Abstract
Dolines are depressions in karst landscapes that are of high value for conservation, providing habitats and supporting species not found in the surrounding landscape. This is due to their high microhabitat diversity and ability to decouple microclimate from regional climate changes, making them potential refugia for biodiversity. Nevertheless, local anthropogenic disturbances have had considerable impact on the species composition and vegetation structure of many dolines. Here we investigate the conservation value of dolines in three European karst areas, where different levels and types of anthropogenic disturbances have been shaping the vegetation for centuries, using the number of plant species that are cool-adapted, moist-adapted and of high conservation importance (i.e. vulnerable species) as indicators. We found that anthropogenic disturbances generally have a negative impact, reducing the number of vulnerable species supported by dolines. However, more cool-adapted and moist-adapted species were found in some dolines planted with non-native Picea abies than in less disturbed dolines, indicating that anthropogenic disturbances can also have positive consequences for biodiversity. We conclude that anthropogenic disturbances alter the capacity of dolines to support vulnerable species, and that this will impact survival of species in landscapes under global warming. In this context, the effects of various disturbances on species composition and diversity need to carefully considered to determine the best conservation and/or management options.
Highlights
The complex topography of karst systems provides various habitats where species can survive during local and regional environmental changes (Antonić et al 2001; Wezel 2007; Bátori et al 2014a)
Dolines have the capacity to maintain the populations of vulnerable plant species and may function as safe havens or microrefugia during environmental changes, highlighting their importance for conservation
We further demonstrated that anthropogenic disturbances play a significant role in determining the composition and diversity of plant species in dolines
Summary
The complex topography of karst systems provides various habitats where species can survive during local and regional environmental changes (Antonić et al 2001; Wezel 2007; Bátori et al 2014a). Dolines provide steep gradients of environmental conditions (e.g., soil moisture and temperature) within very short distances (Whiteman et al 2004; Chauchard et al 2007; Su et al 2017), enabling them to facilitate the persistence of various functional groups of species in various phyla (Růžička et al 2016; Breg Valjavec et al 2018a; Bátori et al 2019) As a result, they are characterised by high genetic (Egli 1991; Su et al 2017), taxonomic (Bátori et al 2014b; Kemencei et al 2014; Raschmanová et al 2015; Růžička et al 2016; Battisti et al 2017) and microhabitat diversity (Özkan et al 2010; Bátori et al 2019) and may offer the best chances of survival for cool-adapted species and/or species retreating from global warming (i.e. trailing edge and stabilized relict populations) (Hampe and Petit 2005; Bauer 2018; Bátori et al 2019). The effects of various disturbances need to be considered for reliable predictive species distribution modelling (Guisan and Wilfried 2005; Syphard and Franklin 2010) and when identifying potential refugia under climate change (Keppel et al 2015; Morelli et al 2016)
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