Abstract
Spatial patterns of vascular plant diversity were studied in an unmanaged temperate forest in northern Spain. Diversity in 102 plots of 400 m2 was analyzed against environmental and spatial variables. The Principal Coordinates of Neighbor Matrices method was used to create spatial variables that represent spatial structures on multiple scales. Variation partitioning on multiple regression was used to discover pure environmental and spatial fractions and their joint effects on diversity. Additionally, we created maps of the response and some explanatory variables to interpret their patterns. The results show that diversity is heterogeneously distributed in the basin and is explained mainly by environmental factors. Leaf litter cover proved the most important environmental factor. The spatial variables play an important role in structuring the environment but the low amount of variance explained by these when the effect of the environment is removed points to the lesser importance of neighborhood relations to the distribution of diversity values.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bellier E, Monestiez P, Durbec J-P, Candau J-N (2007) Identifying spatial relationships at multiple scales: principal coordinates of neighbour matrices (PCNM) and geostatistical approaches. Ecography 30:385–399
Borcard D, Legendre P (2002) All-scale spatial analysis of ecological data by means of principal coordinates of neighbour matrices. Ecol Model 153:51–68
Borcard D, Legendre P (2004) SpaceMaker2. Version for Windows. Département des Sciences Biologiques, Université de Montreal. Available online http://www.bio.umontreal.ca/casgrain/en/labo/spacemaker.html. Accessed 05 Nov 2008
Borcard D, Legendre P, Drapeau P (1992) Partialling out the spatial component of ecological variation. Ecology 73:1045–1055
Borcard D, Legendre P, Avois-Jacquet C, Tuomisto H (2004) Dissecting the spatial structure of ecological data at multiple scales. Ecology 85:1826–1832
Borchsenius F, Nielsen PK, Lawesson JE (2004) Vegetation structure and diversity of an ancient temperate deciduous forest in SW Denmark. Plant Ecol 175:121–135
Brind’ Amour A, Boisclair D, Legendre P, Borcard D (2005) Multiscale spatial distribution of a littoral fish community in relation to environmental variables. Limnol Oceanogr 50:465–479
Brunet J, von Oheimb G (1998) Migration of vascular plants to secondary woodlands in Southern Sweden. J Ecol 86:429–438
Brunet J, von Oheimb G, Diekmann M (2000) Factors influencing vegetation gradients across ancient-recent woodland borderlines in southern Sweden. J Veg Sci 11:515–524
Diekmann M, Eilertsen O, Fremstad E, Lawesson JE, Aude E (1999) Beech forest communities in the Nordic countries—a multivariate analysis. Plant Ecol 140:203–220
Dray S, Legendre P, Peres-Neto PR (2006) Spatial modelling: a comprehensive framework for principal coordinate analysis of neighbour matrices (PCNM). Ecol Modell 196:483–493
Dufour A, Gadallah F, Wagner HH, Guisan A, Buttler A (2006) Plant species richness and environmental heterogeneity in a mountain landscape: effects of variability and spatial configuration. Ecography 29:573–584
Eriksson O (1995) Seedling recruitment in deciduous forest herbs: the effect of litter, soil chemistry and seed bank. Flora 190:65–70
Estevan H, Lloret F, Vayreda J, Terradas J (2007) Determinants of woody species richness in Scot pine and beech forests: climate, forest patch size and forest structure. Acta Oecol 31:325–331
Facelli JM, Pickett STA (1991a) Plant litter: its dynamics and effects on plant community structure. Bot Rev 57:1–32
Facelli JM, Pickett STA (1991b) Plant litter: light interception and effects on an old-field plant community. Ecology 72:1024–1031
Franklin JF (1993) Preserving biodiversity: species, ecosystems or landscapes? Ecol Appl 3:202–205
Gálhidy L, Mihók B, Hagyó A, Rajkai K, Standovár T (2006) Effects of gap size and associated changes in light and soil moisture on the understorey vegetation of a Hungarian beech forest. Plant Ecol 183:133–145
Gobierno de Navarra (1995) Mapa geológico 1:25.000, hoja 90-II. Available online http://www.navarra.es/appsext/tiendacartografia/. Accessed 05 Nov 2008
Gobierno de Navarra (2004) Mapa topográfico 1:5.000, hoja 90 1-6. Available online http://www.navarra.es/appsext/tiendacartografia/. Accessed 05 Nov 2008
Gobierno de Navarra (2008) Meteorología y climatología de Navarra. Available online http://meteo.navarra.es. Accessed 05 Nov 2008
Graae BJ, Heskjaer VS (1997) A comparison of understorey vegetation between untouched and managed deciduous forest in Denmark. For Ecol Manag 96:111–123
