Assessment of floristic diversity, functional composition and management strategy of North Adriatic pastoral landscape (Croatia)

• Autorzy: Vitasović Kosić I. , Tardella F. , Ruscić M. , Catorci A.
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

European semi-natural calcareous grasslands are species-rich ecosystems, considered as priority habitats by the European Union (92/43/EEC Directive) and judged worthy of conservation. They are in strong decline in extension and are threatened by abandonment throughout Europe. It is known that grasslands management (grazing, mowing) acts as driving force in plant community diversity, which in turn is an important conservation aim of European environmental policies. The area of current pastoral landscape (about 1000 ha) of the North Adriatic (Cicarija, Croatia) was studied in order: 1/ to understand which factors drive floristic differentiation . environmental features and/or grassland management conditions, 2/ to identify indicator species sets linked to those factors and 3/ to appraise the effects of management type on the coenological and functional composition of indicator species. 73 phytosociological releves were carried out; for each of them field data (altitude, aspect, slope and land form), productivity measurements and information on grassland management were collected. Redundancy analysis (RDA) identified a productivity-related soil moisture gradient as the environmental driving force of grassland floristic differentiation. Indicator species analysis (ISA) detected the indicator species sets related to environmental features and management type. The results indicate that undergrazing and the lack of periodic mowing are responsible for the higher total variance of floristic data set explained by environmental parameters rather than by management (use/not use). For the same reasons, the variations that emerged from comparison of the functional characteristics of the indicator species of grazing and of mowing (avoidance strategy, life form, and storage organs) proved more important than those observed in comparing used and abandoned grasslands. The management system adopted (grazing or mowing) appears in turn to be conditioned by the soil moisture/productivity gradient.

Słowa kluczowe

EN

functional traits; grasslands; management; North Adriatic; social behaviour type

PL

Adriatyk; cechy funkcjonalne; społeczne zachowanie; użytki zielone; zarządzanie

• Wydawca: Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences
• Czasopismo: Polish Journal of Ecology
• Rocznik: 2011
• Tom: Vol. 59, nr 4
• Strony: 765--776
• Opis fizyczny: Bibliogr. 89 poz.,

Twórcy

autor

Vitasović Kosić I.

autor

Tardella F.

autor

Ruscić M.

autor

Catorci A.

• Department of Agricultural Botany, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Svetosimunska 25, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia,

