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Krasnov BR, Khokhlova IS, Korallo-Vinarskaya NP, Laudisoit A, López Berrizbeitia MF, Matthee S, Sanchez JP, Stanko M, van der Mesht L, Vinarski MV. Congruence between co-occurrence and trait-based networks is scale-dependent: a case study with flea parasites of small mammalian hosts. Parasitology 2024:1-11. [PMID: 39376169 DOI: 10.1017/s0031182024000969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/09/2024]
Abstract
We applied a novel framework based on network theory and a concept of modularity that estimates congruence between trait-based ( = functional) co-occurrence networks, thus allowing the inference of co-occurrence patterns and the determination of the predominant mechanism of community assembly. The aim was to investigate the relationships between species co-occurrence and trait similarity in flea communities at various scales (compound communities: across regions within a biogeographic realm or across sampling sites within a geographic region; component communities: across sampling sites within a geographic region; and infracommunities: within a sampling site). We found that compound communities within biogeographic realms were assembled via environmental or host-associated filtering. In contrast, functional and spatial/host-associated co-occurrence networks, at the scale of regional compound communities, mostly indicated either stochastic processes or the lack of dominance of any deterministic process. Analyses of congruence between functional and either spatial (for component communities) or host-associated (for infracommunities) co-occurrence networks demonstrated that assembly rules in these communities varied among host species. In component communities, stochastic processes prevailed, whereas environmental filtering was indicated in 4 and limiting similarity/competition in 9 of 31 communities. Limiting similarity/competition processes dominated in infracommunities, followed by stochastic mechanisms. We conclude that assembly processes in parasite communities are scale-dependent, with different mechanisms acting at different scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Boris R Krasnov
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental and Energy Research, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
| | - Irina S Khokhlova
- French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
| | - Natalya P Korallo-Vinarskaya
- Laboratory for the Study of Parasitic Arthropods, Zoological Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation
| | - Anne Laudisoit
- EcoHealth Alliance, New York, NY 10018, USA
- Peveco GROUP, University of Antwerp, Belgium
| | - M Fernanda López Berrizbeitia
- Programa de Conservación de los Murciélagos de Argentina (PCMA) and Instituto de Investigaciones de Biodiversidad Argentina (PIDBA)-CCT CONICET Noa Sur (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas), Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e IML, UNT, and Fundación Miguel Lillo, San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina
| | - Sonja Matthee
- Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Stellenbosch University, Matieland, South Africa
| | - Julliana P Sanchez
- Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires-CITNOBA (UNNOBA-UNSAdA- CONICET), Pergamino, Argentina
| | - Michal Stanko
- Institute of Parasitology and Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Kosice, Slovakia
| | - Luther van der Mesht
- Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Stellenbosch University, Matieland, South Africa
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa
| | - Maxim V Vinarski
- Laboratory of Macroecology and Biogeography of Invertebrates, Saint-Petersburg State University, Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation
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Zheng C, Shi H, Wei J, Cui M, Lin Z, Gao Y, Yuan L, Wen Z. Evidence that spatial scale and environment factors explain grassland community assembly in woodland-grassland ecotones. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11644. [PMID: 38962022 PMCID: PMC11221066 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2024] [Revised: 06/07/2024] [Accepted: 06/12/2024] [Indexed: 07/05/2024] Open
Abstract
How communities of living organisms assemble has long been a central question in ecology. The impact of habitat filtering and limiting similarity on plant community structures is well known, as both processes are influenced by individual responses to environmental fluctuations. Yet, the precise identifications and quantifications of the potential abiotic and biotic factors that shape community structures at a fine scale remains a challenge. Here, we applied null model approaches to assess the importance of habitat filtering and limiting similarity at two spatial scales. We used 63 natural vegetation plots, each measuring 5 × 5 m, with three nested subplots measuring 1 × 1 m, from the 2021 field survey, to examine the alpha diversity as well as beta diversity of plots and subplots. Linear mixed-effects models were employed to determine the impact of environmental variables on assembly rules. Our results demonstrate that habitat filtering is the dominant assembly rules at both the plot and subplot levels, although limiting similarity assumes stronger at the subplot level. Plot-level limiting similarity exhibited a positive association with fine-scale partitioning, suggesting that trait divergence originated from a combination of limiting similarity and spatial partitioning. Our findings also reveal that the community assembly varies more strongly with the mean annual temperature gradient than the mean annual precipitation. This investigation provides a pertinent illustration of non-random assembly rules from spatial scale and environmental factors in plant communities in the loess hilly region. It underscores the critical influence of spatial and environmental constraints in understanding the assembly of plant communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheng Zheng
