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Solon, J./ M. Degórski 2012: Geographical patterns of selected features of the soil and herb layer in central and north European Scots pine forests. - Geographia Polonica 85(2): 83-95. [RLL List # 232 / Rec.# 34934]
Keywords: European pine forests/ Geographical pattern/ Gradients/ Species biomass/ Species richness/ Vaccinio-piceetea
Abstract: This paper defines the relationships between geographical location (which determines macroclimatic differentiation and reflects the history of the vegetation), soils (which determine hydrolytic acidity, degree of base saturation and organic carbon content), and selected characteristics of vegetation (species richness, herb layer biomass, moss layer biomass) in one type of forest community, namely, pine forests of the Vaccinio-Piceetea class. The study area covers the major part of the European domain of pine forests, from 70.15°N (Norway) to 50.35°N (Poland) and from 12.02°E (Sweden) to 33.6°E (Russia). The geographical pattern shows the following correlations: (a) a rise in the number of vascular plant species in the herb layer as one moves from west to east and from north to south; (b) no significant relationship between geographical location and the biomass of the herb layer, but it is possible to divide the study area into two parts: central Scandinavia, characterized by a high level of biomass, and the rest of the area, characterized by lower herb layer biomass; (c) a south-north increase in the standard deviation of herb layer biomass (serving also as a measure of spatial heterogeneity of the forest floor in terms of the synusial structure of the community); (d) greater biomass of the bryophyte (moss+lichen) layer in the north than in the south and in the east than in the west; (e) stability at lower latitudes of standard deviation for moss biomass (serving also as a measure of spatial heterogeneity of the forest floor in terms of the synusial structure of the community), albeit with a sharp increase north of latitude 55°N. © Jerzy Solon, Marek Degórski.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7163/GPol.2012.2.13
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