Ecological indicators are numerical values used to characterize the ecological niche optima of species approximating their maximum occurrence along gradients. While indicator values on climatic and edaphic niches of plant species received considerable attention in ecological research, indicator values on species’ optimal positioning along disturbance gradients are less developed. We established five main continuous indicator values for European plants (disturbance severity, disturbance frequency, mowing frequency, grazing pressure and soil disturbance) based on the analysis of 736,366 European vegetation plots using an expert-based characterization of disturbance regimes in 236 habitat types. Disturbance severity and frequency are provided separately for the whole community and the herb layer. We calculated the indicator values as the average of expert-based estimates of disturbance values in all habitat types in which a species occurs, weighted by the number of plots in which the species occurs within a given habitat type. We present a new data set of disturbance indicator values identifying optima along natural and anthropogenic disturbance gradients for 6,382 vascular plant species. In addition, we show how such indicator values can be applied to study plant functional trait responses along disturbance gradients in the European flora and vegetation. The large number of species and the broad geographic extent covered by our data set can stimulate the integration of plant disturbance relationships in the field of plant ecology and European vegetation monitoring and assessment in both local and large scale studies.

Disturbance indicator values for European plants

Corrado Marcenò;
2022

Abstract

Ecological indicators are numerical values used to characterize the ecological niche optima of species approximating their maximum occurrence along gradients. While indicator values on climatic and edaphic niches of plant species received considerable attention in ecological research, indicator values on species’ optimal positioning along disturbance gradients are less developed. We established five main continuous indicator values for European plants (disturbance severity, disturbance frequency, mowing frequency, grazing pressure and soil disturbance) based on the analysis of 736,366 European vegetation plots using an expert-based characterization of disturbance regimes in 236 habitat types. Disturbance severity and frequency are provided separately for the whole community and the herb layer. We calculated the indicator values as the average of expert-based estimates of disturbance values in all habitat types in which a species occurs, weighted by the number of plots in which the species occurs within a given habitat type. We present a new data set of disturbance indicator values identifying optima along natural and anthropogenic disturbance gradients for 6,382 vascular plant species. In addition, we show how such indicator values can be applied to study plant functional trait responses along disturbance gradients in the European flora and vegetation. The large number of species and the broad geographic extent covered by our data set can stimulate the integration of plant disturbance relationships in the field of plant ecology and European vegetation monitoring and assessment in both local and large scale studies.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11391/1529168
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