Effect of Soil Diversity on Forest Plant Species Abundance: A Case Study from Central-European Highlands

Plant distribution is most closely associated with the abiotic environment. The abiotic environment affects plant species’ abundancy unevenly. The asymmetry is further deviated by human interventions. Contrarily, soil properties preserve environmental influences from the anthropogenic perturbations. The study examined the supra-regional similarities of soil effects on plant species’ abundance in temperate forests to determine: (i) spatial relationships between soil property and forest-plant diversity among geographical regions; (ii) whether the spatial dependencies among compared forest-diversity components are influenced by natural forest representation. The spatial dependence was assessed using geographically weighted regression (GWR) of soil properties and plant species abundance from forest stands among 91 biogeographical regions in the Czech Republic (Central Europe). Regional soil properties and plant species abundance were acquired from 7550 national forest inventory plots positioned in a 4 × 4 km grid. The effect of natural forests was assessed using linear regression between the sums of squared GWR residues and protected forest distribution in the regions. Total diversity of forest plants is significantly dependent on soil-group representation. The soil-group effect is more significant than that of bedrock bodies, most of all in biogeographical regions with protected forest representation >50%. Effects of soil chemical properties were not affected by protected forest distribution. Spatial dependency analysis separated biogeographical regions of optimal forest plant diversity from those where inadequate forest-ecosystem diversity should be increased alongside soil diversity.

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A global meta-analysis of the impacts of exotic plant species invasion on plant diversity and soil properties

The Science of The Total Environment ◽

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152286 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 152286

Author(s):

Hongwei Xu ◽

Qiang Liu ◽

Shaoyong Wang ◽

Guisen Yang ◽

Sha Xue

Keyword(s):

Soil Properties ◽

Plant Species ◽

Plant Diversity ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Exotic Plant ◽

Species Invasion ◽

Exotic Plant Species

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Floristic composition, plant species abundance, and soil properties of montane savannas in the Gran Sabana, Venezuela

Flora ◽

10.1016/j.flora.2006.07.005 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 202 (4) ◽

pp. 316-327 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Nelson Ramírez ◽

Nelda Dezzeo ◽

Noemí Chacón

Keyword(s):

Soil Properties ◽

Plant Species ◽

Species Abundance ◽

Floristic Composition

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Short Communication: Floristic composition and relationships between plant species abundance and soil properties in common hazel (Corylus avellana) mountainous forest of northern Iran

Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity ◽

10.13057/biodiv/d190535 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 19 (5) ◽

pp. 1835-1841

Author(s):

GHADER POURRAHMATI ◽

ASADOLLAH MATAJI ◽

HASSAN POURBABAEI ◽

ALI SALEHI

Keyword(s):

Soil Properties ◽

Plant Species ◽

Short Communication ◽

Species Abundance ◽

Floristic Composition ◽

Woody Species ◽

Corylus Avellana ◽

Herbaceous Species ◽

Northern Iran ◽

Total N

Pourrahmati G, Mataji A, Pourbabaei H, Salehi A. 2018. Short Communication: Floristic composition and relationships between plant species abundance and soil properties in common hazel (Corylus avellana) mountainous forest of northern Iran. Biodiversitas 19: 1835-1841. Mountainous forests are valuable terrestrial ecosystems because of their useful services for the human being. Here, we explored the floristic composition and the relationships between plant species abundance distribution and soil physical and chemical properties in common hazel (Corylus avellana L.) in the mountainous forest of northern Iran. Within the forest stand, 30 quadrats (20 m × 20 m and 1 m × 1 m for woody and herbaceous species, respectively) were selectively sampled along an altitudinal range from 1300 m to 1800 m a.s.l. to assess plant species composition and abundance, and soil samples were taken to perform chemical and physical analyses. The results showed that a total of 43 herbaceous and 15 woody species belonging to 23 and 8 families were identified. The abundance of herbaceous species was significantly correlated with soil properties (pH and total N). Furthermore, the abundance of woody species had a non-significant correlation with soil properties.

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Ants Visible from Space Influence Soil Properties and Vegetation in Steppe Rangelands of Iran

Sociobiology ◽

10.13102/sociobiology.v63i4.1195 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 63 (4) ◽

pp. 1063

Author(s):

Jonathan David Majer ◽

Donat Agosti

Keyword(s):

Chemical Composition ◽

Species Composition ◽

Soil Properties ◽

Plant Species ◽

Plant Diversity ◽

Soil Profile ◽

Vegetation Structure ◽

Cumulative Effect ◽

Ant Nests

Messor nests in Iranian steppe rangelands can be so large that they are visible from space. When compared with reference soils, nest soil is higher in nutrients and lower in pH. Ant nests also homogenise the nutrients throughout the upper soil profile, although this effect diminished when nests are abandoned. The denuded circles around nests are surrounded by rings of vegetation that differ in species composition from that of the surrounding vegetation, while abandoned nests are colonized by a different range of plant species. Data on the density and abundance of Messor cf. intermedius nests indicate that the soil in less than 1% of the area is impacted, although the cumulative effect of so many nests influences the plant species and vegetation structure of the region. The data indicate the importance of these ants in altering soil chemical composition and plant diversity, which could have flow-on effects to the diversity of animals.

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Variations in soil properties and native woody plant species abundance under Prosopis juliflora invasion in Afar grazing lands, Ethiopia

Ecological Processes ◽

10.1186/s13717-020-00240-x ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Abeje Eshete ◽

Anna C. Treydte ◽

Mengsteab Hailemariam ◽

Negasi Solomon ◽

Tatek Dejene ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Properties ◽

Plant Species ◽

Woody Plant ◽

Species Abundance ◽

Prosopis Juliflora ◽

Woody Plant Species ◽

Grazing Lands

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Gradient analysis of soil-plant interactions from the alpine-nival ecotone to the snowline on slopes of the Central Great Caucasus (Kazbegi Region, Georgia)

Ukrainian Botanical Journal ◽

10.15407/ukrbotj78.03.163 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 78 (3) ◽

pp. 163-175

Author(s):

Tamar Jolokhava ◽

◽

Otar Abdaladze ◽

Khatuna Gigauri ◽

Zaal Kikvidze ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Properties ◽

Plant Species ◽

Species Distribution ◽

Abiotic Factors ◽

Slope Aspect ◽

High Mountain ◽

Plant Interactions ◽

Abiotic Environment ◽

Mountain Systems

Alpine ecosystems are especially sensitive to climatic changes which affect the relationships among glaciers, snow, vegetation and soils. Our aim was to examine how the variation in the abiotic environment affected soil properties and plant species distribution at regional and local scales. We sampled soil and vegetation along two transects set on the opposite-facing slopes (North versus South), from the alpine-nival ecotone to the snowline (Central Great Caucasus, Kazbegi, Georgia). We measured also soil temperature and controlled for the slope inclination. Multivariate ordination methods were used to link abiotic factors, soil properties and plant species distribution along the gradients. We found that ordination models were better resolved when soil properties were used as environmental variables instead of abiotic ones such as elevation, inclination and slope aspect. Soil pH and plant available potassium were the best predictors of plant species distribution in these habitats. We conclude that the models that account for the role of soils as a mediator between the abiotic environment and vegetation can more accurately describe plant species distribution at local and regional scales: a potentially important amendment with implications for the monitoring of the effects of climate change on vegetation at least in high mountain systems.

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