Biomonitoring: General and Applied Aspects on Regional and Global Scales

242 Pages·2001·9.04 MB·English

by  A. Kratochwil (eds.), Frank Klötzli (auth.), C. A. Burga

236 l. Möller, C. Wüthrich & D. Thannheiser
236 l. Möller, C. Wüthrich & D. Thannheiser
BIOMONITORING:
Table 3. Partial constancy table of the moss tundra- and the polar desert vegetation, and the dwarf-shrub
GENTaEblRe A3. L APaNrtiDal cAonPsPtaLncIyE tDab lAe SofP tEheC mToSss OtuNnd rRa-EaGndI OthNe pAoLlar A deNseDrt vGegLeOtatBioAn, Lan Sd CthAe LdwEaSrf -shrub
heath.
heath.
egetation type 1055 Tundra and Skua Polar Oesert Veg. D. hr.
egetation type 1055 Tundra and Skua Polar Oesert Veg. D. hr.
Uummocks Hcath
Uummocks Hcath
Plant community TI o T 01 R SH KS SST S OOT 00
Plant community TI o T 01 R SH KS SST S OOT 00
Number of releves 2 6 5 5 9 5 5 9 5 5
Number of releves 2 6 5 5 9 5 5 9 5 5
Mcan cover (%) 100 90 93 98 90 65 88 90 83 83
Mcan cover (%) 100 90 93 98 90 65 88 90 83 83
Mcan number of spccies 19 17 18 23 17 17 23 23 21 19
Mcan number of spccies 19 17 18 23 17 17 23 23 21 19
alix polari 5 V V V V V V V IV IV
alix polari 5 V V V V V V V IV IV
axi fraga oppositi fol ia 5 V IV V 11 V V V IV IV
axi fraga oppositi fol ia 5 V IV V 11 V V V IV IV
Dryas octopetala V V
Dryas octopetala V V
Cera tiulll alpinum 5 V 111 IV V V IV V 11 11
Cera tiulll alpinum 5 V 111 IV V V IV V 11 11
Luzula arcuata s p. confusa 5 V IV V 111 V V V 111 111
Luzula arcuata s p. confusa 5 V IV V 111 V V V 111 111
Bistorta vivipara 11 V 11 11 V V V IV IV
Bistorta vivipara 11 V 11 11 V V V IV IV
Oxyria digyna 5 V V V IV 11 V IV
Oxyria digyna 5 V V V IV 11 V IV
tellaria longipes 11 I 111 V 111 11 11
tellaria longipes 11 I 111 V 111 11 11
axifraga cernua V IV IV IV V IV IV
axifraga cernua V IV IV IV V IV IV
axi fraga cespito a IV 111 111 111 V V
axi fraga cespito a IV 111 111 111 V V
PediclIlaris hirsllta I 11 IV IV 11 11
PediclIlaris hirsllta I 11 IV IV 11 11
Saxifraga nivalis 11 11 111 IV IV
Saxifraga nivalis 11 11 111 IV IV
Cochlearia groenlandica 3 111
Cochlearia groenlandica 3 111
Draba lactea IV IV IV
Draba lactea IV IV IV
Eqlli etuill scirpoides 111 I 11
Eqlli etuill scirpoides 111 I 11
Papaver dahlianuill 11 IV 11 11
Papaver dahlianuill 11 IV 11 11
Draba subcapitata 111 11 11
Draba subcapitata 111 11 11
Sax ifraga hirculus 111
Sax ifraga hirculus 111
Poa alpina var. vivipara IV
Poa alpina var. vivipara IV
Carex rupestris 111 111
Carex rupestris 111 111
axifraga hyperborea 111
axifraga hyperborea 111
Draba pauci nora V
Draba pauci nora V
Tomenthypnum nitens 5 I 11 IV IV 11 11 11 11
Tomenthypnum nitens 5 I 11 IV IV 11 11 11 11
DrepanocladllS uncinatlls V V V IV V V I
DrepanocladllS uncinatlls V V V IV V V I
Racoill itrium canescens 5 11 V I 111 111 V V
Racoill itrium canescens 5 11 V I 111 111 V V
Crusto e lichens 11 V V 111 111 111
Crusto e lichens 11 V V 111 111 111
tereocau Ion alpinum & 5 IV V 11 V V V V
tereocau Ion alpinum & 5 IV V 11 V V V V
bOtryOSlllll
bOtryOSlllll
Celraria is landica 5 V 111 V 11 IV V V V V
Celraria is landica 5 V 111 V 11 IV V V V V
Pleurozium schrebcri 5 11 111 IV I I 111 111
Pleurozium schrebcri 5 11 111 IV I I 111 111
Bryulll pec. 5 I IV IV V 111 111 I 11
Bryulll pec. 5 I IV IV V 111 111 I 11
Ptilidium ciliare 5 111 IV 111 111 I
Ptilidium ciliare 5 111 IV 111 111 I
Thamnolia vermicularis 5 I 111 11 11 I V V
Thamnolia vermicularis 5 I 111 11 11 I V V
Distichium capillaceum V 111 11 IV IV V V
