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Environmental, Spatial and Structural Components in the Composition of Mountain Forest in the Bavarian Alps

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Abstract

A combined systematic and stratified sampling design was conducted in mountain forests of the Bavarian Alps to find the principal dimensions of compositional variation of vegetation and their environmental drivers. In 1,505 plots species composition, forest types and soil profiles were recorded. Data from 14 climate stations were included. As we hypothesized that the tree layer is more influenced by management than the understorey and that the former modifies the habitat of the latter, the two matrices were analysed separately and the species composition of the tree layer was used as a structural predictor variable for the understorey. We applied constrained ordination to reveal the main gradients in floristic composition and variance partitioning to examine the portions of climatic, edaphic, spatial and structural components. Ellenberg indicator values and a generalized linear model were used to test whether a significant spatial gradient exists from east to west, the main spatial extent of the investigation area. Forest types were used as an overlay to assess the underlying environmental factors. It turned out that explained variance of the tree layer was considerably lower than in the understorey. Tree layer composition was more influenced by climatic variables than by soil. In the understorey, edaphic and climatic variables contributed almost equally to explained variance, but the tree layer had an additional explanatory power. No continentality gradient could be detected within the investigation area. Plant communities were well separated along gradients of acidity, moisture, nutrients and climate, which broadly confirms the known gradients for montane and subalpine zonal forests in the region. The study provides a quantitative synthesis of the knowledge on a diverse set of community types, which has so far been subject to disparate and sectorial treatment in the Bavarian Alps.

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Acknowledgments

The research presented here forms part of the project “Forest Information System for the Northern Alps” (www.winalp.info), which was funded by the European Fund for Regional Development (EFRE) within the “INTERREG Bayern – Österreich 2007–2013” programme, the Bavarian Forest Administration and the Bavaria State Forest Enterprise (BaySF). We are indebted to the Bavarian State Institute of Forestry’s “Maps for the future” crew. The digital elevation model was obtained from the Bavarian Topographical Survey (LVG), soil maps were obtained from the Bavarian State Agency for the Environment (LfU), and climate data were obtained from the German Meteorological Service (DWD). We would like to express our thanks to the field teams for collecting the data and anonymous reviewers for valuable and constructive comments that have helped to improve the manuscript consideraby.

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  1. University of Applied Sciences Weihenstephan-Triesdorf, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 3, 85354, Freising, Germany

    Hagen S. Fischer, Barbara Michler & Jörg Ewald

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  1. Hagen S. Fischer
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  2. Barbara Michler
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  3. Jörg Ewald
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Correspondence to Hagen S. Fischer.

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Appendix

Appendix

Abbreviations and full names of species used in ordination diagrams

Tree layer species names: Abiealb: Abies alba; Acerpse: Acer pseudoplatanus; Alnualn: Alnus alnobetula; Alnuglu: Alnus glutinosa; Alnuinc: Alnus incana; Betupen: Betula pendula; Coryave: Corylus avellana; Fagusyl: Fagus sylvatica; Fraxexc: Fraxinus excelsior; Laridec: Larix decidua; Piceabi: Picea abies; Pinucem: Pinus cembra; Pinumu: Pinus mugo agg.; Pinusyl: Pinus sylvestris; Poputre: Populus tremula; Prunavi: Prunus avium; Prunpad: Prunus padus; Querrob: Quercus robur; Salxap: Salix appendiculata agg.; Salxar: Salix arbuscula agg.; Salxcap: Salix caprea; Soruar: Sorbus aria agg.; Soruauc: Sorbus aucuparia; Taxubac: Taxus baccata; Tilipla: Tilia platyphyllos; Ulmugla: Ulmus glabra. Suffix “1”: upper tree layer, suffix “2”: lower tree layer

Understorey species names: Aconnape: Aconitum napellus agg.; Adenglab: Adenostyles glabra; Aegopoda: Aegopodium podagraria; Alnuinca: Alnus incana; Angesylv: Angelica sylvestris; Anthramo: Anthericum ramosum; Asareuro: Asarum europaeum agg.; Asplscol: Asplenium scolopendrium; Astebell: Aster bellidiastrum; Buphsali: Buphthalmum salicifolium; Calavari: Calamagrostis varia; Caltpalu: Caltha palustris; Cardamar: Cardamine amara; Carddefl: Carduus defloratus agg.; Carealba: Carex alba; Careferr: Carex ferruginea agg.; Careflac: Carex flacca; Carehumi: Carex humilis; Careremo: Carex remota; Caresemp: Carex sempervirens agg.; Caresylv: Carex sylvatica; Chaehirs: Chaerophyllum hirsutum; Cirsoler: Cirsium oleraceum; Convmaja: Convallaria majalis; Cornsang: Cornus sanguinea; Coryavel: Corylus avellana; Desccesp: Deschampsia cespitosa agg; Dryocar: Dryopteris carthusiana agg.; Equisylv: Equisetum sylvaticum; Equitelm: Equisetum telmateia; Ericcarn: Erica carnea; Fagusylv: Fagus sylvatica; Festamet: Festuca amethystina; Filiulma: Filipendula ulmaria; Fraxexce: Fraxinus excelsior; Galirotu: Galium rotundifolium; Geumurba: Geum urbanum; Globnudi: Globularia nudicaulis; Hepanobi: Hepatica nobilis; Homoalpi: Homogyne alpina; Impanoli: Impatiens noli-tangere; Lamigale: Lamium galeobdolon agg.; Leonhisp: Leontodon hispidus; Lonixylo: Lonicera xylosteum; Lotucorn: Lotus corniculatus agg.; Luzusylv: Luzula sylvatica; Melinuta: Melica nutans agg.; Mercpere: Mercurialis perennis agg.; Molicaer: Molinia caerulea agg.; Oxalacet: Oxalis acetosella; Phytorbi: Phyteuma orbiculare; Pinusylv: Pinus sylvestris; Polycham: Polygala chamaebuxus; Poteerec: Potentilla erecta; Prenpurp: Prenanthes purpurea; Prunpadu: Prunus padus; Ranupoly: Ranunculus polyanthemos agg.; Rubucory: Rubus corylifolius agg. et fruticosus agg.; Salvglut: Salvia glutinosa; Scabcolu: Scabiosa columbaria agg.; Seslvari: Sesleria varia agg.; Soldalpi: Soldanella alpine; Sorbaria: Sorbus aria agg.; Stacsylv: Stachys sylvatica; Stelnemo: Stellaria nemorum; Ulmglab: Ulmus glabra; Urtidioi: Urtica dioica; Vaccmyrt: Vaccinium myrtillus; Violbifl: Viola biflora.

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Fischer, H.S., Michler, B. & Ewald, J. Environmental, Spatial and Structural Components in the Composition of Mountain Forest in the Bavarian Alps. Folia Geobot 49, 361–384 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12224-013-9185-x

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