Bibliografia

• 1. Adler P., Raff R., Lauenroth W.K. 2001 – The effect of grazing on the spatial heterogeneity of vegetation – Oecologia, 128: 465–479.
• 2. Aeschimann D., Lauber K., Moser D.M., Theurillat J.P. 2004 – Flora alpina. Voll. 1-3 – Zanichelli, Bologna, 2670 pp.
• 3. Alard D., Poudevigne I. 2000 – Diversity patterns in grasslands along a landscape gradient in northwestern France – J. Veg. Sci. 11: 287–294.
• 4. Altesor A., Piñero G., Lezama F., Jackson R.B., Sarasola M., Paruelo J.M. 2006 – Ecosystem changes associated with grazing in sub-humid South American grasslands – J. Veg. Sci. 17: 323–332.
• 5. Bennie J., Hill M.O., Baxter R., Huntley B. 2006 – Influence of slope and aspect on long-term vegetation change in British chalk grasslands – J. Ecol. 94: 355–368.
• 6. Benton T.G., Vickery J.A., Wilson J.D. 2003 – Farmland biodiversity: is habitat heterogeneity the key? – TREE, 18: 182–188.
• 7. Berendse F. 1994 – Competition between plant populations at low and high nutrient supplies – Oikos, 71: 253–260.
• 8. Biondi E., Čarni A., Vagge I., Taffetani F., Ballelli S. 2001 – The vegetation of the Trifolio medii-Geranietea sanguinei Müller 1962 class in the central part of the Apennines (Italy and San Marino) – Fitosociologia, 38: 55–65.
• 9. Biondi E., Allegrezza M., Zuccarello V. 2005 – Syntaxonomic revision of the Apennine grassland belonging to Brometalia erecti and an analysis of their relationship with the xerophilous vegetation of Rosmarinetea officinalis – Phytocoenol. 35: 129–163.
• 10. Biondini M.E., Patton B.D., Nyren P.E. 1998 – Grazing intensity and ecosystem processes in a northern mixed-grass prairie, USA – Ecol. Appl. 8: 469–479.
• 11. Borhidi A. 1995 – Social behaviour types, the naturalness and relative ecological indicator values of the higher plants in the Hungarian flora – Acta Bot Hung. 39: 97–181.
• 12. Bratli H., Myhre A. 1999 – Vegetation-environment relationships of old hay meadows at Sverveli, Telemark, S. Norway – Nordic Journal of Botany, 19: 455–471.
• 13. Braun-Blanquet J. 1964 – Pflanzensoziologie. Grundzüge der vegetationskunde. 3. Aufl. – Springer Ver., Wien-New York, 865 pp.
• 14. Bullock J.M., Franklin J., Stevenson M.J., Silvertown J., Coulson S.J., Gregory S.J., Tofts R. 2001 – A plant trait analysis of responses to grazing in a long-term experiment – J. Appl. Ecol. 38: 253–267.
• 15. Campetella G., Canullo R., Bartha S. 2004 – Coenostate descriptors and spatial dependence in vegetation: Derived variables in monitoring forest dynamics and assembly rules – Community Ecol. 5: 105–114.
• 16. Čarni A. 2003 – Vegetation of forest edges in the central part of Istria (Istria, northwestern Croatia) – Natura Croatica, 12: 131–140.
• 17. Čarni A., Franjić J. 2005 – Floristical, ecological and structural diversity of vegetation of forest fringes of the Northern Croatia along a climatic gradient – Phyton, 45: 287–303.
• 18. Catorci A., Gatti R. 2010 – Floristic composition and spatial distribution assessment of montane mesophilous grasslands in central Apennines, Italy: a multi-scale and diachronic approach – Plant Biosyst. 144: 793–804.
• 19. Catorci A., Ottaviani G., Ballelli S., Cesaretti S. 2011 – Functional differentiation of Central Apennines grasslands under mowing and grazing disturbance regimes – Pol. J. Ecol. 59: 115–128.
• 20. Chapin F.S., Schulze E.D., Mooney H.A. 1990 – The ecology and economics of storage in plants – Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 21: 423–447.
• 21. Coley P.D., Bryant J.P., Chapin F.S. 1985 – Resource availability and plant antiherbivore defense – Science, 230: 895–899.
• 22. Collins S.L., Knapp A.K., Briggs J.M., Blairs J.M., Steinauer E.M. 1998 – Modulation of diversity by grazing and mowing in native tallgrass prairie – Science, 280: 745–747.
