Abstract
Lowland rivers and their floodplains have changed markedly over the last centuries. River dikes have become among the most extensive secondary habitats of former floodplains. Our main question was, what role do secondary habitats on river dikes play in harbouring plant species and maintaining plant diversity of lowland landscapes dominated by agricultural areas? We compared historical maps and current habitat maps to understand the effects of landscape changes on the vegetation pattern of the study region, in southern Hungary. Dikes and primary vegetation of the landscape were selected for intensive vegetation sampling. We compared the floristic similarity and the Shannon diversity of the vegetation types. We used ordinations to visualize relationships among the vegetation types and among dike vegetation and environmental variables. Our results indicated that profound changes have been brought about in the vegetation during the last 150 years, resulting in a transition from marshland to agricultural land. The species composition and pattern of dike vegetation strongly depended on their relative position to the river and their aspect. We conclude that dikes can harbour many vascular plants that are absent or rare in the surrounding habitats and therefore play a decisive role in maintaining plant diversity in agricultural landscapes.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Acebey A, Gradstein SR, Krömer T (2003) Species richness and habitat diversification of bryophytes in submontane rain forest and fallows of Bolivia. Journal of Tropical Ecology 19:9–18
Baessler C, Klotz S (2006) Effects of changes in agricultural land-use on landscape structure and arable weed vegetation over the last 50 years. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 115:43–50
Barthlott W, Schmit-Neuerburg V, Nieder J, Engwald S (2001) Diversity and abundance of vascular epiphytes: a comparison of secondary vegetation and primary montane rain forest in the Venezuelan Andes. Plant Ecology 152:145–156
Bastian O, Bernhardt A (1993) Anthropogenic landscape changes in Central Europe and the role of bioindication. Landscape Ecology 8:139–151
Bátori Z, Csiky J, Farkas T, Vojtkó AE, Erdős L, Kovács D, Wirth T, Körmöczi L, Vojtkó A (2014) The conservation value of karst dolines for vascular plants in woodland habitats of Hungary: refugia and climate change. International Journal of Speleology 43:15–26
Baur B, Zschokke S, Coray A, Schläpfer M, Erhardt A (2002) Habitat characteristics of the endangered flightless beetle Dorcadion fuliginator (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae): implications for conservation. Biological Conservation 105:133–142
Bellamy PE, Shore RF, Ardeshir D, Treweek JR, Sparks TH (2000) Road verges as habitat for small mammals in Britain. Mammal Review 30:131–139
Biró M, Révész A, Molnár Z, Horváth F, Czúcz B (2008) Regional habitat pattern of the Danube-Tisza Interfluve in Hungary II. Acta Botanica Hungarica 50:19–60
Biró M, Czúcz B, Horváth F, Révész A, Csatári B, Molnár Z (2013) Drivers of grassland loss in Hungary during the post-socialist transformation (1987–1999). Landscape Ecology 28:789–803
Bogya S, Szinetár C, Markó V (1999) Species composition of spider (Araneae) assemblages in apple and pear orchards in the Carpathian Basin. Acta Phytopathologica et Entomologica Hungarica 34:99–121
Bölöni J, Molnár Z, Kun A (eds) (2011) Magyarország élőhelyei. Vegetációtípusok leírása és határozója. MTA Ökológiai és Botanikai Kutatóintézete, Vácrátót
Borhidi A (1993) Social behaviour types of the Hungarian flora, its naturalness and relative ecological indicator values. Pécs
Chazdon RL, Peres CA, Dent D, Sheil D, Lugo AE, Lamb D, Stork NE, Miller S (2009) The potential for species conservation in tropical secondary forests. Conservation Biology 23:1406–1417
