Habitat-related variation in seedling recruitment of Gentiana pannonica

Differences in seedling recruitment of Gentiana pannonica were investigated between the primary (relict) and the secondary (semi-natural) forest-free habitats of the Bohemian Forest (870–1200 m a.s.l.) and of the Alps (1045–1935 m a.s.l.) to understand the factors promoting the seedling recruitment of G. pannonica and their importance for species distribution, population structure, and conservation. In the communities with adult plants of G. pannonica, we recorded environmental variables (the slope, the altitude, and the covers of bare ground, litter, and rocks), estimated parameters of the vegetation (the covers of herbs, bryophytes, and dwarf shrubs), and counted the seedlings of G. pannonica. In a field experiment, we investigated seedling survival under different soil moisture regimes. We also observed seasonal dynamics of seedling recruitment in permanent plots over the course of three years. In the primary habitats of both regions, G. pannonica grew in a relatively wide range of communities, and its seedlings occurred in each area. In the secondary habitats of the Bohemian Forest, a very low frequency of the seedlings was recorded. The number of seedlings increased with the covers of the moss layer and of bare soil and decreased with the cover of the herb layer, especially of graminoids. The seedling mortality was significantly lower in the plots with higher soil moistures, and the emergence of new-born seedlings was concentrated in the spring season, when the soil received a high water supply due to melting of snow. For the successful generative reproduction of G. pannonica, our findings highlight the critical importance of the microsites with low levels of competition and of sufficient soil moisture G. pannonica. It seems that because of the long-term lack of grazing disturbances, the structures of the secondary habitats of G. pannonica in the Bohemian Forest have become unfavourable for seedling establishment and generative reproduction of this threatened species.

► Seedling recruitment of Gentiana pannonica differs between primary and secondary habitats.
► Secondary habitats are not suitable for seedling recruitment of G. pannonica.
► Both abiotic and biotic factors play a key role for seedling recruitment.
► The lower frequency of seedlings is probably related of the changes in land use.