studies on diversity patterns in dry grasslands along environmental gradients from the Swiss Rhône, Rhine and Inn valleys are missing (but see Boch et al 2019aBoch et al , 2021Dengler et al 2019b). Older literature mainly focussed on vegetation classification and the floristic and ecological characterization of dry grasslands (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scale-dependent patterns and drivers of vascular plant, bryophyte and lichen diversity in dry grasslands of the Swiss inneralpine valleys

et al. 2022

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The inner-alpine dry valleys of the Swiss Alps are characterized by subcontinental climate, leading to many peculiarities in dry grassland species composition. Despite their well-known uniqueness, comprehensive studies on biodiversity patterns of the dry grasslands in these valleys were still missing. To close this gap, we sampled 161 10-m2 vegetation plots in the Rhône, Rhine and Inn valleys, recording vascular plants, terricolous bryophyte and lichen species, as well as environmental data. Additionally, we tested the scale-dependence of environmental drivers using 34 nested-plot series with seven grain sizes (0.0001–100 m2). We analysed the effects of environmental drivers related to productivity/stress, disturbance and within-plot heterogeneity on species richness. Mean species richness ranged from 2.3 species in 0.0001 m2 to 58.8 species in 100 m2. For all taxa combined, the most relevant drivers at the grain size of 10 m2 were southing (negative), litter (negative), mean annual precipitation (unimodal), gravel cover (negative), inclination (unimodal) and mean annual precipitation (unimodal). For vascular plants the pattern was similar, while bryophyte and lichen richness differed by the opposite relationship to mean annual precipitation as well as negative influences of mean herb layer height, grazing and mowing. The explained variance of the multiple regression model increased with grain size, with very low values for the smallest two grain sizes. While southing and litter had high importance for the fiver larger grain sizes, pH and gravel cover were particularly important at the intermediate grain sizes, and inclination and mean annual precipitation for the two largest grain sizes. The findings emphasize the importance of taxonomic group and grain size for patterns and drivers of species richness in vegetation, consistent with ecological theory. Differences in the diversity–environment relationships among the three taxonomic groups can partly be explained by asymmetric competition that leads to low bryophyte and lichen diversity where vascular plants do well and vice versa. The relatively low alpha diversity of vascular plants in dry grasslands in Swiss inner-alpine valleys compared to similar communities in other parts of the Palaearctic remains puzzling, especially because Swiss stands are often large and well-preserved.

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Effects of fertilization and irrigation on vascular plant species richness, functional composition and yield in mountain grasslands

Cited by 21 publications

References 42 publications

Direct and Indirect Effects of Management Intensity and Environmental Factors on the Functional Diversity of Lichens in Central European Forests

Direct and Indirect Effects of Management Intensity and Environmental Factors on the Functional Diversity of Lichens in Central European Forests

Observer‐driven pseudoturnover in vegetation monitoring is context‐dependent but does not affect ecological inference

Scale-dependent patterns and drivers of vascular plant, bryophyte and lichen diversity in dry grasslands of the Swiss inneralpine valleys

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