Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Exploring the drivers of vascular plant richness at very fine spatial scale in sub-Mediterranean limestone grasslands (Central Apennines, Italy)

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Biodiversity and Conservation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Secondary dry grasslands in Europe can host high levels of vascular plant richness at small spatial scales. However, in Southern Europe their biodiversity patterns are largely unexplored. In this work, we aim at: (i) estimating plant species richness patterns at very fine scales in montane dry grasslands, on limestone bedrock, in Abruzzo Lazio and Molise National Park (Central Apennines, Italy); (ii) assessing the most important physical and edaphic drivers of biodiversity patterns at multiple plot sizes. We used randomly placed nested-plot series where we measured alpha-diversity at three different plot sizes (1 m2, 0.1 m2 and 0.01 m2) and within-plot beta-diversity (as expressed by the slope of the species-area curve across plot sizes). Variable selection was performed by means of Random Forests. Relationships between selected variables and diversity measures were then assessed using Regression Trees, Linear and Generalized Linear Models. Overall, results pointed to topographically-controlled edaphic factors (soil pH and silt fraction) as the main drivers positively influencing alpha-diversity at all spatial scales, with a positive effect of rock cover and slope inclination at smaller spatial grains. Beta-diversity was positively influenced by rock cover. We suggest that high-pH, steep and/or rocky sites feature higher species richness because they lack competitive grass species. Our results are in agreement with previous works underlining the importance of less productive habitats for the conservation of secondary grassland biodiversity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Al-Mufti MM, Sydes CL, Furness SB, Grime JP, Band SR (1977) Quantitative analysis of shoot phenology and dominance in herbaceous vegetation. J Ecol 65:759–791

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amici V, Santi E, Filibeck G, Diekmann M, Geri F, Landi S, Scoppola A, Chiarucci A (2013) Influence of secondary forest succession on plant diversity patterns in a Mediterranean landscape. J Biogeogr 40:2335–2347

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Apostolova I, Dengler J, Di Pietro R, Gavilán RG, Tsiripidis I (2014) Dry grasslands of Southern Europe: syntaxonomy, management and conservation. Hacquetia 13:1–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Araya YN, Silvertown J, Gowing DJ, McConway KJ, Peter Linder H, Midgley G (2011) A fundamental, eco-hydrological basis for niche segregation in plant communities. New Phytol 189:253–258

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Arrhenius O (1921) Species and area. J Ecol 9:95–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Auestad I, Rydgren K, Økland RH (2008) Scale-dependence of vegetation-environment relationships in semi-natural grasslands. J Veg Sci 19:139–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barabesi L, Franceschi S, Marcheselli M (2012) Properties of design-based estimation under stratified spatial sampling with application to canopy coverage estimation. Ann Appl Stat 6:210–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barbosa AM, Brown JA, Jimenez-Valverde A, Real R (2016) modEvA: model Evaluation and Analysis. R package version 1.3.2. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=modEvA

  • Barker G, Grant A, Beavitt P, Christie N, Giorgi J, Hoare P, Leggio T, Migliavacca M (1991) Ancient and modern pastoralism in central Italy: an interdisciplinary study in the Cicolano mountains. Papers Br School Rome 59:15–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bátori Z, Vojtkó A, Farkas T, Szabó A, Havadtői K, Vojtkó AE, Tölgyesi C, Cseh V, ErdősL Maák I, Keppel G (2017) Large- and small -scale environmental factors drive distributions of cool-adapted plants in karstic microrefugia. Ann Bot 119:301–330

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baumann E, Weiser F, Chiarucci A, Jentsch A, Dengler J (2016) Diversity and functional composition of alpine grasslands along an elevational transect in the Gran Paradiso National Park (NW Italy). Tuexenia 36:337–358

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennie J, Hill MO, Baxter R, Huntley B (2006) Influence of slope and aspect on long-term vegetation change in British chalk grasslands. J Ecol 94:355–368

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bigi G, Colacicchi R, Damiani AV, D’Andrea M, Pannuzi L, Parotto M, Praturlon A, Sirna G (1986) Carta Geologica del Parco Nazionale d’Abruzzo. Ente Autonomo Parco Nazionale d’Abruzzo, Pescasseroli

    Google Scholar 

  • Blasi C, Capotorti G, Fortini P (1998) On the vegetation series in the northern sector of the Simbruini mountains (Central Apennines). Fitosociologia 35:85–102

