Central European forest-steppe: An ecosystem shaped by climate, topography and disturbances

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14310%2F22%3A00129147" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14310/22:00129147 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14364" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14364</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14364" target="_blank" >10.1111/jbi.14364</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Central European forest-steppe: An ecosystem shaped by climate, topography and disturbances

Original language description

The occurrence and origin of dry grasslands and their rich biota in the moderately humid Central-European climate have fascinated scientists for over a century. Modern palaeoecological and phylogeographical data support earlier hypotheses that these grasslands are late Pleistocene relicts and can therefore be considered part of the Eurasian forest-steppe biome. However, it is still unclear which factors fostered the maintenance of steppe patches in Central Europe throughout the Holocene. Here, we provide an overview of the main hypotheses, which stress, respectively, the effects of climate, edaphic conditions and disturbances. We then develop a general conceptual framework on how these three factors interact to form forest-steppe mosaics. We thereby emphasize the role of topography as a crucial control on forest-steppe patterns at the landscape scale. Topography is related to several mechanistic drivers that influence vegetation processes, such as near-surface microclimate and soil formation. Consequently, topographic variation allows both forest and steppe patches to occur beyond their macroclimatic niche, favouring the development of forest-steppe mosaics. To illustrate our framework, we demonstrate the interactive effect of macroclimate and topography on the occurrence of steppe patches at 108 selected Central European forest-steppe sites. Although we developed our framework focusing on the current distribution of Central European forest-steppe, we suggest that it contributes to the understanding of similar transitions between temperate forest and steppe biomes in the past as well as elsewhere in the world.

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

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OECD FORD branch

10511 - Environmental sciences (social aspects to be 5.7)

Project

Result was created during the realization of more than one project. More information in the Projects tab.

Continuities

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

Publication year

2022

Confidentiality

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

Name of the periodical

Journal of Biogeography

ISSN

0305-0270

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

49

Issue of the periodical within the volume

6

Country of publishing house

US - UNITED STATES

Number of pages

15

Pages from-to

1006-1020

UT code for WoS article

000783655400001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85129077100