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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Species–area relationships in continuous vegetation: Evidence from Palaearctic grasslands
Journal of Biogeography, Volume 47, No. 1, Year 2020
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Description
Aim: Species–area relationships (SARs) are fundamental scaling laws in ecology although their shape is still disputed. At larger areas, power laws best represent SARs. Yet, it remains unclear whether SARs follow other shapes at finer spatial grains in continuous vegetation. We asked which function describes SARs best at small grains and explored how sampling methodology or the environment influence SAR shape. Location: Palaearctic grasslands and other non-forested habitats. Taxa: Vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens. Methods: We used the GrassPlot database, containing standardized vegetation-plot data from vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens spanning a wide range of grassland types throughout the Palaearctic and including 2,057 nested-plot series with at least seven grain sizes ranging from 1 cm2 to 1,024 m2. Using nonlinear regression, we assessed the appropriateness of different SAR functions (power, power quadratic, power breakpoint, logarithmic, Michaelis–Menten). Based on AICc, we tested whether the ranking of functions differed among taxonomic groups, methodological settings, biomes or vegetation types. Results: The power function was the most suitable function across the studied taxonomic groups. The superiority of this function increased from lichens to bryophytes to vascular plants to all three taxonomic groups together. The sampling method was highly influential as rooted presence sampling decreased the performance of the power function. By contrast, biome and vegetation type had practically no influence on the superiority of the power law. Main conclusions: We conclude that SARs of sessile organisms at smaller spatial grains are best approximated by a power function. This coincides with several other comprehensive studies of SARs at different grain sizes and for different taxa, thus supporting the general appropriateness of the power function for modelling species diversity over a wide range of grain sizes. The poor performance of the Michaelis–Menten function demonstrates that richness within plant communities generally does not approach any saturation, thus calling into question the concept of minimal area. © 2019 The Authors. Journal of Biogeography published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Authors & Co-Authors
Dengler, Jürgen
Germany, Bayreuth
Universität Bayreuth
Switzerland, Winterthur
Zhaw Zurich University of Applied Sciences
Germany, Leipzig
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Idiv Halle-jena-leipzig
Matthews, Thomas J.
United Kingdom, Birmingham
University of Birmingham
Portugal, Ponta Delgada
Universidade Dos Açores
Wolfrum, Sebastian
Germany, Munich
Technische Universität München
Boch, Steffen
Switzerland, Birmensdorf
Eidgenössische Forschungsanstalt Für Wald, Schnee Und Landschaft Wsl
Chiarucci, Alessandro
Italy, Bologna
Alma Mater Studiorum Università Di Bologna
Conradi, Timo
Germany, Bayreuth
Universität Bayreuth
Dembicz, Iwona
Poland, Warsaw
University of Warsaw
Poland, Warszawa
Polish Academy of Sciences
Marcenò, Corrado
Spain, Leioa
Universidad Del Pais Vasco
Spain, Madrid
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
García-Mijangos, Itziar
Spain, Leioa
Universidad Del Pais Vasco
Nowak, Arkadiusz Sebastian
Poland, Warszawa
Polish Academy of Sciences
Poland, Opole
Uniwersytet Opolski
Storch, David
Czech Republic, Prague
Charles University
Ulrich, Werner
Poland, Torun
Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu
Campos, Juan Antonio
Spain, Leioa
Universidad Del Pais Vasco
Carboni, Marta
Canada, Toronto
University of Toronto
Ciaschetti, Giampiero
Unknown Affiliation
de Frenne, Pieter
Belgium, Ghent
Universiteit Gent
Doležal, Jiří
Czech Republic, Prague
Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
Czech Republic, Ceske Budejovice
Jihočeská Univerzita V Českých Budějovicích
Essl, Franz
Austria, Vienna
Universität Wien
Filibeck, Goffredo
Italy, Viterbo
Università Degli Studi Della Tuscia Viterbo
Grytnes, John Arvid
Norway, Bergen
Universitetet I Bergen
Guarino, Riccardo
Italy, Palermo
Università Degli Studi Di Palermo
Janišová, Monika
Slovakia, Bratislava
Slovak Academy of Sciences
Kozub, Łukasz
Poland, Warsaw
University of Warsaw
Kuzemko, Anna A.
Ukraine, Kyiv
National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
Peet, Robert K.
United States, Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Pielech, Remigiusz
Poland, Krakow
Uniwersytet Rolniczy Im. Hugona Kołłątaja w Krakowie
Terzi, Massimo
Italy, Rome
Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche
Valkó, Orsolya
Unknown Affiliation
Vynokurov, Denys S.
Ukraine, Kyiv
National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
White, Hannah J.
Ireland, Dublin
University College Dublin
Winkler, Manuela
Austria, Vienna
Universitat Fur Bodenkultur Wien
Austria, Vienna
Osterreichische Akademie Der Wissenschaften
Biurrun, Idoia
Spain, Leioa
Universidad Del Pais Vasco
Statistics
Citations: 42
Authors: 32
Affiliations: 41
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1111/jbi.13697
ISSN:
03050270
Study Approach
Qualitative