Vascular plant compositional gradients within and between Iowa fens

Question: What is the nature and relative importance of compositional gradients within- and between fens?Location: Iowa, USA.Methods: 506 0.5 m ×× 0.5 m quadrats were sampled from 31 fens across a 550 km extent. Presence/absence of all vascular plant taxa, plus the non-vascular genera Sphagnum and Chara, and values for 24 environmental variables were noted. Global Non-Metric Multidimensional Scaling and Monte Carlo tests were used to describe compositional variation and identify significant environmental co-variables. Model-based cluster analysis was used to identify the optimal number of groups supported by the data, while k-means clustering was used to assign each quadrat to a group. The number of occurrences (and frequency) of each species within each group was calculated. Two-dimensional 95%% Gaussian confidence intervals, ANOVA, correlation coefficient homogeneity tests, log-linear modelling, and Fisher's exact tests were used to document patterns of compositional change.Results: Two stable axes of variation were identified: the first being most closely correlated with soil pH, Mg, Ca, P, S, vegetation height, surface and −−10 cm soil temperature, site area, perimeter, perimeter/area ratio, growing season, and air temperature, with the second being most correlated to soil moisture, N, disturbance level, %% organic matter, hummock height, N-S coordinate, and precipitation. Individual sites harboured between 20––47%% of total compositional variation, with 28%% of Axis 1 and 55%% of Axis 2 scores being contained within-sites. Five compositional regions were identified that differed in the proportion of calciphile and hydrophile species. Compositional groups differed significantly between geologic types.Conclusions: While the principal axis of variation (corresponding to the rich-poor fen gradient) is present largely between sites, the second axis (corresponding to water level) is largely repeated within sites. Documentation and protection of vegetation patterns and species diversity within Iowa fens will thus require consideration of multiple sites across the landscape.Nomenclature: Nekola (1994).