Rusconi Olivia, Steiner Théo, Le Bayon Claire, Rasmann Sergio
Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Rue Emile-Argand 11, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
Plant Soil. 2023;487(1-2):467-483. doi: 10.1007/s11104-023-05945-4. Epub 2023 Feb 16.
To counteract the ongoing worldwide biodiversity loss, conservation actions are required to re-establish populations of threatened species. Two key factors predominantly involved in finding the most suitable habitats for endangered plant species are the surrounding plant community composition and the physicochemical parameters of the soil rooting zone. However, such factors are likely to be context- and species-dependent, so it remains unclear to what extent they influence the performance of target species.
We studied large and small Swiss populations of the endangered orchid . We measured functional traits related to plant and population performance (clonal patch area, plant height, number, of leaf, stems, flowers and fruits), realized vegetation surveys, soil profile analyses, and tested for relationships between plant traits and the surrounding vegetation structure or soil physicochemical parameters.
Large populations contained bigger patches with more stems and leaves, and produced more flower per individual than small populations. Neither vegetation alliances nor soil classes per se could predict functional traits and population size. However, functional traits explaining population performance and size were related to specific soil parameters (soil organic matter content, pH and phosphorus), in addition to a combination of presence-absence of plant indicator species, relating to ecotones between forests and clearings.
We show that even for species that can grow across a wide range of vegetation groups both indicator species and specific soil parameters can be used to assess the most favourable sites to implement (re)-introduction actions.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11104-023-05945-4.
为应对全球范围内持续的生物多样性丧失，需要采取保护行动来重建受威胁物种的种群。在为濒危植物物种寻找最适宜栖息地时，两个主要因素是周围植物群落组成和土壤生根区的理化参数。然而，这些因素可能因环境和物种而异，因此它们对目标物种表现的影响程度仍不清楚。
我们研究了瑞士濒危兰花的大型和小型种群。我们测量了与植物和种群表现相关的功能性状（克隆斑块面积、株高、叶、茎、花和果实的数量），进行了实际植被调查、土壤剖面分析，并测试了植物性状与周围植被结构或土壤理化参数之间的关系。
大型种群的斑块更大，茎和叶更多，且单株产生的花比小型种群更多。植被联盟和土壤类别本身都无法预测功能性状和种群大小。然而，除了与森林和林中空地之间的生态交错带相关的指示植物物种的有无组合外，解释种群表现和大小的功能性状还与特定土壤参数（土壤有机质含量、pH值和磷）有关。
我们表明，即使对于能够在广泛植被群落中生长的物种，指示物种和特定土壤参数都可用于评估实施（再）引入行动的最适宜地点。
在线版本包含可在10.1007/s11104-023-05945-4获取的补充材料。