Chytrý M, Tichý L, Holt J, Botta-Dukát Z (2002) Determination of diagnostic species with statistical fidelity measures. Journal of Vegetation Science 13:79–90
Collins SL, Knapp AK, Briggs JM, Blair JM, Steinauer EM (1998) Modulation of diversity by grazing and mowing in native tallgrass prairie. Science 280:745–747
Corbit M, Marks PL, Gardescu S (1999) Hedgerows as habitat corridors for forest herbs in central New York, USA. Journal of Ecology 87:220–232
Daniel H, Lecamp E (2004) Distribution of three indigenous fern species along a rural–urban gradient in the city of Angers, France. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 3:19–27
Dankers R, Feyen L (2008) Climate change impact on flood hazard in Europe: An assessment based on high-resolution climate simulations. Journal of Geophysical Research 113. doi:10.1029/2007JD009719
Dengler J, Janisová M, Török P, Wellstein C (2014) Biodiversity of Palaearctic grasslands: a synthesis. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 182:1–14
Dövényi Z (ed) (2010) Magyarország kistájainak katasztere. MTA Földrajztudományi Kutatóintézet, Budapest
Erdős L, Méri Á, Bátori Z, Gallé R, Körmöczi L (2012) North–south facing vegetation gradients in the Villány Mountains: a case study on the population and the community level. Pakistan Journal of Botany 44:927–932
Erhardt A (1985) Diurnal Lepidoptera: sensitive indicators of cultivated and abandoned grassland. Journal of Applied Ecology 22:849–861
Felkai BO (2006) Gyepborítású árvízvédelmi földgátak ökonómiai kérdései. Dissertation, Szent István University
Feranec J, Hazeu G, Christensen S, Jaffrain G (2007) Corine land cover change detection in Europe (case studies of the Netherlands and Slovakia). Land Use Policy 24:234–247
Fried G, Petit S, Dessaint F, Reboud X (2009) Arable weed decline in Northern France: crop edges as refugia for weed conservation? Biological Conservation 142:238–243
Gallé L, Margóczi K, Kovács É, Györffy G, Körmöczi L, Németh L (1995) River valleys: Are they ecological corridors? Tiscia 29:53–58
Gallé R, Vesztergom N, Somogyi T (2011) Environmental conditions affecting spiders in grasslands at the lower reach of the River Tisza in Hungary. Entomologica Fennica 22:29–38
Greenberg R, Bichier P, Sterling J (1997) Bird populations in rustic and planted shade coffee plantations of Eastern Chiapas, México. Biotropica 29:501–514
Hamilton MB (1994) Ex situ conservation of wild plant species: time to reassess the genetic assumptions and implications of seed banks. Conservation Biology 8:39–49
Hersperger AM, Bürgi M (2009) Going beyond landscape change description: quantifying the importance of driving forces of landscape change in a Central Europe case study. Land Use Policy 26:640–648
Hoffmans G, Akkerman GJ, Verheij H, van Hoven A, van der Meer J (2008) The erodibility of grassed inner dike slopes against wave overtopping. ASCE, Proc. ICCE 2008, Hamburg:3224–3236
Holz I, Gradstein RS (2005) Cryptogamic epiphytes in primary and recovering upper montane oak forests of Costa Rica – species richness, community composition and ecology. Plant Ecology 178:89–109
Jakab S (1995) Soils of the flood plain of the Mures (Maros) River. Tiscia Monograph Series 1:25–46
Jansson R, Nilsson C, Renofalt B (2000) Fragmentation of riparian floras in rivers with multiple dams. Ecology 81:899–903
Jansson R, Zinko U, Merritt DM, Nilsson C (2005) Hydrochory increases riparian plant species richness: a comparison between a free-flowing and a regulated river. Journal of Ecology 93:1094–1103
Johansson ME, Nilsson C, Nilsson E (1996) Do rivers function as corridors for plant dispersal? Journal of Vegetation Science 7:593–598
