E. Santi 1* , S. Maccherini 1 , I. Bonini 1 , F. Cortes-Selva 1 , S. Pruscini 1 , D. Palazzo 1 , V. Amici 1 , A. Chiarucci 1 Assessing changes in patterns of vascular plant and bryophyte communities in olive groves Introduction Materials and methods During the last century, in the Mediterranean region, profound changes in landscape structure were recorded, mainly determined by changes in land use. Understanding spatial and temporal patterns and processes after abandonment of agricultural practices is a key issue for the management policies leading to land restoration in Mediterranean semiarid environment. In this context, the olive groves represent a component of great importance to combine biodiversity conservation with local environmentally sustainable development, since these systems show high levels of biodiversity and play an important role in the rural developments. The aim of present study is to evaluate the changes of vascular plant and bryophyte communities patterns in olive groves. Study area. The study was carried in out in the SCI “Uccellina Mounts” in Maremma Natural Park, along the coast of the Tuscany Sea in Central Italy (42°39'N,11°05'E). Sampling design. A stratified random sampling design was adopted for collecting information on species composition of vascular plants and bryophytes into four strata (productive olive groves, olive groves with low shrubs cover, olive groves with high shrubs cover, and forest). Taxa were sampled in 54 plots (1m 2 ) during May 2009 with standardized methodology for each taxonomic group. Statistical analysis. Permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) were performed to assess the significance of differences in the patterns of vascular plant and bryophyte communities among the four strata. Multidimensional scaling (MDS) techniques were used to visually show relationships among sites within each stratum. 1 BIOCONNET, Biodiversity and Conservation Network, Department of Environmental Science “G. Sarfatti”, University of Siena, via P.A. Mattioli 4, 53100 Siena, Italy * corresponding author: elisa.santi@unisi.it Results and Discussion A total of 204 vascular plant species (43 in forest, 62 in olive groves with high shrubs cover, 124 in olive groves with low shrubs cover and 120 in productive olive groves), and 38 bryophyte species (12 in forest, 19 in olive groves with high shrubs cover, 26 in olive groves with low shrubs cover and in 22 productive olive groves) were recorded. Multivariate analysis of variance showed that vascular plants and bryophytes composition were significantly affected by Stratum and Patches factors (Table 1,2). There were significant differences in the both communities among strata (Table 3,4). MDS plots support the differences in composition among strata (Fig. 3a,b). Patterns in vascular plant community composition were closely associated with stratum types. Instead, the membership to different stratum type has less influence on patterns in bryophyte community. References Anderson, M.J. 2005. PERMANOVA. Permutational multivariate analysis of variance. Dept of Statistics, Univ. of Auckland, Auckland. García, H., Tarrason D., Mayol M., Male-Bascompte N., Riba M. 2007. Patterns of variability in soil properties and vegetation cover following abandonment of olive groves in Catalonia (NE Spain). Acta Oecologica, 31:316-324. Groups t P(perm) U perms P(MC) Forest vs. Olive groves with high shrubs cover 1.162 0.496 6 0.278 Forest vs. Olive groves with low shrubs cover 2.499 0.356 6 0.006 Forest vs. Productive olive groves 1.679 0.001 379 0.035 Olive groves high shrubs cover vs. Olive groves low shrubs cover 1.441 0.174 6 0.134 Olive groves with high shrubs cover vs. Productive olive 1.310 0.101 381 0.169 Olive groves with low shrubs cover vs. Productive olive groves 1.786 0.001 382 0.025 Groups t P(perm) U perms P(MC) Forest vs. Olive groves with high shrubs cover 3.929 0.173 6 0.001 Forest vs. Olive groves with low shrubs cover 3.010 0.17 6 0.001 Forest vs. Productive olive groves 2.461 0.001 378 0.002 Olive groves high shrubs cover vs. Olive groves low shrubs cover 1.567 0.335 6 0.037 Olive groves with high shrubs cover vs. Productive olive 1.763 0.001 377 0.005 Olive groves with low shrubs cover vs. Productive olive groves 1.217 0.05 389 0.109 Figure 3. Multidimensional scaling ordinations of vascular plants (a) and bryophytes (b) communities. Table 3. Results of PERMANOVA pair-wise tests for vascular plants. Table 4. Results of PERMANOVA pair-wise tests for bryophytes. Source df SS MS Pseudo-f P(perm) U perms P(MC) Stratum 3 70010 23337 4.5105 0.001 997 0.001 Patches (Stratum) 8 33410 4176.3 1.6119 0.001 997 0.001 Residuals 42 108820 2591 Total 53 2157500 Table 1. Results of PERMANOVA for vascular plants. Source df SS MS Pseudo-f P(perm) U perms P(MC) Stratum 3 35519 11840 2.905 0.001 999 0.009 Patches (Stratum) 8 26670 3333.8 1.752 0.002 997 0.009 Residuals 42 79918 1902.8 Total 53 142990 Table 2. Results of PERMANOVA for bryophytes. a. b. View publication stats View publication stats