Vegetation landscapes of a small-scale river valley in the light of the GIS analysis (original) (raw)
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Biodiversity Research and Conservation
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2014
Relationship between plant communities and habitat conditions in the natural mire valley landscape was examined in the Narew River mire valley, within the borders of the Narew National Park, in the north-eastern part of Poland. In the 37 sampling points in forests, sedge and reed communities, the soil and groundwater samples were taken and the species composition was recorded in 1996 -1997. In every sampling point water table was measured additionally. The Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) was performed, by means of computer program CANOCO, to examine the unimodal relationships between plant species and environmental variables. Species composition of studied communities is related mainly to natural processes which depends on dynamics of floods, fluctuations of the surface water and groundwater levels, and its nutrient richness. Geochemical processes are mainly affected by hydrological conditions of habitats in various locations in mire valley landscape.
Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae, 2014
The goal of the present research was to find correlations between the topographic attributes of a river valley and local ground-floor vegetation and its habitat requirements expressed by ecological indicator values (EIV), using the geographical information systems (GIS), digital elevation model (DEM), and multivariate statistical analysis. We paid special attention to the river course, which determines the differentiation in slope aspects and the amount of solar radiation reaching the ground surface. The model object was an almost latitudinal, ca. 4-km-long break section of the Sopot river, crossing the escarpment zone of the Central Roztocze Highlands, southeastern Poland. The main material comprised species lists (with estimated abundance) for each ca. 200-m-long section, according to the river valley course, separately for the left and right riverbanks, 40 sections altogether, ca. 15 000 vegetation records, and physical and chemical soil measurements. A 3-meter resolution DEM was...
Aquatic Botany, 1984
Wiegleb, G., 1984. A study of habitat conditions of the macrophytic vegetation in selected river systems in Western Lower Saxony (Federal Republic of Germany). Aquat. Bot., 18: 313-352. In connection with a ph.ytosociological survey of running water macrophytes in Lower Saxony, ecological investigations were carried out in selected river systems. Within these systems, 43 sampling sites were studied. The vegetation of the sampling sites was classified by means of cluster analysis into 7 groups, 3 of which occurred on the diluvial plains and 2 in the coastal marsh area only. Forty-one parameters were measured 3-7 times covering 2 vegetation periods. In the first instance, the structure of the data was carefully studied by bivariate correlation analysis and factor analysis. A high number of significant correlations was detected, which indicates difficulties in ecological interpretation. Temporal variation of the parameters measured was also studied, and they were classified into 3 groups according to stability. For a study of the relationships between the vegetation and the ecological parameters, the data set was split into 5 subsets (physical data, water chemical data, interstitial water chemical data, sediment characteristics, and a mixed set of simple field data). The relationships of each subset to the vegetation was studied separately using cluster analysis. The mixed data set FIELD showed the highest degree of similarity to the vegetation clustering. Analysis of variance was carried out in order to find out which variables differ most among the vegetation types. The best differentiation qualities were shown by some physical and water chemical parameters (oxygen content, turbitity, current velocity, acidity, calcium). This result can only be interpreted ecologically in connection with the intercorrelations observed. The ecological behaviour of some species of medium frequency was also studied in detail by means of analysis of variance. The means of all parameters for occurrence and non-occurrence were compared. In the case of Ranunculus peltatus Schrank, MyriophyUum alterniflorum DC and Elodea canadensis Michx., several differentiation variables could be detected. Finally, the zonation of two rivers was studied in detail by comparing the vegetation sequence with important physical and chemical parameters. The interaction between these parameter groups is clearly shown. Physical parameters like current velocity are responsible for the basic zonation, whilst chemical parameters can modify the zones to a large extent. The necessity for a comprehensive approach to such types of data sets, including profound structural data analysis, is stressed in the discussion. The special problem of relating phytosociological and ecological data is discussed. The methods used are explained and possible objections are noted. The difficulties of using the habitat ecological results for bioindication pur
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Hydrobiologia, 2014
The aim of the study was to identify the vegetation pattern in the different types of watercourses basing on survey in reference conditions in a wide geographical gradient, including mountain, upland and lowland rivers. We tested relationship between composition of macrophytes to environmental variables including: altitude, slope, catchment area, geology of valley, land use, hydromorphological features, water physical and chemical measurements. Analysis based on 109 pristine river sites located throughout major types of rivers in Central Europe. Qualitative and quantitative plant surveys were carried out between 2005 and 2013. Based on TWINSPAN classification and DCA analysis, six macrophyte types were distinguished. The lowland sites were divided into the following three types: humic rivers and two types of siliceous rivers depending on the catchment area, including medium-large and small rivers. The mountain and upland rivers were divided into three geological types: siliceous, calcareous and gravel. We found that the variation of macrophyte communities was determined by several habitat factors (mainly altitude, flow type, riverbed granulometry, conductivity and alkalinity), whereas the spatial factor was rather limited; further, the plant diversity was not reflected accurately by the European ecoregion approach.
