Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

What drives riparian plant taxa and assemblages in Mediterranean rivers?

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Aquatic Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study focused on floodplains of four rivers flowing into the Tyrrhenian Sea. Our main questions are: what environmental classifications account for variations in riparian plant assemblages along Mediterranean river floodplains? How is classification predictive power affected by taxonomic resolution? What are the environmental features that may be influencing plant taxa composition? We collected riparian vascular plant and environmental GIS data (morphology and land-use) from 189 river segments. Hierarchical clustering was used to derive environmental and biological groups of segments. We applied a measure of classification strength (CS) to account for variations in riparian plant assemblages, considering CS with respect to species and higher taxonomic levels. We used non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMS) ordination to identify major environmental features influencing plant assemblages. Our results showed the correspondence’s strength between classifications and plant taxa was significant, albeit low, for all data. The hybrid classification, based on morphology plus land use, gave the best CS values for all taxonomic levels and emerged as the best determinant for discriminating differences in riparian plant composition. The correspondence between the classification criteria and plant assemblages depended on the taxonomic level analysed and genus level has best CS results. NMS for taxonomic groups showed that only a few environmental features could be identified as major factors influencing plant composition in floodplains, among which cover of mixed woodlands was the best. A local-scale approach and incorporation of more detailed variables into the classification scheme may therefore improve the match between environmental classification and plant community composition.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abell R (2002) Conservation biology for the biodiversity crisis: a freshwater follow-up. Conserv Biol 16:1435–1437

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aguiar FC, Ferreira MT (2005) Human-disturbed landscapes: effects on composition and integrity of riparian woody vegetation in the Tagus River basin, Portugal. Environ Conserv 32:30–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aguiar FC, Ferreira MT, Albuquerque A (2006) Patterns of exotic and native plant species richness and cover along a semi-arid Iberian river and across its floodplain. Plant Ecol 184:189–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aguiar FC, Ferreira MT, Albuquerque A, Rodriguez-Gonzalez P, Segurado P (2009) Structural and functional responses of riparian vegetation to human disturbance: performance and spatial scale-dependence. Fundam Appl Limnol 175:249–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allan JD (2004) Landscapes and riverscapes: the influence of land use on stream ecosystems. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 35:257–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson MJ, Connell SD, Gillanders BM, Diebel CE, Blom WM, Saunders JE, Landers TJ (2005) Relationships between taxonomic resolution and spatial scales of multivariate variation. J Anim Ecol 74:636–646

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Angiolini C, Bacchetta G (2003) Analisi distributiva e studio fitosociologico delle comunità a Santolina insularis (Gennari ex Fiori) Arrigoni della Sardegna meridionale (Italia). Fitosociologia 40:109–127

    Google Scholar 

  • Angiolini C, De Dominicis V (1999) The syntaxonomic position of Santolina etrusca-multivariate analysis. Acta Soc Bot Pol 68:47–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Angiolini C, Scoppola A, De Dominicis V (1998) The stream beds in southern Tuscany (central Italy): influence of some environmental features on chamaephytic vegetation. Acta Bot Neerl 47:313–324

    Google Scholar 

  • Angiolini C, Nucci A, Frignani F, Landi M (2011) Using multivariate analyses to assess effects of fluvial type on plant species distribution in a Mediterranean river. Wetlands 31:167–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Angius R, Bacchetta G (2009) Boschi e boscaglie ripariali del Sulcis-Inglesiente (Sardegna sud-occidentale, Italia). Braun-Blanquetia 45:3–63

    Google Scholar 

  • APAT (2005) La realizzazione in Italia del progetto europeo Corine Land Cover 2000. Rapporti 36/2005, Roma

  • Arscott DB, Tockner K, Ward JV (2000) Aquatic habitat diversity along the corridor of an Alpine floodplain river (Fiume Tagliamento, Italy). Arch Hydrobiol 149:679–704

