Testing the Species pool hypothesis for mire vegetation: exploring the influence of pH specialists and habitat history
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2007 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Oikos |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Ecology |
| Keywords | acidity; adaptation; bryophytes; evolutionary species pool hypothesis; diversity; mire; peatland; pH; species richness; vascular plants |
| Description | We explored the relationship between mire species richness and pH, an important environmental variable in mires, in two regions that differ in habitat pH distribution: the West Carpathians and Bulgaria. Mire habitats in both the West Carpathians and Bulgaria demonstrate support for the Evolutionary species pool hypothesis prediction that habitats with more common pH values host more species. We also explored the influence of habitat history by examining the distribution of generalists and specialists along gradients of habitat pH, using extensive community-level vegetation data from European mires in these two regions. We found a striking pattern with the distribution of pH-specialists having three distinct peaks in both regions, whereas the total species pool peaked in near neutral pH habitats in both regions. |
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