    Google Scholar 

  • Blasi C, Facioni L, Burrascano S, Del Vico E, Tilia A, Rosati L (2012) Submediterranean dry grasslands along the Tyrrhenian sector of central Italy: synecology, syndynamics and syntaxonomy. Plant Biosystems 146:266–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonanomi G, Caporaso S, Allegrezza M (2006) Short-term effects of nitrogen enrichment, litter removal and cutting on a Mediterranean grassland. Acta Oecologica 30:419–425

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borer ET, Seabloom EW, Gruner DS, Harpole WS, Hillebrand H et al (2014) Herbivores and nutrients control grassland plant diversity via light limitation. Nature 508:517–520

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bracchetti L, Carotenuto L, Catorci A (2012) Land-cover changes in a remote area of central Apennines (Italy) and management directions. Landsc Urb Plann 104:157–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown AG, Hatton J, Selby KA, Leng M, Christie N (2013) Multi-proxy study of Holocene environmental change and human activity in the Central Apennine Mountains, Italy. J Quatern Sci 28:71–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruno F, Bazzichelli G (1966) Note illustrative alla carta della vegetazione del Parco Nazionale d’Abruzzo. Annali di Botanica (Roma) 28:739–778

    Google Scholar 

  • Burrascano S, Chytrý M, Kuemmerle T, Giarrizzo E, Luyssaert S, Sabatini FM, Blasi C (2016) Current European policies are unlikely to jointly foster carbon sequestration and protect biodiversity. Biol Conserv 201:370–376

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calandra R (1999) I suoli di Campo Imperatore. Braun-Blanquetia 16:21–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Cancelllieri L, Mancini LD, Sperandii MG, Filibeck G (2017a) In and out: effects of shoot- vs. rooted-presence sampling methods on plant diversity measures in mountain grasslands. Ecol Ind 72:315–321

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cancelllieri L, Sperandii MG, Filibeck G (2017b) First record of the steppic relict Astragalus exscapus L. subsp. exscapus in the Apennines (Abruzzo, Italy), and biogeographic implications. Plant Biosystems 151:944–948

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cantero JJ, Liira J, Cisneros JM, Gonzalez J, Nuñez C, Petryna L, Cholaky C, Zobel M (2003) Species richness, alien species and plant traits in Central Argentine mountain grasslands. J Veg Sci 14:129–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Catorci A, Ottaviani G, Kosić IV, Cesaretti S (2012) Effect of spatial and temporal patterns of stress and disturbance intensities in a sub-Mediterranean grassland. Plant Biosyst 146:352–367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chelli S, Wellstein C, Campetella G, Canullo R, Tonin R, Zerbe S, Gerdol R (2017) Climate change response of vegetation across climatic zones in Italy. Climate Res 71:249–262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiarucci A (2007) To sample or not to sample? That is the question… for the vegetation scientist. Folia Geobot 42:209–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiarucci A, Viciani D, Winter C, Diekmann M (2006) Effects of productivity on species–area curves in herbaceous vegetation: evidence from experimental and observational data. Oikos 115:475–483

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiarucci A, Bacaro G, Scheiner SM (2011) Old and new challenges in using species diversity for assessing biodiversity. Phil Trans R Soc B 366:2426–2437

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chiarucci A, Bacaro G, Filibeck G, Landi S, Maccherini S, Scoppola A (2012) Scale dependence of plant species richness in a network of protected areas. Biodivers Conserv 21:503–516

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chytrý M, Tichý L, Roleček J (2003) Local and regional patterns of species richness in central European vegetation types along the pH/calcium gradient. Folia Geobot 38:429–442

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chytrý M, Danihelka J, Ermakov N, Hájek M, Hájková P, Kočí M, Kubešová S, Lustyk P, Otýpková Z, Popov D, Roleček J, Řezníčková M, Šmarda P, Valachovič M (2007) Plant species richness in continental southern Siberia: effects of pH and climate in the context of the species pool hypothesis. Global Ecol Biogeogr 16:668–678

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chytrý M, Dražil T, Hájek M, Kalníková V, Preislerová Z, Šibík J, Ujházy K, Axmanová I, Bernátová D, Blanar D, Dančak M, Dřevojan P, Fajmon K, Galvanek D, Hajkova P, Herben T, Hrivnak R, Janeček S, Janišova M, Jiraska Š, Kliment J, Kochjarova Lepš J, Leskovjanska A, Merunkova K, Mladek J, Slezak M, Šeffer J, Šefferova V, Škodova I, Uhliřova J, Ujhazyova M, Vymazalova M (2015) The most species-rich plant communities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia (with new world records). Preslia 87:217–278

