Floran på Peperholm – en fältstudie i växtsuccession.

Summary, in English

The c. 4 km long artificial island Peberholm was constructed in 1995–1999 as a land-bridge between the tunnel and the bridge that was then built for the highway and railway across the strait of Öresund between Copenhagen (Denmark) and Malmö (Sweden). The island was mainly constructed from calcareous clay mixed with sand dug up from the bottom of the strait, but some stone and sand filling was transported from the surrounding mainlands. Since then, only road/railway workers and scientists have been allowed to visit the island outside of the highway and railroad. The flora of the island has been monitored during the last 13 years and no less than 511 vascular plant taxa have been recorded. The number of taxa present on the island increased rapidly during the five first years, but then stabilized around 300. The first species that became dominating on the island were Polygonum aviculare, Diplotaxis muralis, Medicago lupulina, Chaenorhinum minus and Echium vulgare. In subsequent years, most of these early colonizers declined and after 6–7 years they were replaced by a more closed vegetation dominated by Senecio vernalis, Anthyllis vulneraria ssp. carpatica, Tussilago farfara, Melilotus albus, M. officinalis, Poa compressa, Daucus carota ssp. carota and Calamagrostis epigejos. The established flora comprises both species that are common on the surrounding mainlands and several regionally very rare taxa. Among the latter, Sisymbrium supinum and Erucastrum gallicum arrived allreday in the first year. Later, Hirschfeldia incana, Myricaria germanica, Astragalus danicus and Galium sterneri, all absent from the surrounding mainlands, have arrived and become established. Propagules of some taxa were probably present from the beginning in the fillings used to build the island, but most species have obviously arrived later. Many taxa have arrived by train or car, but some are apparently wind-dispersed (e.g. numerous species of Asteraceae and Onagraceae), or have been disperesed by birds (e.g. some water and shore plants). Salix-shrubs were the first woody species observed on the island. Later, Betula pendula, B. pubescens, Hippophaë rhamnoides, Buddleja davidii and several Populus species arrived, all apparently wind dispersed. However, most other woody taxa that are common on surrounding mainlands are still absent or rare and grow only very slowly on the island. It now appears as if the vegetation will develop towards a dominance of grasses (e.g. Calamagrostis epigeios) and shrubs.

• Author: Bengt Örneberg; Sven Snogerup; Britt Snogerup; Lennart Segerbäck; Leif Runeson; Alf Porenius
• Department/s: Botanical collections
• Publishing year: 2012
• Language: Swedish
• Pages: 1-32
• Publication/Series: Nordic Journal of Botany
• Volume: 145
• Issue: 1
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Topic: Botany
• Status: Published
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 0107-055X