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Vegetation differences caused by pine vole mound building in subalpine plant communities in the Spanish Pyrenees

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Abstract

The influence of mediterranean pine vole (Microtus (Terricola) duodecimcostatus) mound-building activity in two Western Spanish Pyrenees plant communities (Mesobromion erecti and Festucion eskiae-Nardion strictae) were studied. The plants colonizing the gaps in these areas are different in the two cases considered. The plant composition of surrounding plant communities seems to be the main factor in revegetation. Mound-building activity changes the species' relative frequency and life-form spectrum, decreases the monocytyledonous/dicotyledonous ratio and increases diversity by diminishing the presence of dominant plant species.

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Abbreviations

ME:

Mesobromion erecti

FN:

Festucion eskiae-Nardion strictae

(monocots):

Monocotyledonous

(dicots):

Dicotyledonous

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Gómez-Garcia, D., Borghi, C.E. & Giannoni, S.M. Vegetation differences caused by pine vole mound building in subalpine plant communities in the Spanish Pyrenees. Vegetatio 117, 61–67 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00033259

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