- College of Grassland AgricultureNorthwest A&F UniversityYanglingShaanxiPeople's Republic of China
| | - Haijing Shi
- Institute of Soil and Water ConservationChinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water ResourcesYanglingShaanxiPeople's Republic of China
- Institute of Soil and Water ConservationNorthwest A&F UniversityYanglingShaanxiPeople's Republic of China
| | - Jiaqi Wei
- College of Grassland AgricultureNorthwest A&F UniversityYanglingShaanxiPeople's Republic of China
| | - Mengying Cui
- College of Grassland AgricultureNorthwest A&F UniversityYanglingShaanxiPeople's Republic of China
| | - Ziqi Lin
- College of Grassland AgricultureNorthwest A&F UniversityYanglingShaanxiPeople's Republic of China
| | - Yuan Gao
- Institute of Soil and Water ConservationChinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water ResourcesYanglingShaanxiPeople's Republic of China
| | - Liuhuan Yuan
- College of Grassland AgricultureNorthwest A&F UniversityYanglingShaanxiPeople's Republic of China
| | - Zhongming Wen
- College of Grassland AgricultureNorthwest A&F UniversityYanglingShaanxiPeople's Republic of China
- Institute of Soil and Water ConservationChinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water ResourcesYanglingShaanxiPeople's Republic of China
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Chen Y, Wang X, Li M, Liu L, Xiang C, Li H, Sun Y, Wang T, Guo X. Impact of trace elements on invasive plants: Attenuated competitiveness yet sustained dominance over native counterparts. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 927:172292. [PMID: 38588741 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2024] [Revised: 04/02/2024] [Accepted: 04/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/10/2024]
Abstract
Trace element pollution has emerged as an increasingly severe environmental challenge owing to human activities, particularly in urban ecosystems. In farmlands, invasive species commonly outcompete native species when subjected to trace element treatments, as demonstrated in experiments with individual invader-native pairs. However, it is uncertain if these findings apply to a wider range of species in urban soils with trace elements. Thus, we designed a greenhouse experiment to simulate the current copper and zinc levels in urban soils (102.29 mg kg-1 and 148.32 mg kg-1, respectively). The experiment involved four pairs of invasive alien species and their natural co-existing native species to investigate the effects of essential trace elements in urban soil on the growth and functional traits of invasive and native species, as well as their interspecific relationship. The results showed that adding trace elements weakened the competitiveness of invasive species. Nonetheless, trace element additions did not change the outcome of competition, consistently favoring invasion successfully. Under trace element addition treatments, invasive species and native species still maintained functional differentiation trend. Furthermore, the crown area, average leaf area and leaf area per plant of invasive species were higher than those of native species by 157 %, 177 % and 178 % under copper treatment, and 194 %, 169 % and 188 % under zinc treatment, respectively. Additionally, interspecific competition enhanced the root growth of invasive species by 21 % with copper treatment and 14 % with zinc treatment. The ability of invasive species to obtain light energy and absorb water and nutrients might be the key to their successful invasion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanni Chen
- College of Landscape Architecture and Forestry, Qingdao Agricultural University, No. 700 Changcheng Road, Qingdao 266109, P.R. China; Academy of Dongying Efficient Agricultural Technology and Industry on Saline and Alkaline Land in Collaboration with Qingdao Agricultural University, Dongying 257347, China
| | - Xiao Wang
- Qingdao Key Laboratory of Ecological Protection and Restoration, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, China
| | - Mingyan Li
- College of Landscape Architecture and Forestry, Qingdao Agricultural University, No. 700 Changcheng Road, Qingdao 266109, P.R. China
| | - Lele Liu
- Qingdao Key Laboratory of Ecological Protection and Restoration, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, China
| | - Chixuan Xiang
- College of Landscape Architecture and Forestry, Qingdao Agricultural University, No. 700 Changcheng Road, Qingdao 266109, P.R. China; Academy of Dongying Efficient Agricultural Technology and Industry on Saline and Alkaline Land in Collaboration with Qingdao Agricultural University, Dongying 257347, China
| | - Haimei Li
- College of Landscape Architecture and Forestry, Qingdao Agricultural University, No. 700 Changcheng Road, Qingdao 266109, P.R. China
| | - Yingkun Sun
- College of Landscape Architecture and Forestry, Qingdao Agricultural University, No. 700 Changcheng Road, Qingdao 266109, P.R. China
| | - Tong Wang
- College of Landscape Architecture and Forestry, Qingdao Agricultural University, No. 700 Changcheng Road, Qingdao 266109, P.R. China
| | - Xiao Guo
- College of Landscape Architecture and Forestry, Qingdao Agricultural University, No. 700 Changcheng Road, Qingdao 266109, P.R. China; Academy of Dongying Efficient Agricultural Technology and Industry on Saline and Alkaline Land in Collaboration with Qingdao Agricultural University, Dongying 257347, China.
