What are the main drivers of species richness in European steppes?
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| Year of publication | 2008 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | Various patterns of species richness-soil pH relationship have been reported from various regions and vegetation types. While it is clear that pH has a considerable influence on vegetation diversity, the interpretation is usually complicated due to its strong interrelations with a range of other factors important for vegetation. This study attempts to get an insight into the pH-climate-species richness pattern. Steppe vegetation was sampled in two contrasting regions, the Ural mountains with continental climate type, and the Czech Republic with central European (transitional between continental and oceanic) climate type. Substrates varying in pH and distributed along climatic gradients within the two regions were represented in both data sets. The studied soil pH range was from 4 to 8. Environmental variables, vegetation productivity and nutrient content in biomass were related to species richness in plots of 100 m2. Soil pH increases with temperature, more steeply in the Uralian steppes than in the Czech ones, while it is not distinctly related to precipitation in either region. This corresponds to the assumption that the upward movement of basic cations in soil outbalances their leaching the more the warmer and more continental the climate is. In the Uralian steppes, the species richness-pH relationship is unimodal, while in Czech steppes species richness increases monotonically over the whole studied pH range. The observed low species richness at low pH can be explained by a joint effect of low productivity and small species pool of acidic soils. At neutral to base-rich soils, the determinants of species richness are more complex. |
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