The contribution of nitrogen deposition to the eutrophication signal in understorey plant communities of European forests.

ABSTRACT: We evaluated effects of atmospheric deposition of nitrogen on the composition of forest understorey vegetation both in space and time, using repeated data from the European wide monitoring program ICP-Forests, which focuses on normally managed forest. Our aim was to assess whether both spatial and temporal effects of deposition can be detected by a multiple regression approach using data from managed forests over a relatively short time interval, in which changes in the tree layer are limited. To characterize the vegetation, we used indicators derived from cover percentages per species using multivariate statistics and indicators derived from the presence/absence, that is, species numbers and Ellenberg's indicator values. As explanatory variables, we used climate, altitude, tree species, s

SUBMITTER: van Dobben HF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5215267 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature