Unraveling the Influences of Edaphic and Topographic Factors on High-Mountain Plant Communities: first results from the MO.MO.ME. Project

The Project ‘Monitoring Network for Studying the Effects of Climate Change on Mediterranean High-Mountain Grasslands in Natura2000 Sites (MO.MO.ME.)’ aims at analyzing the differences in plant communities, microclimate, and topography across various study areas. The main goal is to improve understanding of the biotic and abiotic factors regulating the assembly of high-mountain communities, focusing on the functional and structural dynamics of Mediterranean grasslands. We present the first results of our analysis focused on the role of edaphic and topographic gradients on vegetation patterns above 1900 m a.s.l. on Pizzo Carbonara (Madonie Mountains, Northern Sicily), a carbonate massif shaped by karst erosion, resulting in a system of sinkholes and windy ridges across the summit plateau. We sampled 42 vegetation plots, georeferenced using sub-metric GPS. Various topographic variables were derived from Sicily’s regional technical map (2 m resolution) using QGIS. Additionally, chemical and biochemical soil parameters were analyzed for each plot. Plant species were classified into three life-form groups: chamaephytes, hemicryptophytes, and therophytes. Data were analyzed using three response variables: species richness, vegetation cover, and species composition. For the first two, we applied a Generalized Linear Model (GLM), while compositional data were processed using distance-based redundancy analysis (db-RDA) with variation partitioning. The results indicate that life forms are differentially filtered by edaphic and topographic variables. The topographic factors influence the relative performance of co-occurring vascular plant species, shaping the structure and composition of local plant communities