Re-visiting historical semi-natural grasslands in the Apennines to assess patterns of changes in species composition and functional traits

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60076658%3A12310%2F17%3A43896897" target="_blank" >RIV/60076658:12310/17:43896897 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/60077344:_____/17:00480646 RIV/67985939:_____/17:00480646

Result on the web

<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/avsc.12288/epdf" target="_blank" >http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/avsc.12288/epdf</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12288" target="_blank" >10.1111/avsc.12288</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Re-visiting historical semi-natural grasslands in the Apennines to assess patterns of changes in species composition and functional traits

Original language description

Questions: To what extent have semi-natural grassland plant species composition and functional traits changed during the past five decades? Which are the main directions of change? Which environmental, management and landscape factors have determined these changes? Location: Central and southern Apennines of Italy. Methods: In 2013-2014, we used a stratified random sampling design to revisit 132 semi-natural grasslands originally sampled between 1966 and 1992. The exact locations of the historical plots were not available but they were associated with detailed vegetation maps. Plots were divided in 17 groups based on study area and original community type. To assess changes in species composition we ran PERMANOVA and RDA. The extent of change was estimated by comparing each new plot with the quantitative species pool of the corresponding historical group; species composition changes were calculated using Bray-Curtis coefficient, and shifts in functional traits were quantified as differences in community-weighted means. These measures of change were used as response variables in mixed effects models including climate, topography, management and landscape metrics as explanatory variables. Results: The largest changes were related to successional dynamics, which occurred mainly in grasslands developing at low altitude and in the flattest sites where the soil organic horizon was relatively thick. Colonization by shrubs and trees was facilitated by high soil pH and amount of adjacent forests. Also, management factors affected the patterns of shifts in species composition and functional traits: grazing intensity was negatively related to the degree of compositional change as well as to the abundance of woody species, whereas the increase of species associated with frequent grazing disturbance was found at sites with higher values of soil salinity. Conclusions: Apennine semi-natural grasslands have undergone substantial changes in species composition and functional traits during recent decades. Compositional changesmainly indicated successional dynamics, likely following a decrease in grazing intensity, whereas some more accessible grasslands experienced an increase in disturbance-tolerant species. The combination of the re-visitation approach with functional traits allowed us to clarify different directions of changes in species composition, adding information on the ecological processes related to these changes.

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

10611 - Plant sciences, botany

Project

<a href="/en/project/GA16-15012S" target="_blank" >GA16-15012S: Drivers of communities' temporal stability: the role of functional differences between and within species</a><br>

Continuities

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

Publication year

2017

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

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Volume of the periodical

20

Issue of the periodical within the volume

2

Country of publishing house

US - UNITED STATES

Number of pages

12

Pages from-to

247-258

UT code for WoS article

000398083700010

EID of the result in the Scopus database

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