Experience with using Ellenberg’s R indicator values in Slovakia: Oligotrophic and mesotrophic submontane broad-leaved forests

Abstract

Ellenberg's indicator values have been suggested as useful method of estimating site conditions using plants. We examined whether Ellenberg's R values are suitable for indicating soil reaction and if calibration to physical pH measurements can improve bioindication in oligotrophic and mesotrophic submontane broad-leaved forests in Slovakia. Vegetation relevés and pH-H2O and pH-CaCl2 soil reaction were recorded for this purpose. Ellenberg's R values (Re) were compared to Jurko's indicator values (Rj) and a set of species R values and tolerances (T), which were calibrated with physical pH data using the weighted averaging (Rw, Tw) and Huisman-Olff-Fresco modelling (R h , T h ). Original Re values were then recalibrated with measured pH data to establish new, adjusted set of scores (Rc, Tc) at Ellenberg's scale. The Re values are significantly correlated with the other R values, and they demonstrate similar frequency distribution to Rj and Rw values for the studied species pool. The frequency distribution becomes similar across all the R values when indifferent species were excluded. The performance of all the indicator values in terms of bioindication was tested. Relevé means of the R values were regressed on the field pH measurements. The performance of bioindication varied from 36% to 49% of the explained variance for pH-CaCl2, with the Re and Rc values yielding 46% and 49% respectively. The bioindication slightly improved for all calibrated methods (Rw, R h and Rc) when species were weighted inversely with their tolerances -the performance varied from 42% to 51%, and the Rc values performed most effectively. We concluded that Ellenberg's R values represent a powerful system for bioindicating soil acidity when compared to the other alternatives, with pH-CaCl2 showing better results than pH-H2O. Recalibration of Ellenberg's values to the measured data improved the indicator system.

Assessment of flora diversity in a minor river valley using ecological indicator values, Geographical Information Systems and Digital Elevation Models

“…However, investigations conducted at the regional and landscape levels [23,27,40,[42][43][44][45] are still much more common than studies on local sites or even single patches of plant communities, i.e. phytosociological releves [20,22,26,41, and the present study].…”

“…Among these ecological indicator values, the soil reaction is a relatively frequent subject of studies [26,27,[41][42][43]45]. However, some authors have criticized Ellenberg's R scale.…”

“…from given soil properties [26,27,[40][41][42][43][44][45]. According to Lawesson et al [43], the wide success of the Ellenberg system is probably associated with the fact that for a majority of species autecological characteristics and life history in general are not too different throughout Europe.…”

How a river course influences the species richness and ecological requirements on two opposite riverbanks in a forest area

“…The EIV system provides a very valuable tool for habitat calibration and recently it has been applied for modeling plant distribution at various spatial scales. However, investigations conducted at the regional and landscape levels [15,22,[28][29][30][31][32] are still much more common than studies on local sites [14,17,21,33].…”

Різноманіття Та Фітоіндикаційні Можливості Рослинного Угруповання

“…Тому вони більшою мірою є суб'єктивними і зміщена вибірка даних може призвести до неточностей в оцінці властивостей середовища (Økland, 1990). Екологічні особливості рослин змінюються в географічному аспекті, але у обмеженій кількості досліджень проведено вивчення кореляції фітоіндикаційних шкал з властивостями середовища у географічному контексті (Dzwonko, 2001;Gégout, Krizova, 2003;Hájková et al, 2008;Balkovič et al, 2012). Види не є константними стосовно їх екологічних потреб, тому вони можуть мати різні індикаторні значення у різних частинах їх ареалу (Hill et al, 2000).…”