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Environmental thresholds and predictors of macrophyte species richness in aquatic habitats in central Europe

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Abstract

The degradation of habitats and species loss in freshwaters is far greater than in any other ecosystem. The decline in biodiversity has a strong potential to alter the functioning of the ecosystem and the services they provide to human society. Therefore, there is an urgent need for accurate information on patterns and drivers of diversity that could be used in the management of freshwater ecosystems. We present the results of an analysis of the relationships between macrophyte species richness and environmental characteristics using an extensive dataset collected from 160 sites in two central-European bioregions. We modelled macrophyte species richness using recursive partitioning methods to assess the diversity-environmental relationships and to estimate the environmental thresholds of species richness in rivers, streams, ditches and ponds. Several hydrological and chemical variables were identified as significant predictors of macrophyte richness. Among them, pH, conductivity, turbidity and substrate composition appeared as the most important. There is also evidence that natural ponds support a greater number of plant species than man-made ponds. Based on the detected environmental thresholds, we offer a series of simple rules for maintaining higher macrophyte species richness, which is potentially useful in the conservation and management of aquatic habitats in central Europe.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under contract No. APVV-0059-11. This study was also partially funded by the Slovak Scientific Grant Agency (VEGA, project No. 2/0004/11). We are grateful to Ivana Svitková for language editing and comments on an early version of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and General Ecology, Faculty of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Technical University in Zvolen, T. G. Masaryka 24, SK-960 53, Zvolen, Slovakia

    Marek Svitok

  2. Institute of Botany, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, SK-845 23, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Richard Hrivnák, Judita Kochjarová & Helena Oťaheľová

  3. Botanical Garden of Comenius University, detached unit, Blatnica 315, SK-03615, Blatnica, Slovakia

    Judita Kochjarová

  4. Institute of Biological and Ecological Sciences, University of P. J. Šafárik, Mánesova 23, SK-040 01, Košice, Slovakia

    Peter Paľove-Balang

  5. Department of Aquatic Ecology, Centre of Ecology, Evolution and Biogeochemistry, Eawag Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Seestrasse 79, CH-6047, Kastanienbaum, Switzerland

    Marek Svitok

Authors
  1. Marek Svitok
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  2. Richard Hrivnák
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  3. Judita Kochjarová
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  4. Helena Oťaheľová
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  5. Peter Paľove-Balang
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Correspondence to Richard Hrivnák.

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Plant nomenclature Marhold and Hindák (1998)

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Svitok, M., Hrivnák, R., Kochjarová, J. et al. Environmental thresholds and predictors of macrophyte species richness in aquatic habitats in central Europe. Folia Geobot 51, 227–238 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12224-015-9211-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12224-015-9211-2

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