Small Rivers Behave Like Large Rivers: Effects of Postglacial History on Plant Species Richness Along Riverbanks

Similarity in longitudinal patterns of vascular plant species richness along riverbanks was tested by comparing two small and two large, unimpounded rivers emptying into the Gulf of Bothnia in northern Sweden. Simply put, we asked whether small rivers behave like pieces or like miniatures of large r...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of biogeography 1991-09, Vol.18 (5), p.533-541
Main Authors: Nilsson, Christer, Grelsson, Gunnel, Dynesius, Mats, Johansson, Mats E., Sperens, Ulf
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Coasts
Freshwater
Freshwater ecology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Plant and Pollen Patterns
Plants
Riparian ecology
Riverbanks
Sediments
Species
Streams
Vascular plants
Vegetation
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Similarity in longitudinal patterns of vascular plant species richness along riverbanks was tested by comparing two small and two large, unimpounded rivers emptying into the Gulf of Bothnia in northern Sweden. Simply put, we asked whether small rivers behave like pieces or like miniatures of large rivers. All rivers exhibited a peak in species richness at the point where the rivers begin to cut down into sediments deposited during a higher coastal stage 9200 BP. This result supports the hypothesis that plant communities along riverbanks, irrespective of size, are given a similar shape by the postglacial history of the landscape. The mechanisms producing such similarity may relate to intermediate disturbance, maximum heterogeneity, or immigration history.
ISSN:0305-0270
1365-2699
DOI:10.2307/2845689