The flora of a cultural landscape: environmental determinants of change revealed using archival sources

McCollin, Duncan; Moore, Linda; Sparks, Tim H.

doi:10.1016/s0006-3207(99)00070-1

Cited by 89 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…However, evidence of similar effects in British calcareous grasslands, where nitrogen deposition rates are typically less than half those in the Netherlands, has been lacking (Wilson et al . 1995) although several other semi-natural habitat types in Britain have shown a loss of species richness and changes in species composition consistent with an increase in substrate fertility over this period (McCollin et al . 2000;Haines-Young et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Influence of slope and aspect on long‐term vegetation change in British chalk grasslands

Bennie¹,

Hill²,

Baxter³

et al. 2006

Journal of Ecology

301

232

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Summary 1The species composition of fragmented semi-natural grasslands may change over time due to stochastic local extinction and colonization events, successional change and/or as a response to changing management or abiotic conditions. The resistance of vegetation to change may be mediated through the effects of topography (slope and aspect) on soils and microclimate. 2 To assess long-term vegetation change in British chalk grasslands, 92 plots first surveyed by F. H. Perring in 1952-53, and distributed across four climatic regions, were re-surveyed during 2001-03. Changes in vegetation since the original survey were assessed by comparing local colonization and extinction rates at the plot scale, and changes in species frequency at the subplot scale. Vegetation change was quantified using indirect ordination (Detrended Correspondence Analysis; DCA) and Ellenberg indicator values. 3 Across all four regions, there was a significant decrease in species number and a marked decline in stress-tolerant species typical of species-rich calcareous grasslands, both in terms of decreased plot occupancy and decreased frequency within occupied plots. More competitive species typical of mesotrophic grasslands had colonized plots they had not previously occupied, but had not increased significantly in frequency within occupied plots. 4 A significant increase in Ellenberg fertility values, which was highly correlated with the first DCA axis, was found across all regions. The magnitude of change of fertility and moisture values was found to decrease with angle of slope and with a topographic solar radiation index derived from slope and aspect. 5 The observed shift from calcareous grassland towards more mesotrophic grassland communities is consistent with the predicted effects of both habitat fragmentation and nutrient enrichment. It is hypothesized that chalk grassland swards on steeply sloping ground are more resistant to invasion by competitive grass species than those on flatter sites due to phosphorus limitation in shallow minerogenic rendzina soils, and that those with a southerly aspect are more resistant due to increased magnitude and frequency of drought events.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Influence of slope and aspect on long‐term vegetation change in British chalk grasslands

Bennie¹,

Hill²,

Baxter³

et al. 2006

Journal of Ecology

301

232

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“…Analysing change in plant abundance and range extent over time received fresh impetus due to the development of a quantitative approach to measuring change (McCollin et al, 2000). This approach, which generates an Index of Change across a whole flora, has since been used to show change in regional floras in the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, France amongst others (Preston et al, 2002a, Walker, 2003, van der Veken, 2004, Tamis et al, 2005, Stehlik et al, 2007, van Calster et al, 2008, van Landuyt et al, 2008.…”

Section: The Results Of a Comparison Between Records Collected By Thementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here, change in individual plant range extent is estimated in terms of a relative change in frequency between the two data sets using a regression approach (McCollin et al, 2000;Preston et al, 2002a;Telfer et al, 2002). Due to differences in recording effort and other perceived biases, two data sets from different time periods cannot normally be directly compared unless a correction factor is applied (e.g., Rich and Woodruff, 1996).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Change and causes of change in the vascular plant flora of Ireland: 1970–1999

McCollin¹,

Geraghty²

2015

Biology and Environment: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy

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The analysis of decadal change in regional floras has received fresh impetus in recent years with studies often detecting anthropogenic effects and biotic homogenization. Here we analyse the changing flora of the island of Ireland (i.e., both the Republic and Northern Ireland) using data derived from the New Atlas of the British Flora (Preston et al., 2002) to compare changing plant status from the previous national plant atlas of Perring and Walters (1962). We compare the number of 10 x 10 km grid squares occupied by individual plant species and enter these into a regression analysis. The null hypothesis assumes that all the species will be located on the line of best fit hence the resulting residuals are used as an Index of Change. This Index was entered into correlation analysis with independent environmental indicators to interpret the potential causes of any change. Despite some potential sampling bias in the data the findings point to several factors being implicated in change with eutrophication being a major correlate of change. This finding is discussed in relation to land use change and agricultural intensification over the period of the survey.

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“…The mean Ellenberg values per plot indicate implicit shifts along the gradients of incident light, moisture, pH and substrate fertility (Ellenberg et al, 1991) using unweighted indicator species. These values have been used in a number of vegetation change studies across Europe (McCollin et al, 1999;Smart, 2000) with validated correlations between Ellenberg values and environmental parameters (Hill and Carey, 1997;Ersten, Alkemade & Wassen,1998). Changes in ecological conditions over time can therefore be hypothesised from mean score changes between the two sample dates.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in the vegetation composition of hay meadows between 1993 and 2009 in the Picos de Europa and implications for nature conservation

Prince

Bunce

Jongman

2012

Journal for Nature Conservation

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The flora of a cultural landscape: environmental determinants of change revealed using archival sources

Cited by 89 publications

References 24 publications

Influence of slope and aspect on long‐term vegetation change in British chalk grasslands

Influence of slope and aspect on long‐term vegetation change in British chalk grasslands

Change and causes of change in the vascular plant flora of Ireland: 1970–1999

Changes in the vegetation composition of hay meadows between 1993 and 2009 in the Picos de Europa and implications for nature conservation

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