Species richness pattern along altitudinal gradient in Central European beech forests

0432828 - BÚ 2015 RIV NL eng J - Journal Article
Hrivnák, R. - Gömöry, D. - Slezák, M. - Ujházy, K. - Hédl, Radim - Jarčuška, B. - Ujházyová, M.
Species richness pattern along altitudinal gradient in Central European beech forests.
Folia Geobotanica. Roč. 49, č. 3 (2014), s. 425-441. ISSN 1211-9520. E-ISSN 1874-9348
Institutional support: RVO:67985939
Keywords : altitude * beech-dominated forest * species richness
Subject RIV: EF - Botanics
Impact factor: 1.778, year: 2014

The unimodal species richness-altitude distribution pattern seems to be universal. To investigate the validity of this phenomenon in homogeneous substrate and vegetation conditions, we sampled beech-dominated forests in five volcanic mountain ranges in the Western Carpathians. European beech (Fagus sylvaticaL.) formed monodominant closed-canopy stands at altitudes from 300 to 1,200 m. Along this gradient, the influence of beech on understory plant species richness was expected to be strong and uniform. The shape of the species richness-altitude relationship was analyzed for three datasets: herb layer, shrub layer, and both layers merged together. Contrary to prediction, the studied species richness-altitude relationship was inversely unimodal, with a minimum at intermediate altitudes.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0237191