Effects of increasing landscape heterogeneity on local plant species richness: how much is enough?

• Published in: Landscape ecology Vol. 29; no. 5; pp. 773 - 787
• Main Authors: Redon, Mathilde, Bergès, Laurent, Cordonnier, Thomas, Luque, Sandra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer-Verlag 01-05-2014; Springer Netherlands; Springer; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Verlag
• Subjects: adverse effects; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Biodiversity; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Ecology; Environmental Management; Environmental quality; Environmental Sciences; Flowers & plants; Forests; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Habitat fragmentation; Habitats; Heterogeneity; Landscape Ecology; Landscape/Regional and Urban Planning; Life Sciences; Nature Conservation; planning; Plant species; Research Article; Spatial distribution; Species diversity; Species richness; Sustainable Development; Alps region; France, Alps Mts; Understory diversity; Heterogeneity indicators; Forest structural heterogeneity; Mountain forests; Landscape mosaics; Intermediate heterogeneity hypothesis; Quadratic relationships; Landscape; Diversity; Indicator; Heterogeneity; Understory; Vegetation; Species richness; Mountain forest; ALPES FRANCAISES
• ISSN: 0921-2973; 1572-9761
• DOI: 10.1007/s10980-014-0027-x

Contemporary landscape ecology continues to explore the causes and consequences of landscape heterogeneity across a range of scales, and demands for the scientific underpinnings of landscape planning and management still remains high. The spatial distribution of resources can be a key element in determining habitat quality, and that in turn is directly related to the level of heterogeneity in the system. In this sense, forest habitat mosaics may be more affected by lack of heterogeneity than by structural fragmentation. Nonetheless, increasing spatial heterogeneity at a given spatial scale can also decrease habitat patch size, with potential negative consequences for specialist species. Such dual effect may lead to hump-backed shape relationships between species diversity and heterogeneity, leading to three related assumptions: (i) at low levels of heterogeneity, an increase in heterogeneity favours local and regional species richness, (ii) there is an optimum heterogeneity level at which a maximum number of species is reached, (iii) further increase in spatial heterogeneity has a negative effect on local and regional species richness, due to increasing adverse effects of habitat fragmentation. In this study, we investigated the existence of a hump-shaped relationship between local plant species richness and increasing forest landscape heterogeneity on a complex mosaic in the French Alps. Forest landscape heterogeneity was quantified with five independent criteria. We found significant quadratic relationships between local forest species richness and two heterogeneity criteria indicators, showing a slight decrease of forest species richness at very high heterogeneity levels. Species richness–landscape heterogeneity relationships varied according to the heterogeneity metrics involved and the type of species richness considered. Our results support the assumption that intermediate levels of heterogeneity may support more species than very high levels of heterogeneity, although we were not able to conclude for a systematic negative effect of very high levels of heterogeneity on local plant species richness.