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Alpine plant community diversity in species-area relations at fine scale

Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research
By: , , , and 
https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2019.1698894

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Abstract

Observations of diversity in alpine vegetation appear to be scale dependent. The relations of plant species richness with surface processes and geomorphology have been studied, but patterns of beta diversity are less known. In Glacier National Park, Montana, diversity has been examined within 1 m2 plots and for 16 m2 plots across two ranges, with within-plot and across-range explanatory factors, respectively. The slopes of species–area equations for nested 4, 8, 12, and 16 m2 plots were used as an indicator of beta diversity in Glacier National Park, where smaller and larger scales have been examined. The slopes were negatively related to a field assessment of surface stability and positively to the presence of talus—two sides of the same coin. A positive relationship with bedrock outcrops may be due to a misrepresentation of area for plants. The relationship of species–area slopes to plot-level gamma diversity was negative, weak, and marginally significant, and this variable did not enter the general linear model (GLM). Beyond simple differences in diversity with differences in environment, examination of beta diversity at a scale between that of earlier studies revealed surface processes and geomorphology as drivers that were also at a scale between those previously reported.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Alpine plant community diversity in species-area relations at fine scale
Series title Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research
DOI 10.1080/15230430.2019.1698894
Volume 52
Issue 1
Year Published 2020
Language English
Publisher Taylor and Francis
Contributing office(s) Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center
Description 6 p.
First page 41
Last page 46
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