Search results for "Dry grassland"

The Lygeo-Stipetea class in Sicily

2009

Scale-dependent patterns and drivers of vascular plant, bryophyte and lichen diversity in dry grasslands of the Swiss inneralpine valleys

2022

AbstractThe inner-alpine dry valleys of the Swiss Alps are characterized by subcontinental climate, leading to many peculiarities in dry grassland species composition. Despite their well-known uniqueness, comprehensive studies on biodiversity patterns of the dry grasslands in these valleys were still missing. To close this gap, we sampled 161 10-m2 vegetation plots in the Rhône, Rhine and Inn valleys, recording vascular plants, terricolous bryophyte and lichen species, as well as environmental data. Additionally, we tested the scale-dependence of environmental drivers using 34 nested-plot series with seven grain sizes (0.0001–100 m2). We analysed the effects of environmental drivers related…

On the origin and evolution of the Mediterranean dry grasslands.

2006

A synthesis on the functional types of Mediterranean dry grasslands is outlined. Three different types are outlined: wintergreen perennial dry grasslands, wintergreen ephemeral dry grasslands, summergreen perennial dry grasslands. The first type is the most primitive, including several relict species, often characterized by very disjoint, sometimes anfi-saharian distribution ranges. The second type is resulting from an evolutionary trend towards short-lived life strategy, triggered by climatic and topographic perturbations that affected the Mediterranean region in the Plio- and Pleistocene. The third type, only marginally occurring in the Mediterranean region, is deriving from Holarctic and…

An “Uncertainty Principle” for the Mediterranean annual dry grasslands

2009

Preliminary results of diachronic researches on the spatial arrangement and species richness in Mediterranean annual dry grasslands (Tuberarietea guttatae) demonstrated that the patchiness resulted minimized and the temporal stability maximized at elevations offering the best compromise between the summer drought stress and the winter cold stress. Moreover, the temporal stability of the Mediterranean annul dry grasslands could not necessarily be related with their demographic inertia, meaning that the turnover and rearrangement of species within the community do not necessarily implicate significant changes in the average species composition over time. On the other hand, the survival chance…

Effects of temperatures on the spatial arrangement in Mediterranean annual dry grasslands

2009

Some preliminary results of diachronic researches on the spatial arrangement and species richness in Mediterranean annual dry grasslands belonging to the class Tuberarietea guttatae are presented. Our results are based on 12 permanent plots, set in three places at different heights in Southern and Central Sardinia. Sites were chosen to have annual species richness and plant density not significantly different. The relationship between patchiness and temporal stability was investigated at the scale of the square plots. We used the mean abundance divided by the SD in abundance (S = xm/r), as the measure of temporal stability of populations (Tilman 1999) and the Shannon-Wiener index to evaluat…

The Lygeo-Stipetea class in Sicily

2010

Basing on literature data and unpublished relevés from Sicily, a survey of the syntaxa belonging to the class Lygeo-Stipetea Rivas-Martínez 1978 is presented. This perennial vegetation is characterized by the dominance of big caespitose hemicryptophytes, and it is widely distributed in Sicily from the sea level up to 1500 m a.s.l. The class is represented in Sicily by two orders, floristically and ecologically well differentiated: Lygeo-Stipetalia, including the sole alliance Moricandio-Lygeion exclusively of clayey substrates, and Hyparrhenietalia hirtae, including five alliances (Hyparrhenion hirtae, Avenulo cincinnatae-Ampelodesmion mauritanici, Thero-Brachypodion ramosi, B…

Élaboration du plan de gestion de l’espace naturel sensible des versants de Vuillafans et Châteauvieux-les-Fossés

2014

The value of the “Espace Naturel Sensible des versants de Châteauvieux et Vuillafans” is based on a natural habitats mosaic that support an originality and a diversity of flora and entomological that we want to preserve. However, in dry grasslands which are habitats of the European community, we can see gradually the emergence of shrub and reforestation due to the difficult to mechanize hills and very fragmented private lands that favored the abandonment of agricultural practices on the slopes. To efficiently program the management of this area, a management plan, which is now a recognize tools for managers of natural areas, was written. To achieve the management plan objectives, the privat…

Biodiversity surveys of grassland and coastal habitats in 2021 as a documentation of pre-war status in southern Ukraine

2023

This paper presents two sampling-event datasets with occurrences of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens collected in May-June 2021 in southern Ukraine. We aimed to collect high-quality biodiversity data in an understudied region and contribute it to international databases and networks. The study was carried out during the 15th Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) Field Workshop in southern Ukraine and the Dark Diversity Network (DarkDivNet) sampling in the Kamianska Sich National Nature Park. By chance, these datasets were collected shortly before the major escalation of the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Surveyed areas in Kherson and Mykolaiv Regions, including established monitoring plo…

Database Species-Area Relationships in Palaearctic Grasslands

2012

The Database Species-Area Relationships in Palaearctic Grasslands (GIVD ID EU-00-003) is an initiative of the European Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) and primarily functions as repository for all data sampled during the EDGG Research Expeditions. During these expeditions two types of highly standardised sampling of dry grassland vegetation in the Palaearctic realm are carried out: (i) nested-plot sampling on squares of 0.0001, 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, and 100 m2; (ii) additional normal releves of 10-m2 plots. For all plot sizes, the terricolous vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens are recorded that are superficially present (shoot presence). Additionally, for all 10-m2 plots species cover i…