    Google Scholar 

  • Cingolani AM, Vaieretti MV, Gurvich DE, Giorgis MA, Cabido M (2010) Predicting alpha, beta and gamma plant diversity from physiognomic and physical indicators as a tool for ecosystem monitoring. Biol Cons 143:2570–2577

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cinque A, Liccardo C, Palma B, Pappalardo L, Rosskopf C, Sepe C (1990) Le tracce glaciali nel Parco Nazionale d’Abruzzo (Appennino centrale): nota preliminare. Geografia Fisica Dinamica Quaternaria 13:121–133

    Google Scholar 

  • Conti F, Bartolucci F (2015) The vascular flora of the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise (Central Italy). Springer, CH

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Conti F, Abbate G, Alessandrini A, Blasi C (2005) An Annotated Checklist of the Italian Vascular Flora. Palombi, Roma

    Google Scholar 

  • Cousins SA, Eriksson O (2002) The influence of management history and habitat on plant species richness in a rural hemiboreal landscape, Sweden. Landscape Ecol 17:517–529

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Bello F, Lepš J, Sebastià MT (2007) Grazing effects on the species–area relationship: variation along a climatic gradient in NE Spain. J Veg Sci 18:25–34

    Google Scholar 

  • De’ath G, Fabricius KE (2000) Classification and regression trees: a powerful yet simple technique for ecological data analysis. Ecology 81:3178–3192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dengler J (2008) Pitfalls in small-scale species-area sampling and analysis. Folia Geobot 43:269–287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dengler J (2009) A flexible multi-scale approach for standardised recording of plant species richness patterns. Ecol Ind 9:1169–1178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dengler J, Janišová M, Török P, Wellstein C (2014) Biodiversity of Palaearctic grasslands: a synthesis. Agric Ecosyst Environ 182:1–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dengler J, Biurrun I, Apostolova I, Baumann E, Becker T et al (2016) Scale-dependent plant diversity in Palaearctic grasslands: a comparative overview. Bulletin of the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group 31:12–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Dengler J, Wagner V, Dembicz I, García-Mijangos I, Naqinezhad A et al (2018) GrassPlot–a database of multi-scale plant diversity in Palaearctic grasslands. Phytocoenologia 48:331–347

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Di Pietro R, De Santis A, Fortini P (2005) A geobotanical survey on acidophilous grasslands in the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park (Central Italy). Lazaroa 26:115–137

    Google Scholar 

  • Dolek M, Geyer A (2002) Conserving biodiversity on calcareous grasslands in the Franconian Jura by grazing: a comprehensive approach. Biol Cons 104:351–360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • European Union (1992) Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 may 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A31992L0043. Accessed 15 Sept 2018

  • Ewald J (2003) The calcareous riddle: why are there so many calciphilous species in the Central European flora? Folia Geobot 38:357–366

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feurdean A, Ruprecht E, Molnár Z, Hutchinson SM, Hickler T (2018) Biodiversity-rich European grasslands: ancient, forgotten ecosystems. Biol Cons 228:224–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Filibeck G, Adams J, Brunetti M, Di Filippo A, Rosati L, Scoppola A, Piovesan G (2015) Tree ring ecological signal is consistent with floristic composition and plant indicator values in Mediterranean Fagus sylvatica forests. J Ecol 103:1580–1593

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Filibeck G, Petrella P, Cornelini P (2016) All ecosystems look messy, but some more so than others: a case-study on the management and acceptance of Mediterranean urban grasslands. Urban For Urban Greening 15:32–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foggi B, Rossi G (1996) A survey of the genus Festuca L. (Poaceae) in Italy. I. The species of the summit flora in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines and Apuan Alps. Willdenowia 26:1–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foggi B, Rossi G, Signorini MA (1999) The Festuca violacea aggregate (Poaceae) in the Alps and Apennines (central-southern Europe). Can J Bot 77:989–1013

    Google Scholar 

  • Fraser LH, Pither J, Jentsch A, Sternberg M, Zobel M et al (2015) Worldwide evidence of a unimodal relationship between productivity and plant species richness. Science 349:302–305