Kamp J, Urazaliev R, Donald PF, Hölzel N (2011) Post-Soviet agricultural change predicts future declines after recent recovery in Eurasian steppe bird populations. Biological Conservation 144:2607–2614
Kingsford RT (2000) Ecological impacts of dams, water diversions and river management on floodplain wetlands in Australia. Austral Ecology 25:109–127
Király G (ed) (2009) Új magyar füvészkönyv. Aggteleki Nemzeti Park Igazgatóság, Jósvafő
Kirmer A, Tischew S, Ozinga WA, von Lampe M, Baasch A, Groenendael JM (2008) Importance of regional species pools and functional traits in colonization processes: predicting re-colonization after large-scale destruction of ecosystems. Journal of Applied Ecology 45:1523–1530
Kiss T, Sipos G (2007) Braid-scale channel geometry changes in a sand-bedded river: significance of low stages. Geomorphology 84:209–221
Kovács-Hostyánszki A, Batáry P, Báldi A, Harnos A (2011) Interaction of local and landscape features in the conservation of Hungarian arable weed diversity. Applied Vegetation Science 14:40–48
Kuemmerle T, Müller D, Griffiths P, Rusu M (2009) Land use change in Southern Romania after the collapse of socialism. Regional Environmental Change 9:1–12
Kundzewicz ZW, Ulbrich U, Brücher T, Graczyk D, Krüger A, Leckebusch GC, Menzel L, Pińskwar I, Radziejewski M, Szwed M (2005) Summer floods in Central Europe – Climate change track? Natural Hazards 36:165–189
Láníková D, Lososová Z (2009) Rocks and walls: natural versus secondary habitats. Folia Geobotanica 44:263–280
Le Viol I, Mocq J, Julliard R, Kerbiriou C (2009) The contribution of motorway stormwater retention ponds to the biodiversity of aquatic macroinvertebrates. Biological Conservation 142:3163–3171
Lencová K, Prach K (2011) Restoration of hay meadows on ex-arable land: commercial seed mixtures vs spontaneous succession. Grass and Forage Science 66:265–271
Leyer I (2004) Effects of dykes on plant species composition in a large lowland river floodplain. River Research and Applications 20:813–827
Liebrand CIJM, Sykora KV (1996) Restoration of semi-natural, species-rich grasslands on river dikes after reconstruction. Ecological Engineering 7:315–326
Löki V, Tökölyi J, Süveges K, Lovas-Kiss Á, Hürkan K, Sramkó G, Molnár VA (2015) The orchid flora of Turkish graveyards: a comprehensive field survey. Willdenowia 45:231–243
Lőrinczi G (2011) Density and spatial pattern of nests in sub-Mediterranean ground-dwelling ant communities (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Community Ecology 12:51–57
Lukács BA, Sramkó G, Molnár VA (2013) Plant diversity and conservation value of continental temporary pools. Biological Conservation 158:393–400
Maltby E, Blackwell MSA (2005) Managing riverine environments in the context of new water policy in Europe. International Journal of River Basin Management 3:133–141
Margóczi K, Drăgulescu C, Macalik K, Makra O (2002) Vegetation description of representative habitat complexes along the Maros (Mures) river. Tiscia Monograph Series 6:45–50
Mudelsee M, Börngen M, Tetzlaff G, Grünewald U (2003) No upward trends in the occurrence of extreme floods in central Europe. Nature 425:166–169
Oksanen J, Blanchet FG, Kindt R, Legendre P, Minchin PR, O’Hara RB, Simpson GL, Solymos P, Stevens MHH, Wagner H (2015). vegan: community ecology package. R package version 2.2-1. http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=vegan
Oláh J, Oláh M (1996) Improving landscape nitrogen metabolism in the Hungarian lowlands. Ambio 25:331–335
Polus E, Vandewoestijne S, Choutt J, Baguette M (2007) Tracking the effects of one century of habitat loss and fragmentation on calcareous grassland butterfly communities. Biodiversity and Conservation 16:3423–3436
R Development Core Team (2015) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. http://www.R-projectorg