• 23. de Bello F., Lepš J., Sebastià M.T. 2006 – Variations in species and functional plant diversity along climatic and grazing gradients – Ecography, 29: 801–810.
• 24. de Bello F., Lepš J., Sebastià M.T. 2007 – Grazing effect on species and functional diversity along a climatic gradient – J. Veg. Sci. 18: 25–34.
• 25. Decocq G., Aubert M., Dupont F., Alard D., Saguez R., Wattez-Franger A., De Foucault B., Delelis-Dusollier A., Bardat J. 2004 – Plant diversity in a managed temperate deciduous forest: understorey response to two silvicultural systems – J. Appl. Ecol. 41: 1065–1079.
• 26. Díaz S., Cabido M. 1997 – Plant functional types and ecosystem function in relation to global changes – J. Veg. Sci. 8: 463–474.
• 27. Díaz S., Cabido M. 2001 – Vive la différence: plant functional diversity matters to ecosystem processes – Trends Ecol. Evolut. 16: 646–655.
• 28. Díaz S., Lavorel S., McIntyre S., Falczuk V., Casanoves S., Milchunas D.G., Skarpe C., Rusch G., Sternberg M., Noy-Meir I., Landsberg J., Zhang W., Clark H., Campbell B.D. 2007 – Plant traits responses to grazing – a global synthesis – Global Change Biology, 13: 313–341.
• 29. Dullinger S., Dirnböck T., Greimler J., Grabherr G. 2003 – A resampling approach for evaluating effects of pasture abandonment on subalpine plant species diversity – J. Veg. Sci. 14: 243–252.
• 30. Ejrnæs R., Bruun H.H. 2000 – Gradient analysis of dry grassland vegetation in Denmark – J. Veg. Sci. 11: 573–584.
• 31. Frank D.A. 2005 – The interactive effects of grazing ungulates and aboveground production on grassland diversity – Oecologia, 143: 629–634.
• 32. Galvánek D., Lepš J. 2009 – How do management and restoration needs of mountain grasslands depend on moisture regime? Experimental study from north-western Slovakia (Western Carpathians) – Appl. Veg. Sci. 12: 273–282.
• 33. Gondart H., Romane F., Ignacio Santa R., Leonardi S. 2006 – Forest management and plant species diversity in chestnut stands of three Mediterranean areas – Biodiv. Conserv. 15: 1129–1142.
• 34. Grime J.P. 2001 – Plant Strategies, Vegetation Processes and Ecosystem Properties (Second Edition) – John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, 417 pp.
• 35. Grime J.P., Hodgson J.G., Hunt R. 1988 – Comparative Plant Ecology. A functional approach to common British species – Unwyn Hyman, London, 742 pp.
• 36. Hadar L., Noy-Meir I., Perevolotsky A. 1999 – The effect of shrub clearing and grazing on the composition of a Mediterranean plant community: functional groups versus species – Veg. Sci. 10: 673–683.
• 37. Hobbie S.E., Jensen D.B., Chapin F.S. 1994 – Resource supply and disturbance as controls over present and future plant diversity (In: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function, Eds: E.D. Schulze, H.A. Mooney) – Springer, Berlin, pp. 385–408.
• 38. Hobbs R.J. 1997 – Can we use plant functional types to describe and predict responses to environmental change? (In: Plant Functional Types. Their Relevance to Ecosystem Properties and Global Change, Eds: T.A. Smith, H.H. Shugard, F.I. Woodward) – Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 66–90.
• 39. Hunt R., Hodgson J.G., Thompson K., Bungener P., Dunnett N.P., Askew A.P. 2004 – A new practical tool for deriving a functional signature for herbaceous vegetation – Appl. Veg. Sci. 7: 163–170.
• 40. Ilmarinen K., Mikola J. 2009 – Soil feedback does not explain mowing effects on vegetation structure in a semi-natural grassland – Acta Oecol. 35: 838–848.
• 41. Kahmen S., Poschlod P. 2004 – Plant functional responses to grassland succession over 25 years – J. Veg. Sci. 15: 21–32.
• 42. Kahmen S., Poschlod P., Schreiber K. 2002 – Conservation management of calcareous grasslands. Changes in plant species composition and response of functional traits during 25 years – Biol. Conserv. 104: 319–328.
