Fine-Scale Lithogeochemical Features Influence Plant Distribution Patterns in Alpine Grasslands in the Western Alps of Italy

Abstract

Bedrock geology is crucial in structuring alpine plant communities. Old studies mainly focused on the compositional differences between alpine plant communities on carbonate rocks and crystalline rocks, i.e., calcareous vs. siliceous vegetation. Increasing attention is being paid to bedrock types other than calcareous or siliceous ones, viz. those which have intermediate geochemical characteristics between pure calcareous and pure siliceous ones. Among these types of ‘intermediate’ bedrocks, calc-schists and serpentines are generally characterized by vegetation comprised of a mixture of basiphilous and acidophilous species. We selected several sites in alpine grasslands in the Western Italian Alps, on calc-schist and serpentine bedrocks, located at 2500 ± 100 m above sea level. X-ray fluorescence quantification of major and trace elements, combined with stereomicroscopic examination of bedrock samples with a petrographic approach, revealed a much broader range of bedrock types than recognized by inspection of geological maps. The vegetation investigated in our study was mostly composed of a set of species found more or less frequently in alpine silicicolous or calcicolous plant communities of the Alps and other European mountains. The carbonate content in the bedrock was one of the main drivers of variation in grassland vegetation, not necessarily related to soil pH. There were no distinctive species uniquely characterizing grassland vegetation on serpentines or calc-schists.