Drivers of vascular plant, bryophyte and lichen richness in grasslands along a precipitation gradient (central Apennines, Italy)

作者：Laura Cancellieri, Marta Gaia Sperandii, Leonardo Rosati, Bruno Bellisario, Cinzia Franceschini, Michele Aleffi, Fabrizio Bartolucci, Thomas Becker, Elena Belonovskaya, Asun Berastegi, Idoia Biurrun, Michele Brunetti, Christoph Bückle, Rongxiao Che, Fabio Conti, Iwona Dembicz, Stefania Fanni, Edy Fantinato, Dieter Frank, Anna Rita Frattaroli, Itziar García‐Mijangos, Adalgisa Guglielmino, Monika Janišová, Samuele Maestri, Martin Magnes, Giovanna Potenza, Riccardo Primi, Н. А. Соболев, N. G. Tsarevskaya, Andrea Vacca, Jürgen Dengler, Goffredo Filibeck · 发表于：Journal of Vegetation Science · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1111/jvs.13305 · 被引用次数：4 · 研究领域：Botany and Plant Ecology Studies、Mediterranean and Iberian flora and fauna、Plant Ecology and Soil Science

Abstract Questions Semi‐natural grasslands in Southern Europe are biodiversity hotspots, yet their patterns of plant species richness are less studied than in Central Europe. In the Central Apennines (Italy), there are large areas of dry calcareous grasslands, across a steep gradient of mean annual precipitation (from 650 to 1350 mm within c. 30 km). We asked: How do these grasslands compare to other Palaearctic grasslands in richness levels? How do the precipitation gradient and other environmental predictors influence species richness? Does this influence differ among taxonomic groups? Location Submontane and lower‐montane belt of the Central Apennines (Abruzzo and Lazio, Italy). Methods We recorded the species richness of vascular plants and (terricolous) bryophytes and lichens in 97 plots of 10 m 2 , aligning them with the precipitation gradient while maintaining geological substrate and elevation similar. Mean temperature and precipitation were estimated with a high‐resolution regional model. A wide array of environmental variables (including soil properties and grazing load) were measured for each plot. Multivariate relationships within and between response and predictor variables were studied with Canonical Correlation. The relative importance of predictors on response variables was modeled with Boosted Regression Trees. Results The sampled grasslands were very species‐rich in the Palaearctic context. Vascular plant richness was negatively influenced by topographic hea...