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Davison J, Gerz M, Hiiesalu I, Moora M, Semchenko M, Zobel M. Niche types and community assembly. Ecol Lett 2024; 27:e14327. [PMID: 37819920 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14327] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2023] [Revised: 09/21/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023]
Abstract
Studies of niche differentiation and biodiversity often focus on a few niche dimensions due to the methodological challenge of describing hyperdimensional niche space. However, this may limit our understanding of community assembly processes. We used the full spectrum of realized niche types to study arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities: distinguishing abiotic and biotic, and condition and resource, axes. Estimates of differentiation in relation to different niche types were only moderately correlated. However, coexisting taxon niches were consistently less differentiated than expected, based on a regional null model, indicating the importance of habitat filtering at that scale. Nonetheless, resource niches were relatively more differentiated than condition niches, which is consistent with the effect of a resource niche-based coexistence mechanism. Considering niche types, and in particular distinguishing resource and condition niches, provides a more complete understanding of community assembly, compared with studying individual niche axes or the full niche.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Davison
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Maret Gerz
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Inga Hiiesalu
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Mari Moora
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Marina Semchenko
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Martin Zobel
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
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de Tomás Marín S, Galán Díaz J, Rodríguez-Calcerrada J, Prieto I, de la Riva EG. Linking functional composition moments of the sub-Mediterranean ecotone with environmental drivers. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1303022. [PMID: 38143583 PMCID: PMC10748396 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1303022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2023] [Accepted: 11/17/2023] [Indexed: 12/26/2023]
Abstract
Introduction Functional trait-based approaches are extensively applied to the study of mechanisms governing community assembly along environmental gradients. These approaches have been classically based on studying differences in mean values among species, but there is increasing recognition that alternative metrics of trait distributions should be considered to decipher the mechanisms determining community assembly and species coexistence. Under this framework, the main aim of this study is to unravel the effects of environmental conditions as drivers of plant community assembly in sub-Mediterranean ecotones. Methods We set 60 plots in six plant communities of a sub-Mediterranean forest in Central Spain, and measured key above- and belowground functional traits in 411 individuals belonging to 19 species, along with abiotic variables. We calculated community-weighted mean (CWM), skewness (CWS) and kurtosis (CWK) of three plant dimensions, and used maximum likelihood techniques to analyze how variation in these functional community traits was driven by abiotic factors. Additionally, we estimated the relative contribution of intraspecific trait variability and species turnover to variation in CWM. Results and discussion The first three axes of variation of the principal component analyses were related to three main plant ecological dimensions: Leaf Economics Spectrum, Root Economics Spectrum and plant hydraulic architecture, respectively. Type of community was the most important factor determining differences in the functional structure among communities, as compared to the role of abiotic variables. We found strong differences among communities in their CWMs in line with their biogeographic origin (Eurosiberian vs Mediterranean), while differences in CWS and CWK indicate different trends in the functional structure among communities and the coexistence of different functional strategies, respectively. Moreover, changes in functional composition were primarily due to intraspecific variability. Conclusion We observed a high number of strategies in the forest with the different communities spreading along the acquisitive-conservative axis of resource-use, partly matching their Eurosiberian-Mediterranean nature, respectively. Intraspecific trait variability, rather than species turnover, stood as the most relevant factor when analyzing functional changes and assembly patterns among communities. Altogether, our data support the notion that ecotones are ecosystems where relatively minor environmental shifts may result in changes in plant and functional composition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergio de Tomás Marín
- Department of Ecology, Brandenburgische Technische Universität Cottbus-Senftenberg, Cottbus, Germany
| | - Javier Galán Díaz
- Department of Pharmacology, Pharmacognosy and Botany, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Jesús Rodríguez-Calcerrada
- Functioning of Forest Systems in a Changing Environment Research Group, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Iván Prieto
- Ecology Department, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Universidad de León, León, Spain
| | - Enrique G. de la Riva
- Department of Ecology, Brandenburgische Technische Universität Cottbus-Senftenberg, Cottbus, Germany
- Ecology Department, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Universidad de León, León, Spain
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Jiang Y, Yuan T. The effects of precipitation change on urban meadows in different design models and substrates. Sci Rep 2023; 13:20592. [PMID: 37996501 PMCID: PMC10667351 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-44974-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2023] [Accepted: 10/13/2023] [Indexed: 11/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Climate change, such as temperature and precipitation changes, is becoming increasingly obvious, and in this context, planting designs need to urgently consider future climate change in advance. A field experiment was conducted in Beijing, China, where the future precipitation is predicted to increase, and extra irrigation was used to simulate the future precipitation increase. The species richness of sown meadows, including spontaneous plants and sown plants, and the adaptive strategies of the communities were recorded under different types of design models and substrates. The results showed that precipitation increased the diversity of sown plants and resource-demanding spontaneous plants but had no significant effect on the dry matter content of the entire community of species. Moreover, the interactions among precipitation and substrate, especially the design models, were significant. Of the models, the three-layer model had the highest species richness and least invasive plants. In addition, increased precipitation significantly changed the functional strategy of the plant community away from ruderals and towards competitor-stress tolerant species. This study provides guidance for the design and management of naturalistic plant communities under climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yarong Jiang
- College of Horticulture and Forestry Science, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China
- School of Landscape Architecture, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China
- National Engineering Research Center for Floriculture, Beijing, 100083, China
- Beijing Laboratory of Urban and Rural Ecological Environment, Beijing, 100083, China
| | - Tao Yuan
- School of Landscape Architecture, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China.
- National Engineering Research Center for Floriculture, Beijing, 100083, China.
- Beijing Laboratory of Urban and Rural Ecological Environment, Beijing, 100083, China.
