Abstract
We investigated the ecological behaviour (the response to environmental factors in the field, synonymous to the term realized niche) of four closely related species pairs (Melica nutans, M. uniflora; Primula veris, P. elatior; Veronica chamaedrys, V. montana; Viola riviniana, V. reichenbachiana) across a transect from northern Central to North Europe. The second-mentioned species of each pair is confined in its geographical distribution to the southern parts of the studied transect. Sample plot data of deciduous forests were compiled from (1) Germany, S Niedersachsen, (2) Germany, northern Schleswig-Holstein, (3) Denmark, and (4) Boreo-nemoral Sweden. We compared the ecological optima and amplitudes of the response curves of species along the gradients for moisture, pH and nitrogen by means of phytosociological data, detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) and Ellenberg indicator values. pH measurements from Sweden were significantly correlated with the corresponding DCA sample plot scores and the plot averages of the Ellenberg values for reaction (pH).
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