How gradients of climate and soil determine Mediterranean annual‐rich dryland vegetation

Abstract

AbstractQuestionsDryland annual plant communities constitute the most species‐rich small‐scale vegetation in the Mediterranean. Nevertheless, the composition and diversity of these units and the factors controlling their variation are still insufficiently understood. Therefore, we investigated species composition and richness patterns in relation to important environmental gradients provided by climate and soil.LocationCentral Crete, Greece.MethodsThe study is based on 82 plots of 4 m2 sampled at altitudes between 11 and 1400 m a.s.l. We conducted vegetation relevés and soil analyses. We used generalised additive models to model species richness and community characteristics along the studied gradients. We then performed distance‐based redundancy analysis to determine the main environmental factors influencing species composition. To determine species of diagnostic value for bedrock types, we applied an indicator species analysis. Correlation tests were used to test the performance of the South Aegean Plant Indicator Values on our dataset.ResultsWe recorded 347 taxa (species and subspecies) of 43 plant families, and mean species numbers of 47.2 ± 12.5 per plot. While overall species richness varied only slightly along the analysed environmental gradients, significant changes were observed for relative proportions of species from different life forms and families. Soil pH and elevation had the highest influence on the variation in species composition (21.0% explained). We found 22 species indicative of calcareous rock and 24 species indicative of lime‐deficient rock types. The South Aegean Plant Indicator Values were relatively strongly correlated with environmental variables.ConclusionsResults indicate considerable species turnover both along climatic (elevation) and soil gradients, highlighting the special importance of soil pH. The data provided by our study are expected to supply relevant ecological background information for a pending classification of East Mediterranean annual‐rich vegetation.