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bacchetta G, Pili D, Serra G (2003) Analisi del paesaggio e della suscettività all’erosione dei suoli nel bacino idrografico del Rio Santa Lucia (Sardegna sud-occidentale). Studi Trent Sci Nat Acta Biol 80:67–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Balmford A, Jayasuriya AH, Green MJB (1996) Using higher-taxon richness as a surrogate for species richness: II. Local applications. Proc R Soc Lond B 263:1571–1575

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bejarano MD, González del Tánago M, de Jalón DG, Marchamalo M, Sordo-Ward Á, Solana-Gutiérrez J (2012) Responses of riparian guilds to flow alterations in a Mediterranean stream. J Veg Sci 23:443–458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bevilacqua S, Terlizzi A, Claudet J, Fraschetti S, Boero F (2012) Taxonomic relatedness does not matter for species surrogacy in the assessment of community responses to environmental drivers. J Appl Ecol 49:357–366

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blasi C, Michetti L (2007) Biodiversity and Climate. In: Blasi C, Abbate G (eds) Biodiversity in Italy: contribution to the national biodiversity strategy. Palombi, Roma, pp 57–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowman MF, Bailey RC (1997) Does taxonomic resolution affect the multivariate description of the structure of freshwater benthic macroinvertebrate communities? Can J Fish Aquat Sci 54:1802–1807

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown JH, Lomolino MV (1998) Biogeography. Sinauer Associates, Inc., Mass

    Google Scholar 

  • Carmignani L, Oggiano G, Barca S et al (2001) Note illustrative della Carta Geologica della Sardegna in scala 1:200 000-Memorie descrittive della Carta Geologica d’Italia. Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Roma

    Google Scholar 

  • Carmignani L, Lazzarotto A, Brogi A et al (2004) Carta geologica della Toscana (1:250 000). Regione Toscana, Direzione Generale delle Politiche Territoriali e Ambientali, Servizio Geologico, Litografia Artistica Cartografica, Firenze

    Google Scholar 

  • Celesti-Grapow L, Pretto F, Blasi C (2010) Flora vascolare alloctona e invasiva delle regioni d’Italia. Casa Editrice Università la Sapienza, Roma

    Google Scholar 

  • Ceschin S, Tombolini I, Abati S, Zuccarello V (2015) The effect of river damming on vegetation: is it always unfavourable? A case study from the River Tiber (Italy). Environ Monit Assess 187:301–312

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Conti F, Abbate G, Alessandrini A, Blasi C (2005) An annotated checklist of Italian Vascular Flora. Palombi and Partner, Roma

    Google Scholar 

  • Conti F, Alessandrini A, Bacchetta G et al (2007) Integrazioni alla checklist della flora vascolare italiana. Nat Vic 10:5–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Corbacho C, Sánchez JM, Costillo E (2003) Patterns of structural complexity and human disturbance of riparian vegetation in agricultural landscapes of a Mediterranean area. Agric Ecosyst Environ 95:495–507

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corenblit D, Tabacchi E, Steiger J, Gurnell AM (2007) Reciprocal interactions and adjustments between fluvial landforms and vegetation dynamics in river corridors: a review of complementary approaches. Earth Sci Rev 84:56–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cottenie K (2005) Integrating environmental and spatial processes in ecological community dynamics. Ecol Lett 8:1175–1182

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Decocq G (2002) Patterns of plant species and community diversity at different organization levels in a forested riparian landscape. J Veg Sci 13:91–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Demars BO, Kemp JL, Friberg N, Usseglio-Polatera P, Harper DM (2012) Linking biotopes to invertebrates in rivers: biological traits, taxonomic composition and diversity. Ecol Ind 23:301–311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engelhardt BM, Weisberg PJ, Chambers JC (2012) Influences of watershed geomorphology on extent and composition of riparian vegetation. J Veg Sci 23:127–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ESRI (2009) ArcGIS Desktop version 9.3.1. Redlands, CA

  • Feminella JW (2000) Correspondence between stream macroinvertebrate assemblages and 4 ecoregions of the southeastern USA. J N Am Benthol Soc 19:442–461

