Scale‐Dependent Effects of Plant Diversity Drivers Across Different Grassland Habitats in Ukraine

Understanding the factors governing grassland biodiversity across different spatial scales is crucial for effective conservation and management. However, most studies focus on single grain sizes, leaving the scale-dependent mechanisms of biodiversity drivers unclear. We investigated how climate, soil properties, abiotic disturbance, and land use influence plant diversity across two fine spatial scales in various grassland types in Ukraine. Using spatially explicit data on plant species presence and their cover, collected at smaller (10 m<sup>2</sup>) and larger (100 m<sup>2</sup>) grain sizes, we assessed spatial <b>β</b>-diversity-the variability of biodiversity between scales. We analyzed whether the effects of ecological drivers on <b>β</b>-diversity are mediated by changes in species evenness, density (total cover), and intraspecific aggregation in plant community. In our study, the most influential factors of local plant diversity at both grain sizes were climate variables, followed by soil humus content, litter cover, and soil pH. Soil and litter effects were primarily driven by the response of locally rare species, while climate and grazing effects were driven by locally common species. The strength of most of these effects varied between spatial scales, affecting <b>β</b>-diversity. Soil properties influenced <b>β</b>-diversity through changes in total plant community cover, while the effects of climate and litter operated via changes in species evenness and aggregation. Our findings highlight that biodiversity responses to climate, soil factors, and litter depend on the size of the sampled area and reveal the role of total plant cover, evenness, and aggregation in driving fine-scale <b>β</b>-diversity in grasslands across different habitat types.

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Publication Details

Journal
Ecology and Evolution
Published
2025-02-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70941
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.31

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article

Scale‐Dependent Effects of Plant Diversity Drivers Across Different Grassland Habitats in Ukraine

Oksana Y. Buzhdygan, O.O. Kucher, Alla Tokaryuk, Olesya Bezsmertna et al.
1 citations
Ecology and Evolution
Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
2.31
article

Scale‐Dependent Effects of Plant Diversity Drivers Across Different Grassland Habitats in Ukraine

Oksana Y. Buzhdygan, O.O. Kucher, Alla Tokaryuk, Olesya Bezsmertna, Iuliia Vasheniak, Emma Ladouceur, Анна Куземко, Dariia Borovyk, Olena Yavorska, Jonathan M. Chase, Svitlana Iemelianova, Yakiv Didukh, Britta Tietjen, Iwona Dembicz, Jürgen Dengler, Illia Chorney, Vasyl Budzhak, Ivan Moysiyenko, Alexander Khodosovtsev, Denys Vynokurov, Olha Chusova, Monika Janišová, O. Bezrodnova, Selina Baldauf
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Understanding the factors governing grassland biodiversity across different spatial scales is crucial for effective conservation and management. However, most studies focus on single grain sizes, leaving the scale-dependent mechanisms of biodiversity drivers unclear. We investigated how climate, soil properties, abiotic disturbance, and land use influence plant diversity across two fine spatial scales in various grassland types in Ukraine. Using spatially explicit data on plant species presence and their cover, collected at smaller (10 m<sup>2</sup>) and larger (100 m<sup>2</sup>) grain sizes, we assessed spatial <b>β</b>-diversity-the variability of biodiversity between scales. We analyzed whether the effects of ecological drivers on <b>β</b>-diversity are mediated by changes in species evenness, density (total cover), and intraspecific aggregation in plant community. In our study, the most influential factors of local plant diversity at both grain sizes were climate variables, followed by soil humus content, litter cover, and soil pH. Soil and litter effects were primarily driven by the response of locally rare species, while climate and grazing effects were driven by locally common species. The strength of most of these effects varied between spatial scales, affecting <b>β</b>-diversity. Soil properties influenced <b>β</b>-diversity through changes in total plant community cover, while the effects of climate and litter operated via changes in species evenness and aggregation. Our findings highlight that biodiversity responses to climate, soil factors, and litter depend on the size of the sampled area and reveal the role of total plant cover, evenness, and aggregation in driving fine-scale <b>β</b>-diversity in grasslands across different habitat types.

Ecology and EvolutionVol. 15(2)
Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University (UA), Vasyl' Stus Donetsk National University (UA), National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (UA), Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (UA), Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK), Masaryk University (CZ), University of Prince Edward Island (CA), German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (DE), Berlin Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (DE), M.G. Kholodny Institute of Botany (UA), Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University (UA), University of Warsaw (PL), Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (DE), Freie Universität Berlin (DE), ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences (CH), V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (UA), Kherson State University (UA)
National Research Foundation of Ukraine, National Research Foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Deutsches Zentrum für integrative Biodiversitätsforschung Halle-Jena-Leipzig, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Life in Land
Openalex Percentile: Top 17%
Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
2.31
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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