title: Substrate Factors Determine Roadside Vegetation Structure and Species Richness: A Case Study Along a Meridional Gradient in Fennoscandia.
abstract: This study assessed the effects of road-related alteration of substrate, including increased salinity, on vegetation along a meridional gradient in Fennoscandia. Vegetation community composition were surveyed in 29 randomly selected 1-m(2) sized roadside plots. Number of plant species and plant cover (%) on the plots were positively interrelated (p < 0.0001). Both variables also decreased towards the north and with increasing coarseness of the substrate. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) indicated that roadside vegetation diversity and composition were most related to the importance of the road (i.e. its size and traffic intensity) and substrate pH. Road importance affects plant dispersal, whereas substrate pH was found to be a factor limiting growth. CCA indicated also that vegetation composition was affected by the meridional gradient and by the substrate salinity; both substrate salinity pH and salinity were not related to meridional gradient. Our results indicate that roadside vegetation diversity and composition is driven by natural and anthropogenic factors.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Botany, Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 27, 31-501, Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Małgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jaźwa
authors.affiliation: Institute of Botany, Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 27, 31-501, Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Waldemar
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Heise
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387, Kraków, Poland. beata.klimek@uj.edu.pl.
authors.forename: Beata
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Klimek
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D005387:Finland; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D009664:Norway; D063245:Plant Development / Q000187:drug effects*; D010944:Plants / Q000145:classification* / Q000187:drug effects*; D012426:Russia; D054712:Salinity; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity; D013548:Sweden
chemical_list: D012989:Soil Pollutants
keywords: Ecological corridors; Road ecology; Salt deposition; Substrate; Traffic system