Synecology, conservation status and IUCN assessment of<i>Potentilla fruticosa</i>L. in the Italian Alps

Lonati, Michele; Pascale, Marziano; Operti, Beatrice; Lombardi, Giampiero

doi:10.1080/12538078.2014.906919

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…The species' attitude to soil characteristics is not clear. According to current knowledge, at least northern European populations grow mainly in moist base-rich soil, although the plant is tolerant of slightly acid soils, drought and temporal fl ooding (Gorchakovskiy, 1960;Elkington & Woodell, 1963;Roland & Smith, 1969;Reier & Leht, 1999;Lonati et al, 2014).…”

Section: Shrubby Cinquefoil Habitat Demandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Selecting site characteristics at different spatial and thematic scales for shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa L.) distribution mapping

Remm

2016

Forestry Studies

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The largest natural population of shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa) in the Baltic States was observed in the field to reveal the scale-dependent explanatory value of site characteristics for subsequent spatial distribution modelling of the species. About 700 km was crossed during field observations in 2008–2014. Thinning of the raw field records to ensure a distance of at least 50 metres between each point yielded 1459 presences and 7327 absences. These occurrence data were related to present and historical land cover, soil, elevation, human population density, the proportion of presence sites, and P. fruticosa mean coverage in the neighbourhood. Boosted classification tree models were used to compare the value of 60 individual site features at thematically and spatially different levels of generalization as indicators of the species’ presence or absence. P. fruticosa presence is significantly non-random regarding most of the studied site features but only a few of these are valuable predictors. The proportion of presences in the neighbourhood had the highest indicative value. P. fruticosa occurrence also coincides with moist thin calcareous soils according to the soil map, with larger scrubland patches according to the topographical database, and with tussock areas according to a topographical map from the 1930s. The explanatory value of nominal site characteristics primarily drops when the most indicative category is merged with other classes to form a more general category. Site characteristics calculated at the observation point are not always the most effective predictors for P. fruticosa occurrence – features of the neighbourhood are related to the occurrence as well. The study area was classified into: confirmed absence area, unclear presence/absence area and probable presence area. Subsequent distribution modelling in the unclear area should be targeted on a species presence/absence, while abundance could be the priority within the probable presence area.

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Section: Shrubby Cinquefoil Habitat Demandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Selecting site characteristics at different spatial and thematic scales for shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa L.) distribution mapping

Remm

2016

Forestry Studies

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“…Potentilla fruticosa , Rosaceae) is a perennial flowering shrub, mainly known for being decorative cultivar. This species has widespread natural populations in mountainous regions of Asia and across North America (except in the south); its distribution in Europe is more fragmentary, being found only in Pyrénées, Maritime Alps, Rhodope Mountains, Crimea, Ireland, Great Britain, Öland and Gotland (Sweden), north-western Estonia, and one location in Latvia [ 21 , 22 ]. Shrubby cinquefoil cultivars differ genetically from natural Northern European populations [ 21 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shrubby cinquefoil (Dasiphora fruticosa (L.) Rydb.) mapping in Northwestern Estonia based upon site similarities

Remm

2017

BMC Ecol

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BackgroundDifferent methods have been used to map species and habitat distributions. In this paper, similarity-based reasoning—a methodological approach that has received less attention—was applied to estimate the distribution and coverage of Dasiphora fruticosa for the region in the Baltic states where grows the most abundant population of this species.MethodsField observations, after thinning to at least 50 m interval, included 1480 coverage estimations in the species presence locations and 8317 absence locations. Species coverage for the 750 km2 of directly unobserved area was calculated using machine learning in the similarity-based prediction system Constud. Separate predictive sets of site features (e.g. land cover, soil type) and exemplar weights were calibrated for spatial partitions of the study area (probable presence region, unclear region, proved absence region). A modified version of the Gower’s distance metric, as used in Constud, is described.ResultsThe resulting maps depicted the predicted coverage, the certainty of decision when predicting presence or absence, and the mean similarity to the exemplar locations used while predicting. Coverage prediction errors were smaller in the unclear partition—where the species was mostly absent—than in the probable presence partition, where coverage ranged from 0 to 90%.ConclusionsWe call for methodological comparisons using the same data set.

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“…After World War II, the decline in labour and in the number of stocked animals in human mountain habitats of Italy, such as semi-natural grasslands, favoured shrub and tree encroachment and led to a loss in plant and animal diversity (Falcucci et al 2007;Lonati et al 2014;Orlandi et al 2016) and to a decrease in the yield and nutritive value of forage (Freléchoux et al 2007). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant species selection by sheep in semi-natural dry grasslands extensively grazed in the south-western Italian Alps

et al. 2017

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Sheep can have an important role in the conservation of abandoned and shrub-and tree-encroached, semi-natural dry grasslands because their feeding behaviour is known to affect plant diversity and structure. Nevertheless, little information is available about feeding preferences of sheep at the sward-patch scale and about the effects of stocking density on their selectivity. Consequently, we investigated plant-species selection by sheep managed with a low-intensity grazing, examining the influence of stocking density and plant species abundance by means of vegetation surveys and animal GPS tracking. Sheep grazed a graminoid-dominated, semi-natural dry grassland (Festuco-Brometea) in Piedmont Region, north-west Italy. Plant species, classified into graminoids, suffruticose forbs, and herbaceous forbs, were selected with a different intensity by sheep, which preferred graminoids over suffruticose and herbaceous forbs. Plant species showing a high consumption ratio (CR), i.e. the level of selection of plant species (CR >10%), were mostly graminoids (e.g. Bromus erectus, Koeleria vallesiana and Stipa pennata). Furthermore, Carex species were also noticeably selected, in particular C.humilis, whereas spiny species and those with a rosette or prostrate forms were rarely grazed. The heterogeneity of stocking density over the pasture allowed testing of the relationships between stocking density and CR. For many species, the higher the stocking density, the higher was the CR, regardless of the abundance of dominant neighbouring species. Results suggest that sheep under low-intensity grazing conditions exert a specific plantspecies selection in abandoned dry grasslands. By regulating the stocking density through the management of grazing sheep, it may be possible to condition the consumption of certain plant species, with medium-long-term effects on the botanical composition.

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Synecology, conservation status and IUCN assessment ofPotentilla fruticosaL. in the Italian Alps

Cited by 3 publications

References 48 publications

Selecting site characteristics at different spatial and thematic scales for shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa L.) distribution mapping

Selecting site characteristics at different spatial and thematic scales for shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa L.) distribution mapping

Shrubby cinquefoil (Dasiphora fruticosa (L.) Rydb.) mapping in Northwestern Estonia based upon site similarities

Plant species selection by sheep in semi-natural dry grasslands extensively grazed in the south-western Italian Alps

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