engleski

Geochemical control of the forest plant diversity on Mt. Medvednica, Croatia

Background and purpose: Despite the area's closeness to Zagreb, the flora of Medvednica mountain was not systematically surveyed and recorded until a recent extensive field survey of the Medvednica Nature Park. As a part of that survey, a transect along the central part of the Nature park was made, with the purpose of adopting a methodology for flora richness analysis using the Geographic Information System (GIS). Materials and methods: The flora of 28 plots (50x50 meters) of forest vegetation along the transect was recorded, as well as concentrations of 35 chemical elements and acidity in the top 10 centimetres of the soil. GIS of the study area was established and the correlation of plant richness with abiotic factors was examined. A model for estimation of the number of vascular plant species is developed using the multiple linear regression. This model is implemented in GIS, aiming at producing a map of plant diversity over a surrounding area. Results: The total number of plant species per 50x50 meters area was positively correlated with the top soil acidity and concentrations of cobalt, chromium and yttrium, while correlation with magnesium concentration was negative. Conclusions: The developed multiple regression model has explained significant amount of spatial variability of forest plant diversity distribution with geochemical variables. Incorporation of the model in GIS enabled us to project the current state over a surrounding area and for prediction of change in flora diversity according to hypothetical decrease of pH in the environment.

plant diversity; geochemical elements; GIS; regression; soil acidity

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