TY - JOUR

T1 - Safeguarding the rare woodland species Gagea spathacea

T2 - Understanding habitat requirements is not sufficient

AU - Fichtner, Andreas

AU - Härdtle, Werner

AU - Matthies, Diethart

AU - Arnold, Volker

AU - Erfmeier, Alexandra

AU - Hemke, Tanja

AU - Jansen, Doris

AU - Lütt, Silke

AU - Schmidt, Marcus

AU - Sturm, Knut

AU - von Oheimb, Goddert

AU - Ohse, Bettina

N1 - We thank Björn Rickert, Katrin Romahn, Cordelia Wiebe, all foresters of the Schrobach‐Stiftung and Stadtwald Lübeck and all members of the AG Geobotanik in Schleswig‐Holstein und Hamburg e.V. who supported the joint research project “WaldGloWan.” We thank Lucy Bohling for analyzing soil chemical data and Jörg Wollmerstädt for the analysis of hemispherical photos. We gratefully acknowledge funding within the joint research project “WaldGloWan” (funding no. 01LC1312A) by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) with resources of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), as well as by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Funding Information: We thank Björn Rickert, Katrin Romahn, Cordelia Wiebe, all foresters of the Schrobach-Stiftung and Stadtwald Lübeck and all members of the AG Geobotanik in Schleswig-Holstein und Hamburg e.V. who supported the joint research project “WaldGloWan.” We thank Lucy Bohling for analyzing soil chemical data and Jörg Wollmerstädt for the analysis of hemispherical photos. We gratefully acknowledge funding within the joint research project “WaldGloWan” (funding no. 01LC1312A) by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) with resources of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), as well as by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Funding Information: Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) with resources of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), as well as by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Grant/Award Number: 01LC1312A Funding information Funding Information: We thank Björn Rickert, Katrin Romahn, Cordelia Wiebe, all foresters of the Schrobach‐Stiftung and Stadtwald Lübeck and all members of the AG Geobotanik in Schleswig‐Holstein und Hamburg e.V. who supported the joint research project “WaldGloWan.” We thank Lucy Bohling for analyzing soil chemical data and Jörg Wollmerstädt for the analysis of hemispherical photos. We gratefully acknowledge funding within the joint research project “WaldGloWan” (funding no. 01LC1312A) by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) with resources of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), as well as by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Authors. Plant Species Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Society for the Study of Species Biology

PY - 2020/4/1

Y1 - 2020/4/1

N2 - A large proportion of temperate forest plant diversity is found in the herb layer. However, for many of its species, little is known about their autecology, which makes it difficult to assess potential threats and efficiently safeguard the diversity of understorey herbaceous communities. This also applies to Gagea spathacea (Liliaceae), a globally rare spring geophyte, which mainly occurs in deciduous forests of northern Central Europe. We investigated the causal relationships between population characteristics of G. spathacea and abiotic site conditions across different forest communities in the center of its distributional range. Leaf length (a surrogate of the species' vegetative propagation) was positively related to soil moisture and soil nitrogen. Consequently, mean leaf length was highest in moist forest communities of the alliance Alno-Ulmion. Moreover, mean variability in leaf length was lowest in those forests, indicating a higher and more stable vegetative propagation via bulbils. We found no support for a significant relationship between leaf length and leaf density or between leaf length and flower formation. Population density varied strongly among forest sites, but was not related to soil moisture and hardly influenced by soil nitrogen. Our results suggest that soil water and nutrient supply play a vital role in determining the species' vegetative propagation, whereas the duration of habitat continuity is most likely an important determinant of population size and density. Conservation strategies therefore require a better understanding of the complex interrelationships between abiotic site conditions and the historical context-dependency of habitats.

AB - A large proportion of temperate forest plant diversity is found in the herb layer. However, for many of its species, little is known about their autecology, which makes it difficult to assess potential threats and efficiently safeguard the diversity of understorey herbaceous communities. This also applies to Gagea spathacea (Liliaceae), a globally rare spring geophyte, which mainly occurs in deciduous forests of northern Central Europe. We investigated the causal relationships between population characteristics of G. spathacea and abiotic site conditions across different forest communities in the center of its distributional range. Leaf length (a surrogate of the species' vegetative propagation) was positively related to soil moisture and soil nitrogen. Consequently, mean leaf length was highest in moist forest communities of the alliance Alno-Ulmion. Moreover, mean variability in leaf length was lowest in those forests, indicating a higher and more stable vegetative propagation via bulbils. We found no support for a significant relationship between leaf length and leaf density or between leaf length and flower formation. Population density varied strongly among forest sites, but was not related to soil moisture and hardly influenced by soil nitrogen. Our results suggest that soil water and nutrient supply play a vital role in determining the species' vegetative propagation, whereas the duration of habitat continuity is most likely an important determinant of population size and density. Conservation strategies therefore require a better understanding of the complex interrelationships between abiotic site conditions and the historical context-dependency of habitats.

KW - Ecosystems Research

KW - ash dieback

KW - biodiversity

KW - dispersal

KW - habitat continuity

KW - herbaceous layer

KW - ash dieback

KW - biodiversity

KW - dispersal

KW - habitat continuity

KW - herbaceous layer

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85078669829&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/921a5850-8a9c-30cc-a829-5f1047ac9b91/

U2 - 10.1111/1442-1984.12264

DO - 10.1111/1442-1984.12264

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 35

SP - 120

EP - 129

JO - Plant Species Biology

JF - Plant Species Biology

SN - 0913-557X

IS - 2

ER -