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Species–area relationships in continuous vegetation : Evidence from Palaearctic grasslands

DOI zum Zitieren der Version auf EPub Bayreuth: https://doi.org/10.15495/EPub_UBT_00004994
URN to cite this document: urn:nbn:de:bvb:703-epub-4994-2

Title data

Dengler, Jürgen ; Matthews, Thomas J. ; Steinbauer, Manuel ; Wolfrum, Sebastian ; Boch, Steffen ; Chiarucci, Alessandro ; Conradi, Timo ; Dembicz, Iwona ; Marcenò, Corrado ; García-Mijangos, Itziar ; Nowak, Arkadiusz ; Storch, David ; Ulrich, Werner ; Campos, Juan Antonio ; Cancellieri, Laura ; Carboni, Marta ; Ciaschetti, Giampiero ; De Frenne, Pieter ; Dolezal, Jiri ; Dolnik, Christian ; Essl, Franz ; Fantinato, Edy ; Filibeck, Goffredo ; Grytnes, John-Arvid ; Guarino, Riccardo ; Güler, Behlül ; Janišová, Monika ; Klichowska, Ewelina ; Kozub, Łukasz ; Kuzemko, Anna ; Manthey, Michael ; Mimet, Anne ; Naqinezhad, Alireza ; Pedersen, Christian ; Peet, Robert K. ; Pellissier, Vincent ; Pielech, Remigiusz ; Potenza, Giovanna ; Rosati, Leonardo ; Terzi, Massimo ; Valkó, Orsolya ; Vynokurov, Denys ; White, Hannah ; Winkler, Manuela ; Biurrun, Idoia:
Species–area relationships in continuous vegetation : Evidence from Palaearctic grasslands.
In: Journal of Biogeography. Vol. 47 (19 September 2019) Issue 1 . - pp. 72-86.
ISSN 0305-0270
DOI der Verlagsversion: https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13697

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Abstract

Abstract Aim Species–area relationships (SARs) are fundamental scaling laws in ecology although their shape is still disputed. At larger areas, power laws best represent SARs. Yet, it remains unclear whether SARs follow other shapes at finer spatial grains in continuous vegetation. We asked which function describes SARs best at small grains and explored how sampling methodology or the environment influence SAR shape. Location Palaearctic grasslands and other non-forested habitats. Taxa Vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens. Methods We used the GrassPlot database, containing standardized vegetation-plot data from vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens spanning a wide range of grassland types throughout the Palaearctic and including 2,057 nested-plot series with at least seven grain sizes ranging from 1 cm2 to 1,024 m2. Using nonlinear regression, we assessed the appropriateness of different SAR functions (power, power quadratic, power breakpoint, logarithmic, Michaelis–Menten). Based on AICc, we tested whether the ranking of functions differed among taxonomic groups, methodological settings, biomes or vegetation types. Results The power function was the most suitable function across the studied taxonomic groups. The superiority of this function increased from lichens to bryophytes to vascular plants to all three taxonomic groups together. The sampling method was highly influential as rooted presence sampling decreased the performance of the power function. By contrast, biome and vegetation type had practically no influence on the superiority of the power law. Main conclusions We conclude that SARs of sessile organisms at smaller spatial grains are best approximated by a power function. This coincides with several other comprehensive studies of SARs at different grain sizes and for different taxa, thus supporting the general appropriateness of the power function for modelling species diversity over a wide range of grain sizes. The poor performance of the Michaelis–Menten function demonstrates that richness within plant communities generally does not approach any saturation, thus calling into question the concept of minimal area.

Further data

Item Type: Article in a journal
Keywords: logarithmic function; Michaelis–Menten function; minimal area; nested-plot sampling; nonlinear regression; Palaearctic grassland; plant biodiversity; power law; scaling law; species–area relationship (SAR)
DDC Subjects: 500 Science > 500 Natural sciences
500 Science > 570 Life sciences, biology
500 Science > 580 Plants (Botany)
Institutions of the University: Faculties > Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences
Faculties > Faculty of Cultural Studies > Department of Sport Science > Professor Sport Ecology
Faculties > Faculty of Cultural Studies > Department of Sport Science > Professor Sport Ecology > Professor Sport Ecology - Univ.-Prof. Dr. Manuel Jonas Steinbauer
Profile Fields > Advanced Fields > Ecology and the Environmental Sciences
Research Institutions > Central research institutes > Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research- BayCEER
Faculties
Faculties > Faculty of Cultural Studies
Faculties > Faculty of Cultural Studies > Department of Sport Science
Profile Fields
Profile Fields > Advanced Fields
Research Institutions
Research Institutions > Central research institutes
Language: English
Originates at UBT: Yes
URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:703-epub-4994-2
Date Deposited: 13 Aug 2020 10:10
Last Modified: 22 Sep 2023 11:31
URI: https://epub.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/4994

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