• Corpus ID: 134124350

Understanding the extreme species richness of semi-drygrasslands in east-central Europe: a comparative approach

@article{Roleek2014UnderstandingTE,
  title={Understanding the extreme species richness of semi-drygrasslands in east-central Europe: a comparative approach},
  author={Jan Role{\vc}ek and Illja Illi{\vc} {\vC}ornej and Alla Ilarionivna Tokarjuk},
  journal={Preslia},
  year={2014},
  volume={86}
}

• J. Roleček, Illja Illič Čornej, Alla Ilarionivna Tokarjuk
• Published 2014
• Environmental Science
• Preslia

We report new sites of extremely species-rich semi-dry
grasslands in the foothills of the Eastern Carpathians in the
south-western Ukraine. Using comparison with other sites with
extremely species- rich semi-dry grasslands in the
peri-Carpathian region and beyond, we show that these
grasslands share many important features, including similar
species composition, occurrence of species with disjunct
distributions, site conditions, landscape context, long history
of human influence and traditional management practice. We
suggest that continuity on a large (Pleistocene-Holocene) time
scale and regularly practiced management that reduces the
asymmetry in competition (typically mowing and absence of
fertilizer application) may be the crucial factors responsible
for the extremely high local species richness in east-central
European semi-dry grasslands. We also suggest that this
richness largely originates from an ancient pool of species of
Eurasian forest-steppe and hemiboreal forests.