Patterns of local plant diversity and community saturation in deciduous forests in Europe

QuestionsHow do local forest conditions and characteristics at the forest patch - scale and landscape - scale affect plot-scale plant diversity in Europe? Do these patterns vary between forest specialists and generalists? Do community saturation patterns differ between forests varying in their surrounding landscape type?LocationDeciduous forests sampled along a European gradient from southwest to northeast comprising eight regions in five countries (France, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Estonia).MethodsWe examined the effects of local conditions assessed by means of Ellenberg indicator values (soil moisture, soil nitrogen, soil pH, light availability), patch-scale characteristics (patch-scale plant diversity, forest patch age, forest patch size) and a landscape-scale variable (representing low and high connectivity of forest patches) on plot-scale plant diversity, separately for forest specialist and generalist species. Additionally, we ran regression models to examine community saturation patterns.ResultsWe found patterns of niche partitioning among forest specialists and generalists. Low light availability and medium soil moisture favored forest specialists, while generalists were mostly present at higher light availability and medium and high soil moisture. In general, we found the highest plot-scale diversity at medium soil pH. Patch-scale diversity showed a positive impact on plot-scale diversity and plots in the high-connectivity landscape had a higher diversity than plots in the low-connectivity landscape. Further, we observed a high degree of community saturation in both landscape types.ConclusionThe positive impact of a high connectivity of forest patches on local plant diversity emphasizes the importance of small semi-natural habitats like tree lines, unused field margins and hedgerows to enhance the potential dispersal of forest plants across agricultural landscapes. Community saturation patterns revealed the increasing relevance of local conditions and processes for plot-scale diversity when patch-scale diversity increases.