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandes MR, Aguiar FC, Ferreira MT (2011) Assessing riparian vegetation structure and the influence of land use using landscape metrics and geostatistical tools. Landsc Urban Plan 99:166–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferreira MT, Aguiar FC (2006) Riparian and aquatic vegetation in Mediterranean-type streams (western Iberia). Limnetica 25:411–424

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferreira MT, Albuquerque A, Aguiar FC, Sidorkewicz N (2002) Assessing reference sites and ecological quality of river plant assemblages from an Iberian basin using a multivariate approach. Arch Hydrobiol 155:121–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferreira MT, Rodríguez-González PM, Aguiar FC, Albuquerque A (2005) Assessing biotic integrity in Iberian rivers: development of a multimetric plant index. Ecol Indic 5:137–149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferrier S (2002) Mapping spatial pattern in biodiversity for regional conservation planning: where to from here? Syst Biol 51:331–363

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gregory SV, Swanson FJ, McKee WA, Cummins KW (1991) An ecosystem prospective of riparian zones. Bioscience 41:540–551

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross KL, Willig MR, Gough L, Inouye R, Cox SB (2000) Patterns of species density and productivity at different spatial scales in herbaceous plant communities. Oikos 89:417–427

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gumiero B, Rinaldi M, Belletti B, Lenzi D, Puppi G (2015) Riparian vegetation as indicator of channel adjustments and environmental conditions: the case of the Panaro River (Northern Italy). Aquat Sci 77:563–582

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gurnell AM, Petts GE, Harris N et al (2000) Large wood retention in the river channels: the case of the Fiume Tagliamento, Italy. Earth Surf Process Landf 25:255–275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gurnell AM, Petts GE, Hanna DM et al (2001) Riparian vegetation and island formation along the gravel-bed Fiume Tagliamento, Italy. Earth Surf Process Landf 26:31–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins CP, Norris RH (2000) Effects of taxonomic resolution and use of subsets of the fauna on the performance of RIVPACS-type models. In: Wright JF, Sutcliffe DW, Furse MT (eds) Assessing the biological quality of fresh waters: RIVPACS and other techniques. Freshwater Biological Association, Ambleside, pp 217–228

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins CP, Vinson MR (2000) Weak correspondence between landscape classifications and stream invertebrate assemblages: implications for bioassessment. J N Am Benthol Soc 19:501–517

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins CP, Norris RH, Gerritsen J, Hughes RM, Jackson SK, Johnson RK, Stevenson RJ (2000a) Evaluation of the use of landscape classifications for the prediction of freshwater biota: synthesis and recommendations. J N Am Benthol Soc 19:541–556

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins CP, Norris RH, Hogue JN, Feminella JW (2000b) Development and evaluation of predictive models for measuring the biological integrity of streams. Ecol Appl 10:1456–1477

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heartsill-Scalley T, Aide TM (2003) Riparian vegetation and stream condition in a tropical agriculture-secondary forest mosaic. Ecol Appl 13:225–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heino J, Mykra H (2006) Assessing physical surrogates for biodiversity: do tributary and stream type classifications reflect macroinvertebrate assemblage diversity in running waters? Biol Conserv 129:418–426

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heino J, Soininen J (2007) Are higher taxa adequate surrogates for species-level assemblage patterns and species richness in stream organisms? Biol Conserv 137:78–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heino J, Louhi P, Muotka T (2004) Identifying the scales of variability in stream macroinvertebrate abundance, functional composition and assemblage structure. Freshw Biol 49:1230–1239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hupp CR, Rinaldi M (2007) Riparian vegetation patterns in relation to fluvial landforms and channel evolution along selected rivers of Tuscany (central Italy). Ann Soc Am Geogr 97:12–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inoue M, Nakagoshi N (2001) The effects of human impact on spatial structure of the riparian vegetation along the Ashida river, Japan. Landsc Urban Plan 53:111–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones FC (2008) Taxonomic sufficiency: the influence of taxonomic resolution on freshwater bioassessments using benthic macroinvertebrates. Environ Rev 16:45–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jonhson LB, Host GE (2010) Recent developments in landscape approaches for the study of aquatic ecosystems. J N Am Benthol Soc 29:41–66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jowett IG (1997) Instream flow methods: a comparison of approaches. Regul Rivers: Res Manag 13:115–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jungwirth M, Muhar S, Schmutz S (2002) Re-establishing and assessing ecological integrity in riverine landscapes. Freshw Biol 47:867–887