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Tosini L, Cartereau M, Le Bagousse-Pinguet Y, Laffont-Schwob I, Prudent P, Farnet Da Silva AM, Montès N, Labrousse Y, Vassalo L, Folzer H. Plant biodiversity offsets negative effects of metals and metalloids soil multi-contamination on ecosystem multifunctionality. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 898:165567. [PMID: 37459987 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2023] [Revised: 07/07/2023] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 07/24/2023]
Abstract
Despite increasing metals and metalloids (MM) human-driven soil contamination, how it simultaneously alters biodiversity and ecosystem functioning remains unknown. We used a wide gradient of a 170-year-old MM soil multi-contamination in Mediterranean scrublands to assess the effects of soil multi-contamination on multiple plant biodiversity facets, microbial communities and ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF). We found an overall positive effect of plant biodiversity on EMF mediated by microbial communities, and allowing offsetting the negative impacts of MM soil multi-contamination, especially on soil water holding capacity and nitrogen content. The diversity of distant plant lineages was the key facet promoting EMF by enhancing microbial communities, whereas the subordinate species richness altered EMF. By developing a holistic approach of these complex relationships between soil multi-contamination, plant biodiversity, microbial communities and ecosystem functioning, our results reveal the potential of plant biodiversity, and especially the diversity of evolutionary distant species, to offset the alteration of ecosystem functioning by MM soil multi-contamination. In this worldwide decade of ecosystems restoration, our study helps to identify relevant facets of plant biodiversity promoting contaminated ecosystem functioning, which is crucial to guide and optimize management efforts aiming to restore ecosystems and preserve human health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorène Tosini
- Aix Marseille Univ, IRD, LPED, Marseille, France; Aix Marseille Univ, Avignon Université, CNRS, IRD, IMBE, Marseille, France.
| | - Manuel Cartereau
- Aix Marseille Univ, Avignon Université, CNRS, IRD, IMBE, Marseille, France.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Hélène Folzer
- Aix Marseille Univ, Avignon Université, CNRS, IRD, IMBE, Marseille, France.
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Feckler A, Baudy-Groh P, Friedrichs L, Gonçalves S, Lüderwald S, Risse-Buhl U, Bundschuh M. Diatoms Reduce Decomposition of and Fungal Abundance on Less Recalcitrant Leaf Litter via Negative Priming. MICROBIAL ECOLOGY 2023; 86:2674-2686. [PMID: 37505287 PMCID: PMC10640500 DOI: 10.1007/s00248-023-02268-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Abstract
Heterotrophic microbial decomposers colonize submerged leaf litter in close spatial proximity to periphytic algae that exude labile organic carbon during photosynthesis. These exudates are conjectured to affect microbial decomposers' abundance, resulting in a stimulated (positive priming) or reduced (negative priming) leaf litter decomposition. Yet, the occurrence, direction, and intensity of priming associated with leaf material of differing recalcitrance remains poorly tested. To assess priming, we submerged leaf litter of differing recalcitrance (Alnus glutinosa [alder; less recalcitrant] and Fagus sylvatica [beech; more recalcitrant]) in microcosms and quantified bacterial, fungal, and diatom abundance as well as leaf litter decomposition over 30 days in absence and presence of light. Diatoms did not affect beech decomposition but reduced alder decomposition by 20% and alder-associated fungal abundance by 40% in the treatments including all microbial groups and light, thus showing negative priming. These results suggest that alder-associated heterotrophs acquired energy from diatom exudates rather than from leaf litter. Moreover, it is suggested that these heterotrophs have channeled energy to alternative (reproductive) pathways that may modify energy and nutrient availability for the remaining food web and result in carbon pools protected from decomposition in light-exposed stream sections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Feckler
- iES Landau, Institute for Environmental Sciences, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829, Landau, Germany.
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7050, 75007, Uppsala, Sweden.
- Eußerthal Ecosystem Research Station, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Birkenthalstraße 13, 76857, Eußerthal, Germany.
