The relationship between plant species richness and soil pH vanishes with increasing aridity across Eurasian dry grasslands

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The relationship between plant species richness and soil pH vanishes with increasing aridity across Eurasian dry grasslands. / Palpurina, Salza; Wagner, Viktoria; von Wehrden, Henrik et al.

In: Global Ecology and Biogeography, Vol. 26, No. 4, 01.04.2017, p. 425-434.

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Harvard

Palpurina, S, Wagner, V, von Wehrden, H, Hájek, M, Horsák, M, Brinkert, A, Hölzel, N, Wesche, K, Kamp, J, Hájková, P, Danihelka, J, Lustyk, P, Merunková, K, Preislerová, Z, Kočí, M, Kubešová, S, Cherosov, M, Ermakov, N, German, D, Gogoleva, P, Lashchinsky, N, Martynenko, V & Chytrý, M 2017, 'The relationship between plant species richness and soil pH vanishes with increasing aridity across Eurasian dry grasslands', Global Ecology and Biogeography, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 425-434. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12549

APA

Palpurina, S., Wagner, V., von Wehrden, H., Hájek, M., Horsák, M., Brinkert, A., Hölzel, N., Wesche, K., Kamp, J., Hájková, P., Danihelka, J., Lustyk, P., Merunková, K., Preislerová, Z., Kočí, M., Kubešová, S., Cherosov, M., Ermakov, N., German, D., ... Chytrý, M. (2017). The relationship between plant species richness and soil pH vanishes with increasing aridity across Eurasian dry grasslands. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 26(4), 425-434. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12549

Vancouver

Palpurina S, Wagner V, von Wehrden H, Hájek M, Horsák M, Brinkert A et al. The relationship between plant species richness and soil pH vanishes with increasing aridity across Eurasian dry grasslands. Global Ecology and Biogeography. 2017 Apr 1;26(4):425-434. doi: 10.1111/geb.12549

Bibtex

@article{991932ae93e74ad9a29b9fbedcd53fed,
title = "The relationship between plant species richness and soil pH vanishes with increasing aridity across Eurasian dry grasslands",
abstract = "Aim: Soil pH is considered an important driver of fine-scale plant species richness in terrestrial ecosystems. However, it is unclear to what extent this relationship is influenced by precipitation, which often directly affects both soil pH and species richness. We asked: (1) what is the relationship between fine-scale vascular plant species richness and soil pH in regions with different levels of precipitation and (2) what are the relative effects of soil pH and precipitation on species richness? Location: Dry grasslands in eight regions of northern Eurasia. Methods: Species richness and soil pH were measured in 1055 10 m × 10 m plots and precipitation values were derived from global datasets. Relationships between variables were explored using general linear models, mixed-effect models and partial regressions. Variation partitioning was used to assess the relative effect of each predictor on species richness. Results: In wetter regions, soil pH range was broader, mean species richness was higher and the richness-pH relationship was unimodal. In drier regions, mean soil pH was higher and its range narrower, species richness was on average lower and less variable, and the richness-pH relationship was negative or absent. The richness-pH relationship persisted after controlling for the effect of precipitation, but precipitation, uniquely or together with soil pH, explained more variation in species richness in most regions than did pH alone. Main conclusions: The relationship between plant species richness and soil pH in dry grasslands changes from unimodal, through negative, to none with decreasing regional precipitation in Eurasia. However, it seems that the species richness-soil pH relationship in dry grasslands over broad areas is substantially influenced and confounded by precipitation either indirectly, by shortening and shifting the pH gradient, or directly, by decreasing the negative effects of drought stress on richness.",
keywords = "Ecosystems Research, Alpha diversity, Diversity-environment relationship, Dry grassland, Macroecology, Plant species richness, Precipitation, Semi-arid ecosystem, Soil chemistry, Soil pH, Steppe",
author = "Salza Palpurina and Viktoria Wagner and {von Wehrden}, Henrik and Michal H{\'a}jek and Michal Hors{\'a}k and Annika Brinkert and Norbert H{\"o}lzel and Karsten Wesche and Johannes Kamp and Petra H{\'a}jkov{\'a} and Ji{\v r}{\'i} Danihelka and Pavel Lustyk and Kristina Merunkov{\'a} and Zdenka Preislerov{\'a} and Martin Ko{\v c}{\'i} and Svatava Kube{\v s}ov{\'a} and Mikhail Cherosov and Nikolai Ermakov and Dmitry German and Paraskovia Gogoleva and Nikolai Lashchinsky and Vassiliy Martynenko and Milan Chytr{\'y}",
year = "2017",
month = apr,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1111/geb.12549",
language = "English",
volume = "26",
pages = "425--434",
journal = "Global Ecology and Biogeography",
issn = "1466-822X",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.",
number = "4",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - The relationship between plant species richness and soil pH vanishes with increasing aridity across Eurasian dry grasslands

