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Supplementary Material 1

Die Region Feldbach in der Südoststeiermark gilt seit der Etablierung des WegenerNet 2007 als Vorzeige-Modellregion für die Klimaforschung. Das Netzwerk aus über 150 Messstationen liefert räumlich sowie zeitlich hochauflösende Wetter- und Klimadaten. Die Region ist aufgrund ihrer geografischen Lage besonders klimasensitiv, da der Temperaturanstieg im Vergleich zur restlichen Steiermark sehr markant ausfällt. Dies gab uns zum Anlass, die kurzlebige Ruderalvegetation in dem Gebiet bezüglich ihrer Eignung als Klimaindikator zu testen. Im Sommer 2017 wurden 291 Vegetationsaufnahmen ruderaler Standorte angefertigt und mit Aufnahmen aus dem Jahr 2011 verglichen. Es stellt sich die Frage, wie schnell kurzlebige Arten auf eine Klimaveränderung reagieren können und inwiefern sich die Artenzusammensetzung ruderaler Pflanzengesellschaften ändert. Nebenbei wurde auch auf den Nutzungsdruck eingegangen, der auf solche Vegetationseinheiten herrscht. Since the establishment of the WegenerNet in the year 2007 the region Feldbach in Southeast-Styria became a unique hotspot for climate research. The network consists of over 150 meteorological stations. Climate and weather data are gained spatial and temporal in very high resolution. The region is regarded as climate-sensitive because of the geographical position. The temperature shift is strikingly higher than in most other parts of Styria. For this reason we investigated if short-lived ruderal vegetation is suitable for indicating climatic changes. Thus in summer 2017 we recorded 291 relevés of ruderal habitats and compared them with samples from the year 2011. The key question is how changes in weather and climate affect species composition of those vegetation units and how quick short-living species are able to react. Besides we also investigated the influence of land use on ruderal vegetation. Arbeit an der Bibliothek noch nicht eingelangt - Daten nicht geprüft Abweichender Titel laut Übersetzung des Verfassers/der Verfasserin Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Masterarbeit, 2020 (VLID)4891306

This presentation aims to describe and compare moss diversity and vegetation of two large areas with tufa forming vegetation dominated by bryophytes – the Plitvice Lakes (Alpine Biogeographical Region) and the Krka River (Mediterranean Biogeographical Region). The Plitvice lakes are a system of 16 larger and several smaller lakes, separated by tufa barriers, which stretches along 8 km, representing the largest habitat of the tufa forming moss communities (Cratoneurion commutati) in Croatia and the whole of Europe. The Krka River is a large karstic river with tufa barrages forming a complex system of interchanging fast and slow water flow, waterfalls and barrage lakes. Seven waterfall systems harbouring tufa forming bryophyte communities are situated along the 73 km of the river course before the mouth into the Adriatic Sea. Ninety phytosociological relevés were made on the Plitvice Lakes and 52 on the Krka River. They were analyzed using various multivariate techniques (TWINSPAN, DCA), Ellenberg’s ecological indicator values and fidelity indices. Phytosociological affiliation of species and biogeographic elements were also analysed. Moss communities could be assigned partially to the Cratoneurion commutati and partially to the alliance Adiantion Br.Bl. ex Horvatić 1934, but sharing a large proportion of species. Comparison of floristic composition of communities from two the biogeographic regions reveals high resemblance in main species as well as the low proportion of species assigned as characteristic for the class Montio-Cardaminetea Br.-Bl. et Tx. ex Klika et Hadač 1944, where Cratoneurion commutati is placed. Light, moisture (including water velocity) and temperature are the most important environmental factors influencing vegetation difference among these areas. In both areas, considering the eastern limit category, dominant circumpolar species are followed by European ones. Considering major biomes in both areas boreo- temperate and southern-temperate elements are the most prominent. Boreotemperate element has the highest proportion of species followed by southern-temperate element on the Plitvice Lakes, while these proportions are reversed on the Krka River. We can conclude (1) that differences between communities of the two areas are based rather on the quantitative proportion of species than on qualitative differences in species composition, (2) that differences inside communities of a certain area are higher than between areas and (3) that ecological gradients reflected in species composition are similar in both areas.

Patterns of plant species richness have always been a topic of interest in biogeography and ecology. Mountain ecosystems are spots of plant diversity in which species composition and traits depict a long evolutionary history of species adaptation to steep environmental gradients. The variation of species richness along elevational gradients has been documented for a variety of taxa and geographical areas, with two most frequent patterns – a monotonic decrease in species richness as a function of elevation or a humpshaped relationship, with a peak in species richness at intermediate elevations. Despite the common belief that altitudinal patterns of bryophyte diversity are poorly studied and understood, a detailed literature overview reveals that, in the last hundred years, as many as fifty scientific papers on this subject have been published globally, with only few regarding European mountains. A comprehensive study of the altitudinal distribution of bryophytes in the Dinaric Alps was conducted along two complete transects with elevational range about 1500 m, in Gorski Kotar Massif and Mt Sjeverni Velebit (Croatia, Western Balkan). The gamma diversity was described by a total of 185 bryophyte species, which makes one-fourth of known bryophyte diversity in Croatia. Patterns of alpha diversity were best described by the cubic regression function with diversity maxima approximately between 1100 and 1200 m a.s.l. The total number of taxa was the lowest in the lowest belt of holm oak and the highest in the complex of spruce communities. The highest species turnover (beta diversity) appears with evergreen boreal (Picea abies) and subalpine (Pinus mugo) krummholz vegetation types. Bryophytes exhibit wider altitudinal ranges and a greater tendency toward exclusively higher elevations compared to vascular plants. Bryophytes do not follow Rapoport’s rule of increment of the average altitudinal range of species with increasing elevation. Bryophyte assemblages along the altitudinal gradients are ecologically primarily defined by gradients of climatic indicator values and gradients of substrate characteristics (nitrogen amount and pH reaction). The indicator values for bryophytes exhibit weaker indicator potential in explaining floristic composition compared to indicator values for vascular plants, which proves that these two groups only partially describe the same ecological gradients.