| | - Patrick Baudy-Groh
- iES Landau, Institute for Environmental Sciences, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829, Landau, Germany
| | - Lisa Friedrichs
- iES Landau, Institute for Environmental Sciences, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829, Landau, Germany
| | - Sara Gonçalves
- iES Landau, Institute for Environmental Sciences, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829, Landau, Germany
| | - Simon Lüderwald
- iES Landau, Institute for Environmental Sciences, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829, Landau, Germany
| | - Ute Risse-Buhl
- iES Landau, Institute for Environmental Sciences, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829, Landau, Germany
- Department of River Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Brückstraße 3a, 39114, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Mirco Bundschuh
- iES Landau, Institute for Environmental Sciences, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829, Landau, Germany
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7050, 75007, Uppsala, Sweden
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Deschamps L, Proulx R, Rheault G, Gross N, Watson C, Maire V. Species richness drives selection of individuals within wetlands based on traits related to acquisition and utilization of light. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e9959. [PMID: 37038518 PMCID: PMC10082176 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9959] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2022] [Revised: 03/10/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 04/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Selection within natural communities has mainly been studied along large abiotic gradients, while the selection of individuals within populations should occur locally in response to biotic filters. To better leverage the role of the latter, we considered the hierarchal nature of environmental selection for the multiple dimensions of the trait space across biological levels, that is, from the species to the community and the ecosystem levels. We replicated a natural species richness gradient where communities included from two to 16 species within four wetlands (bog, fen, meadow, and marsh) contrasting in plant productivity. We sampled functional traits from individuals in each community and used hierarchical distributional modeling in order to analyze the independent variation of the mean and dispersion of functional trait space at ecosystem, community, and species levels. The plant productivity gradient observed between wetlands led to species turnover and selection of traits related to leaf nutrient conservation/acquisition strategy. Within wetlands, plant species richness drove trait variation across both communities and species. Among communities, variation of species richness correlated with the selection of individuals according to their use of vertical space and leaf adaptations to light conditions. Within species, intraspecific light-related trait variation in response to species richness was associated with stable population density for some species, while others reached low population density in more diverse communities. Within ecosystems, variation in biotic conditions selects individuals along functional dimensions that are independent of those selected across ecosystems. Within-species variations of light-related traits are related to demographic responses, linking biotic selection of individuals within communities to eco-evolutionary dynamics of species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucas Deschamps
- Département des sciences de l'environnementUniversité du Québec à Trois‐RivièresTrois RivièresCanada
| | - Raphaël Proulx
- Département des sciences de l'environnementUniversité du Québec à Trois‐RivièresTrois RivièresCanada
| | - Guillaume Rheault
- Département des sciences de l'environnementUniversité du Québec à Trois‐RivièresTrois RivièresCanada
| | - Nicolas Gross
- Université Clermont Auvergne, INRAE, VetAgro SupUnité Mixte de Recherche Ecosystème PrairialClermont‐FerrandFrance
| | - Christopher Watson
- Département des sciences de l'environnementUniversité du Québec à Trois‐RivièresTrois RivièresCanada
| | - Vincent Maire
- Département des sciences de l'environnementUniversité du Québec à Trois‐RivièresTrois RivièresCanada
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Czortek P, Królak E, Borkowska L, Bielecka A. Effects of surrounding landscape on the performance of Solidago canadensis L. and plant functional diversity on heavily invaded post-agricultural wastelands. Biol Invasions 2023. [DOI: 10.1007/s10530-023-03050-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/31/2023]
Abstract
AbstractHigh invasiveness and well-documented negative impact on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning make Solidago canadensis L. a species of global concern. Despite a good understanding of the driving factors of its invasions, it remains unclear how the surrounding landscape may shape invasion success of this species in human-transformed ecosystems. In our study, we investigated the impacts of different landscape features in the proximity of early successional wastelands on S. canadensis biomass allocation patterns. Further, we examined the relationships between the surrounding landscape, S. canadensis cover, and plant functional diversity, used as a supportive approach for the explanation of mechanisms underlying successful S. canadensis invasion. We found that increasing river net length had positive impacts on S. canadensis rhizome, stem, and total above ground biomass, but negative effects on leaf biomass, indicating that vegetative spread may perform the dominant role in shaping the competitiveness of this invader in riverine landscapes. A higher proportion of arable lands positively influenced S. canadensis above ground and flower biomass; thus promoting S. canadensis invasion in agricultural landscapes with the prominent role of habitat filtering in shaping vegetation structure. Concerning an increasing proportion of settlements, flower biomass was higher and leaf biomass was lower, thereby influencing S. canadensis reproductive potential, maximizing the odds for survival, and indicating high adaptability to exist in an urban landscape. We demonstrated high context-dependency of relationships between functional diversity components and surrounding landscape, strongly influenced by S. canadensis cover, while the effects of surrounding landscape composition per se were of lower importance. Investigating the relationships between the surrounding landscape, invasive species performance, and plant functional diversity, may constitute a powerful tool for the monitoring, controlling, and predicting of invasion progress, as well as the assessment of ecosystem invasibility.
