Disturbance, microclimate and historical habitat connectivity determine the population performance of the threatened grassland specialist Carex caryophyllea in remnant grasslands

Many grassland specialist plant populations in Europe have been restricted to remnant habitats. The performance of these populations depends on both species-specific traits and local and landscape level aspects of habitat quality. Understanding which specific local or landscape level conditions determine the performance of grassland species populations in remnant habitats would help design the restoration of the habitats and to detect the conditions that favour the long-term persistence of grassland species in them. Such information is especially needed in urbanised landsapes, where remnant habitats engulfed by urban land use types types may experience increased erosion, higher temperatures and invasion by alien species. This study investigates the population performance determinants of Carex caryophyllea (VU), a grassland specialist, in 43 remnant grasslands in an urban-rural gradient in Finland. The population performance was assessed with metrics of persistence, establishment and rep...