Living on the edge: Plant diversity in the Iberian chionophilous vegetation

Aims: Chionophilous vegetation (i.e. snowbed vegetation and chionophilous grasslands) hosts relict arctic-alpine species, among which snowbed specialists, that find their southernmost limit in the Iberian Peninsula, where they are especially threatened by climate change. Our aims were to identify th...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Illa Bachs, Estela, Pérez Haase, Aaron, Brufau, Rainer, Font i Castell, Xavier
Tipo de documento: artigo
Estado:Versão publicada
Data de publicação:2022
País:España
Recursos:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositório:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/194322
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/194322
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Palavra-chave:Neu
Vegetació
Biodiversitat
Snow
Vegetation
Biodiversity
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spelling Living on the edge: Plant diversity in the Iberian chionophilous vegetationIlla Bachs, EstelaPérez Haase, AaronBrufau, RainerFont i Castell, XavierNeuVegetacióBiodiversitatSnowVegetationBiodiversityAims: Chionophilous vegetation (i.e. snowbed vegetation and chionophilous grasslands) hosts relict arctic-alpine species, among which snowbed specialists, that find their southernmost limit in the Iberian Peninsula, where they are especially threatened by climate change. Our aims were to identify the main Iberian chionophilous vegetation groups, and analyse their plant diversity patterns and their role as refugia for snowbed glacial relicts, as well as that of Iberian high-mountain regions. Location: Iberian high mountains. Methods: We used the beta-flexible clustering method to classify 1002 vegetation relevés of Iberian chionophilous vegetation, and computed species Indicator Values and frequencies for the resulting groups. We performed a Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) ordination of the relevés, and fitted six climatic variables to reveal the main ecological gradients. We constructed rarefaction curves to compare species richness between vegetation groups and between mountain regions. Results: We obtained eight vegetation groups, four consisting of snowbed vegetation and four of chionophilous grasslands. All but one group were present in the Pyrenees, where snowbed specialist richness was the highest. In southern and central Iberian ranges, snowbed vegetation was extremely scarce, and the main vegetation group corresponded to cryoromediterranean grasslands, where both species and specialist richness were the lowest. Snowbed and northern Iberian grassland groups accounted for similar high specialist richness, although specialists were infrequent and scarce at relevé level in these grasslands. Conclusions: Despite the set of specialised species that thrive in snowbeds, many of them are also present but scarce in northern Iberian chionophilous grasslands. In a future scenario with a high reduction of snow cover duration, which may entail the disappearance of many snowbed vegetation patches, northern Iberian chionophilous grasslands may act as terminal refugia for snowbed specialists. Nevertheless, specialists are very threatened in central and southern Iberian ranges, where snowbed vegetation is infrequent and chionophilous grasslands provide almost no shelter to them.Wiley2022info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/2445/194322Articles publicats en revistes (Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals)reponame:Dipòsit Digital de la UBinstname:Universidad de BarcelonaInglésReproducció del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12701Applied Vegetation Science, 2022, vol. 24, p. e12701https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12701cc by (c) Illa Bachs, Estela, 2022http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/1943222026-05-27T06:46:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Living on the edge: Plant diversity in the Iberian chionophilous vegetation
title Living on the edge: Plant diversity in the Iberian chionophilous vegetation
spellingShingle Living on the edge: Plant diversity in the Iberian chionophilous vegetation
Illa Bachs, Estela
Neu
Vegetació
Biodiversitat
Snow
Vegetation
Biodiversity
title_short Living on the edge: Plant diversity in the Iberian chionophilous vegetation
title_full Living on the edge: Plant diversity in the Iberian chionophilous vegetation
title_fullStr Living on the edge: Plant diversity in the Iberian chionophilous vegetation
title_full_unstemmed Living on the edge: Plant diversity in the Iberian chionophilous vegetation
title_sort Living on the edge: Plant diversity in the Iberian chionophilous vegetation
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Illa Bachs, Estela
Pérez Haase, Aaron
Brufau, Rainer
Font i Castell, Xavier
author Illa Bachs, Estela
author_facet Illa Bachs, Estela
Pérez Haase, Aaron
Brufau, Rainer
Font i Castell, Xavier
author_role author
author2 Pérez Haase, Aaron
Brufau, Rainer
Font i Castell, Xavier
author2_role author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Neu
Vegetació
Biodiversitat
Snow
Vegetation
Biodiversity
topic Neu
Vegetació
Biodiversitat
Snow
Vegetation
Biodiversity
description Aims: Chionophilous vegetation (i.e. snowbed vegetation and chionophilous grasslands) hosts relict arctic-alpine species, among which snowbed specialists, that find their southernmost limit in the Iberian Peninsula, where they are especially threatened by climate change. Our aims were to identify the main Iberian chionophilous vegetation groups, and analyse their plant diversity patterns and their role as refugia for snowbed glacial relicts, as well as that of Iberian high-mountain regions. Location: Iberian high mountains. Methods: We used the beta-flexible clustering method to classify 1002 vegetation relevés of Iberian chionophilous vegetation, and computed species Indicator Values and frequencies for the resulting groups. We performed a Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) ordination of the relevés, and fitted six climatic variables to reveal the main ecological gradients. We constructed rarefaction curves to compare species richness between vegetation groups and between mountain regions. Results: We obtained eight vegetation groups, four consisting of snowbed vegetation and four of chionophilous grasslands. All but one group were present in the Pyrenees, where snowbed specialist richness was the highest. In southern and central Iberian ranges, snowbed vegetation was extremely scarce, and the main vegetation group corresponded to cryoromediterranean grasslands, where both species and specialist richness were the lowest. Snowbed and northern Iberian grassland groups accounted for similar high specialist richness, although specialists were infrequent and scarce at relevé level in these grasslands. Conclusions: Despite the set of specialised species that thrive in snowbeds, many of them are also present but scarce in northern Iberian chionophilous grasslands. In a future scenario with a high reduction of snow cover duration, which may entail the disappearance of many snowbed vegetation patches, northern Iberian chionophilous grasslands may act as terminal refugia for snowbed specialists. Nevertheless, specialists are very threatened in central and southern Iberian ranges, where snowbed vegetation is infrequent and chionophilous grasslands provide almost no shelter to them.
publishDate 2022
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2022
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/2445/194322
url https://hdl.handle.net/2445/194322
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Reproducció del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12701
Applied Vegetation Science, 2022, vol. 24, p. e12701
https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12701
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv cc by (c) Illa Bachs, Estela, 2022
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv cc by (c) Illa Bachs, Estela, 2022
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Wiley
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Wiley
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Articles publicats en revistes (Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals)
reponame:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
instname:Universidad de Barcelona
instname_str Universidad de Barcelona
reponame_str Dipòsit Digital de la UB
collection Dipòsit Digital de la UB
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15,300719

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