Species richness and above-ground biomass of poor and calcareous spring fens in the flysch West Carpathians, and their relationships to water and soil chemistry

HÁJKOVÁ, Petra and Michal HÁJEK. Species richness and above-ground biomass of poor and calcareous spring fens in the flysch West Carpathians, and their relationships to water and soil chemistry. Preslia. Praha: Česká botanická společnost, 2003, vol. 75, No 3, p. 271-287. ISSN 0032-7786.

Basic information

• Original name: Species richness and above-ground biomass of poor and calcareous spring fens in the flysch West Carpathians, and their relationships to water and soil chemistry
• Authors: HÁJKOVÁ, Petra (203 Czech Republic, guarantor) and Michal HÁJEK (203 Czech Republic).
• Edition: Preslia, Praha, Česká botanická společnost, 2003, 0032-7786.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Article in a journal
• Field of Study: 10600 1.6 Biological sciences
• Country of publisher: Czech Republic
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• RIV identification code: RIV/00216224:14310/03:00008201
• Organization unit: Faculty of Science
• UT WoS: 000185605400007
• Keywords in English: bryophytes; Central Europe; diversity; mires; scale-dependent species richness; springwater chemistry; standing crop; wetlands
• Tags: bryophytes, Central Europe, diversity, mires, scale-dependent species richness, springwater chemistry, standing crop, wetlands

Abstract

Species richness of vascular plants and bryophytes and above-ground biomass were studied on poor acidic fens, rich Sphagnum fens and calcareous spring fens. The study area involved the western parts of the Outer Carpathians in the border region of the Czech and Slovak Republics. Species richness was counted for seven plot sizes and was correlated with the main chemical factors and with above-ground biomass. The chemical properties of springwater were determined to be the main factors influencing the species richness of vascular plants. Tufa-forming calcareous fen communities had the highest species richness of vascular plants. On the other hand, the highest species richness of bryophytes was detected on the pH-neutral sites, in the peat forming calcareous fen communities and in the communities with Sphagnum warnstorfii and S. teres. Bryophyte species richness in small plots correlated also with the iron concentration in springwater. The differences in species richness within calcareous fens were related to the mowing regime. A negative influence of litter mass on the species richness of vascular plants was detected. Mosses responded to high amounts of litter or vascular plant biomass by a significant decrease in biomass. Two types of Sphagnum fens, (a) strongly dominated by Sphagnum flexuosum or S. palustre (rich in phosphates) and (b) without a strongly dominate moss species (poor in phosphates), have also been compared. In the first, the slope of the regression for the dependence of bryophyte species richness on plot size was less steep.

Links

• GA206/02/0568, research and development project: Name: Ekologie a paleoekologie prameništních mokřadů západní části Karpat

Investor: Czech Science Foundation, Ecology and palaeoecology of spring wetlands in the western part of the Carpathians

• GA206/99/1240, research and development project: Name: Svahová prameniště moravskoslovenského pomezí - flóra, vegetace, stanoviště a vývoj v mladším holocénu

Investor: Czech Science Foundation, Sloping springs and springs fens of the Moravian-Slovakian flysh borderland - flora, vegetation, habitats, Holocene development

• MSM 143100010, plan (intention): Name: Časoprostorová dynamika biodiverzity v ekosystémech střední Evropy.

Investor: Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the CR, Spatiotemporal biodiversity dynamics in ecosystems of Central Europe