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Galadini F, Messina P (1990) Osservazioni su un deposito a blocchi al margine SW della conca di Pescasseroli (Italia centrale). Il Quaternario 3:23–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Gee GW, Bauder JW (1986) Particle-size analysis. In: Methods of soil analysis, part 1. Soil Science Society of America, Madison, pp 383–411

  • Gerdol R, Stanisci A, Tomaselli M, Fazzini M (2008) La vegetazione delle montagne italiane. Club Alpino Italiano, Roma

    Google Scholar 

  • Giraudi C (1995) Sedimenti eolici, variazioni climatiche ed influenza antropica: considerazioni su alcune piane intermontane dell’Appennino Abruzzese. Il Quaternario 8:211–216

    Google Scholar 

  • Gotelli NJ, Colwell RK (2001) Quantifying biodiversity: procedures and pitfalls in the measurement and comparison of species richness. Ecol Lett 4:379–391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grace JB (1999) The factors controlling species density in herbaceous plant communities: an assessment. Perspect Plant Ecol Evol Syst 2:1–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenland S, Senn SJ, Rothman KJ, Carlin JC, Poole C, Goodman SN, Altman DG (2016) Statistical tests, confidence intervals, and power: a guide to misinterpretations. Eur J Epidemiol 31:337–350

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Grime JP (1973) Control of species density in herbaceous vegetation. J Environ Manage 1:151–167

    Google Scholar 

  • Grime JP (1998) Benefits of plant diversity to ecosystems: immediate, filter and founder effects. J Ecol 86:902–910

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grime JP, Hodgson JG, Hunt R (2007) Comparative plant ecology: a functional approach to common British species. Springer, Cham

    Google Scholar 

  • Grove AT, Rackham O (2001) The nature of Mediterranean Europe: an ecological history. Yale University Press, Yale

    Google Scholar 

  • Grubb PJ (1976) A theoretical background to the conservation of ecologically distinct groups of annuals and biennials in the chalk grassland ecosystem. Biol Cons 10(1):53–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grytnes JA (2000) Fine-scale vascular plant species richness in different alpine vegetation types: relationships with biomass and cover. J Veg Sci 11:87–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guisan A, Zimmermann NE (2000) Predictive habitat distribution models in ecology. Ecol Model 135:147–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Güler B, Jentsch A, Bartha S, Bloor JMG, Campetella G, Canullo R, Házi J, Kreyling J, Pottier J, Szabó G, Terziyska T, Ugurlu E, Wellstein C, Zimmermann Z, Dengler J (2016) How plot shape and dispersion affect plant species richness counts: implications for sampling design and rarefaction analyses. J Veg Sci 27:692–703

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Habel JC, Dengler J, Janišová M, Török P, Wellstein C, Wiezik M (2013) European grassland ecosystems: threatened hotspots of biodiversity. Biodivers Conserv 22:2131–2138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hájková P, Roleček J, Hájek M, Horsák M, Fajmon K, Polák M, Jamrichová E (2011) Prehistoric origin of the extremely species-rich semi-dry grasslands in the Bílé Karpaty Mts (Czech Republic and Slovakia). Preslia 83:185–204

    Google Scholar 

  • Hapfelmeier A, Ulm K (2013) A new variable selection approach using random forests. Comput Stat Data Anal 60:50–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hiller B, Nuebel A, Broll G, Holtmeier FK (2005) Snowbeds on silicate rocks in the Upper Engadine (Central Alps, Switzerland)—pedogenesis and interactions among soil, vegetation, and snow cover. Arct Antarct Alp Res 37(4):465–476

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hothorn T, Hornik K, Zeileis A (2006a) Unbiased recursive partitioning: a conditional inference framework. J Comput Graph Stat 15:651–674

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hothorn T, Buehlmann P, Dudoit S, Molinaro A, Van Der Laan M (2006b) Survival Ensembles. Biostatistics 7:355–373

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Janssens F, Peeters A, Tallowin JRB, Bakker JP, Bekker RM, Fillat F, Oomes MJM (1998) Relationship between soil chemical factors and grassland diversity. Plant Soil 202:69–78

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen JL, Schjønning P, Watts CW, Christensen BT, Munkholm LJ (2017) Soil texture analysis revisited: removal of organic matter matters more than ever. PLoS ONE 12(5):e0178039

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kajtoch Ł, Cieślak E, Varga Z, Paul W, Mazur MA, Sramkó G, Kubisz D (2016) Phylogeographic patterns of steppe species in Eastern Central Europe: a review and the implications for conservation. Biodiv Conserv 25:2309–2339