Distichium capillaceum V 111 11 IV IV V V
Polytrichulll alpinulll V V 111 IV IV IV IV
Polytrichulll alpinulll V V 111 IV IV IV IV
Cetraria nivalis 111 IV II V IV
Cetraria nivalis 111 IV II V IV
ctrari a de i isei 11 I V V V V V
ctrari a de i isei 11 I V V V V V
Pogonatum urnigcrum I I I
Pogonatum urnigcrum I I I
Tasks for vegetation science 35
SERIES EDITORS
A. Kratochwil, University of Osnabruck, Germany
H. Lieth, University of Osnabruck, Germany
The titles published in this series are listed at the end of this volume.
Biomonitoring:
General and Applied Aspects on
Regional and Global Scales
Edited by
C.A.BURGA
University ofZ urich,
Department of Geography,
Zurich, Switzerland
and
A. KRATOCHWIL
University of Osnabruck,
Department of Biology/Ecology,
Osnabruck, Germany
SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data.
ISBN 978-90-481-5621-4 ISBN 978-94-015-9686-2 (eBook)
DOl 10.1007/978-94-015-9686-2
Printed on acid-free paper
All Rights Reserved
© 2001 by Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 2001
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2001
No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner.
Contents
Preface
CA. Burga & A. Kratochwil
Chapter A General aspects of biomonitoring 5
Biomonitoring - Tasks and limits
F. KlOtzli 5
Statistical design and analysis in long-tenn vegetation monitoring
0. Wildi 17
Administration levels and tasks of nature conservation efficiency control
M Labasch & A. Otte 41
Chapter B Examples of applied biomonitoring in Germany
and Switzerland 61
Monitoring recent vegetation changes in nutrient-rich
beechwoods in central Gennany
W Hakes 61
Biomonitoring - Evaluation and assessment of heavy metal
concentrations from two German moss monitoring surveys
U. Herpin, U. Siewers, K. Kreimes & B. Markert 73
Do phytophenological series contribute to vegetation monitoring?
C Defila 97
Species responses to climatic variation and land-use change
in grasslands of southern Switzerland
A. Stampfli & M Zeiter 107
Little flowers in a mild winter
J ROthlisberger 125
Vegetation monitoring on a small-scale restoration site in the alpine belt:
Pilatus Kulm, Switzerland
E. Ruoss, CA. Burga & J Eschmann 143
vi
Chapter C Aspects of global change in the Alps and
in the high arctic region 153
Long-tenn monitoring of mountain peaks in the Alps
G. Grabherr, M Gottfried & H. Pauli 153
Monitoring of Eastern and Southern Swiss Alpine timberline ecotones
CA. Burga & R. Perret 179
Observed changes in vegetation in relation to climate wanning
G. Carraro, P. Gianoni, R. Mossi, F. KIOtzli & G.-R. Walther 195
Laurophyllisation - A sign of a changing climate?
G.-R. Walther 207
Changes of plant community patterns, phytomass and carbon balance
in a high arctic tundra ecosystem under a climate of increasing cloudiness
1. Moller, C Wuthrich & D. Thannheiser 225
Preface
This volume contains a selection of 14 articles dealing with different aspects of
biomonitoring and their relation to questions of global change. During the last 10 - 15
years, vegetation changes due to various causes have been more intensively studied in
biological and environmental sciences. Especially aspects of global warming lead to a
great variety of tasks for vegetation science (see e.g. the articles by Grabherr, Gottfried
& Pauli; Carraro, Gianoni, Mossi, KlOtzli & Walther; Walther; Defila; Stampfli &
Zeiter; Rothlisberger; Burga & Perret and Moller, WUthrich & Thannheiser).
