Sammanfattning

ContextUnderstanding how landscape patterns affect species diversity is of great importance in the fields of biogeography, landscape ecology and conservation planning, but despite the rapid advance in biodiversity analysis, investigations of spatial effects on biodiversity are still largely focused on species richness.ObjectivesWe wanted to know if and how species richness and species composition are differentially driven by the spatial measures dominating studies in landscape ecology and biogeography. As both measures require the same limited presence/absence information, it is important to choose an appropriate diversity measure, as differing results could have important consequences for interpreting ecological processes.MethodsWe recorded plant occurrences on 112 islands in the Baltic archipelago. Species richness and composition were calculated for each island, and the explanatory power of island area and habitat heterogeneity, distance to mainland and structural connectivity at three different landscape sizes were examined.ResultsA total of 354 different plant species were recorded. The influence of landscape variables differed depending on which diversity measure was used. Island area and structural connectivity determined plant species richness, while species composition revealed a more complex pattern, being influenced by island area, habitat heterogeneity and structural connectivity.ConclusionsAlthough both measures require the same basic input data, species composition can reveal more about the ecological processes affecting plant communities in fragmented landscapes than species richness alone. Therefore, we recommend that species community composition should be used as an additional standard measure of diversity for biogeography, landscape ecology and conservation planning.

Nyckelord

Archipelago; Baltic Sea; Diversity measure; Island biogeography; Landscape variables; Plants; Species-area relationship; Species composition; Species richness; Structural connectivity

Publicerad i

Landscape Ecology
2018, Volym: 33, nummer: 12, sidor: 2273-2284
Utgivare: SPRINGER

SLU författare

• Auffret, Alistair

  • Institutionen för ekologi, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    
  • Stockholms Universitet

Globala målen

SDG15 Skydda, återställa och främja ett hållbart nyttjande av landbaserade ekosystem, hållbart bruka skogar, bekämpa ökenspridning, hejda och vrida tillbaka markförstöringen samt hejda förlusten av biologisk mångfald


UKÄ forskningsämne

Fysisk geografi
Ekologi


Publikationens identifierare

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-018-0742-9

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/97613