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Many abandoned villages in Central Europe are now covered with forest. These abandoned villages can be indicated by their different species composition compared to the surroundings. We were interested in whether these differences could be indicated by geobiocoenological plots (400 m2). Phytocoenological samples were taken from geobiocoenological plots located on the former buildings, in the village square and in gardens. Based on significant fidelity (Fisher’s exact test at P = 0.05 significance level) and differential species coverage (ONE WAY ANOVA at P = 0.05 significance level), indicator species for the former buildings and former village square could be determined. The former buildings were indicated by species requiring higher soil nutrient content and higher pH, such as <italic>Anemone ranunculoides</italic> and <italic>Stachys sylvatica</italic>. The former village square site was indicated by species adapted to acid soils with less competitive abilities that could not compete on the more fertile soils of the former buildings, e.g. <italic>Maianthemum bifolium</italic> and <italic>Dryopteris carthusiana</italic>. Based on these results, it can be concluded that the influence of forest plant communities by medieval settlement activities can be phytoindicated using geobiocoenological plots of 400 m2. This method can be applied especially in areas with acid soils, e.g. where there is a large difference in the amount of plant-available nutrients in the soil
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Many abandoned villages in Central Europe are now covered with forest. These abandoned villages can be indicated by their different species composition compared to the surroundings. We were interested in whether these differences could be indicated by geobiocoenological plots (400 m2). Phytocoenological samples were taken from geobiocoenological plots located on the former buildings, in the village square and in gardens. Based on significant fidelity (Fisher’s exact test at P = 0.05 significance level) and differential species coverage (ONE WAY ANOVA at P = 0.05 significance level), indicator species for the former buildings and former village square could be determined. The former buildings were indicated by species requiring higher soil nutrient content and higher pH, such as Anemone ranunculoides and Stachys sylvatica. The former village square site was indicated by species adapted to acid soils with less competitive abilities that could not compete on the more fertile soils of the former buildings, e.g. Maianthemum bifolium and Dryopteris carthusiana. Based on these results, it can be concluded that the influence of forest plant communities by medieval settlement activities can be phytoindicated using geobiocoenological plots of 400 m2. This method can be applied especially in areas with acid soils, e.g. where there is a large difference in the amount of plant-available nutrients in the soil

Is it Possible to Indicate the Influence of Medieval Settlement Activities on Forest Phytocoenoses by Using 400 m2 Geobiocoenological Plots?

Ekológia (Bratislava)

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Is it Possible to Indicate the Influence of Medieval Settlement Activities on Forest Phytocoenoses by Using 400 m Geobiocoenological Plots?

Many abandoned villages in Central Europe are now covered with forest. These abandoned villages can be indicated by their different species composition...

Is it Possible to Indicate the Influence of Medieval Settlement Activities on Forest Phytocoenoses by Using 400 m² Geobiocoenological Plots?

Published Online: May 03, 2023

Page range: 75 - 80

Received: May 26, 2022

Accepted: Jan 31, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/eko-2023-0009

© 2023 Jiří Ondráček et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.