The influence of past land‐use on understory plant distributions in a near‐natural deciduous forest in Denmark

In regions with a long cultural history, past land‐use may strongly determine floristic composition in seemingly natural vegetation. Here we examine if past land‐use affects understory plant distribution in near‐natural forest in a historically and environmentally heterogeneous setting, namely the 17 ha freshwater island of Borgnr (Denmark). In 107 randomly located 100 m 2 plots we recorded species composition and various environmental variables. The plots were classified into three groups according to past land‐use: (1) Disturbed sites close to 12 th and 20 th century ruins and associated open areas; (2) formerly grazed meadow areas; and (3) forested sites without indications of strong anthropogenic influence. Past land‐use, environmental variables and species traits were used to interpret floristic gradients. Unconstrained and constrained ordinations clearly separated plots with different past land‐use, and showed that the main floristic gradients on Borgø correlated with hydrological‐edaphic conditions and past land‐use. Partial constrained ordination using the environmental parameters as covariables showed that past land‐use had a unique influence on floristic composition.