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McNichol BH, Russo SE. Plant Species' Capacity for Range Shifts at the Habitat and Geographic Scales: A Trade-Off-Based Framework. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 12:1248. [PMID: 36986935 PMCID: PMC10056461 DOI: 10.3390/plants12061248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Revised: 02/18/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Climate change is causing rapid shifts in the abiotic and biotic environmental conditions experienced by plant populations, but we lack generalizable frameworks for predicting the consequences for species. These changes may cause individuals to become poorly matched to their environments, potentially inducing shifts in the distributions of populations and altering species' habitat and geographic ranges. We present a trade-off-based framework for understanding and predicting whether plant species may undergo range shifts, based on ecological strategies defined by functional trait variation. We define a species' capacity for undergoing range shifts as the product of its colonization ability and the ability to express a phenotype well-suited to the environment across life stages (phenotype-environment matching), which are both strongly influenced by a species' ecological strategy and unavoidable trade-offs in function. While numerous strategies may be successful in an environment, severe phenotype-environment mismatches result in habitat filtering: propagules reach a site but cannot establish there. Operating within individuals and populations, these processes will affect species' habitat ranges at small scales, and aggregated across populations, will determine whether species track climatic changes and undergo geographic range shifts. This trade-off-based framework can provide a conceptual basis for species distribution models that are generalizable across plant species, aiding in the prediction of shifts in plant species' ranges in response to climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bailey H. McNichol
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, 1101 T Street, 402 Manter Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0118, USA;
| | - Sabrina E. Russo
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, 1101 T Street, 402 Manter Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0118, USA;
- Center for Plant Science Innovation, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, 1901 Vine Street, N300 Beadle Center, Lincoln, NE 68588-0118, USA
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12
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Responses of grassland productivity to mowing intensity and precipitation variability in a temperate steppe. Oecologia 2023; 201:259-268. [PMID: 36507970 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-022-05305-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2022] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Mowing for hay is an important land use in grasslands that is affected by precipitation variability, due to the water-limited nature of these ecosystems. Past land use and precipitation conditions can have legacy effects on ecosystem functions, potentially altering responses to both mowing and precipitation. Nonetheless, it is still unclear how natural variation in precipitation will affect plant responses to changes in mowing intensity. We conducted a seven-year field experiment with three mowing intensity treatments compared to the traditional mowing intensity (5 cm stubble height) as a control: increased mowing (2 cm stubble), decreased mowing (8 cm stubble) and ceased mowing. Decreased mowing increased both plant aboveground net primary productivity [ANPP] and forage yield across the whole community, driven by increases in graminoids, mainly owing to the positive response of plants to precipitation. Both mowing disturbance and precipitation variability had legacy effects on plant ANPP; however, these responses differed among the whole community, graminoid, and forb levels. Current-year community-wide ANPP [ANPPn] was positively associated with current-year precipitation [PPTn] in all mowing treatments, driven by positive precipitation responses of the dominant graminoids. For forbs, however, ANPPn was negatively associated with prior-year growing season precipitation [PPTn-1] across mowing treatments, potentially due to lagged competition with the dominant graminoids. Our results suggest that the response of the dominant graminoids is the primary factor determining the response of ANPP to mowing and precipitation variability in these grassland ecosystems, and highlight that decreasing mowing intensity may maximize both herder's income and grassland sustainability.
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Beck JJ, Li D, Johnson SE, Rogers D, Cameron KM, Sytsma KJ, Givnish TJ, Waller DM. Functional traits mediate individualistic species-environment distributions at broad spatial scales while fine-scale species associations remain unpredictable. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2022; 109:1991-2005. [PMID: 36254552 PMCID: PMC10099973 DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.16085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2022] [Revised: 09/24/2022] [Accepted: 09/27/2022] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE Numerous processes influence plant distributions and co-occurrence patterns, including ecological sorting, limiting similarity, and stochastic effects. To discriminate among these processes and determine the spatial scales at which they operate, we investigated how functional traits and phylogenetic relatedness influence the distribution of temperate forest herbs. METHODS We surveyed understory plant communities across 257 forest stands in Wisconsin and Michigan (USA) and applied Bayesian phylogenetic linear mixed-effects models (PGLMMs) to quantify how functional traits and phylogenetic relatedness influence the environmental distribution of 139 herbaceous plant species along broad edaphic, climatic, and light gradients. These models also allowed us to test how functional and phylogenetic similarity affect species co-occurrence within microsites. RESULTS Leaf height, specific leaf area, and seed mass all influenced individualistic plant distributions along landscape-scale gradients in soil texture, soil fertility, light availability, and climate. In contrast, phylogenetic relationships did not consistently predict species-environment relationships. Neither functionally similar nor phylogenetically related herbs segregated among microsites within forest stands. CONCLUSIONS Trait-mediated ecological sorting appears to drive temperate-forest community assembly, generating individualistic plant distributions along regional environmental gradients. This finding links classic studies in plant ecology and prior research in plant physiological ecology to current trait-based approaches in community ecology. However, our results fail to support the common assumption that limiting similarity governs local plant co-occurrences. Strong ecological sorting among forest stands coupled with stochastic fine-scale interactions among species appear to weaken deterministic, niche-based assembly processes at local scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jared J. Beck
- Negaunee Institute for Plant Conservation ScienceChicago Botanic Garden1000 Lake Cook RoadGlencoeIllinois60022USA
