Conservation of Northern European plant diversity: the correspondence with soil pH |
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| Authors: | Meelis Prtel Aveliina Helm Nele Ingerpuu Ülle Reier Eva-Liis Tuvi |
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| Institution: | Institute of Botany and Ecology, University of Tartu, Lai 40, Tartu 51005, Estonia |
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| Abstract: | Effective biodiversity conservation requires an analysis of the existing reserve system. In temperate and boreal regions, plant diversity has a strong positive association with soil pH. Consequently, in order to protect plant diversity effectively, a relatively large proportion of protected areas should be on high pH soils. Since biodiversity data are never complete for all taxa, biodiversity indicators, e.g., threatened species, should be used. We studied soil pH distributions in protected areas in Northern Europe and tested whether soil pH requirement differs between threatened and non-threatened bryophyte and vascular plant species. As result, the proportion of high pH soils in protected areas was significantly greater than the proportion of these soils in general. This ensures that a large regional pool of plant species preferring high pH soils is relatively well protected. Threatened and non-threatened species in Northern Europe did not differ in their soil pH requirements, but threatened species required a narrower soil pH range than non-threatened species. Consequently, threatened species diversity can be used for indicating overall plant diversity. |
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| Keywords: | Protected areas Reserves Soil acidity Species richness Threatened species |
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