Landscape and Urban Planning, 2009
This paper deals with the relation between legally protected biodiversity and riverine ecotopes and with the assessment of biodiversity values of the Middle Vistula river valley (Poland). Furthermore, it describes the effects of landscape change on spatial distribution of ecotope patches and biodiversity values in Kazimierski Landscape Park. Biodiversity values were calculated using BIO-SAFE, a model meant to quantify biodiversity and to value ecotopes based on legally protected species. Dissimilarity indices depict high uniqueness of ecotope types regarding their species assemblages (e.g., river dunes, banks and bars). The actual biodiversity values of the river valley in Kazimierski Landscape Park are high in comparison with floodplains of lowland rivers in Western Europe. GIS analyses of remotely sensed ecotope maps show remarkable differences in number, acreage and patchiness of ecotopes for the years 1953 and 2003. The total number of patches increased by almost 44%. Side channels and floodplain lakes became fragmented. The average and total surface area of bush, forest and arable land increased, but decreased for bare soil, pioneer vegetation and grassland. These landscape changes indicate natural vegetation succession, intensification of agriculture and progressive impacts of river regulation. The Vistula river valley still represents high biodiversity values for higher plants, birds, herpetofauna and fish. However, current landscape changes negatively affect potential values for protected and endangered species. Assessments with BIO-SAFE can help to balance biodiversity conservation, river management and landscape planning.
Plant cover of the Szum river valley (Roztocze, South-East Poland)
Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae, 2005
The break section of the Szum river and the mouth part of its left tributary, Miedzianka (Roztocze, SE Poland) were the object of the research conducted in the years 1999-2001. The aim of the study was to establish the abiotic conditions of the diversity of vegetation and the richness of vascular flora in a small lowland river valley. A real vegetation map was drawn in the scale 1:5000. The syntaxonomic classification of plant communities and habitat trophism were established on the basis of 120 phytosociological relevés and 160 soil samples, respectively. On the area of barely 35.4 ha identified were 48 plant associations and communities representing 11 phytosociological classes, among them habitats protected in Poland (16 types) and important at the EU scale (3). There were found 378 species of 72 families, including: 21 species under strict protection, 9 under partial protection, 25 plants threatened on the regional scale, and 2 included into the Polish Red Data Book. Most of int...
Hydrobiologia, 2006
The aim of this paper is to study the relationships between the physical features of rivers and the distribution of macrophyte vegetation. Field work was undertaken at 207 stations along the Scorff River and its tributaries, a salmon river system in southern Brittany (western France). The physical features were considered using a principal component analysis (PCA). Stepwise multiple regression models made it possible to assess their relationships with the botanical data. The first five axes of the physical PCA (used as explicative variables) were initially linked to the most frequently surveyed species, then to their ecomorphological types, and, finally to Arber's (1920. Water Plants. A Study of Aquatic Angiosperms. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 414 pp) morphological classification. It was concluded that plant morphology was closely related to these environmental factors. This could contribute to the development of predictive models for plant distribution and could increase the knowledge of reference vegetation related to bioindication systems.