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kondolf GM, Piégay H, Landon N (2007) Changes in the riparian zone of the lower Eygues River, France, since 1830. Landsc Ecol 22:367–384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landi M, Angiolini C (2006) The vegetation gradient along the longitudinal profile of a braided stream: a case study in central Italy. Belg J Bot 139:220–232

    Google Scholar 

  • Landi M, Piazzini S, Nucci A, Saveri C, Angiolini C (2012) Can macrophytes be a surrogate for amphibians and physico-chemical features in pond classifications? Aquat Bot 101:1–7

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Legendre P, Legendre L (1998) Numerical ecology, 2nd edn. Elsevier, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Lite SJ, Bagstad KJ, Stromberg JC (2005) Riparian plant species richness along lateral and longitudinal gradients of water stress and flood disturbance, San Pedro River, Arizona. J Arid Environ 63:785–813

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lombard AT, Cowling RM, Pressey RL, Rebelo AG (2003) Effectiveness of land classes as surrogates for species in conservation planning for the Cape Floristic Region. Biol Conserv 112:45–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lovell S, Hamer M, Slotow R, Herbert D (2007) Assessment of congruency across invertebrate taxa and taxonomic levels to identify potential surrogates. Biol Conserv 139:113–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCune B, Grace JB (2002) Analysis of ecological communities. MJM Software Design, Gleneden Beach

    Google Scholar 

  • McCune B, Mefford MJ (2011) PC-ORD. Multivariate analysis of ecological data. Version 6.0 MJM Software, Gleneden Beach

    Google Scholar 

  • McIntyre S, Lavorel S, Tremont RM (1995) Plant life-history attributes: their relationship to disturbance response in herbaceous vegetation. J Ecol 83:31–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meek CS, Richardson DM, Mucina L (2010) A river runs through it: land-use and the composition of vegetation along a riparian corridor in the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa. Biol Conserv 143:156–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mollot LA, Bilby RE, Chapin DM (2008) A multivariate analysis examining the effect of landform on the distribution of riparian plant communities of Washington, USA. Community Ecol 9:59–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mykrä H, Heino J, Muotka T (2008) Concordance of stream macroinvertebrate assemblage classifications: how general are patterns from single-year surveys? Biol Conserv 141:1218–1223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Naiman R, Décamps H, McClain ME (2005) Riparia: ecology, conservation, and management of streamside communities. Elsevier Academic Press, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  • Naveh Z, Whittaker RH (1979) Structural and floristic diversity of shrublands and woodlands in northern Israel and other Mediterranean areas. Vegetatio 41:171–190

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nucci A, Angiolini C, Landi M, Bacchetta G (2012a) Influence of bedrock-alluvial transition on plant species distribution. Plant Biosyst 146:564–575

    Google Scholar 

  • Nucci A, Angiolini C, Landi M, Bacchetta G (2012b) Regional and local patterns of riparian flora: comparison between insular and continental Mediterranean rivers. Ecoscience 19:213–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olivier I, Holmes A, Dangerfield JM et al (2004) Land systems as surrogates for biodiversity in conservation planning. Ecol Appl 3:485–503

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paavola R, Moutka T, Virtanen R, Heino J, Kreivi P (2003) Are biological classifications of headwater streams concordant across multiple taxonomic groups? Freshw Biol 48:1912–1923