Graae BJ, Okland RH, Petersen PM, Jensen K, Fritzboger B (2004) Influence of historical, geographical and environmental variables on understorey composition and richness in Danish forests. J Veg Sci 15:465–474
Gracia M, Montané F, Piqué J, Retana J (2007) Overstory structure and topographic gradients determining diversity and abundance of understory shrub species in temperate forests in central Pyrenees (NE Spain). For Ecol Manag 242:391–397
Gurevitch J, Scheiner SM, Fox GA (2006) The ecology of plants, 2nd edn. Sinauer Associates Inc, Sunderland
Houle G (2007) Determinants of fine-scale plant species richness in a deciduous forest of northeastern North America. J Veg Sci 18:345–354
Keddy PA (1992) Assembly and response rules: two goals for predictive community ecology. J Veg Sci 3:157–164
Kolb A, Diekmann M (2004) Effects of environment, habitat configuration and forest continuity on the distribution of forest plant species. J Veg Sci 15:199–208
Laskurain NA, Escudero A, Olano JM, Loidi J (2004) Seedling dynamics of shrubs in a fully closed temperate forest: greater than expected. Ecography 27:650–658
Legendre P (1993) Spatial autocorrelation: trouble or new paradigm? Ecology 74:1659–1673
Lobo JM, Castro I, Moreno JC (2001) Spatial and environmental determinant of vascular plant species richness distribution in the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands. Biol J Linn Soc 73:233–253
Lumley T (2008) Leaps: regression subset selection including exhaustive search. Available online http://www.R-project.org of subordinate document. Accessed 05 Nov 2008
Oksanen J, Kindt R, Legendre P, O’Hara RB (2007) vegan: community ecology package, version 1.8–5. Available online http://www.R-project.org of subordinate document. Accessed 05 Nov 2008
Onaindia M, Dominguez I, Albizu I, Garbisu C, Amezaga I (2004) Vegetation diversity and vertical structure as indicators of forest disturbance. For Ecol Manag 195:341–354
Peterson CJ, Pickett STA (1995) Forest reorganization: a case study in an old-growth forest catastrophic blowdown. Ecology 76:763–774
Pickett STA, Collins SL, Armesto JJ (1987) Models, mechanisms and pathways of succession. Bot Rev 53:335–371
R Development Core Team (2007) R: a language and environment for statistical computing, version 2.7.2. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna. Available online http://www.R-project.org. Accessed 05 Nov 2008
Rozas V (2006) Structural heterogeneity and tree spatial patterns in an old-growth deciduous lowland forest in Cantabria, northern Spain. Plant Ecol 185:57–72
Schimpf DJ, Danz NP (1999) Light passage through leaf litter: variation among northern hardwood trees. Agric For Meteorol 97:103–111
Soriano C, Gastón A, Bariego P, Herrero B, Ampudia M (2005) Seguimiento de la vegetación en los bosques. Aplicación a la Red Europea de Seguimiento Intensivo y Continuo de Ecosistemas Forestales. Organismo Autónomo de Parques Nacionales. Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Madrid
Staelens J, Nachtergale L, Luyssaert S, Lust N (2003) A model of wind-influenced leaf litterfall in a mixed hardwood forest. Can J For Res 33:201–209
van der Maarel E (1979) Transformation of cover-abundance values in phytosociology and its effect on community similarity. Vegetatio 39:97–114
von Oheimb G, Friedel A, Bertsch A, Härdtle W (2007) The effects of windthrow on plant species richness in a Central European beech forest. Plant Ecol 191:47–65
Westhoff V, van der Maarel E (1973) The Braun-Blanquet approach. In: Whittaker RH (ed) Ordination and classification of communities. Handbook of vegetation science. Junk, Den Haag, pp 617–726
Whittaker RH (1972) Evolution and measurement of species diversity. Taxon 21:213–251
Willis KJ, Whittaker RJ (2002) Species diversity-scale matters. Science 295:1245–1248
Wilsey BJ, Chalcraft DR, Bowles CM, Willig MR (2005) Relationships among indices suggests that richness is an incomplete surrogate for grassland biodiversity. Ecology 86:1178–1184
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the Departmento de Desarrollo Rural y Medio Ambiente del Gobierno de Navarra and the Parque Natural “Señorío de Bértiz” for allowing the research. The research was supported by funding projects from Fundación Caja Navarra (programa “Tú eliges, Tú decides”) and Fundación Universitaria de Navarra, and a predoctoral grant from the Asociación de Amigos de la Universidad de Navarra to Antonio Gazol.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gazol, A., Ibáñez, R. Variation of plant diversity in a temperate unmanaged forest in northern Spain: behind the environmental and spatial explanation. Plant Ecol 207, 1–11 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-009-9649-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-009-9649-5