Abstract
Background: The effect of the anticipated climate change on the stability of vegetation and the factors underlying this stability are not well understood.
Aims: Our objective was to quantify long-term vegetation changes in a range of habitats in northern Europe by exploring species co-occurrences and their links to diversity and productivity gradients.
Methods: We re-sampled vegetation in 16 arctic, mountain and mire sites 20 to 90 years after the original inventories. A site-specific change in species assemblages (stability) was quantified using species co-occurrences. Using a randomisation test we tested whether the changes observed were significantly greater than those expected by chance. Relationships between patterns in vegetation stability and time between surveys, numbers of plots, or species diversity and proxies for productivity, were tested using regression analysis.
Results: At most sites the changes in species co-occurrences of vascular plants and bryophytes were greater than those expected by chance. The changes observed were found to be unrelated to gradients in productivity or diversity.
Conclusions: Changes in species co-occurrences are not strongly linked to diversity or productivity gradients in vegetation, suggesting that other gradients or site-specific factors (e.g. land use or species interactions) may be more important in controlling recent compositional shifts in vegetation in northern Europe.
Aims: Our objective was to quantify long-term vegetation changes in a range of habitats in northern Europe by exploring species co-occurrences and their links to diversity and productivity gradients.
Methods: We re-sampled vegetation in 16 arctic, mountain and mire sites 20 to 90 years after the original inventories. A site-specific change in species assemblages (stability) was quantified using species co-occurrences. Using a randomisation test we tested whether the changes observed were significantly greater than those expected by chance. Relationships between patterns in vegetation stability and time between surveys, numbers of plots, or species diversity and proxies for productivity, were tested using regression analysis.
Results: At most sites the changes in species co-occurrences of vascular plants and bryophytes were greater than those expected by chance. The changes observed were found to be unrelated to gradients in productivity or diversity.
Conclusions: Changes in species co-occurrences are not strongly linked to diversity or productivity gradients in vegetation, suggesting that other gradients or site-specific factors (e.g. land use or species interactions) may be more important in controlling recent compositional shifts in vegetation in northern Europe.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 289-302 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Plant Ecology & Diversity |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 15 Apr 2013 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2013 |
Bibliographical note
We are grateful to Jessica Wells Abbott, Kathrin Bockmühl, Sondre Dahle, Walter L. Kapfer, Therese Kronstad, Konstanze Kulpa, Aslaug H. Laukeland, Håvard Laukeland, Jonathan Lenoir, Elisabeth Maquart, Teppo Rämä, Maarit Siekkinen, Tom Halfdan Tobiassen, Elina Viirret, and Brooke Wilkerson for their help in the field.The study was funded by the Norwegian Research Council. The re-sampling in Kilpisjärvi was supported by the University of Oulu, and the re-sampling in Scotland was given support by the UK Natural Environment Research Council and Scottish Natural Heritage. Field work on Svalbard and on Jan Mayen received the support of the Norwegian Polar Institute (SSF Field Grant 2009, 2010).
Finally, we thank Stefan Dullinger and three anonymous reviewers for useful comments on earlier versions of this article.
Keywords
- alpine
- arctic
- environmental change
- meta-analysis
- mire
- productivity
- randomisation test
- species compositional changes
- species diversity
- vegetation dynamics