AU - Palpurina, Salza

AU - Wagner, Viktoria

AU - von Wehrden, Henrik

AU - Hájek, Michal

AU - Horsák, Michal

AU - Brinkert, Annika

AU - Hölzel, Norbert

AU - Wesche, Karsten

AU - Kamp, Johannes

AU - Hájková, Petra

AU - Danihelka, Jiří

AU - Lustyk, Pavel

AU - Merunková, Kristina

AU - Preislerová, Zdenka

AU - Kočí, Martin

AU - Kubešová, Svatava

AU - Cherosov, Mikhail

AU - Ermakov, Nikolai

AU - German, Dmitry

AU - Gogoleva, Paraskovia

AU - Lashchinsky, Nikolai

AU - Martynenko, Vassiliy

AU - Chytrý, Milan

PY - 2017/4/1

Y1 - 2017/4/1

N2 - Aim: Soil pH is considered an important driver of fine-scale plant species richness in terrestrial ecosystems. However, it is unclear to what extent this relationship is influenced by precipitation, which often directly affects both soil pH and species richness. We asked: (1) what is the relationship between fine-scale vascular plant species richness and soil pH in regions with different levels of precipitation and (2) what are the relative effects of soil pH and precipitation on species richness? Location: Dry grasslands in eight regions of northern Eurasia. Methods: Species richness and soil pH were measured in 1055 10 m × 10 m plots and precipitation values were derived from global datasets. Relationships between variables were explored using general linear models, mixed-effect models and partial regressions. Variation partitioning was used to assess the relative effect of each predictor on species richness. Results: In wetter regions, soil pH range was broader, mean species richness was higher and the richness-pH relationship was unimodal. In drier regions, mean soil pH was higher and its range narrower, species richness was on average lower and less variable, and the richness-pH relationship was negative or absent. The richness-pH relationship persisted after controlling for the effect of precipitation, but precipitation, uniquely or together with soil pH, explained more variation in species richness in most regions than did pH alone. Main conclusions: The relationship between plant species richness and soil pH in dry grasslands changes from unimodal, through negative, to none with decreasing regional precipitation in Eurasia. However, it seems that the species richness-soil pH relationship in dry grasslands over broad areas is substantially influenced and confounded by precipitation either indirectly, by shortening and shifting the pH gradient, or directly, by decreasing the negative effects of drought stress on richness.

AB - Aim: Soil pH is considered an important driver of fine-scale plant species richness in terrestrial ecosystems. However, it is unclear to what extent this relationship is influenced by precipitation, which often directly affects both soil pH and species richness. We asked: (1) what is the relationship between fine-scale vascular plant species richness and soil pH in regions with different levels of precipitation and (2) what are the relative effects of soil pH and precipitation on species richness? Location: Dry grasslands in eight regions of northern Eurasia. Methods: Species richness and soil pH were measured in 1055 10 m × 10 m plots and precipitation values were derived from global datasets. Relationships between variables were explored using general linear models, mixed-effect models and partial regressions. Variation partitioning was used to assess the relative effect of each predictor on species richness. Results: In wetter regions, soil pH range was broader, mean species richness was higher and the richness-pH relationship was unimodal. In drier regions, mean soil pH was higher and its range narrower, species richness was on average lower and less variable, and the richness-pH relationship was negative or absent. The richness-pH relationship persisted after controlling for the effect of precipitation, but precipitation, uniquely or together with soil pH, explained more variation in species richness in most regions than did pH alone. Main conclusions: The relationship between plant species richness and soil pH in dry grasslands changes from unimodal, through negative, to none with decreasing regional precipitation in Eurasia. However, it seems that the species richness-soil pH relationship in dry grasslands over broad areas is substantially influenced and confounded by precipitation either indirectly, by shortening and shifting the pH gradient, or directly, by decreasing the negative effects of drought stress on richness.

KW - Ecosystems Research

KW - Alpha diversity

KW - Diversity-environment relationship

KW - Dry grassland

KW - Macroecology

KW - Plant species richness

KW - Precipitation

KW - Semi-arid ecosystem

KW - Soil chemistry

KW - Soil pH

KW - Steppe

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85006014551&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/geb.12549

DO - 10.1111/geb.12549

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85006014551

VL - 26

SP - 425

EP - 434

JO - Global Ecology and Biogeography

JF - Global Ecology and Biogeography

SN - 1466-822X

IS - 4

ER -

DOI