The Electronic Comparative Plant Ecology: Incorporating the principal data fromComparative Plant Ecologyand The Abridged Comparative Plant Ecology

24 Pages·1995·2.12 MB·English

by  J. G. Hodgson

THE ELECTRONIC
COMPARATIVE
PLANT ECOLOGY
THE ELECTRONIC
COMPARATIVE
PLANT ECOLOGY
Incorporating the principal data from
Comparative Plant Ecology and
The Abridged Comparative Plant Ecology
J.G. Hodgson, J.P. Grime,
R. Hunt and K. Thompson
The NERC Unit of Comparative Plant Ecology
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences
University of Sheffield, UK.
Springer-Science+Business Media, B.V.
First edition 1995
© 1995 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
Originally published by Chapman & Hall in 1995
ISBN 978-94-011-7652-1 ISBN 978-94-011-0559-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-011-0559-0
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study,
or criticism or review, as permitted under the UK Copyright Designs and
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that may be made.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
@ Printed on acid-free text paper, manufactured in accordance with
ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).
Contents
Preface vi
INTRODUCTION
2 EXPLANATION OF TABLES 2
2.1 Nomenclature 2
2.2 Ordering of species 2
3 FIRST GROUP: ECOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTES 3
3.1 Species 3
3.2 Habitat range 3
3.3 Soil pH 5
3.4 Floristic diversity 6
3.5 Distribution in N Europe 6
3.6 Present status 7
4 SECOND GROUP: ATTRIBUTES OF
THE ESTABLISHED PHASE 7
4.1 Life history 7
4.2 Established strategy 8
4.3 Life form 8
4.4 Canopy structure 9
4.5 Canopy height 10
4.6 Lateral spread 10
4.7 Mycorrhizas 11
4.8 Leaf phenology 12
4.9 Flowering time and duration 12
4.10 Polyploidy 13
5 THIRD GROUP: ATTRIBUTES OF
THE REGENERATIVE PHASE 13
5.1 Regenerative strategies 13
5.2 Seed bank 14
5.3 Agency of dispersal 15
5.4 Dispersule and germinule form 16
5.5 Dispersule weight 17
5.6 Dispersule shape 17
5.7 Germination requirements 17
5.8 Family 18
Preface
The 3Y2-inch floppy disk which accompanies this booklet is a standard
DSIHD 1.44MB disk formatted by Microsoft® MS-DOSTM.
The disk contains five files, all called ecpe (standing for Electronic
Comparative Plant Ecology). All five have identical content but differ in
file type. Only one of these files need be selected by the user, according to
the software which will be used locally to examine the data.
Filename Software
ecpe.txt ascii text only, for MS-DOSTM
ecpe.csv comma-delimited entries, ditto
ecpe.xls for Microsoft® Excel 5.0
ecpe.wk3* for WK3 format in Lotusl-2-3®
ecpe.csm comma-delimited for Macintosh®
*this file is accompanied by the usual ecpe. fm3.
The Electronic Comparative Plant
Ecology
1 INTRODUCTION
This publication consists of a collection of standardized autecological
information for the more common vascular species of the British flora. It
is an amalgamated, electronic copy of the data tables which concluded
both of the printed works Comparative Plant Ecology (CPE) and The
Abridged Comparative Plant Ecology (ACPE).
In addition to providing summaries for the 281 species which are the
subjects of autecological accounts in CPE and in ACPE, the table
includes data on a further 221 species, which each satisfy all of three
criteria: (a) they are recorded in at least 66% of Watsonian vice-counties
of the British Isles; (b) they are either native or a well-naturalized alien
throughout the majority of their British range; and (c) they have an
extensive distribution in inland Britain. Ecological information for these
additional species (and for Carlina vulgaris, Phragmites australis and
Reynoutria japonica, which were recorded from fewer than ten quadrats
in UCPE's 'Survey II') is derived from unpublished UCPE data. Only one
of the species tabulated, Sedum anglicum Hudson, was not recorded
during fieldwork in the Sheffield area.
