Environmental,historical, and contextual determinants of vegetation cover: a landscape perspective |
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Authors: | de Blois Sylvie Domon Gérald Bouchard André |
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Affiliation: | (1) Institut de recherche en biologie végétale, Université de Montréal, 4101 est, rue Sherbrooke, Montréal (Québec), H1X 2B2, Canada;(2) Present address: Plant Science Department, McGill University, Macdonald Campus 21, 111 Lakeshore Road, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, (Québec), H9X 3V9, Canada;(3) Faculté d'aménagement, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal (Québec), H3C 3J7, Canada |
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Abstract: | We formulated and tested models of relationships among determinants of vegetation cover in two agroforested landscapes of eastern North America (Haut Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada) that differed by the spatial arrangement of their geomorphic features and intensity of agricultural activities. Our landscape model compared the woody plots of each landscape in terms of the relative influence of environmental attributes, land use history (1958 – 1997), and spatial context (i.e., proximity of similar or contrasting land cover). Our vegetation model evaluated the relative contribution of the same sets of variables to the distributions of herbs, trees, and shrubs. Relationships were assessed using partial Mantel tests and path analyses. Significant environmental and contextual differences were found between the vegetation plots of the two landscapes, but disturbance history was similar. Our vegetation model confirms the dominant effect of historical factors on vegetation patterns. Whereas land-use history overrides environmental and contextual control for trees, herbaceous and shrub species are more sensitive to environmental conditions. Context is determinant only for understory species in older, less-disturbed plots. Results are discussed in relevance to vegetation dynamics in a landscape perspective that integrates interactions between environmental and human influences. |
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Keywords: | agricultural landscape agroforested landscape human disturbance landscape model land use history Mantel test path analysis Quebec spatial context vegetation model |
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