• 43. Kaligarič M. 1997 – Rastlinstvo primorskega krasa in Slovenske Istre – Travniki in pašniki. Zgodovinsko društvo za južno primorsko – Znanstveno raziskovalno središče Republike Slovenije Koper, Koper (in Slovenian).
• 44. Kaligarič M., Culiberg M., Kramberger B. 2006 – Recent vegetation history of the North Adriatic grasslands: expansion and decay of an anthropogenic habitat – Folia Geobotanica, 41: 241–258.
• 45. Kelly C.K. 1996 – Identifying plant functional types using floristic data bases: Ecological correlates of plant size – J. Veg. Sci. 7: 417–424.
• 46. Kirby K.J., Thomas R.C. 2000 – Changes in the ground flora in Wytham Woods, southern England from 1974 to 1991 - Implications for nature conservation – J. Veg. Sci. 11: 871–880.
• 47. Kleyer M. 1999 – The distribution of plant functional types on gradients of disturbance intensity and resource supply in an agricultural landscape – J. Veg. Sci. 10: 697–708.
• 48. Klimek S., Richter gen. Kemmermann A., Hofmann, M., Isselstein J. 2006 – Plant species richness and composition in managed grasslands: The relative importance of field management and environmental factors – Biol. Conserv. 134: 559–570.
• 49. Klotz S., Kühn I., Durka W. 2002 – Biolflor: Eine Datenbank zu biologisch-ökologischen Merkmalen der Gefäßpflanzen in Deutschland – Schriftenreihe für Vegetationskunde 38. Bonn, Bundesamt für Naturschutz. Available from: http://www.ufz.de/biolflor/index.jsp.
• 50. Lavorel S., McIntyre S., Landsberg J., Forbes T.D.A. 1997 – Plant functional classifications: from general groups to specific groups based on response to disturbance – TREE, 12: 474–478.
• 51. Lavorel S., McIntyre S., Grigulis K. 1999 – Plant response to disturbance in a Mediterranean grassland: How many functional groups? – J. Veg. Sci. 10: 661–672.
• 52. Luick R. 1998 – Ecological and socio-economic implications of livestock-keeping systems on extensive grasslands in south-western Germany – J. Appl. Ecol. 35: 979–982.
• 53. MacDonald D., Crabtree J.R., Wiesinger G., Dax T., Stamou N., Fleury P., Lazpita J.G., Gibon A. 2000 – Agricultural abandonment in mountain areas of Europe: environmental consequences and policy response – J. Environ. Manage. 59: 47–69.
• 54. Maschinsky J., Whitham T.G. 1989 – The continuum of plant responses to herbivory: the influence of plant association, nutrient availability, and timing – Am. Nat. 134: 1–19.
• 55. McCune B., Grace J.B. 2002 – Analysis of Ecological Communities – MjM Software Design. Gleneden Beach, Oregon, 300 pp.
• 56. McCune B., Mefford M.J. 2006 – PC-ORD. Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Data. Version 5 – MjM Software Design. Gleneden Beach, Oregon.
• 57. McIntyre S., Díaz S., Lavorel S., Cramer W. 1999 – Plant functional types and disturbance dynamics - Introduction – J. Veg. Sci. 10: 604–608.
• 58. Milchunas D.G., Lauenroth W.K. 1993 – Quantitative effects of grazing on vegetation and soils over a global range of environments – Ecol. Monogr. 63: 327–366.
• 59. Milchunas D.G., Sala O.E., Lauenroth W.K. 1988 – A generalized model of the effects of grazing by large herbivores on grassland community structure – Am. Nat. 132: 87–106.
• 60. Moola F.M., Vasseur L. 2004 – Recovery of late-seral vascular plants in a chronosequence of post-clearcut forest stands in coastal Nova Scotia, Canada – Plant Ecol. 172: 183–197.
• 61. Mucina H.L., Grabherr G., Ellmauer T. 1993 – Die Pflanzengesellschaften Österreichs. Teil I. Anthropogene Vegetation – Gustav Fisher, pp. 578.
• 62. Myklestad Ǻ., Sætersdal M. 2004 – The importance of traditional meadow management techniques for conservation of vascular plant species richness in Norway – Biol. Conserv. 118: 133–139.
• 63. Nikolić T. 1994 – Flora Croatica. Index Florae Croaticae, Part 1 – Nat. Croat. 3: 1–116.
• 64. Nikolić T. 1997 – Flora Croatica. Index Florae Croaticae, Part 2 – Nat. Croat. 6: 1–232.
• 65. Nikolić T. 2000 – Flora Croatica. Index Florae Croaticae, Part 3 – Nat. Croat. 9: 1–324.