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Padial AA, Siqueira T, Heino J et al (2012) Relationships between multiple biological groups and classification schemes in a Neotropical floodplain. Ecol Ind 13:55–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peck JE (2010) Multivariate analysis for community ecologists: step-by-step using PC-ORD. MjM Software Design, Gleneden Beach

    Google Scholar 

  • Pignatti S (1982) Flora d’Italia. Edagricole, Bologna

    Google Scholar 

  • Planty-Tabacchi AM, Tabacchi E, Naiman RJ, Deferrari C, Décamps H (1996) Invasibility of species-rich communities in riparian zones. Conserv Biol 10:598–607

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poole G (2002) Fluvial landscape ecology: addressing uniqueness within the river discontinuum. Freshw Biol 47:641–660

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poole G (2010) Stream hydrogeomorphology as a physical science basis for advances in stream ecology. J N Am Benthol Soc 29:12–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson JS, Naiman R, Swanson FJ, Hibbs DE (2005) Riparian communities associated with Pacific Northwest headwater streams: assemblages, processes, and uniqueness. JAWRA 41:935–947

    Google Scholar 

  • Salinas JM, Blanca G, Romero AT (2000) Riparian vegetation and water chemistry in a basin under semiarid Mediterranean climate, Andarax River, Spain. Environ Manag 26:539–552

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sandin L, Johnson RK (2000) Ecoregions and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages of Swedish streams. J N Am Benthol Soc 19:462–474

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schuster B, Diekmann M (2005) Species richness and environmental correlates in deciduous forests of Northwest Germany. For Ecol Manag 206:197–205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw JR, Cooper DJ (2008) Linkages among watersheds, stream reaches, and riparian vegetation in dryland ephemeral stream networks. J Hydrol 350:68–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sneath PHA, Sokal RR (1973) Numerical Taxonomy. Freeman, San Francisco

    Google Scholar 

  • Snelder TH, Cattanéo F, Suren AM, Biggs BJ (2004) Is the river environment classification an improved landscape-scale classification of rivers? J N Am Benthol Soc 23:580–598

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snelder TH, Pella H, Wasson JG, Lamouroux N (2008) Definition procedures have little effect on performance of environmental classifications of streams and rivers. Environ Manag 42:771–788

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snelder TH, Dey KL, Leathwick JR (2009) A procedure for making optimal selection of input variables for multivariate environmental classifications. Conserv Biol 21:365–375

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder CD, Young JA, Villella R, Lemarie DP (2003) Influences of upland and riparian land use patterns on stream biotic integrity. Lands Ecol 18:647–664

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spencer J, Brooks A, Knight J (2007) Towards an objective approach for a regional-continental scale geomorphic river classification. In: Proceedings of the 5th Australian stream management conference Australian rivers: making a difference. Charles Sturt University, Thurgoona, NSW

  • Steiger J, Tabacchi E, Dufour S, Corenblit D, Peiry JL (2005) Hydrogeomorphic processes affecting riparian habitat within alluvial channel–floodplain river systems: a review for the temperate zone. River Res Appl 21:719–737

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stella JC, Rodríguez-González PM, Dufour S, Bendix J (2012) Riparian vegetation research in Mediterranean-climate regions: common patterns, ecological processes, and considerations for management. Hydrobiologia 719:291–315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strayer DL (2006) Challenges for freshwater invertebrate conservation. J N Am Benthol Soc 25:271–287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stromberg JC, Bagstad KJ, Leenhouts JM, Lite SJ, Makings E (2005) Effects of stream flow intermittency on riparian vegetation of a semiarid region river (San Pedro River, Arizona). River Res Appl 21:925–938

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tabacchi E, Planty-Tabacchi AM, Salinas MJ, Decamps H (1996) Landscape structure and biodiversity in riparian plant communities: a longitudinal comparative study. Regul Rivers: Res Manag 12:367–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tabacchi E, Correll DL, Hauer R, Pinay G, Planty-Tabacchi AM, Wissmar RC (1998) Development, maintenance and role of riparian vegetation in the river landscape. Freshw Biol 40:497–516