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keddy P (2005) Putting the plants back into plant ecology: six pragmatic models for understanding and conserving plant diversity. Ann Bot 96:177–189

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kleiber C, Zeileis A (2008) Applied econometrics with R. Springer, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kleijn D, Sutherland WJ (2003) How effective are European agri-environment schemes in conserving and promoting biodiversity? J Appl Ecol 40:947–969

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kleinebecker T, Busch V, Hölzel N, Hamer U, Schäfer D, Prati D, Fischer M, Hemp A, Lauterbach R, Klaus VH (2018) And the winner is….! A test of simple predictors of plant species richness in agricultural grasslands. Ecol Ind 87:296–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knop EVA, Kleijn D, Herzog F, Schmid B (2006) Effectiveness of the Swiss agri-environment scheme in promoting biodiversity. J Appl Ecol 43:120–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Löbel S, Dengler J, Hobohm C (2006) Species richness of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens in dry grasslands: the effects of environment, landscape structure and competition. Folia Geobot 41:377–393

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucchese F, Persia G, Pignatti S (1995) I prati a Bromus erectus Hudson dell’Appennino Laziale. Fitosociologia 30:145–180

    Google Scholar 

  • Maccherini S (2006) Factors associated with species richness in a remnant calcareous grassland. Grassland Sci 52:181–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manzi A (1990) La gestione dei pascoli montani in Abruzzo e la Società delle Erbe Seconde di Pescasseroli ed Opi. Archivio Bot 66:129–142

    Google Scholar 

  • Manzi A (2012) Storia dell’ambiente nell’Appennino centrale: la trasformazione della natura in Abruzzo dall’ultima glaciazione ai giorni nostri. Meta, Chieti

    Google Scholar 

  • McCune B, Keon D (2002) Equations for potential annual direct incident radiation and heat load. J Veg Sci 13:603–606

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merunková K, Preislerová Z, Chytrý M (2012) White Carpathian grasslands: can local ecological factors explain their extraordinary species richness? Preslia 84:311–325

    Google Scholar 

  • Moeslund JE, Arge L, Bøcher PK, Dalgaard T, Svenning JC (2013a) Topography as a driver of local terrestrial vascular plant diversity patterns. Nord J Bot 31:129–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moeslund JE, Arge L, Bøcher PK, Dalgaard T, Odgaard MV et al (2013b) Topographically controlled soil moisture is the primary driver of local vegetation patterns across a lowland region. Ecosphere 4:1–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore DRJ, Keddy PA, Gaudet CL, Wisheu IC (1989) Conservation of wetlands: do infertile wetlands deserve a higher priority? Biol Cons 47:203–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morrison LW (2015) Observer error in vegetation surveys: a review. J Plant Ecol 9:367–379

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakagawa S (2004) A farewell to Bonferroni: the problems of low statistical power and publication bias. Behav Ecol 15:1044–1045

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nogueira C, Bugalho MN, Pereira JS, Caldeira MC (2017) Extended autumn drought, but not nitrogen deposition, affects the diversity and productivity of a Mediterranean grassland. Environ Exp Bot 138:99–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ochoa-Hueso R, Munzi S, Alonso R, Arróniz-Crespo M, Avila A et al (2017) Ecological impacts of atmospheric pollution and interactions with climate change in terrestrial ecosystems of the Mediterranean Basin: current research and future directions. Environ Pollut 227:194–206

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Palmer MW, McGlinn DJ, Fridley JD (2008) Artifacts and artifictions in biodiversity research. Folia Geobot 43:245–257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palpurina S, Chytrý M, Tzonev R, Danihelka J, Axmanová I, Merunková K, Duchoň M, Karakiev T (2015) Patterns of fine-scale plant species richness in dry grasslands across the eastern Balkan Peninsula. Acta Oecol 63:36–46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palpurina S, Wagner V, von Wehrden H, Hájek M, Horsák M et al (2017) The relationship between plant species richness and soil pH vanishes with increasing aridity across Eurasian dry grasslands. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 26:425–434

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palpurina S, Chytrý M, Hölzel N, Tichý L, Wagner V et al (2019) The type of nutrient limitation affects the plant species richness–productivity relationship: evidence from dry grasslands across Eurasia. J Ecol 107(3):1038–1050. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13084

