Calcareous forest seepages acting as biodiversity hotspots and refugia for woodland snail faunas

Kód výsledku v IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14310%2F17%3A00094941" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14310/17:00094941 - isvavai.cz</a>

Výsledek na webu

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2017.05.006" target="_blank" >http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2017.05.006</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2017.05.006" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.actao.2017.05.006</a>

Jazyk výsledku

angličtina

Název v původním jazyce

Calcareous forest seepages acting as biodiversity hotspots and refugia for woodland snail faunas

Popis výsledku v původním jazyce

Land-snail species richness has repeatedly been found to increase with the increasing site calcium content and humidity. These two factors, reported as the main drivers of land-snail assemblage diversity, are also among the main habitat characteristics of calcareous seepages. Here we explore local species richness and compositional variation of forest spring-fed patches (i.e. seepages), to test the hypothesis that these habitats might act as biodiversity hotspots and refugia of regional snail faunas. In contrast to treeless spring fens, only little is known about land snail faunas inhabiting forest seepages. Studying 25 isolated calcareous forest seepages, evenly distributed across the White Carpathians Protected Landscape Area (SE Czech Republic), we found that these sites, albeit spatially very limited, can harbour up to 66% of the shelled land-snail species known to occur in this well-explored protected area (in total 83 species). By comparing land snail assemblages of the studied seepages with those occurring in the woodland surroundings of each site as well as those previously sampled in 28 preserved forest sites within the study area, we found the seepages to be among the most species rich sites. Although the numbers of species did not statistically differ among these three systems, we found highly significant differences in species composition. Seepage faunas were composed of many species significantly associated with spring sites, in contrast to the assemblages of both surrounding and preserved forest sites. Our results highly support the hypothesis that calcareous forest seepages might serve as refugia and biodiversity hotspots of regional land snail faunas. Protection of these unique habitats challenges both conservation plans and forest management guidelines as they might act as sources for the recolonization and restoration of forest snail assemblages particularly in areas impoverished by harvesting and clearcutting.

Název v anglickém jazyce

Calcareous forest seepages acting as biodiversity hotspots and refugia for woodland snail faunas

Popis výsledku anglicky

Land-snail species richness has repeatedly been found to increase with the increasing site calcium content and humidity. These two factors, reported as the main drivers of land-snail assemblage diversity, are also among the main habitat characteristics of calcareous seepages. Here we explore local species richness and compositional variation of forest spring-fed patches (i.e. seepages), to test the hypothesis that these habitats might act as biodiversity hotspots and refugia of regional snail faunas. In contrast to treeless spring fens, only little is known about land snail faunas inhabiting forest seepages. Studying 25 isolated calcareous forest seepages, evenly distributed across the White Carpathians Protected Landscape Area (SE Czech Republic), we found that these sites, albeit spatially very limited, can harbour up to 66% of the shelled land-snail species known to occur in this well-explored protected area (in total 83 species). By comparing land snail assemblages of the studied seepages with those occurring in the woodland surroundings of each site as well as those previously sampled in 28 preserved forest sites within the study area, we found the seepages to be among the most species rich sites. Although the numbers of species did not statistically differ among these three systems, we found highly significant differences in species composition. Seepage faunas were composed of many species significantly associated with spring sites, in contrast to the assemblages of both surrounding and preserved forest sites. Our results highly support the hypothesis that calcareous forest seepages might serve as refugia and biodiversity hotspots of regional land snail faunas. Protection of these unique habitats challenges both conservation plans and forest management guidelines as they might act as sources for the recolonization and restoration of forest snail assemblages particularly in areas impoverished by harvesting and clearcutting.

Druh

J_imp - Článek v periodiku v databázi Web of Science

CEP obor

—

OECD FORD obor

10600 - Biological sciences

Projekt

<a href="/cs/project/GA17-05696S" target="_blank" >GA17-05696S: Holocenní vývoj evropské bioty mírného pásu: vlivy klimatu, refugií a lokálních faktorů testované na komplexních datech nezávislých proxy</a><br>

Návaznosti

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

Rok uplatnění

2017

Kód důvěrnosti údajů

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

Název periodika

ACTA OECOLOGICA-INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY

ISSN

1146-609X

e-ISSN

—

Svazek periodika

82

Číslo periodika v rámci svazku

January

Stát vydavatele periodika

FR - Francouzská republika

Počet stran výsledku

7

Strana od-do

16-22

Kód UT WoS článku

000405045200003

EID výsledku v databázi Scopus

—