I am a vegetation ecologist and biogeographer focusing on patterns and mechanisms of community assembly in species-rich vegetation at all spatial scales, using vegetation-ecological, molecular-phylogenetic, and biogeographical approaches.
Background and Aims Clonality is a key life-history strategy promoting on-spot persistence, space... more Background and Aims Clonality is a key life-history strategy promoting on-spot persistence, space occupancy, resprouting after disturbance, and resource storage, sharing and foraging. These functions provided by clonality can be advantageous under different environmental conditions, including resource-paucity and fire-proneness, which define most mediterranean-type open ecosystems, such as southwest Australian shrublands. Studying clonality–environment links in underexplored mediterranean shrublands could therefore deepen our understanding of the role played by this essential strategy in open ecosystems globally. Methods We created a new dataset including 463 species, six traits related to clonal growth organs (CGOs; lignotubers, herbaceous and woody rhizomes, stolons, tubers, stem fragments), and edaphic predictors of soil water availability, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from 138 plots. Within two shrubland communities, we explored multivariate clonal patterns and how the divers...
Maintaining biodiversity in the critically endangered lowland renosterveld vegetation of the West... more Maintaining biodiversity in the critically endangered lowland renosterveld vegetation of the Western Cape : the challenges of fire, herbivory and fragmentation, South African Wildlife Management Symposium
Large-scale patterns of plant invasion and their determinants in different habitat types are rece... more Large-scale patterns of plant invasion and their determinants in different habitat types are receiving increasing attention. This research has mainly focused on invasion in habitats in recipient areas, but recently also the importance of habitat types from which alien species originated in the source areas is recognised as a factor controlling observed patterns. We explored European anthropogenic, semi-natural and natural habitats as sources of plants that became naturalised in other parts of the World. Our dataset encompassed 10,741 vascular plant species assigned to 37 habitat types classified into habitat groups reflecting the intensity of human impact, based on European vegetation classification system (Mucina et al. submitted). Within each habitat type and habitat group, species naturalised outside Europe were identified using the GloNAF database (van Kleunen et al. 2015). European habitat types, providing the highest proportion of naturalized species, included anthropogenic we...
Řada původně evropských druhů rostlin uspěsně zdomacněla v různých oblastech světa.Jednim z možný... more Řada původně evropských druhů rostlin uspěsně zdomacněla v různých oblastech světa.Jednim z možných důvodů jejich uspěchu je přizpůsobeni se antropogennim disturbancim v domovských evropských biotopech. V nasi studii jsme proto srovnali pravděpodobnost zdomacněni (naturalizace) cevnatých rostlin, ktere jsou původni v Evropě a byly zavleceny do jiných oblasti, kde zdomacněly, v zavislosti na typu biotopu, v kterem se v Evropě vyskytuji. Seznam evropských druhů a jejich původnich biotopů jsme ziskali z přehledu evropske vegetace EuroVegChecklist. Celkem jsme pracovali s 9 875 druhy, ktere byly přiřazeny k 37 biotopům klasifikovaným podle miry lidskeho vlivu na antropogenni, polopřirozene a přirozene. Pomoci světove databaze zdomacnělých druhů Global Naturalized Alien Flora (GloNAF) jsme identifikovali ty z nich, ktere uspěsně zdomacněly mimo původni areal. Vztah mezi pravděpodobnosti, že druh je zdomacnělý, a jeho původem v biotopech s různou mirou lidskeho vlivu jsme analyzovali pomo...
QuestionHabitat‐specific species pools are shaped by ecological and evolutionary processes such a... more QuestionHabitat‐specific species pools are shaped by ecological and evolutionary processes such as speciation, extinction, and migration. However, their role is poorly known because of the lack of robust data on species pools across a large number of plant community types and large areas. Here, we analyse a unique dataset of species pools of diagnostic species for all European vegetation types, asking: (a) what are the patterns of phylogenetic structure and phylogenetic beta‐diversity across European vegetation types and biomes; (b) what are the drivers of these patterns; and (c) is there a signal of niche conservatism at the level of biomes and broad categories of vegetation types?LocationEurope, Canary Islands, Madeira, Azores, Cyprus, Caucasus, Iceland and Greenland.MethodsWe built a dataset comprising 10,804 vascular plant species (almost 85% of the European flora) assigned to 106 vegetation types representing all European vegetated habitats, grouped into 11 biomes. This dataset...
The unigeneric tribe Heliophileae encompassing more than 100 Heliophila species is morphologicall... more The unigeneric tribe Heliophileae encompassing more than 100 Heliophila species is morphologically the most diverse Brassicaceae lineage. The tribe is endemic to southern Africa, confined chiefly to the southwestern South Africa, home of two biodiversity hotspots (Cape Floristic Region and Succulent Karoo). The monospecific Chamira (C. circaeoides), the only crucifer species with persistent cotyledons, is traditionally retrieved as the closest relative of Heliophileae. Our transcriptome analysis revealed a whole-genome duplication (WGD) ∼26.15–29.20 million years ago, presumably preceding the Chamira/Heliophila split. The WGD was then followed by genome-wide diploidization, species radiations, and cladogenesis in Heliophila. The expanded phylogeny based on nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) uncovered four major infrageneric clades (A–D) in Heliophila and corroborated the sister relationship between Chamira and Heliophila. Herein, we analyzed how the diploidizati...
Refugia are key environments in biogeography and conservation. Because of their unique eco‐evolut... more Refugia are key environments in biogeography and conservation. Because of their unique eco‐evolutionary formation and functioning, they should display distinct functional trait signatures. However, comparative trait‐based studies of plants in refugia and non‐refugia are lacking. Here, we provide a comparison between resource‐rich (putative microrefugia for species preferring mesic habitats under increasing aridity) and resource‐impoverished woodlands (non‐refugia) around two granite outcrops in south‐western Australia. We measured and compared six functional traits (bark thickness, foliar δ13C, foliar C:N, leaf dry matter content, plant height, specific leaf area) in four woody species. We performed multiple‐trait, multiple‐species and single‐trait, within‐species analyses to test whether plants in resource‐rich habitats were functionally distinct and more diverse than those in the surrounding resource‐impoverished woodlands. We found that species in resource‐rich woodlands occupied...
AimsWe examined all available literature and some unpublished data on the We examined all availab... more AimsWe examined all available literature and some unpublished data on the We examined all available literature and some unpublished data on the grasslands dominated by Lygeum spartum from Southern Europe and North Africa to produce a formalised classification of this vegetation and to identify the main factors determining its plant species composition.LocationMediterranean Basin and Iberian Peninsula.MethodsWe used a dataset of 728 relevés, which were resampled to reduce unbalanced sampling effort, resulting in a dataset of 568 relevés and 846 taxa. We classified the plots by TWINSPAN, interpreted the resulting pools, and used them to develop formal definitions of phytosociological alliances characterised by L. spartum vegetation. The definitions were included in an expert system to assist automatic vegetation classification. We related the alliances to climatic factors and described their biogeographical features and ecological preferences. The floristic relationships between these...
QuestionsThe community patterns in kwongan, a mediterranean‐type scrub on nutrient‐poor soils occ... more QuestionsThe community patterns in kwongan, a mediterranean‐type scrub on nutrient‐poor soils occurring in Western Australia, are poorly understood due to only few, focused studies using disparate sampling designs. We aimed to determine whether (a) classification of the kwongan vegetation of the Eneabba Sandplains leads to an ecologically informative classification scheme, and (b) we could identify environmental drivers underpinning the plant community patterns.LocationTownship of Eneabba (29°82′S, 115°27′E), approximately 250 km north of Perth, Western Australia, covering 1,210 km2.MethodsWe used a data set consisting of 512 relevés, collected following the standard field methodology of the Braun‐Blanquet approach, and accompanied by an extensive set of environmental data consisting of 94 variables representing climate, fire, soil and terrain properties across 189 relevés. The data were classified and ordinated by a series of multivariate analyses. OptimClass assisted in the select...
Question Freshwater rock pools (FRP) are small, highly stressed wetland habitats that harbour man... more Question Freshwater rock pools (FRP) are small, highly stressed wetland habitats that harbour many range-restricted and specialized plants. We examined the phytosociological patterns of FRP in a biodiverse monsoon-tropical region, to establish the influence of hydro-geological drivers on vegetation patterns in rock pool plant communities. Location Gardner Plateau, central North Kimberley, Western Australia (centre of the study area: 14°47′46″ S, 126°31′27″ E). Methods A total of 1066 phytosociological releves (microplots), as well as measurements of physical habitat characteristics, were collected from 580 rock pools. Communities were classified using clustering and table sorting. The hydrological regime of each rock pool was dynamically modelled, and the most significant predicative hydro-geological factors were determined for each species and vegetation community using canonical correlation analysis, classification and regression trees and random forests. Results Variation in maximum rock pool depth, hydroperiod and the number of annual innundation events were identified as the most significant environmental predictors of community composition. All resident taxa were either regional or narrow-range endemics, with four species representing strict FRP specialists. FRP-specialist taxa exhibited the highest levels of hydro-geological specialization, and these species occurred in distinct communities characterized by longer periods of inundation and fewer annual inundation events than assemblages of non-specialist rock pool species. Eight distinct plant communities were recognized. Conclusions FRP in the monsoonal tropics are dynamic and hydrologically unpredictable aquatic ecosystems that harbour a number of unique plant communities. The duration and periodicity of seasonal inundation represent major ecological drivers of vegetation assemblages in these habitats, with inhabitant species exhibiting a progression of specialization to hydro-geological factors along a gradient of hydrological stability. Although the colonization of individual rock pools by wetland plants appears to be a random process governed by the serendipity of seed arrival events, the comparative stability of FRP over long geological time frames may have facilitated the persistence of a small number of highly specialized taxa in these ecosystems.
Background and Aims Clonality is a key life-history strategy promoting on-spot persistence, space... more Background and Aims Clonality is a key life-history strategy promoting on-spot persistence, space occupancy, resprouting after disturbance, and resource storage, sharing and foraging. These functions provided by clonality can be advantageous under different environmental conditions, including resource-paucity and fire-proneness, which define most mediterranean-type open ecosystems, such as southwest Australian shrublands. Studying clonality–environment links in underexplored mediterranean shrublands could therefore deepen our understanding of the role played by this essential strategy in open ecosystems globally. Methods We created a new dataset including 463 species, six traits related to clonal growth organs (CGOs; lignotubers, herbaceous and woody rhizomes, stolons, tubers, stem fragments), and edaphic predictors of soil water availability, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from 138 plots. Within two shrubland communities, we explored multivariate clonal patterns and how the divers...
Maintaining biodiversity in the critically endangered lowland renosterveld vegetation of the West... more Maintaining biodiversity in the critically endangered lowland renosterveld vegetation of the Western Cape : the challenges of fire, herbivory and fragmentation, South African Wildlife Management Symposium
Large-scale patterns of plant invasion and their determinants in different habitat types are rece... more Large-scale patterns of plant invasion and their determinants in different habitat types are receiving increasing attention. This research has mainly focused on invasion in habitats in recipient areas, but recently also the importance of habitat types from which alien species originated in the source areas is recognised as a factor controlling observed patterns. We explored European anthropogenic, semi-natural and natural habitats as sources of plants that became naturalised in other parts of the World. Our dataset encompassed 10,741 vascular plant species assigned to 37 habitat types classified into habitat groups reflecting the intensity of human impact, based on European vegetation classification system (Mucina et al. submitted). Within each habitat type and habitat group, species naturalised outside Europe were identified using the GloNAF database (van Kleunen et al. 2015). European habitat types, providing the highest proportion of naturalized species, included anthropogenic we...
Řada původně evropských druhů rostlin uspěsně zdomacněla v různých oblastech světa.Jednim z možný... more Řada původně evropských druhů rostlin uspěsně zdomacněla v různých oblastech světa.Jednim z možných důvodů jejich uspěchu je přizpůsobeni se antropogennim disturbancim v domovských evropských biotopech. V nasi studii jsme proto srovnali pravděpodobnost zdomacněni (naturalizace) cevnatých rostlin, ktere jsou původni v Evropě a byly zavleceny do jiných oblasti, kde zdomacněly, v zavislosti na typu biotopu, v kterem se v Evropě vyskytuji. Seznam evropských druhů a jejich původnich biotopů jsme ziskali z přehledu evropske vegetace EuroVegChecklist. Celkem jsme pracovali s 9 875 druhy, ktere byly přiřazeny k 37 biotopům klasifikovaným podle miry lidskeho vlivu na antropogenni, polopřirozene a přirozene. Pomoci světove databaze zdomacnělých druhů Global Naturalized Alien Flora (GloNAF) jsme identifikovali ty z nich, ktere uspěsně zdomacněly mimo původni areal. Vztah mezi pravděpodobnosti, že druh je zdomacnělý, a jeho původem v biotopech s různou mirou lidskeho vlivu jsme analyzovali pomo...
QuestionHabitat‐specific species pools are shaped by ecological and evolutionary processes such a... more QuestionHabitat‐specific species pools are shaped by ecological and evolutionary processes such as speciation, extinction, and migration. However, their role is poorly known because of the lack of robust data on species pools across a large number of plant community types and large areas. Here, we analyse a unique dataset of species pools of diagnostic species for all European vegetation types, asking: (a) what are the patterns of phylogenetic structure and phylogenetic beta‐diversity across European vegetation types and biomes; (b) what are the drivers of these patterns; and (c) is there a signal of niche conservatism at the level of biomes and broad categories of vegetation types?LocationEurope, Canary Islands, Madeira, Azores, Cyprus, Caucasus, Iceland and Greenland.MethodsWe built a dataset comprising 10,804 vascular plant species (almost 85% of the European flora) assigned to 106 vegetation types representing all European vegetated habitats, grouped into 11 biomes. This dataset...
The unigeneric tribe Heliophileae encompassing more than 100 Heliophila species is morphologicall... more The unigeneric tribe Heliophileae encompassing more than 100 Heliophila species is morphologically the most diverse Brassicaceae lineage. The tribe is endemic to southern Africa, confined chiefly to the southwestern South Africa, home of two biodiversity hotspots (Cape Floristic Region and Succulent Karoo). The monospecific Chamira (C. circaeoides), the only crucifer species with persistent cotyledons, is traditionally retrieved as the closest relative of Heliophileae. Our transcriptome analysis revealed a whole-genome duplication (WGD) ∼26.15–29.20 million years ago, presumably preceding the Chamira/Heliophila split. The WGD was then followed by genome-wide diploidization, species radiations, and cladogenesis in Heliophila. The expanded phylogeny based on nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) uncovered four major infrageneric clades (A–D) in Heliophila and corroborated the sister relationship between Chamira and Heliophila. Herein, we analyzed how the diploidizati...
Refugia are key environments in biogeography and conservation. Because of their unique eco‐evolut... more Refugia are key environments in biogeography and conservation. Because of their unique eco‐evolutionary formation and functioning, they should display distinct functional trait signatures. However, comparative trait‐based studies of plants in refugia and non‐refugia are lacking. Here, we provide a comparison between resource‐rich (putative microrefugia for species preferring mesic habitats under increasing aridity) and resource‐impoverished woodlands (non‐refugia) around two granite outcrops in south‐western Australia. We measured and compared six functional traits (bark thickness, foliar δ13C, foliar C:N, leaf dry matter content, plant height, specific leaf area) in four woody species. We performed multiple‐trait, multiple‐species and single‐trait, within‐species analyses to test whether plants in resource‐rich habitats were functionally distinct and more diverse than those in the surrounding resource‐impoverished woodlands. We found that species in resource‐rich woodlands occupied...
AimsWe examined all available literature and some unpublished data on the We examined all availab... more AimsWe examined all available literature and some unpublished data on the We examined all available literature and some unpublished data on the grasslands dominated by Lygeum spartum from Southern Europe and North Africa to produce a formalised classification of this vegetation and to identify the main factors determining its plant species composition.LocationMediterranean Basin and Iberian Peninsula.MethodsWe used a dataset of 728 relevés, which were resampled to reduce unbalanced sampling effort, resulting in a dataset of 568 relevés and 846 taxa. We classified the plots by TWINSPAN, interpreted the resulting pools, and used them to develop formal definitions of phytosociological alliances characterised by L. spartum vegetation. The definitions were included in an expert system to assist automatic vegetation classification. We related the alliances to climatic factors and described their biogeographical features and ecological preferences. The floristic relationships between these...
QuestionsThe community patterns in kwongan, a mediterranean‐type scrub on nutrient‐poor soils occ... more QuestionsThe community patterns in kwongan, a mediterranean‐type scrub on nutrient‐poor soils occurring in Western Australia, are poorly understood due to only few, focused studies using disparate sampling designs. We aimed to determine whether (a) classification of the kwongan vegetation of the Eneabba Sandplains leads to an ecologically informative classification scheme, and (b) we could identify environmental drivers underpinning the plant community patterns.LocationTownship of Eneabba (29°82′S, 115°27′E), approximately 250 km north of Perth, Western Australia, covering 1,210 km2.MethodsWe used a data set consisting of 512 relevés, collected following the standard field methodology of the Braun‐Blanquet approach, and accompanied by an extensive set of environmental data consisting of 94 variables representing climate, fire, soil and terrain properties across 189 relevés. The data were classified and ordinated by a series of multivariate analyses. OptimClass assisted in the select...
Question Freshwater rock pools (FRP) are small, highly stressed wetland habitats that harbour man... more Question Freshwater rock pools (FRP) are small, highly stressed wetland habitats that harbour many range-restricted and specialized plants. We examined the phytosociological patterns of FRP in a biodiverse monsoon-tropical region, to establish the influence of hydro-geological drivers on vegetation patterns in rock pool plant communities. Location Gardner Plateau, central North Kimberley, Western Australia (centre of the study area: 14°47′46″ S, 126°31′27″ E). Methods A total of 1066 phytosociological releves (microplots), as well as measurements of physical habitat characteristics, were collected from 580 rock pools. Communities were classified using clustering and table sorting. The hydrological regime of each rock pool was dynamically modelled, and the most significant predicative hydro-geological factors were determined for each species and vegetation community using canonical correlation analysis, classification and regression trees and random forests. Results Variation in maximum rock pool depth, hydroperiod and the number of annual innundation events were identified as the most significant environmental predictors of community composition. All resident taxa were either regional or narrow-range endemics, with four species representing strict FRP specialists. FRP-specialist taxa exhibited the highest levels of hydro-geological specialization, and these species occurred in distinct communities characterized by longer periods of inundation and fewer annual inundation events than assemblages of non-specialist rock pool species. Eight distinct plant communities were recognized. Conclusions FRP in the monsoonal tropics are dynamic and hydrologically unpredictable aquatic ecosystems that harbour a number of unique plant communities. The duration and periodicity of seasonal inundation represent major ecological drivers of vegetation assemblages in these habitats, with inhabitant species exhibiting a progression of specialization to hydro-geological factors along a gradient of hydrological stability. Although the colonization of individual rock pools by wetland plants appears to be a random process governed by the serendipity of seed arrival events, the comparative stability of FRP over long geological time frames may have facilitated the persistence of a small number of highly specialized taxa in these ecosystems.
Background & Aim: Plant community studies based on floristic composition are important for improv... more Background & Aim: Plant community studies based on floristic composition are important for improvement of conservation and restoration strategies, especially in areas with high endemism and species richness. Vegetation classification and ordination are the main tools used in community studies that seek to describe vegetation patterns and searching for the origins of the patterns. The central goals of this paper are to (1) classify the kwongan (mediterranean-type scrub of SW Australia; see Mucina et al. 2014), and (2) establish how habitat (soil) heterogeneity and regional climate may drive the vegetation patterns in this enigmatic, species-and endemic-rich vegetation. Materials & Methods: The study area is located in the Northern (Geraldton) Sandplains around the township of Eneabba (29°82' S, 115°27' E), approximately 250 km north of Perth, Western Australia. The vegetation plot data set, collected using standard field methodology of the Braun-Blanquet approach, comprises 542 relevés, sharing 801 taxa. Environmental data matrix consists of 105 variables, mainly extracted from 200 soil samples collected as a representative subset of the entire vegetation-plot data set as well as from topographic and BioClim data. Series of multivariate analyses were employed to classify and ordinate both vegetation and environmental data, using the programs JUICE, PC-ORD, and Syntax 2000. OptimClass was used as a tool to assist in the selection of the most robust combination of transformation, resemblance and clustering algorithm. Clustering embedded within JUICE was used to define plant community types. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), and a series of partial CCAs were performed to infer major ecological drivers of vegetation patterns. Main Results & Interpretations: Presence-absence transformation, Bray-Curtis resemblance and flexible beta clustering were revealed as the most robust data-analytical combination that was used to produce a dendrogram yielding 24 well-defined plant communities. Three groups of communities (alliances?) were detected each was floristically unique and having only 8.3% of species shared across all alliances. Two of the groups represented typical kwongan vegetation (on deep sandy soils vs. on laterite pavements, respectively), while the third unit was composed of largely non-kwongan (woodlands and thickets) vegetation or very specialised kwongan scrub on limestone and very rare ferricrete kwongan on 'bog-iron' formation (Griffin et al. 1983). Although the role of soil factors has been suggested in the past as a major vegetation pattern driver (Hnatiuk & Hopkins 1981), our study brings unequivocal quantitative support to this assertion.
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Papers by Ladislav Mucina