The quantity and quality of information available varies considerably
according to species. Certain species are variable in certain biological
characteristics, and field distributions with respect to habitat features such
as slope and aspect may be too strongly affected by geographical location
to allow reliable generalizations at a national scale. Despite these
problems, it has been possible to present data for 22 characteristics
which, apart from caveats included in the explanatory notes, can be
applied with some confidence to the species observed in the British Isles;
these relate to ecology (Group 1), attributes of the established phase
(Group 2) and attributes of the regenerative phase (Group 3). These
Groups correspond to Tables 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3 respectively in CPE and to
Tables 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 respectively in ACPE. The significance and use of
each of the 22 characteristics is discussed in both CPE and ACPE.
2 The electronic comparative plant ecology
2 EXPLANATION OF TABLES
2.1 Nomenclature
Nomenclature follows that of A. R. Clapham, T. G. Tutin and E. F.
Warburg's Excursion Flora oj the British Isles (3rd. edn), published by
Cambridge University Press in 1981, except for the following species
groupings: Betula spp. (includes B. pendula, B. pubescens and their
hybrid), Festuca ovina (also includes F. tenuifolia), Festuca rubra (also
includes F. nigrescens), Lolium perenne (refers only to ssp. perenne; the
monocarpic, and introduced, ssp. multiflorum (Lam.) Husnot is a non
persistent escapee from cultivation), Medicago sativa (excludes ssp.
Jalcata (L.) Arcangeli which is native in East Anglia), Nasturtium
officinale agg. (N microphyllum, N officinale and their hybrid), Poa
pratensis agg. (P. angustifolia, P. pratensis sensu stricto and P.
subcaerulea), Quercus agg. (Q. petraea, Q. robur and their hybrid), Rosa
spp. (R. can ina group, R. rubiginosa group and R. tomentosa group),
Salix cinerea agg. (s. aurita L., S. caprea, S. cinerea and hybrids), Salix
fragilis agg. (s. alba L., S. fragilis L. and related hybrids) and Taraxacum
agg. (Section Erythrosperma, Section Obliqua, Section Palustria, Section
Spectabilia and Section Taraxacum).
Two columns of symbols precede the scientific name. In the first,
species which are the subject of autecological accounts in CPE and ACPE
are indicated by a '+'; in the second, alien species are denoted by an
asterisk.
The authorities for the scientific names are cited.
2.2 Ordering of species
Species lists are divided into three groups: (a) herbs, and woody species
up to 1.5 m in height, (b) woody species exceeding 1.5 m in height, and
(c) pteridophytes. Within each group species are arranged in alphabetical
order.
Ecological attributes 3
3 FIRST GROUP: ECOLOGICAL ATTRIBUTES
3.1 Species
For most species only one set of data is given. However, in the case of
individual trees and shrubs ecological attributes are, wherever possible,
presented separately for seedlings and small saplings, juveniles, and for
the more mature individuals which contribute to the canopy.
3.2 Habitat range
(a) General policy
A habitat key (published in CPE Fig. 2.2 and in ACPE Fig. 1.3) has been
used as a basis for identifying the habitat range of each species. First, an
estimate of the abundance in each of the seven primary habitat groups
(wetland, skeletal, arable, pasture, spoil, wasteland and woodland) is
provided. Second, the terminal habitat in which the species is most
frequent is indicated.
(b) Abundance in the seven primary habitats
The percentage frequency of the species in each of these major groups is
compared with the percentage frequency of the species in the overall
survey. The symbols used are as follows:
++ very common and characteristic of the particular habitat
(percentage frequency >4 times the overall value)
+ common within habitat (2 -4 times the overall value)
widespread in the habitat (0.5 -2 times the overall value)
infrequent and uncharacteristic of the habitat (0.25 -0.5 times the
overall value)
largely absent from habitat or confined to an uncommon
variant «0.25 of the overall value).
In Woodland in the UCPE 'Survey II' and in Wasteland in 'Survey III'
these primary habitat groups each constitute over 25% of all records,
rendering the ++ rating an impossibility. It was decided that all species in
4 The electronic comparative plant ecology
which at least 80% of records fall within a single primary habitat should
also be classified as ++.
