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Factors influencing the spatial distribution of forest plant species in hedgerows of North-western Germany

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Abstract

In North-western Germany woodland fragmentation has caused a decline in many forest plant species. Hedgerows partly offer a similar environment as forests and have been identified as potential habitats for forest plants in various studies from North America and Western Europe. The objective of this study was to examine whether this applies also to Central Europe and which variables affect the spatial distribution and abundance of forest plant species in hedgerows on a local scale. Three hedgerow networks north of the city of Bremen, Germany, were selected as study areas and divided into totally 515 hedgerow segments. In each segment we recorded all vascular plants and a large number of explanatory variables relating to structure, spatial configuration, environment and management. Averaged across species there was a predominant effect of environmental factors on the occurrence of forest species in the hedgerows, followed by spatial configuration and management. Hedgerow structure was found to be less important. In general, forest species were favored by low nutrient and light availability as well as high connectivity with other hedgerows or forest; they avoided hedgerows with a west-easterly orientation and an adjacent land use in the form of fields or grasslands. Forest species found and not found in hedgerows did not differ in their environmental preferences or life history traits. The number of threatened forest species in the hedgerows, however, was lower than expected with respect to their overall proportion to the total number of forest species in the region.

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Abbreviations

hFint :

Herbaceous species preferring the forest interior

hFedge :

Herbaceous species preferring forest edges and gaps

ENV:

Variable group environment

MAN:

Variable group management

SPA:

Variable group spatial configuration

STR:

Variable group structure

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the grant to S.W. from the German Federal Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, DBU). Detlev Metzing provided the floristic mapping data for the study region. We also thank our colleagues at the University of Bremen for advice and assistance.

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  1. Vegetation Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Bremen, Leobener Str., 28359, Bremen, Germany

    Stephan Wehling & Martin Diekmann

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  1. Stephan Wehling
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  2. Martin Diekmann
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Correspondence to Stephan Wehling.

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Wehling, S., Diekmann, M. Factors influencing the spatial distribution of forest plant species in hedgerows of North-western Germany. Biodivers Conserv 17, 2799–2813 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-007-9294-z

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