The different aspects of applied biomonitoring related to (possible) environmental
changes concern various ecosystems, e.g. Central European beechwoods, Insubrian
evergreen broad-leaved forests, thermophilous lowland deciduous forests, dry
grasslands of the lower montane belt of the Ticino Alps, alpine mountain peaks of
Switzerland and Austria, Swiss alpine timberline ecotones, and high arctic tundra
vegetation.
The volume is divided into three parts: A. General aspects of biomonitoring
(contributions by KlOtzli; Wildi and Labasch & Otte) , B. Examples of applied
biomonitoring in Germany and Switzerland (articles by Hakes; Herpin, Siewers,
Kreimes & Markert; Defila; Stampfli & Zeiter; Rothlisberger and Ruoss, Burga &
Eschmann), and C. Aspects of global change in the Alps and in the high arctic tundra
(Grabherr, Gottfried & Pauli; Burga & Perret; Carraro, Gianoni, Mossi, KlOtzli &
Walther; Walther and Moller, WUthrich & Thannheiser).
The first article by KlOtzli concerns general aspects of biomonitoring. Indeed,
biomonitoring in the form of vegetation mapping and observation of permanent plots is
a traditional field of vegetation science. Different ways of biomonitoring are presented,
its aims and tasks, its methods and its possibilities of statistical evaluation of data sets.
The second contribution by Wildi deals with statistical design and analysis in long-term
vegetation monitoring, i.e. succession theories and related methods for time series
analysis. Succession, understood as any directional change of vegetation, can be
distinguished at three different levels of perception: pattern, process and mechanism.
The author describes different methods and gives examples.
Labasch's and Otte's contribution deals with administration levels and tasks of nature
conservation efficiency control. Different methods and application possibilities are
discussed, the methodology of nature conservation efficiency control on various
administrative levels is outlined.
Six contributions give examples of applied biomonitoring in Germany and Switzerland:
Recent changes in the vegetation structure and site conditions of nutrient-rich beech
forests in central Germany were studied by Hakes. Within a nine-year observation
period, remarkable temporal variation in vegetation structure reflecting significant
environmental changes could be ascertained.
In the framework of two national monitoring programmes in Germany Herpin, Siewers,
Kreimes & Markert investigated changes in heavy metal concentrations in moss (lead
was used as an example). This contribution describes mainly methods available to
evaluate bioindication data.
Defila's paper deals with phytophenological series as a possible contribution to
vegetation monitoring. Based on a remarkable tradition of phenological observations in
Burgo & Kratochwil (eds.). BIOMONITORlNG, 1-3
© 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers.
2 CA. Burga & A. Kratochwil
Switzerland, climate-related trends for the regions Ticino and Engadine were calculated
with the national data from 1951 - 1998.
Aspects of species responses to climatic variation and land-use change in grasslands of
southern Switzerland have been investigated by Stampfli & Zeiter. For 10 years they
monitored the species composition in dry grasslands of high species diversity at
experimental sites in the southern Alps. Responses of the abundant herb species to
stochastic factors, abandonment and mowing after abandonment of man's influence
were examined. Only slow shifts of species composition could be recognized.
Rothlisberger's phytophenological case study in central Switzerland (Canton of Zug) of
the time of flowering during the last mild winters shows a clear shifting from the early
spring to the winter season. These shifting effects could be recognized on the levels of
species diversity and distribution (i.e. colonization of new ecological niches).
The contribution by Ruoss, Burga & Eschmann contains a case study with a technical
approach of vegetation monitoring on a restoration site of Pilatus Mountain in central
Switzerland. Plant recolonization, induced in two steps by planting first seedlings of
herbs and afterwards of alpine grass species, has been monitored for 8 years.
Considerable fluctuations of both plant species and cover abundance led to average
plant cover values between 60 and 95 %.
The third part of this volume deals with climate-related monitoring studies of arctic-
alpine and temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Grabherr, Gottfried & Pauli
summarize a long-term monitoring project of mountain peaks in the Alps. Based on
historical and recent records of nival summit floras, the authors detected a general trend
towards increased species diversity and abundance, i.e. an upward migration of alpine
biota during the last decades.
