<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The paper discusses the question whether geographical information systems (GIS) and digital elevation models (DEM) are useful tools for studying correlations between topographic attributes of a given area, and vascular flora requirements reflected by ecological indicator values (EIVs). The model object was a 4-km-long gorge section of the Sopot river valley (80.5 ha), the Central Roztocze Highlands, South-East Poland. Species lists for 40 ca. 200-m-long and 100-350-m-wide sections, according to the river course, separately for the left and right riverbanks, were made. The analysis of the area was based on a 3-meter resolution DEM. We applied primary topographic attributes: slope, and planar, vertical, and total curvatures and also secondary topographic attributes: solar radiation (SRAD) and topographic wetness index (TWI), as well as other terrain characters: denivelation, total, flat and upslope area of each section. Using the multivariate analyses, we analysed relationships between weighted averages of EIVs for each species and topographic attributes.</p><p>The GIS and DEM became useful tools for the detection of patterns of species with different habitat requirements. The species number correlated positively with the total and flat area of a section and the TWI, while the denivelation, mean slope and upslope area had a reverse vector. Among the most frequent and abundant herb species, we found several spatial patterns of distribution, namely those of: <italic>Maianthemum bifolium</italic>, <italic>Carex remota</italic>, <italic>C. acutiformis</italic>, <italic>Filipendula ulmaria</italic>, <italic>Dryopteris filixmas</italic>, and <italic>Urtica dioica</italic>. The rarest species represented <italic>Ajuga genevensis</italic>, <italic>Scorzonera humilis</italic>, and <italic>Stachys palustris</italic> patterns.</p></abstract>

The paper discusses the question whether geographical information systems (GIS) and digital elevation models (DEM) are useful tools for studying correlations between topographic attributes of a given area, and vascular flora requirements reflected by ecological indicator values (EIVs). The model object was a 4-km-long gorge section of the Sopot river valley (80.5 ha), the Central Roztocze Highlands, South-East Poland. Species lists for 40 ca. 200-m-long and 100-350-m-wide sections, according to the river course, separately for the left and right riverbanks, were made. The analysis of the area was based on a 3-meter resolution DEM. We applied primary topographic attributes: slope, and planar, vertical, and total curvatures and also secondary topographic attributes: solar radiation (SRAD) and topographic wetness index (TWI), as well as other terrain characters: denivelation, total, flat and upslope area of each section. Using the multivariate analyses, we analysed relationships between weighted averages of EIVs for each species and topographic attributes.The GIS and DEM became useful tools for the detection of patterns of species with different habitat requirements. The species number correlated positively with the total and flat area of a section and the TWI, while the denivelation, mean slope and upslope area had a reverse vector. Among the most frequent and abundant herb species, we found several spatial patterns of distribution, namely those of: Maianthemum bifolium, Carex remota, C. acutiformis, Filipendula ulmaria, Dryopteris filixmas, and Urtica dioica. The rarest species represented Ajuga genevensis, Scorzonera humilis, and Stachys palustris patterns.

Topographic attributes and ecological indicator values in assessing the ground-floor vegetation patterns

Department of Ecology, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology

Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management

Biodiversity Research and Conservation

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The paper discusses the question whether geographical information systems (GIS) and digital elevation models (DEM) are useful tools for studying correlations...

Topographic attributes and ecological indicator values in assessing the ground-floor vegetation patterns

Published Online: Oct 16, 2018

Page range: 9 - 22

Received: Jun 04, 2017

Accepted: Sep 30, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/biorc-2017-0010

Keywords
digital elevation models, forest vegetation, geographical information systems, multivariate ordination analysis, riparian vegetation, spatial patterns, solar radiation, topographic wetness index

© 2017 Bożenna Czarnecka et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Topographic attributes and ecological indicator values in assessing the ground-floor vegetation patterns

Published Online: Oct 16, 2018

Page range: 9 - 22

Received: Jun 04, 2017

Accepted: Sep 30, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/biorc-2017-0010

Keywordsdigital elevation models, forest vegetation, geographical information systems, multivariate ordination analysis, riparian vegetation, spatial patterns, solar radiation, topographic wetness index

© 2017 Bożenna Czarnecka et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
digital elevation models, forest vegetation, geographical information systems, multivariate ordination analysis, riparian vegetation, spatial patterns, solar radiation, topographic wetness index