• 66. Noble I., Gitay H. 1996 – A functional classification for predicting the dynamics of landscapes – J. Veg. Sci. 7: 329–336.
• 67. Norderhaug A., Ihse M., Pedersen O. 2000 – Biotope patterns and abundance of meadow plant species in a Norwegian rural landscape – Landsc. Ecol. 15: 201–218.
• 68. Noss R.F. 1990 – Indicators for monitoring biodiversity: a hierarchical approach – Conserv. Biol. 4: 355–364.
• 69. Pärtel M., Mändla R., Zobel M. 1999 – Landscape history of a calcareous (alvar) grassland in Hanila, western Estonia during the last three hundred years – Landsc. Ecol. 14: 187–196.
• 70. Pignatti S. 1982 – Flora d’Italia. I-III – Edagricole, Bologna, 2302 pp. (in Italian).
• 71. Pignatti S. 2005 – Valori di bioindicazione delle piante vascolari della Flora d’Italia – Braun-Blanquetia, 39: 3–97 (in Italian).
• 72. Pillar V.D. 1999 – On the identification of optimal plant functional types – J. Veg. Sci. 10: 631–640.
• 73. Podani J. 2001 – Syn-tax 2000 computer program for data analysis in ecology and systematics – Budapest.
• 74. Poldini L. 1989 – La vegetazione del Carso isontino e triestino. Studio del paesaggio vegetale tra Trieste, Gorizia e i territori adiacenti – Edizioni Lint Trieste. 315 pp. (in Italian).
• 75. Poschlod P., Wallis DeVries M.F. 2002 – The historical and socioeconomic prospective of calcareous grasslands-lessons from the distance and recent past – Biol. Conserv. 104: 361–376.
• 76. Robinson R.A., Sutherland W.J. 2002 – Post-war changes in arable farming and biodiversity in Great Britain – J. Appl. Ecol. 39: 157–176.
• 77. Scheiner S.M. 1992 – Measuring pattern diversity – Ecology, 73: 1860–1867.
• 78. Sebastià M.T., de Bello F., Puig L., Taull M. 2008 – Grazing as a factor structuring grasslands in the Pyrenees – Appl. Veg. Sci. 11: 215–222.
• 79. Šeffer J., Lasák R., Galvánek D., Stanová V. 2002 – Grasslands of Slovakia - final report on national grassland inventory 1998-2002 – DAPHNE, Bratislava, SK, 56 pp.
• 80. Silvertown J., Dodd M.E., McConway K., Potts J., Crawley M. 1994 – Rainfall, biomass variation, and community composition in the Park Grass Experiment – Ecology, 75: 430–437.
• 81. Skarpe C. 2001 – Effects of Large Herbivores on Competition and Succession in Natural Savannah Rangelands (In: Competition and succession in pastures, Eds: P.G. Tow, A. Lazenby) – CABI Publishing, Wallingford, pp. 175–192.
• 82. Tscharntke T., Klein A.M., Kruess A., Steffan-Dewenter I., Thies C. 2005 – Landscape perspectives on agricultural intensification and biodiversity - ecosystem service management – Ecology Letters, 8: 857–874.
• 83. van der Meijden E., Wijn M., Verkaar H.J. 1988 – Defence and regrowth, alternative plant strategies in the struggle against herbivores – Oikos, 51: 355–363.
• 84. van Dijk G. 1991 – Half-natuurlijke graslanden in Europa verdwijnen – Natuur en Milieu, 15: 8–13.
• 85. Watkinson A.R., Ormerod S.J. 2001 – Grasslands, grazing and biodiversity: editors’ introduction – J. Appl. Ecol. 38: 233–237.
• 86. Whalley R.D.B., Hardy M.B. 2000 – Measuring Botanical Composition of Grasslands (In: Field and Laboratory Methods for Grassland and Animal Production Research, Eds: L.’t Mannetje, R.M. Jones) – Oxford University Press, USA pp. 67–102.
• 87. Willems J.H. 1990 – Calcareous grasslands in Continental Europe (In: Calcareous grasslands: ecology and management, Eds: S.H. Hillier, D.W.H. Walton, D.A. Wells) – Bluntisham Books, Bluntingham, pp. 3–10.
• 88. Wilson W.L., Abernethy V.J., Murphy K.J. Adam A., McCracken D.I., Downie I.S., Foster G.N., Furness R.W., Waterhouse A., Ribera I. 2003 – Prediction of plant diversity response to land-use change on Scottish agricultural land – Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 94: 249–263.
• 89. Zervas G. 1998 – Quantifying and optimizing grazing regimes in Greek mountain systems – J. Appl. Ecol. 35: 983–986.