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terlizzi A, Bevilacqua S, Fraschetti S, Boero F (2003) Taxonomic sufficiency and the increasing insufficiency of taxonomic expertise. Mar Pollut Bull 46:544–560

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • The Plant List (2013) Version 1.1. Published on the Internet. http://www.theplantlist.org. Accessed 20 May 2015

  • Thieme M, Lehner B, Abell RA, Hamilton SK, Kellndorfer J, Powell G, Riveros JC (2007) Freshwater conservation planning in data poor areas:an example from a remote Amazonian basin (Madre de Dios River, Peru and Bolivia). Biol Conserv 135:500–517

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tombolini I, Caneva G, Cancellieri L, Abati S, Ceschin S (2014) Damming effects on riparian and aquatic vegetation: the Nazzano case study (Tiber River, central Italy). Knowl Manag Aquat Ecosyst 412:1–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Trémolières M, Sánchez-Pérez JM, Schnitzler A, Schmitt D (1998) Impact of river management history on the community structure, species composition and nutrient status in the Rhine alluvial hardwood forest. Plant Ecol 135:59–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Coller AL, Rogers KH, Heritage GL (2000) Riparian vegetation—environment relationships: complementarity of gradients versus patch hierarchy approaches. J Veg Sci 11:337–350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van der Nat D, Tockner K, Edwards PJ, Ward JV, Gurnell AM (2003) Habitat change in braided floodplains (Tagliamento, NE-Italy). Freshw Biol 48:1799–1812

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Sickle J (1997) Using mean similarity dendrograms to evaluate classifications. J Agric Biol Environ Stat 2:370–388

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Sickle J, Hughes RM (2000) Classification strengths of ecoregions, catchments, and geographic clusters for aquatic vertebrates in Oregon. J N Am Benthol Soc 19:370–384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward JV, Tockner K, Edwards PJ, Kollmann J, Bretschko G, Gurnell AM, Petts GE, Rossaro B (1999) A reference river system for the Alps: the “Fiume Tagliamento”. Regul Rivers: Res Manag 15:63–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward JV, Tockner K, Arscott DB, Claret C (2002) Riverine landscape diversity. Freshw Biol 47:517–539

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whited DC, Kimball JS, Lorang MS, Stanford JA (2013) Estimation of juvenile salmon habitat in Pacific Rim rivers using multiscalar remote sensing and geospatial analysis. River Res Appl 29:135–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams PH, Gaston KJ, Humphries C (1997) Mapping biodiversity value worldwide: combining higher-taxon richness from different groups. Proc R Soc Lond B 264:67–70

    Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman GM, Goetz H, Mielke PW (1985) Use of an improved statistical method for group comparisons to study effects of prairie fire. Ecology 66:606–611

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge C. Pontecorvo, L. Podda, M. Orrù, T. Carai, P. Casula and D. Fanti for their help with field work. We also acknowledge F. Frignani and F. Mascia for their precious help with plant determination.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Life Sciences, University of Siena, Siena, Italy

    Claudia Angiolini, Alessia Nucci & Marco Landi

  2. Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

    Gianluigi Bacchetta

Authors
  1. Claudia Angiolini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alessia Nucci
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marco Landi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Gianluigi Bacchetta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Claudia Angiolini.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

27_2016_503_MOESM1_ESM.xls

Supplementary material 1 (XLS 126 kb) Supplementary material Online Resource 1. Identified species and families along rivers, with indicated functional groups [woody species (W, phanerophytes and nanophanerophytes), perennial herbs and dwarf-shrubs (P, geophytes, hemicryptophytes and chamaephytes) and annual species (A, therophytes)], alien species and percentage of presence in the plots

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Angiolini, C., Nucci, A., Landi, M. et al. What drives riparian plant taxa and assemblages in Mediterranean rivers?. Aquat Sci 79, 371–384 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-016-0503-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-016-0503-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation