5 research outputs found
Spatial variation of wetland woods in the latitudinal transition to arid regions: a multiscale approach
In order to investigate the occurrence of wetland woods in the latitudinal
transition to arid regions in south-western Europe, we studied species patterns
(richness and abundance), examined floristic differences between woods along
the latitudinal gradient, and determined the relative influence of the underlying
environmental drivers of plant variation at various scales
A formal classification of the Lygeum spartum vegetation of the Mediterranean Region
Aims We examined local and regional contribution on the grasslands dominated by Lygeum spartum from Southern Europe and North Africa to produce a formalised classification of this vegetation and to identify main factors driving its plant species composition. Location Mediterranean Basin and Iberian Peninsula. Methods We used a dataset of 728 relevĂ©s, which were resampled to reduce unbalanced sampling effort, resulting in a dataset of 568 relevĂ©s and 846 taxa. We classified the plots by TWINSPAN, interpreted the resulting pools, and used them to develop formal definitions of phytosociological alliances characterised by L. spartum vegetation. The definitions were included in an expert system to assist automatic vegetation classification. We related the alliances to climatic factors and described their biogeographical features and ecological preferences. The floristic relationships between these alliances were analysed and visualised using distanceâbased redundancy analysis. Results We defined eleven alliances of L. spartum vegetation, including the newly described Launaeo laniferaeâLygeion sparti from SW Morocco and the Noaeo mucronataeâLygeion sparti from the Algerian highlands and NE Morocco. Biogeographical, climatic, and edaphic factors were revealed as putatively driving the differentiation between the alliances. The vegetation of clayey slopes and inland salt basins displayed higher variability in comparison with those of coastal salt marshes. Main conclusions The most comprehensive formal classification, accompanied by an expert system, of the L. spartum vegetation was formulated. The expert system, containing the formal definitions of the phytosociological alliances, will assist in identification of syntaxonomic position of new datasets