The importance of soil parameters as predictors of plant species and communities’ distribution and biodiversity along Erges river

conferenceObject

Quinta-Nova, L.C.
Monteiro, M.C.H.
Duarte, A.C.

Quinta-Nova, L., Horta, C., Duarte, A., 2021. The importance of soil parameters as predictors of plant species and communities’ distribution and biodiversity along Erges river. World Multidisciplinary Earth Sciences Symposium 2021. Praga, 6 a 10 de setembro

The importance of soil parameters as predictors of plant species and communities’ distribution and biodiversity along Erges river

Soil proprieties
River ecosystem
Plant species
Biodiversity

Portuguese national funds by FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., within the GEOBIOTEC - Project UIDB/04035/2020

2021-10-11T23:34:35Z
2021-10-11T23:34:35Z
2021

Riparian systems are transitional environments between water bodies and surrounding elevated areas; they form an environment within which the aquatic and terrestrial components of the landscape interact. Riparian zones have been variously defined as very complex ecotones with distinct vegetation and soil characteristics periodically, influenced by flooding and, thus, where vegetation may be influenced by elevated water tables and the ability of the soils to hold water. Soil factors are of well-known importance for plants among other abiotic factors because they constitute the belowground environment from which water and nutrients can be captured. There are important feedbacks between the standing vegetation and fluvial processes, which have a fundamental effect on the character and dynamics of the riparian habitat mosaic. As a result of their complexity and dynamics, naturally functioning riparian systems show high biodiversity and production. Among soil parameters, soil pH is often considered the most proximal for explaining plant distributions and it was shown to be an important predictor of plant species richness. The carbon isotope composition of soil organic matter (OM) is another potentially important parameter used to infer the source of carbon in different ecosystems. This work aimed at evaluating the effect of soil proprieties in plant species and communities’ distribution and diversity along the banks of Erges river in the Tejo Internacional Natural Park (PNTI), Portugal. In this riparian area the homogeneous natural vegetation types, the floristic composition and cover of the species were determined in 56 plots floristic inventories and soil samples were collected, following a random-stratified equal sampling design. During the study period, a total of 249 plant species were recorded, and 10 main vegetation communities were identified. The influence of the soil parameters in the explanation of vegetation presence and abundance was assessed using canonical ordination (RDA). Linear regression was used to study the relation between soil parameters and plant richness. The correlation between the pH and plant species richness (R = 0.314) and between OM and plant species richness (R = 0.397) is moderate and positive. For rock vegetation communities the potassium concentrations in soil are higher than in other plant communities (x =129 ppm), and the OM content is higher in tall shrubs’ communities (x = 4.98%). Concerning the relation between soil parameters and presence of plant species using RDA, with the Monte Carlo permutation test showing that there is a significant correlation (P = 0.002), and 52.54% of total of the variance explained with the first two axes, we observed that OM, phosphorus, and pH concentrations have a strong influence in species distribution.
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

openAccess

eng