Biodiversity along an elevational gradient of the Bohemian Forest : the BIOKLIM project

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Friess, Nicolas ; Bässler, Claus ; Brandl, Roland ; Hilmers, Torben ; Müller, Jörg ; Seifert, Linda:
Biodiversity along an elevational gradient of the Bohemian Forest : the BIOKLIM project.
In: Silva Gabreta. Bd. 24 (2018) . - S. 149-160.
ISSN 1211-7420

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Abstract

To monitor the response of forest biodiversity to environmental changes, the BIOKLIM project collected
data on species occurrences along transects covering the elevational gradient within the Bavarian Forest National Park and adjacent areas. The monitoring program was launched in 2006 and repeated in 2016 as a part of the Silva Gabreta Monitoring project. Here we show the potential of such regional monitoring programs for characterizing alpha, beta and gamma biodiversity of 15 groups of organisms along the elevational gradient in forests mainly dominated by European beech and Norway spruce. Overall, we recorded 4,179 species of which 1,918 are common (based on Shannon diversity) and 1,222 dominant (based on Simpson diversity). Asymptotic extrapolation suggested that between 5,340 and 6,100 species might occur in the terrestrial ecosystems of the Bohemian Forest. Most groups showed significant responses in alpha
diversity to elevation. However, the relationships varied strongly in strength and shape. Changes in species
composition along the elevational gradient were mostly due to turnover and contributed strongly to the overall diversity of the study region. These first analyses show that monitoring schemes as implemented in the Silva Gabreta Monitoring offer the opportunity to study biodiversity along environmental gradients. In the long run resampling of the plots established in 2006 allows characterizing the responses of the communities to changes in forest structure and/or climate.