For species for which there are insufficient field records (Hypericum
androsaemum L., Salix repens L. and Sedum anglicum Hudson) only the
identity of the most characteristic major habitat is indicated.
(c) Commonest terminal habitat
The commonest terminal habitat for the subject species is identified as
follows:
AQUATp (lakes, canals, ponds and ditches), AQUATr (rivers and
streams), ARABLE (arable), BRICK (bricks and mortar rubble),
CANALB (canal banks, +), CINDER (cinder tips and cindery
railway tracks), CLIFF (cliffs), COAL (coal-mine spoil), HEDGE
(hedgerows), LEAD (lead-mine spoil), MANURE (manure and
sewage spoil), MEADOW (meadows), MIREs (shaded mire),
MIREu (unshaded mire), OUTCRP (rock outcrop), PASTa (pasture
on acidic strata), PASTe (enclosed pasture), PASTI (pasture on
limestone strata), PATH (paths), PLANTb (broadleaved
plantations), PLANTc (coniferous plantations), PONDBK (banks
of lakes, canals, ponds and ditches, +), QRYa (quarry spoil on
acidic strata), QYRl (limestone quarry spoil), RDIRLY (road
verges/railway banks, +), RDVRGE (road verge), RIVBNK (river
and stream banks), RLY BNK (railway banks, +), SCREE
(limestone scree), SCRUB (scrub), SNDPIT (sand and gravel
pits, +), SOIL (soil heaps), WALL (walls), WASTEa (wasteland on
acidic strata), WASTEd (dry sandy wasteland droughted during
summer, +), WASTEc (wasteland on calcareous strata), WOODa
(woodland on acidic strata), WOODI (woodland on limestone
strata).
Habitats suffixed + are minor habitats which, because of their
infrequent occurrence, were excluded from the habitat classification of
'Survey II' (CPEFig. 2.2 and ACPE Fig. 1.3).
These data are particularly useful for categorizing species of narrow
ecological range (e.g. Chaenorhinum minus, associated with cinders, and
Lemna minor, associated with lakes, canals, ponds and ditches).
However, three grassland species (Euphrasia officinalis, Leontodon
autumnalis and Rumex acetosa) and seedlings of Ulmus glabra were
Ecological attributes 5
most commonly recorded from lead-mine spoil even though they are
characteristic of a range of base-rich habitats. In order to prevent the
impression that these species are metallophytes and largely restricted to
soils contaminated with heavy metals, the habitat in which these species
are second most common is substituted. Rather anomalous data were
obtained for two wetland species which are persistent after drainage.
Eriophorum vaginatum was recorded most commonly in pasture on
limestone strata and Lotus uliginosus most commonly in wasteland on
limestone. In both species the second most common habitat (unshaded
mire) has been promoted to first place. Four species which do not
normally reach maturity in their most common habitat (Athyrium fllix
jemina, cliffs and walls, Dryopteris fllix-mas, walls, Equisetum palustre,
rivers and streams, and Ulex europaeus, river banks) have been similarly
treated. For each of these four species the habitat code is preceded by an
asterisk to warn that the information has been modified in this manner.
These examples illustrate that data concerning the most common
terminal habitat could, if utilized in isolation, lead to misinterpretation.
Their use in conjunction with the distribution of the species in the seven
major habitats is advised.
N.B. The range and diversity of major habitats differs according to
region. For example, in areas where (unlike that sampled here) there is
little limestone, species such as Carex panicea would be regarded as a
wetland rather than as a grassland species.
3.3 Soil pH
The data take the form of a numeral indicating the modal pH class for the
species, followed by a letter indicating the number of pH classes in which
the frequency of the species exceeds 50% of that in its modal class. Thus,
7a would indicate that the species is most frequent within the range 7.0 -
7.9 and has a range of only I pH unit. In contrast, 3d would indicate a
mode within the interval pH 3.0 - 3.9 and a range of 4 pH units. Where
information on soil surface pH is scarce, the estimate of modal class is
preceded by a question mark.
A few species exploit both strongly acidic and highly calcareous soils
and thus possess a bimodal pH distribution. They are identified by a W