Reinecke MK, Brown CA, Esler KJ, King JM, Kleynhans MT, Kidd M (2015) Links between lateral vegetation zones and river flow. Wetlands 35:473–486
Renner SC, Waltert M, Mühlenberg M (2006) Comparison of bird communities in primary vs. young secondary tropical montane cloud forest in Guatemala. Biodiversity and Conservation 15:1545–1575
Rooney RC, Carli C, Bayley SE (2013) River connectivity affects submerged and floating aquatic vegetation in floodplain wetlands. Wetlands 33:1165–1177
Sudnik-Wójcikowska B, Moysiyenko II, Zachwatowicz M, Jabłońska E (2011) The value and need for protection of kurgan flora in the anthropogenic landscape of steppe zone in Ukraine. Plant Biosystems 145:638–653
Takács A, Schmotzer A, Jakab G, Deli T, Mesterházy A, Király G, Lukács BA, Balázs B, Perić R, Eliáš P, Sramkó G, Tökölyi J, Molnár VA (2013) Key environmental variables affecting the distribution of Elatine hungarica in the Pannonian Basin. Preslia 85:193–207
Tichý L (2002) JUICE, software for vegetation classification. Journal of Vegetation Science 13:451–453
Timmermann T, Margóczi K, Takács G, Vegelin K (2006) Restoration of peat-forming vegetation by rewetting species-poor fen grasslands. Applied Vegetation Science 9:241–250
Tockner K, Stanford JA (2002) Riverine flood plains: present state and future trends. Environmental Conservation 29:308–330
Torma A, Császár P (2013) Species richness and composition patterns across trophic levels of true bugs (Heteroptera) in the agricultural landscape of the lower reach of the Tisza River Basin. Journal of Insect Conservation 17:35–51
Török P, Kelemen A, Valkó O, Deák B, Lukács B, Tóthmérész B (2011a) Lucerne-dominated fields recover native grass diversity without intensive management actions. Journal of Applied Ecology 48:257–264
Török P, Vida E, Deák B, Lengyel S, Tóthmérész B (2011b) Grassland restoration on former croplands in Europe: an assessment of applicability of techniques and costs. Biodiversity and Conservation 20:2311–2332
Valkó O, Török P, Matus G, Tóthmérész B (2012) Is regular mowing the most appropriate and cost-effective management maintaining diversity and biomass of target forbs in mountain hay meadows? Flora 207:303–309
van Andel T (2001) Floristic composition and diversity of mixed primary and secondary forests in northwest Guyana. Biodiversity and Conservation 10:1645–1682
van Looy K, Honnay O, Bossuyt B, Hermy M (2003) The effects of river embankment and forest fragmentation on the plant species richness and composition of floodplain forests in the Meuse valley, Belgium. Belgian Journal of Botany 136:97–108
Varga K, Dévai G, Tóthmérész B (2013) Land use history of a floodplain area during the last 200 years in the Upper-Tisza region (Hungary). Regional Environmental Change 13:1109–1118
Ward JV, Mallard F, Tockner K (2002) Landscape ecology: a framework for integrating pattern and process in river corridors. Landscape Ecology 17:35–45
Zomeni M, Tzanopoulos J, Pantis JD (2008) Historical analysis of landscape change using remote sensing techniques: an explanatory tool for agricultural transformation in Greek rural areas. Landscape and Urban Planning 86:38–46
Acknowledgments
The research was supported by the HURO/0901/205/2.2.2 project and the TÁMOP-4.2.2/08/1/2008-0008 program of the Hungarian National Development Agency. Péter Ódor was supported by the János Bolyai Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bátori, Z., Körmöczi, L., Zalatnai, M. et al. River Dikes in Agricultural Landscapes: The Importance of Secondary Habitats in Maintaining Landscape-Scale Diversity. Wetlands 36, 251–264 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-016-0734-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-016-0734-y