- Department of BotanyUniversity of Wisconsin‐Madison430 Lincoln DriveMadisonWisconsin53706USA
| | - Daijiang Li
- Department of Biological SciencesLouisiana State UniversityBaton RougeLouisiana70808USA
- Center for Computation & TechnologyLouisiana State UniversityBaton RougeLouisiana70808USA
| | | | - David Rogers
- Department of Biological SciencesUniversity of Wisconsin‐ParksideKenoshaWisconsin53144USA
| | - Kenneth M. Cameron
- Department of BotanyUniversity of Wisconsin‐Madison430 Lincoln DriveMadisonWisconsin53706USA
| | - Kenneth J. Sytsma
- Department of BotanyUniversity of Wisconsin‐Madison430 Lincoln DriveMadisonWisconsin53706USA
| | - Thomas J. Givnish
- Department of BotanyUniversity of Wisconsin‐Madison430 Lincoln DriveMadisonWisconsin53706USA
| | - Donald M. Waller
- Department of BotanyUniversity of Wisconsin‐Madison430 Lincoln DriveMadisonWisconsin53706USA
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14
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Olszewski P, Puchałka R, Sewerniak P, Koprowski M, Ulrich W. Does intraspecific trait variability affect understorey plant community assembly? ACTA OECOLOGICA 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.actao.2022.103863] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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15
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Mao W, Sun Z, Forrestel EJ, Griffin‐Nolan R, Chen A, Smith MD. Using local and regional trait hypervolumes to study the effects of environmental factors on community assembly. Ecosphere 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Wei Mao
- College of Ecology and Environment Hainan University Haikou China
- Department of Biology, Graduate Degree Program in Ecology Colorado State University Fort Collins Colorado USA
| | - Zhibin Sun
- Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory Colorado State University Fort Collins Colorado USA
| | | | | | - Anping Chen
- Department of Biology, Graduate Degree Program in Ecology Colorado State University Fort Collins Colorado USA
| | - Melinda D. Smith
- Department of Biology, Graduate Degree Program in Ecology Colorado State University Fort Collins Colorado USA
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16
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Sritharan MS, Scheele BC, Blanchard W, Foster CN, Werner PA, Lindenmayer DB. Plant rarity in fire-prone dry sclerophyll communities. Sci Rep 2022; 12:12055. [PMID: 35835789 PMCID: PMC9283327 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-15927-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2021] [Accepted: 07/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding the responses of rare species to altered fire disturbance regimes is an ongoing challenge for ecologists. We asked: are there associations between fire regimes and plant rarity across different vegetation communities? We combined 62 years of fire history records with vegetation surveys of 86 sites across three different dry sclerophyll vegetation communities in Booderee National Park, south-east Australia to: (1) compare associations between species richness and rare species richness with fire regimes, (2) test whether fire regimes influence the proportion of rare species present in an assemblage, and (3) examine whether rare species are associated with particular fire response traits and life history. We also sought to determine if different rarity categorisations influence the associations between fire regimes and plant rarity. We categorised plant rarity using three standard definitions; species' abundance, species' distribution, and Rabinowitz's measure of rarity, which considers a species' abundance, distribution and habitat specificity. We found that total species richness was negatively associated with short fire intervals but positively associated with time since fire and fire frequency in woodland communities. Total species richness was also positively associated with short fire intervals in forest communities. However, rare species richness was not associated with fire when categorised via abundance or distribution. Using Rabinowitz's measure of rarity, the proportion of rare species present was negatively associated with fire frequency in forest communities but positively associated with fire frequency in woodland communities. We found that rare species classified by all three measures of rarity exhibited no difference in fire response traits and serotiny compared to species not classified as rare. Rare species based on abundance differed to species not classified as rare across each life history category, while species rare by distribution differed in preferences for seed storage location. Our findings suggest that species categorised as rare by Rabinowitz's definition of rarity are the most sensitive to the effects of fire regimes. Nevertheless, the paucity of responses observed between rare species with fire regimes in a fire-prone ecosystem suggests that other biotic drivers may play a greater role in influencing the rarity of a species in this system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meena S Sritharan
- Threatened Species Recovery Hub, Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia.
| | - Ben C Scheele
- Threatened Species Recovery Hub, Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
| | - Wade Blanchard
- Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Claire N Foster
- Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Patricia A Werner
- Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - David B Lindenmayer
- Threatened Species Recovery Hub, Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
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17
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Yang J, Su P, Zhou Z, Shi R, Ding X. Environmental filtering rather than dispersal limitation dominated plant community assembly in the Zoige Plateau. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9117. [PMID: 35845377 PMCID: PMC9272205 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2021] [Revised: 06/27/2022] [Accepted: 06/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Identifying the mechanisms that underlie the assembly of plant communities is critical to the conservation of terrestrial biodiversity. However, it is seldom measured or quantified how much deterministic versus stochastic processes contribute to community assembly in alpine meadows. Here, we measured the decay in community similarity with spatial and environmental distance in the Zoige Plateau. Furthermore, we used redundancy analysis (RDA) to divide the variations in the relative abundance of plant families into four components to assess the effects of environmental and spatial. Species assemblage similarity liner declined with geographical distance (p < .001, R 2 = .6388), and it decreased significantly with increasing distance of total phosphorus (TP), alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen (AN), available potassium (AK), nitrate nitrogen (NO3 +-N), and ammonia nitrogen (NH4 +-N). Environmental and spatial variables jointly explained a large proportion (55.2%) of the variation in the relative abundance of plant families. Environmental variables accounted for 13.1% of the total variation, whereas spatial variables accounted for 11.4%, perhaps due to the pronounced abiotic gradients in the alpine areas. Our study highlights the mechanism of plant community assembly in the alpine ecosystem, where environmental filtering plays a more important role than dispersal limitation. In addition, a reasonably controlled abundance of Compositae (the family with the highest niche breadth and large niche overlap value with Gramineae and Cyperaceae) was expected to maintain sustainable development in pastoral production. These results suggest that management measures should be developed with the goal of improving or maintaining suitable local environmental conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianping Yang
