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Variation in habitat factors and species composition of Scorpidium scorpioides communities in NW-Europe

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Abstract

To assess the natural range in habitat parameters of the once common rich-fen bryophyte Scorpidium scorpioides, water chemistry and vegetation were studied in different regions characteristic of its NW-European distribution area: the Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark and Fennoscandia. Scorpidium scorpioides was found in an environment with circumneutral pH. The variation in solute content and composition was large and nutrient (N and P) concentrations ranged from zero to values indicative of more eutrophic conditions. Six different vegetation types with S. scorpioides were distinguished, resembling Caricion davallianae, Caricion curto-nigrae and Hydrocotylo-Baldellion communities. Type of substrate and solute levels were strongly correlated with the first ordination axis (DCA) and nutrient status and geographic position with the second axis. Habitat and vegetation characteristics in Dutch rich-fens with S. scorpioides indicated that mineral status was higher than in Fennoscandia and Ireland; solute-poor habitats with S. scorpioides have disappeared from the Netherlands. Trophic status was higher in the Netherlands than in Fennoscandia, but in some cases lower than in Ireland. Acidification and eutrophication may have played a role in the decrease of the species in the Netherlands. However, the wide ecological ranges suggest that the decrease of S. scorpioides is not a physiological effect of unsuitable environmental conditions per se.

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Author notes

  1. A. M. Kooijman

    Present address: Department of Physical Geography and Soil Science, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Prinsengracht 130, 1018 VZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Utrecht, P.O. Box 800.84, 3508 TB, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    A. M. Kooijman & V. Westhoff

  2. P.O. Box 64, 6560 AB, Groesbeek, The Netherlands

    V. Westhoff

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  1. A. M. Kooijman
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  2. V. Westhoff
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Kooijman, A.M., Westhoff, V. Variation in habitat factors and species composition of Scorpidium scorpioides communities in NW-Europe. Vegetatio 117, 133–150 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00045505

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