Plant diversity, biogeography and environment in Iberia: Patterns and possible causal factors
Identifiers
Permanent link (URI): http://hdl.handle.net/10017/23039DOI: 10.1111/j.1654-1103.2002.tb02045.x
ISSN: 1100-9233
Publisher
Wiley
Date
2002Academic Departments
Universidad de Alcalá. Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida
Teaching unit
Unidad Docente Ecología
Funders
We are deeply indebted to Íñigo Vázquez-
Dodero for his assistance in the early stages of this study. Jose
M. Rey Arnaiz provided climate data. Emilio Chuvieco pro-
vided the remote sensing data. Julio Álvarez, Javier Amigo,
Carmen Bartolomé, and Marcelino de la Cruz provided useful
information for finding data sets. Manuel Segura and Javier
Temiño assisted with the classification of bedrock and soil
types. Diana Piorno, Carmen Pineda, and Francisco Bermejo
assisted with data entry. Meelis Pärtel, Mike Willig, Brad
Hawkins, Sandra Lavorel, Jane Franklin, and R.M. Cowling
provided comments about a previous version of this manu-
script. This study was funded by the “Determinantes de la
diversidad biológica en ecosistemas mediterráneos. Papel de
los procesos locales y regionales” project (CICYT AMB96-
1161), and additionally supported by the ”Factores limitantes
de la revegetación con especies leñosas autóctonas de áreas
degradadas en ambientes mediterráneos. Rendimiento de
distintas actuaciones de manejo” project (CICYT REN 2000
745). Travel by J.M.R.B. and S.M.S. was funded by the
Universidad de Alcalá. The views expressed in this paper do
not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Founda-
tion or the United States Government
Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología
Bibliographic citation
Journal of Vegetation Science, 2002, v. 13, n. 2, p. 245-258
Keywords
Available energy
Community type
Environmental heterogeneity
Global change
Mosaic diversity
Resource
Scale
Soil type
Species richness
Transition zone
Description / Notes
Las figuras que contiene el documento se localizan al final del mismo
Project
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/CICYT//AMB96-1161/ES/Determinantes de la diversidad biológica en ecosistemas mediterráneos. Papel de los procesos locales y regionales
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MICYT//REN2000–0745/ES/FACTORES LIMITANTES DE LA REVEGETACIÓN CON ESPECIES LEÑOSAS AUTÓCTONAS DE ÁREAS DEGRADADAS EN AMBIENTES MEDITERRÁNEOS. RENDIMIENTO DE DISTINTAS ACTUACIONES DE MANEJO
Document type
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Version
info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion
Publisher's version
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2002.tb02045.xRights
Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 3.0 España
(c) The International Association of Vegetation Science, 2002
Access rights
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Abstract
We associated patterns of plant diversity with pos-
sible causal factors by considering 93 local regions in the
Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands with respect to biogeo-
graphy, environmental favourability, and environmental hetero-
geneity, and their relationship with measured species diversity
at four different scales: mean local species richness standard-
ized at a grain of 100 m
2
, total species richness in a community
type within a region (regional community richness), mean
compositional similarity, and mosaic diversity.
Local regions in biogeographic transition zones to the
North African and Atlantic floras had higher regional commu-
nity richness and greater mosaic diversity than did non-transi-
tional regions, whereas no differences existed in mean local
species richness or mean compositional similarity. Mean local
species richness was positively related to environmental fa-
vourability as measured by actual evapotranspiration, but
negatively related to total precipitation and temporal heteroge-
neity in precipitation. Mean local species richness was great-
est in annual grassland and dwarf shrubland communities, and
on calcareous bedrock types. Regional community richness
was similarly related to actual evapotranspiration and total
precipitation, but in addition was positively related to spatial
heterogeneity in topography and soil water holding capacity.
Mean compositional similarity decreased with increasing spa-
tial heterogeneity and temperature seasonality. Mosaic diver-
sity, a measure of complexity, increased with increasing local
and regional richness.
We hypothesize that these relationships can be explained
by four ecological and evolutionary classes of causal factors:
nu
mbers of individuals, intermediate environments, limits to
adaptation, and niche variation. These factors operate at various
scales and manifest themselves in various ways. For example, at
the site level, apparently processes that increase the number of
individuals increase mean local species richness, but at the level
of the entire region no such effects were found
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