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pärtel M, Helm A (2007) Invasion of woody species into temperate grasslands: relationship with abiotic and biotic soil resource heterogeneity. J Veg Sci 18:63–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pärtel M, Zobel M (1999) Small-scale plant species richness in calcareous grasslands determined by the species pool, community age and shoot density. Ecography 22:153–159

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pärtel M, Bruun HH, Sammul M (2005) Biodiversity in temperate European grasslands: origin and conservation. Grassland Sci Eur 10:1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Pavoine S, Bonsall MB (2011) Measuring biodiversity to explain community assembly: a unified approach. Biol Rev 86:792–812

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pignatti S (1982) Flora d’Italia. Edagricole, Bologna

    Google Scholar 

  • Polyakova MA, Dembicz I, Becker T, Becker U, Demina ON, Ermakov N, Filibeck G, Guarino R, Janišová M, Jaunatre R, Kozub L, Steinbauer MJ, Suzuki K, Dengler J (2016) Scale- and taxon-dependent patterns of plant diversity in steppes of Khakassia, South Siberia (Russia). Biodivers Conserv 25:2251–2273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poschlod P, WallisDeVries MF (2002) The historical and socioeconomic perspective of calcareous grasslands—lessons from the distant and recent past. Biol Cons 104:361–376

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Primi R, Filibeck G, Amici A, Bückle C, Cancellieri L, Di Filippo A, Gentile C, Guglielmino A, Latini R, Mancini LD, Mensing SA, Rossi CM, Rossini F, Scoppola A, Sulli C, Venanzi R, Ronchi B, Piovesan G (2016) From Landsat to leafhoppers: a multidisciplinary approach for sustainable stocking assessment and ecological monitoring in mountain grasslands. Agric Ecosyst Environ 234:118–133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quinn GP, Keough MJ (2002) Experimental design and data analysis for biologists. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rackham O (2006) Woodlands. Harper Collins, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Reitalu T, Helm A, Pärtel M, Bengtsson K, Gerhold P, Rosén E, Takkis Znamenskiy S, Prentice HC (2014) Determinants of fine-scale plant diversity in dry calcareous grasslands within the Baltic Sea region. Agric Ecosyst Environ 182:59–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roleček J, Čornej II, Tokarjuk AI (2014) Understanding the extreme species richness of semi-dry grasslands in east-central Europe: a comparative approach. Preslia 86:13–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosati L, Filibeck G, De Lorenzis A, Lattanzi E, Surbera F, Fascetti S, Blasi C (2010) The forest vegetation of the Alburni Mts. (Cilento N. P., Campania, Southern Italy): syntaxonomy and phytogeography. Fitosociologia 47:17–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandri M, Zuccolotto P (2006) Variable selection using random forests. In: Zani S, Cerioli A, Riani M, Vichi M (eds) Data analysis, classification and the forward search. In Studies in classification, data analysis, and knowledge organization. Springer, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Sauro U (2004) Altopiani carsici. In: IGM, “Atlante dei Tipi Geografici”, pp. 306–310

  • Shih S (2011) Random forests for classification trees and categorical dependent variables: an informal quick start R guide. University of California, Berkeley. http://www.stanford.edu/~stephsus/R-randomforest-guide.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  • Sievert J (1999) Abruzzo national park: land of dreams. Environ Hist 5:293–307

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Šímová I, Li YM, Storch D (2013) Relationship between species richness and productivity in plants: the role of sampling effect, heterogeneity and species pool. J Ecol 101:161–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stace CA, Al-Bermani AKKA, Wilkinson MJ (1992) The distinction between the Festuca ovina L. and Festuca rubra L. aggregates in the British Isles. Watsonia 19:107–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevens MHH, Carson WP (2002) Resource quantity, not resource heterogeneity, maintains plant diversity. Ecol Lett 5:420–426

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens CJ, Duprè C, Dorland E, Gaudnik C, Gowing DJ et al (2010) Nitrogen deposition threatens species richness of grasslands across Europe. Environ Pollut 158:2940–2945

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stohlgren TJ, Schell LD, Heuvel BV (1999) How grazing and soil quality affect native and exotic plant diversity in Rocky Mountain grasslands. Ecol Appl 9:45–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Storch D (2016) The theory of the nested species–area relationship: geometric foundations of biodiversity scaling. J Veg Sci 27:880–891

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strobl C, Boulesteix AL, Zeileis A, Hothorn T (2007) Bias in random forest variable importance measures: illustrations, sources and a solution. BMC Bioinform 8:25

