Publication details
Estimation of species number in different habitat types and ecotones at several spatial scales
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| Year of publication | 2013 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | A typical central European landscape consists of a mosaic of different (semi)natural and anthropogenic habitats. It is well known that these vary in total species richness and in the richness of particular species groups (e.g. archaeophytes or neophytes), but most richness estimations were based on small sampling units (e.g. vegetation plots) and it is poorly known whether the same diversity patterns exist at larger scale. Moreover, some existing estimates may be biased due to preferentially sampled data. Some studies suggest that also ecotones may by characterized by high species richness due to mixing species from adjacent habitat types or an occurrence of species specialized to ecotonal habitats. This study focuses on three main questions: a) Which habitat types or ecotone types are the most species rich in terms of total species number and number of selected species groups (i.e. archaeophytes, neophytes and endangered species)? b) Are habitat types that are species-rich at a local scale (16 m2) also rich at larger scales (from 2,000 to 30,000 m2)? c) Do ecotones represent diversity hotspots in the studied landscape? The study area is situated in the south-east of the Czech Republic. It includes a limestone range (Pavlov Hills) as well as a gently undulating landscape with a mosaic of (semi)natural and anthropogenic habitats. Plant species were recorded according to stratified sampling scheme at four different scales (16 m2, 128 m2, 2000 m2 and 30000 m2; recorded in vegetation plots, patches of different habitats or linear features of ecotones). Diversities were compared using sample-based rarefaction curves and species-area curves. At local scale (16 m2), high number of all species and high proportion of endangered species were observed in dry grasslands. Ecotones between non-forest and non-forest habitats and arable fields/vineards had high proportion of archaeophytes. Diversity patterns at different scales were not identical, although some trends were observed across all scales. Finally, we revealed that some but not all types of ecotones may serve as diversity hotspots, especially those between forest and non-forest vegetation. Here species richness was comparable to that found in dry grasslands, whereas other ecotone types (ecotones between non-forest and non-forest habitats or ecotones between non-forest habitats and roads) were intermediately species rich. |