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Local and regional-scale factors drive xerophytic shrub community dynamics on Mediterranean stabilized dunes

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Abstract

Aims

The aim of this study was to analyse the main drivers of compositional and distributional changes of xerophytic shrub communities at different spatial scales. We also assess whether the ecological dynamics of these communities comply with the Clementsian and/or Gleasonian paradigms of community assembly.

Methods

We study the influence of environmental variables and human impacts at different scales on three xerophytic scrub communities growing on inland sand dunes. In 70 plots we sampled shrub cover, herb presence, soil characteristics and human disturbance. PCA and NMS were used to describe environmental and species variations. The effects of main drivers were assessed through Mantel tests, taking spatial structure into account. GAMs were used to model the scrub dynamics across environmental gradients.

Results

We found that local and regional environmental factors drive the patchy distribution of the xerophytic scrub communities. The gradient found from Stauracanthus genistoides to Ulex australis-dominated communities depends on nutrient availability, probably through species interactions, namely facilitation and competition. In turn, the gradient from S. genistoides to Juniperus navicularis-dominated communities follows an aridity gradient associated with human disturbance, namely agriculture.

Conclusions

We propose that the three studied scrub communities are the extremes of two successions. The S. genistoides to U. australis-dominated communities’ succession is driven by local edaphic factors, following Clementsian principles while the S. genistoides to Juniperus navicularis-dominated communities’ succession responds to local—disturbance—and regional—aridity—processes, following both Clementsian and Gleasonian principles. This implies that only dynamic management approaches directed to ensure a natural functioning of this landscape can be successful for their long-time preservation.

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Acknowledgments

We thank to Herdades da Comporta, Montalvo and Porches, Campo de Tiro de Alcochete and Companhia das Lezírias for the field sites, and to Portuguese DGT – Direção Geral do Território for the digital orthophoto supply. We thank to two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments and advice. This work was partly funded by the Portuguese FCT project EXPL/BIA-BIC/2311/2013. SC was supported by the FCT PhD grant SFRH/BD/65659/2009, MP by the FCT PhD grant SFRH/BD/28974/2006, and JH by a Spanish DGCyT Ramón y Cajal grant.

Ethical statement

The authors declare that:

  1. i.

    the manuscript has not been submitted to more than one journal for simultaneous consideration,

  2. ii.

    the manuscript has not been published previously, partly or in full

  3. iii.

    no data have been fabricated or manipulated

  4. iv.

    no data, text, or theories by others are presented as if they were the author’s own

  5. v.

    consent to submit has been received explicitly from all co-authors, as well as from the responsible authorities, at the institute/organization where the work has been carried out, before the work is submitted.

  6. vi.

    authors whose names appear on the submission have contributed sufficiently to the scientific work and therefore share collective responsibility and accountability for the results

  7. vii.

    they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biologia Ambiental and Ce3C – Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, Edifício C2, Piso 5, 1749-016, Lisboa, Portugal

    Sergio Chozas, Otília Correia, Miguel Porto & Joaquín Hortal

  2. CIBIO - Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources/InBIO, University of Porto, Vairão, Portugal

    Miguel Porto

  3. Departamento de Biogeografía y Cambio Global, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC), C/José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Sergio Chozas & Joaquín Hortal

Authors
  1. Sergio Chozas
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  2. Otília Correia
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  3. Miguel Porto
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  4. Joaquín Hortal
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Correspondence to Sergio Chozas.

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Responsible Editor: Duncan D. Cameron.

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Chozas, S., Correia, O., Porto, M. et al. Local and regional-scale factors drive xerophytic shrub community dynamics on Mediterranean stabilized dunes. Plant Soil 391, 413–426 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2439-z

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