Beyond the Forest-Grassland Dichotomy: The Gradient-Like Organization of Habitats in Forest-Steppes.

ABSTRACT: Featuring a transitional zone between closed forests and treeless steppes, forest-steppes cover vast areas, and have outstanding conservation importance. The components of this mosaic ecosystem can conveniently be classified into two basic types, forests and grasslands. However, this dichotomic classification may not fit reality as habitat organization can be much more complex. In this study, our aim was to find out if the main habitat types can be grouped into two distinct habitat categories (which would support the dichotomic description), or a different paradigm better fits this complex ecosystem. We selected six main habitats of sandy forest-steppes, and, using 176 relevés, we compared their vegetation based on species composition (NMDS ordination, number of common species of the studi

SUBMITTER: Erdos L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7062704 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature