ABSTRACT Introduction Three Scorpidium species: S. scorpioides, S. cossonii and S. revolvens are often associated with habitats of high conservation value. This is the first attempt to define the chemical niches for these Scorpidium species in Wales (UK) and allows us to compare these with earlier European datasets. Methods Water chemistry from sixteen locations was analysed using water obtained by direct squeezing of mosses sampled from a total of 77 spots, and their principal water supply, e.g. springs and seepages. Key Results Statistical analysis by spherical k-means clustering suggests there are two distinct groups in the dataset; one characterised by S. cossonii and another by S. revolvens, associated with differences in pH and Electric Conductivity (EC) of the habitat. The Welsh habitats have higher pH and EC than Scandinavian habitats of the species, which could potentially be a result of different pollution histories or species compositions of the areas, the latter leading to different realised niches along the mineral poor to rich gradient. Conclusions It is hoped that with this data a better understanding of the chemical niches will support site managers and environmental regulators to make evidence-based decisions to protect these species and their habitats.

中文翻译：

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使用水化学来定义来自英国威尔士的苔藓属 Scorpidium 的生态偏好

摘要 介绍 三种 Scorpidium 物种：S. scorpioides、S. cossonii 和 S. revolvens 通常与具有高保护价值的栖息地有关。这是在威尔士（英国）定义这些 Scorpidium 物种的化学生态位的第一次尝试，并允许我们将这些与早期的欧洲数据集进行比较。方法 使用通过直接挤压从总共 77 个地点取样的苔藓获得的水及其主要水源（例如泉水和渗流）分析来自 16 个地点的水化学。主要结果 球形 k 均值聚类的统计分析表明数据集中有两个不同的组；一种以 S. cossonii 为特征，另一种以 S. revolvens 为特征，与栖息地的 pH 值和电导率 (EC) 的差异有关。威尔士栖息地的 pH 值和 EC 高于该物种的斯堪的纳维亚栖息地，这可能是该地区不同污染历史或物种组成的结果，后者导致沿贫矿到富矿梯度形成不同的生态位。结论 希望通过这些数据更好地了解化学生态位将支持现场管理人员和环境监管机构做出基于证据的决策，以保护这些物种及其栖息地。