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Effect of soil characteristics on plant distribution in coastal ecosystems of SW Iberian Peninsula sand spits

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Abstract

Some studies report particular soil conditions occurring on barrier islands and sand spits that contrast with those found on the mainland. The effects of soil characteristics on the distribution of plants established on a sand spit in the SW Iberian Peninsula were evaluated in order to elucidate the mechanisms that drive plant communities in this type of coastal ecosystem, furthering the knowledge regarding plant–soil interactions in this type of coastal ecosystem in comparison with the mainland. Effects of soil characteristics on plant species distribution, abundance, richness, and diversity were analyzed by multivariate analyses and correlation tests, and biotic interactions were also examined. Results revealed that soil pH, electrical conductivity, CaCO3 content, sand mobility (dunes), and flooding (marshes) played an important role in shaping plant communities, while biotic interactions became important only in advanced successional stages. Particularly, CaCO3 content determined general soil basicity in the spit, which favored the establishment of calcicolous species that were absent in the acidic dunes of the nearby mainland, and could reinforce positive biotic interactions in these dunes. In salt marshes, predominantly sandy soils favored the development of upper marsh communities, also favoring positive interactions in some areas, as well as the development of notable dune–marsh ecotones, compared to the muddy marshes that prevail on the mainland.

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Acknowledgments

We thank K. MacMillan for linguistic assistance. Soil analyses were conducted by the Laboratory of Microanalysis of CITIUS (Centro de Investigación, Tecnología e Innovación de la Universidad de Sevilla). This study was partially financed by the Spanish Environmental Department (Dirección General de Costas) (Project Ref. OG-104/02; “Plan para la regeneración y conservación de los sistemas dunares de la flecha litoral de El Rompido”).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, P.O. Box 1095, 41080, Seville, Spain

    Sara Muñoz Vallés, Jesús Cambrollé & Juan B. Gallego-Fernández

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  1. Sara Muñoz Vallés
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  2. Jesús Cambrollé
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  3. Juan B. Gallego-Fernández
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Correspondence to Sara Muñoz Vallés.

Additional information

Communicated by William E. Rogers, Ph.D.

Appendix

Appendix

See Appendix Figs. 5, 6, 7, and Tables 3 and 4.

Fig. 5
figure 5

Species ordination by the Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) of beach and active dune communities. The complete name of the species is showed in Table 4 in the Appendix

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Fig. 6
figure 6

Species ordination by the Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) of dune shrubland and broom thicket communities. The complete name of the species is showed in Table 4 in the Appendix

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Fig. 7
figure 7

Species ordination by the Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) of salt marsh communities. The complete name of the species is showed in Table 4 in the Appendix

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Table 3 Habitats and environmental units defined from previous cartography, developed by the analysis of recent aerial orthophotographs and checking field visits, and regarding both geomorphological and vegetation characteristics
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Table 4 Species included in the Detrended Correspondence Analysis. Short names used in the DCA figures and species accepted names are shown
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Muñoz Vallés, S., Cambrollé, J. & Gallego-Fernández, J.B. Effect of soil characteristics on plant distribution in coastal ecosystems of SW Iberian Peninsula sand spits. Plant Ecol 216, 1551–1570 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-015-0537-x

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