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Strobl C, Boulesteix AL, Kneib T, Augustin T, Zeileis A (2008) Conditional variable importance for random forests. BMC Bioinform 9:307

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Strobl C, Malley J, Tutz G (2009a) An introduction to recursive partitioning: rationale, application, and characteristics of classification and regression trees, bagging, and random forests. Psychol Methods 14:323–348

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Strobl C, Hothorn T, Zeileis A (2009b) Party on! A new, conditional variable importance measure for random forests available in party package. R J 1(2):14–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Svitok M, Hrivnák R, Kochjarová J, Oťaheľová H, Paľove-Balang P (2016) Environmental thresholds and predictors of macrophyte species richness in aquatic habitats in central Europe. Folia Geobot 51:227–238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson LM (1952) Soils and soil fertility. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Turtureanu PD, Palpurina S, Becker T, Dolnik C, Ruprecht E, Sutcliffe LME, Szabó A, Dengler J (2014) Scale- and taxon-dependent biodiversity patterns of dry grassland vegetation in Transylvania. Agric Ecosyst Environ 182:15–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tyler G (2003) Some ecophysiological and historical approaches to species richness and calcicole/calcifuge behaviour - contribution to a debate. Folia Geobot 38:419–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van der Maarel E, Sykes MT (1993) Small-scale plant species turnover in a limestone grassland: the carousel model and some comments on the niche concept. J Veg Sci 4:179–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wassen MJ, Venterink HO, Lapshina ED, Tanneberger F (2005) Endangered plants persist under phosphorus limitation. Nature 437:547–550

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wasserstein RL, Lazar NA (2016) The ASA’s statement on p-values: context, process, and purpose. Am Stat 70:129–133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wellstein C, Chelli S, Campetella G, Bartha S, Galiè M, Spada F, Canullo R (2013) Intraspecific phenotypic variability of plant functional traits in contrasting mountain grasslands habitats. Biodiv Cons 22:2353–2374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wellstein C, Campetella G, Spada F, Chelli S, Mucina L, Canullo R, Bartha S (2014) Context-dependent assembly rules and the role of dominating grasses in semi-natural abandoned sub-Mediterranean grasslands. Agric Ecosyst Environ 182:113–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson JB, Peet RK, Dengler J, Pärtel M (2012) Plant species richness: the world records. J Veg Sci 23:796–802

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zobel M, Otsus M, Liira J, Moora M, Möls T (2000) Is small-scale species richness limited by seed availability or microsite availability? Ecology 81:3274–3282

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Abruzzo Lazio & Molise National Park agency for having authorized field work (special thanks to C. Gentile and C. Sulli for scientific advice and field support), G. Ubertini for laboratory analysis, S. Soliveres and M. Brandi for advice on recursive partitioning, S. Maccherini and M. Marignani for useful discussions and two anonymous reviewers for their detailed comments on the manuscript. G.F. and F.R. carried out the research in the frame of the MIUR (Italian Ministry for Education, University and Research) initiative “Department of excellence” (Law 232/2016).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences (DAFNE), University of Tuscia, 01100, Viterbo, Italy

    Goffredo Filibeck, Leone D. Mancini, Francesco Rossini & Laura Cancellieri

  2. Department of Sciences, University of Roma Tre, 00146, Rome, Italy

    Marta G. Sperandii

  3. UMR CNRS 6553 EcoBio, University of Rennes 1, 263 Avenue du Gal Leclerc, CS 74205, 35042, Rennes Cedex, France

    Manuele Bazzichetto

Authors
  1. Goffredo Filibeck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marta G. Sperandii
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Manuele Bazzichetto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Leone D. Mancini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Francesco Rossini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Laura Cancellieri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

GF and LC conceived the study and the sampling methodology; LC coordinated field work; LDM, MGS and GF participated in field sampling; LC revised critical vascular plants; FR supervised soil analysis; MGS, MB and GF performed data analysis; GF supervised the overall work and led the writing; all authors discussed the results and contributed to text editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Goffredo Filibeck.

Additional information

Communicated by Daniel Sanchez Mata.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Filibeck, G., Sperandii, M.G., Bazzichetto, M. et al. Exploring the drivers of vascular plant richness at very fine spatial scale in sub-Mediterranean limestone grasslands (Central Apennines, Italy). Biodivers Conserv 28, 2701–2725 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-019-01788-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-019-01788-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation