Effects of abiotic and anthropogenic factors on the spatial distribution of Quercus faginea in the Spanish Central Pyrenees

• Published in: Plant ecology Vol. 212; no. 6; pp. 999 - 1007
• Main Authors: Kouba, Y., Alados, C. L., Bueno, C. G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer 01.06.2011; Springer Netherlands; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Abiotic factors; Abiotic stress; Analysis; anthropogenic factors; Applied Ecology; Basins; Bayesian analysis; Biodiversity; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Climate; Climate models; Community & Population Ecology; Digital mapping; Dispersal; Ecological modeling; Ecology; Ecosystems; Geographic information systems; Land use; Life Sciences; Lithofacies; Lithology; Livestock; Macroecology; Mathematical models; Pastures; Plant Ecology; Plantations; Plants; Pressure; Pyrene; Quercus faginea; Spatial distribution; Species; Terrestial Ecology; Topographical elevation; Water balance; MED; Species distribution models (SDM); Bayesian model averaging; Land-use variables; Explanatory models; Hierarchical partitioning
• ISSN: 1385-0237; 1573-5052
• DOI: 10.1007/s11258-010-9880-0

Abiotic factors often are the most important factors influencing a species' distribution. Nevertheless, when investigating the underlying causes of a species' distribution, it is important to assess both the abiotic and the anthropogenic factors (land-use variables) that might have influenced the species' distribution. That is especially true in the Mediterranean Basin, where natural ecosystems have undergone significant changes in response to anthropogenic pressures in the region. In this study, we examined the effects of abiotic and anthropogenic factors on the distribution of Quercus faginea in the Spanish Central Pyrenees. Information on the presenceabsence of Q. faginea, and abiotic and anthropogenic variables, were derived using GIS based on digital maps and aerial photographs. To identify and quantify the factors that have affected significantly the spatial distribution of Q. faginea, we used Bayesian Model Averaging and hierarchical partitioning. In the Spanish Central Pyrenees, on a broad scale, abiotic variables; i.e. climate and lithology, were the factors that had the greatest effect on the spatial distribution of Q. faginea; however, recently introduced pine plantations and previous livestock pressure have had a negative effect on the distribution of Q. faginea in the region.