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How does size and isolation affect patches of steppe-like vegetation on slumping hills in Transylvania, Romania?

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Abstract

The region of Southern Transylvania in Romania contains large expanses of species-rich grassland and mixed farmland. Within these landscapes, clusters of small, steep-sided slumping hills support mosaics of herbaceous vegetation caused by the heterogeneity in temperature and water supply and maintained by mowing or grazing. These are of conservation interest not only for the high species density, but also the relict steppe-like vegetation types especially found on their south-facing slopes. Usually surrounded by more intensively used mesic grassland, these hills can be considered patches of species-rich grassland vegetation. We therefore surveyed the vascular plants in 10 m2 plots on the south- and north-facing slopes of 50 hills in 12 clusters in order to investigate the influence of their size and isolation on the species richness and composition of the vegetation. We found that larger hills had higher plot-scale species richness, a greater proportion of competitive species and a lower proportion of species of steppe-like vegetation, but only on their south-facing slopes where the conditions are more extreme. Both large and small hills should be considered as important habitats and potential sources of propagules for plant communities in the surrounding areas.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Jürgen Dengler and two anonymous reviewers for their detailed and constructive comments. We are very grateful to Fundatia ADEPT for financial and logistical support for this study, to Cristi Maloş for providing initial information about the movile, to John Akeroyd for help in the field and with species identification and discussions and Urs Kormann for statistical advice. We would also like to thank Prof. Joachim W. Kadereit for supporting the work of M.G.

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Author notes

  1. Markus Germany

    Present address: Institute for Ecosystem Research, Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel, Olshausenstr. 75, 24118, Kiel, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Ecology and Ecosystem Research, Georg-August University of Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073, Göttingen, Germany

    Laura M. E. Sutcliffe

  2. Institut für Spezielle Botanik, Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz, 55099, Mainz, Germany

    Markus Germany

  3. Grüne Schule im Botanischen Garten, Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz, 55099, Mainz, Germany

    Ute Becker

  4. Geobotany, Regional and Environmental Sciences, University of Trier, Behringstr. 21, 54286, Trier, Germany

    Thomas Becker

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  1. Laura M. E. Sutcliffe
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  2. Markus Germany
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Correspondence to Laura M. E. Sutcliffe.

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Communicated by Jürgen Dengler.

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Sutcliffe, L.M.E., Germany, M., Becker, U. et al. How does size and isolation affect patches of steppe-like vegetation on slumping hills in Transylvania, Romania?. Biodivers Conserv 25, 2275–2288 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-016-1108-8

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