The contribution by Burga & Perret discusses general features of the upper limit of the
Swiss Alpine forest and tree limits, with special emphasis on historical, present and
future vegetation dynamics within the timberline ecotone. Complex interactions of
climatic, physico-geographical, geological, biological and anthropozoogenic factors are
influencing the present timberline ecotone. Six sites were studied for a long-term
monitoring project, focusing on different models of climatically induced changes within
the timberline ecotone.
Carraro, Gianoni, Mossi, Klotzli & Walther detected changes in forest vegetation in the
northern and southern Swiss Alps by comparing 300 vegetation reI eves of the last
decades. One of the crucial factors of the changes in species composition and vegetation
structure are mild winters during the last 30 years. These changes concern also formerly
introduced exotic evergreen trees and shrubs, which show at present marked semi-
natural spread into the indigenous broad-leaved forests of the southern Alps.
This phenomenon of the so-called "Iaurophyllisation" has been intensively studied by
Walther, whose contribution to this volume summarizes the main features. Although
evergreen broad-leaved plants have been cultivated in Switzerland for more than 200
years, only in the last decades a dozen of these species succeeded in escaping from the
gardens and in spreading into the forests where they have become naturalized. As
temperature can be considered as one of the major climatic determinants of plant
distribution, the possible link between the observed vegetation shifts and climatic
change is discussed.
Preface 3
Moller, Wuthrich & Thannheiser investigated plant community patterns, phytomass and
carbon balance in a high arctic tundra ecosystem and the changes under a climate of
increasing cloudiness during the last 4 - 5 decades. The measurements and calculations
showed that an alteration of the vegetation pattern is much less effective in changing the
carbon balance of the tundra vegetation than a change of light or length of the snow-free
period.
Most of these contributions are a first attempt at the high complexity of global change,
especially global warming. The articles show different assessments and ways for future
research in this field, which will be of increasing importance for environmental aspects,
especially the biosphere, including administration levels.
Large part of the editorial work was done by Ms. Martina Lemme (Department of
Ecology, University of Osnabruck). She linguistically revised all contributions, in close
collaboration with the authors. We are much indebted to her for her efforts.
Dr. Mareike Weinert (Department of Ecology, University of Osnabrock) kindly
converted the articles, figures and tables into a camera-ready format. The editors would
like to thank her for her excellent assistance.
We are grateful to all authors for their valuable contributions and to Kluwer Academic
Publishers for their support in printing this volume.
Prof. Dr. Conrad in A. Burga Prof. Dr. Anselm Kratochwil
University of Zurich University of Osnabruck
Department of Geography Department of BiologylEcology
Winterthurerstrasse 190 Barbarastrasse 11
CH-8057 Zurich 0-49069 Osnabruck
Switzerland Germany
CHAPTER A
GENERAL ASPECTS OF BIOMONITORING
BIOMONITORING - TASKS AND LIMITS
FRANK KLOTZLI
Geobotanicallnstitute ETH Zurich, Zurichbergstrasse 28, CH-8044 Zurich, Switzerland
Keywords: Chaotic development, fuzzy ordination, vegetation mapping, permanent
plot, succession, time series
Abstract
Biomonitoring in the form of vegetation mapping and observation of permanent plots is
an old tradition in Alpine areas. There are time series as old as 80 years and quite a
number of 30-year series. In the lowlands especially wetlands have been controlled. The
ways of biomonitoring in Central Europe are presented, especially its aims and tasks, its
methods and measures, criteria for choice and establishment, and the evaluation of data
sets (by autocorrelation, fuzzy ordination, principal coordinate analysis). The
appearance of special species and the margin between two vegetation units mostly
fluctuate in a non-stochastic way. Types of changes in monitored and/or mapped areas
are discussed.
Summary
1) A brief history ofbiomonitoring and the evaluation of time series are given.
2) Aims and tasks in biomonitoring include:
• an inventory, including site conditions
• (yearly) differences in abundances and dynamics of species
• (yearly) differences in the quality of the surroundings
• changes in size and pattern of single habitats
• control of stability and sensitivity of site and vegetation, including damages and
disturbances
• control of conservation measures and definition of such measures.
Burga & Kratochwil (eds.), BIOMON/TORING, 5-/6
© 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers.