Distribution of vascular plant communities in Slovenian watercourses

Zelnik, Igor (author), Kuhar, Urška (author), Holcar, Matej (author), Germ, Mateja (author), Gaberščik, Alenka (author)

Rivers and streams are heterogenous ecosystems that host a great number of vascular plant communities. The territory of Slovenia is highly diverse regarding geomorphologic, geologic, climatic, and edaphic conditions. We presumed that environmental variability will also affect the distribution of hygrophilous vascular plants in running waters and consequently the structure of plant communities they form. We analyzed macrophyte, spatial, and environmental parameters in 906 stretches of the watercourses occurring in the Dinaric, Pannonian, and Po lowland hydro-ecoregions. We determined 87 vascular plant taxa. The most abundant were Myriophyllum spicatum, Phalaris arundinacea, and Potamogeton nodosus. Submerged macrophytes presented about one third of total species abundance, while amphiphytes were somewhat less abundant. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) revealed that distance from the source explained 15.1% of the growth form type variability, and current velocity and latitude explained 4.1% each. With the assessed parameters, we explained 31.6% of the variability. When CCA was run with taxa, only 20.9% of their variability was explained with statistically significant parameters. We distinguished 25 different plant associations belonging to five classes and nine alliances. The majority of defined plant communities were distributed in different watercourses belonging to different hydro-ecoregions. Only seven communities had a narrower distribution range, three of them on karst poljes. Among them, the new association Mentho aquaticae-Oenanthetum fistulosae from the river Mali Obrh on the Loško polje was described in this contribution.

• Language: English
• Keywords: hidrobiology, rivers, Slovenia, macrophytes, growth forms, plant communities, distribution, streams
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: BF - Biotechnical Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2021
• Number of pages: 26 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 13, iss. 8, art. 1071
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-135343
• UDC: 574
• ISSN on article: 2073-4441
• DOI: 10.3390/w13081071
• COBISS.SI-ID: 60161539
• Publication date in RUL: 08.03.2022

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Water
• Shortened title: Water
• Publisher: Molecular Diversity Preservation International - MDPI
• ISSN: 2073-4441
• COBISS.SI-ID: 36731653

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.
• Licensing start date: 13.04.2021

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: hidrobiologija, reke, Slovenija, makrofiti

Projects

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: P1-0212
• Name: Biologija rastlin

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Funding programme: Young researchers
• Project number: 3311-04-831246