The effects of landscape position on plant species density: Evidence of past environmental effects in a coastal wetland

Grace, James B.; Guntenspergen, Glenn R.

doi:10.1080/11956860.1999.11682536

Cited by 26 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 47 publications

(47 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Conforming to recent studies (Adriaens et al 2006;Cousins and Eriksson 2008;Cousins et al 2007) we might expect that the trends resulted from the analysis influenced plant species diversity, in particular species richness, or, as opposed to other studies (Cousins and Eriksson 2002;Grace and Guntenspergen 1999;Gustavsson et al 2007;Helm et al 2006;Lindborg and Eriksson 2004b;Milden et al 2007), that the historical landscape structure should, even in a changing landscape, influence present-day diversity. As reported in Klimek et al (2007), this is particularly true especially where topographic variables did not have a strong influence on plant species diversity and management historical regimes didn't change in the time range analyzed , as in our study area.…”

Section: Relations Of Landscape Measures With Patch Interior Species mentioning

confidence: 92%

Maggengo meadow patches enclosed by forests in the Italian Alps: evidence of landscape legacy on plant diversity

Sitzia

Trentanovi

2011

Biodivers Conserv

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The maggenghi are mid slope meadows typical of all the southern and of great parts of the northern European Alps, for centuries managed with traditional and low intensity techniques. Usually, they are scattered patches in surrounding forests. The spontaneous expansion of trees and shrubs, favored by the recent decline of mountain agriculture, lead the maggengo patches patterns and shapes to change. Our objective was to analyze the effect of this change on current plant diversity of the remnant patches, as the adaptive response could be slow and possibly related more to historical than to current landscape patterns. We analyzed the trend of the size, shape, elongation, fractal dimension and connectivity of maggengo patches of a Central-Eastern Italian Alpine district, in four time steps, from 1973 to 2006, and in 1859, when mountain agriculture was still widespread. Then, we studied the relationships between those landscape metrics and two current patch-level plant diversity measures: interior species richness and species density. Aerial photographs were used to investigate that trend, while a historical cadastral map was used to assess the landscape metrics in 1859. As expected, in the last 30 years, the total size of maggenghi has been reduced by 57% while their shapes have been progressively simplified. Interior species richness was positively related to size, both in 2006 and over the past 30 years, but not to any 1859 measures. Conversely, species density was positively correlated only with 1859 size, shape index and connectivity. We conclude that the historical shape, size and connectivity are some of the key variables affecting the plant species density of maggengo patches, but not of their interior plant species richness

show abstract

Section: Relations Of Landscape Measures With Patch Interior Species mentioning

confidence: 92%

Maggengo meadow patches enclosed by forests in the Italian Alps: evidence of landscape legacy on plant diversity

Sitzia

Trentanovi

2011

Biodivers Conserv

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Species diversity was not directly related to salinity or flooding frequency or duration, but diversity did increase with soil elevation. Comparable to Grace and Guntenspergen (1999), distance was indicative of neither soil salinity nor species diversity. In comparison to our barrier island approach, landscape position dimensions of Grace and Guntenspergen (1999) and Silvestri et al (2005) were less direct relative to environmental gradients.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Comparable to Grace and Guntenspergen (1999), distance was indicative of neither soil salinity nor species diversity. In comparison to our barrier island approach, landscape position dimensions of Grace and Guntenspergen (1999) and Silvestri et al (2005) were less direct relative to environmental gradients. For example, distance from ocean, especially when considering coastal wind flow patterns, represents a strong suite of variables that change as one moves inland.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Landscape position and habitat polygons in a dynamic coastal environment

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. In contrast to stable inland systems, coastal landscape positions are dynamic, changing as shorelines migrate and storms alter topography. We define landscape position by distance to ocean shoreline and elevation above sea level, two metrics that integrate a suite of environmental and biotic factors. As shoreline and elevation change, suitability of a geo-referenced position for a given plant species may also change. The objectives of our study were to use two methods for measuring landscape position (GPS and hyperspectral/light detection and ranging or LIDAR) to develop habitat polygons, compare habitat polygons for five species representing several adaptive strategies, and illustrate change in landscape position due to migrating shoreline for a Virginia, USA barrier island. Habitat polygons for each species were distinct, represented several growth forms or functional groups, and were indicative of tolerances to biotic and abiotic stresses. The habitat polygon for Cakile edentula (annual forb) was relatively small, indicating narrow habitat requirements for the strand environment. Cirsium horridulum (biennial forb), with succulent shoots and roots, occurred on dunes where water is most limiting. For the dunebuilding grass, Ammophila breviligulata, as distance from shoreline increased, minimum elevation also increased. Two woody species occurred across the entire island; however, Morella cerifera (N-fixing shrub), was limited to mesic swales whereas Juniperus virginiana (evergreen tree), with the largest habitat polygon, occurred on both dunes and swales. For a geo-referenced point on the north end of Hog Island, distance to shoreline increased from the shoreline to 1100 m inland over 139 years. In contrast, the geo-referenced point on the eroding portion of the island decreased from 1700 m to 120 m from the ocean shoreline over the same time period. Where sea level rise and storms are expected to alter shorelines and island topography, generation of habitat polygons from hyperspectral and LIDAR imagery provide rapid assessment of potential effects on species distribution patterns at local and regional scales. Habitat polygons have broad applicability beyond coastal systems and may contribute to a rapid assessment or identification of vulnerability for species as climate patterns shift through time.

show abstract

“…Several studies imply that variations in abiotic environmental conditions, such as climate and energy supply, play major roles in explaining variations in plant species richness at community and landscape scales (Currie 1991;Wright et al 1993;Waide et al 1999), while biotic processes such as competition, predation, colonization, disturbance, stress, dispersal, and facilitation are important regulators at small scales (Grace 1999;Grace and Guntenspergen 1999;Zobel et al 2000;Crawley and Harral 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fine-scale spatial variation in plant species richness and its relationship to environmental conditions in coastal marshlands

et al. 2005

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Previous studies have shown that variations in environmental conditions play a major role in explaining variations in plant species richness at community and landscape scales. In this study, we considered the degree to which fine-scale spatial variations in richness could be related to fine-scale variations in abiotic and biotic factors. To examine spatial variation in richness, grids of 1 m 2 plots were laid out at five sites within a coastal riverine wetland landscape. At each site, a 5 · 7 array of plots was established adjacent to the river's edge with plots one meter apart. In addition to the estimation of species richness, environmental measurements included sediment salinity, plot microelevation, percent of plot recently disturbed, and estimated community biomass. Our analysis strategy was to combine the use of structural equation modeling (path modeling) with an assessment of spatial association. Mantel's tests revealed significant spatial autocorrelation in species richness at four of the five sites sampled, indicating that richness in a plot correlated with the richness of nearby plots. We subsequently considered the degree to which spatial autocorrelations in richness could be explained by spatial autocorrelations in environmental conditions. Once data were corrected for environmental correlations, spatial autocorrelation in residual species richness could not be detected at any site. Based on these results, we conclude that in this coastal wetland, there appears to be a fine-scale mapping of diversity to microgradients in environmental conditions.

show abstract

The effects of landscape position on plant species density: Evidence of past environmental effects in a coastal wetland

Cited by 26 publications

References 47 publications

Maggengo meadow patches enclosed by forests in the Italian Alps: evidence of landscape legacy on plant diversity

Maggengo meadow patches enclosed by forests in the Italian Alps: evidence of landscape legacy on plant diversity

Landscape position and habitat polygons in a dynamic coastal environment

Fine-scale spatial variation in plant species richness and its relationship to environmental conditions in coastal marshlands

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About