Vegetation of the European mountain river gravel bars: A formalized classification

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14310%2F21%3A00118834" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14310/21:00118834 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12542" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12542</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12542" target="_blank" >10.1111/avsc.12542</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Vegetation of the European mountain river gravel bars: A formalized classification

Original language description

Aims River gravel bars are endangered habitats in Europe. However, classification schemes of their vegetation and habitat types differ among European countries, and they are even ignored in some national schemes. This causes problems in conservation planning, monitoring and management. Hence we aimed at building the first unified vegetation classification for river gravel-bar habitats across European mountain systems. Location Europe. Methods In total 4,769 vegetation plot records of river gravel-bar plant communities were collected from national, regional or private databases, digitized from the literature and newly collected in the field. A hierarchical classification expert system with formal definitions of vegetation types was created. The definitions combined the criteria of presence or cover of groups of species with similar ecology or single species narrowly specialized to a particular gravel-bar habitat. The TWINSPAN classification was applied to early-successional vegetation types to check whether the classification based on formal definitions was supported by the results of unsupervised classification. Similarity patterns among vegetation types were visualized using the detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) ordination. Results Early-successional and scrub gravel-bar vegetation types were respectively classified into two classes: Thlaspietea rotundifolii and Salicetea purpureae. Eleven associations and four alliances (Calamagrostion pseudophragmitae, Epilobion fleischeri, Salicion cantabricae and Salicion eleagno-daphnoidis) were defined formally. Based on a critical revision, some associations or alliances defined in the previous literature were merged or discarded. The main gradient in variability within the gravel-bar vegetation is connected with the altitudinal gradient, biogeographical variation, local hydromorphological processes and various successional changes. Conclusions The first unified and formalized classification system of the European mountain river gravel-bar vegetation was created, and species composition, ecology and distribution of these types were characterized. The syntaxonomical nomenclature of these types was checked and revised. This study provides a base for conservation planning of these threatened and rapidly disappearing habitats.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10611 - Plant sciences, botany

Project

<a href="/en/project/GX19-28491X" target="_blank" >GX19-28491X: Centre for European Vegetation Syntheses (CEVS)</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2021

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Applied Vegetation Science

ISSN

1402-2001

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

24

Issue of the periodical within the volume

1

Country of publishing house

US - UNITED STATES

Number of pages

27

Pages from-to

„e12542“

UT code for WoS article

000603152900001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85098184578