Data from: Riparian plant guilds become simpler and most likely fewer following flow regulation ...

• Main Authors: Bejarano, María D., Nilsson, Christer, Aguiar, Francisca C.
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2018
• Subjects: riparian vegetation; guilds; flow regulation; plant traits; Northern Sweden
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.53130; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.53130

1. River regulation affects riparian systems worldwide and conservation and restoration efforts are essential to retain biodiversity, and the functioning and services of riverine ecosystems. Effects of regulation on plant species richness have been widely addressed, but the filtering effect of regulation on guilds has received less attention. 2. We used a functional trait approach to identify adaptive plant strategies through regulation-tolerant traits and predict shifts of riparian vegetation communities in response to regulation. We analysed variation in functional diversity across gradients of hydrological alteration in northern Sweden in relation to modified timing and infrequent major floods, along with frequent short-term inundation. 3. Functional richness was similar in all study sites, but species richness declined with increasing intensity of regulation, and the species lost were largely functionally redundant (i.e. co-existing species that have similar contribution to an ecosystem function). Guilds ... : Initial_Dataset_veg213sitesInitial Dataset refers to the 213 sites that were initially available from the rivers in northern Sweden, with information on presence/absence of woody riparian species1_Initial_Dataset_veg213sites_CSV.csvFinal_Dataset_veg94sitesFinal Dataset refers to the 94 sites that were finally selected for the study, after grouping adjacent hydrologically similar sites. 94 selected final sites have information on presence/absence of woody riparian species2_Final_Dataset_veg94sites_CSV.csvInitial_Dataset_flow213sitesInitial Dataset refers to the 213 sites that were initially available from the rivers in northern Sweden, with information on long series of daily flows (recorded or modelled). See the README file for abbreviations of the hydrological variables3_Initial_Dataset_flow213sites_CSV.csvFinal_Dataset_flow94sitesFinal Dataset refers to the 94 sites that were finally selected for the study, after grouping adjacent hydrologically similar sites. 94 selected final sites have information on ...