Plant species richness in the Chaco Serrano Woodland from central Argentina: Ecological traits and habitat fragmentation effects |
| |
| Authors: | Luciano Cagnolo Marcelo Cabido |
| |
| Institution: | a Centro de Investigaciones Entomológicas de Córdoba, F.C.E.F. y N., Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Vélez Sársfield 299, Córdoba X5000JJC, Argentina
b Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, CONICET, Argentina |
| |
| Abstract: | The Chaco Serrano Woodland from central Argentina has been dramatically reduced during the past 30 years, and is currently confined to several isolates of different size. In this study, we evaluated the effects of forest size, isolation and edge formation on plant species richness. Furthermore, we tested whether plants species with particular ecological traits were differentially affected by habitat fragmentation. Habitat area showed the highest explanatory value for plant species richness in stepwise multiple regressions. The effect of area was most pronounced for rare species, suggesting that large forests are necessary to preserve species with low local or regional abundance. Differences between edge and interior of Chaco Serrano were more pronounced for native and shrub species richness. The analysis of individual species cover revealed that native and biotically pollinated plants were less abundant in woodland edges. Our results showed that forest transformation into smaller remnants has lead to an impoverishment of plant communities, with particular subsets of species defined by ecological traits (rarity, origin and pollination mode) being more susceptible. |
| |
| Keywords: | Habitat fragmentation Remnant area Edge effects Species richness Ecological traits Chaco Serrano Woodland |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