- Key Laboratory of Land Surface Process and Climate Change in Cold and Arid RegionsNorthwest Institute of Eco‐Environment and Resources, CASLanzhouChina
- University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Peixi Su
- Key Laboratory of Land Surface Process and Climate Change in Cold and Arid RegionsNorthwest Institute of Eco‐Environment and Resources, CASLanzhouChina
| | - Zijuan Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Land Surface Process and Climate Change in Cold and Arid RegionsNorthwest Institute of Eco‐Environment and Resources, CASLanzhouChina
| | - Rui Shi
- Key Laboratory of Land Surface Process and Climate Change in Cold and Arid RegionsNorthwest Institute of Eco‐Environment and Resources, CASLanzhouChina
| | - Xinjing Ding
- Key Laboratory of Land Surface Process and Climate Change in Cold and Arid RegionsNorthwest Institute of Eco‐Environment and Resources, CASLanzhouChina
- University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
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18
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Hose GC, Chariton A, Daam MA, Di Lorenzo T, Galassi DMP, Halse SA, Reboleira ASPS, Robertson AL, Schmidt SI, Korbel KL. Invertebrate traits, diversity and the vulnerability of groundwater ecosystems. Funct Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.14125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- G. C. Hose
- Department of Biological Sciences Macquarie University NSW 2109 Australia
| | - A. Chariton
- Department of Biological Sciences Macquarie University NSW 2109 Australia
| | - M. A. Daam
- CENSE ‐ Center for Environmental and Sustainability Research NOVA School of Science and Technology NOVA University Lisbon, 2829‐516 Caparica Portugal
| | - T. Di Lorenzo
- Research Institute on Terrestrial Ecosystems of the National Research Council Via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino Firenze Italy
- Emil Racovita Institute of Speleology Romanian Academy, Clinicilor 5, Cluj Napoca 400006 Romania
| | - D. M. P. Galassi
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences University of L'Aquila Via Vetoio, Coppito, 67100 L'Aquila Italy
| | - S. A. Halse
- Bennelongia Environmental Consultants, Jolimont WA 6014 Australia
| | - A. S. P. S. Reboleira
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c), Departamento de Biologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa Lisbon Portugal
- Natural History Museum of Life and Health Sciences Denmark and University of Copenhagen Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen Denmark
| | - A. L. Robertson
- School of Life and Health Sciences University of Roehampton, Holybourne Avenue, London SW15 4JD UK
| | - S. I. Schmidt
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences Institute of Hydrobiology Na Sádkách 7, 37005 České Budějovice Czech Republic
- Present address: Department of Lake Research, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research Magdeburg Germany
| | - K. L. Korbel
- Department of Biological Sciences Macquarie University NSW 2109 Australia
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19
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Zhang Q, Hao G, Li M, Li L, Kang B, Yang N, Li H. Transformation of Plant to Resource Acquisition Under High Nitrogen Addition Will Reduce Green Roof Ecosystem Functioning. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022; 13:894782. [PMID: 35665150 PMCID: PMC9157423 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.894782] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2022] [Accepted: 04/19/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Ecosystem engineering, such as green roof, provides numerous key ecosystem functions dependent on both plants and environmental changes. In the recent years, global nitrogen (N) deposition has become a hot topic with the intensification of anthropogenic disturbance. However, the response of green roof ecosystems to N deposition is still not clear. To explore the effects of N addition on plant ecological strategy and ecosystem functioning (biomass), we conducted a 3-month N addition simulation experiment using 12 common green roof species from different growth forms on an extensive green roof in Tianjin, China. The experiment included three different N addition treatments (0, 3.5, and 10.5 gN m-2 year-1). We found that plants with the resource-acquisitive strategy were more suitable to survive in a high N environment, since both aboveground and belowground traits exhibited synergistic effects. Moreover, N addition indirectly decreased plant biomass, indicating that ecosystem functioning was impaired. We highlight that there is a trade-off between the survival of green roof species and keeping the ecosystem functioning well in the future N deposition. Meanwhile, these findings also provide insights into how green roof species respond to global climate change and offer important information for better managing and protecting similar ecosystem engineering in the background of high N deposition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qinze Zhang
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Guang Hao
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Meiyang Li
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Longqin Li
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Binyue Kang
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Nan Yang
- School of Life Sciences, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, China
| | - Hongyuan Li
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
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20
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Padullés Cubino J, Axmanová I, Lososová Z, Večeřa M, Bergamini A, Bruelheide H, Dengler J, Jandt U, Jansen F, Pätsch R, Chytrý M. The effect of niche filtering on plant species abundance in temperate grassland communities. Funct Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Josep Padullés Cubino
- Department of Botany and Zoology Faculty of Science Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic
| | - Irena Axmanová
- Department of Botany and Zoology Faculty of Science Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic
| | - Zdeňka Lososová
- Department of Botany and Zoology Faculty of Science Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic
| | - Martin Večeřa
- Department of Botany and Zoology Faculty of Science Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic
| | - Ariel Bergamini
- WSL Swiss Federal Research Institute Birmensdorf Switzerland
| | - Helge Bruelheide
- Geobotany and Botanical Garden Martin Luther University Halle‐Wittenberg Halle (Saale) Germany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle‐Jena‐Leipzig Leipzig Germany
| | - Jürgen Dengler
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle‐Jena‐Leipzig Leipzig Germany
- Vegetation Ecology Institute of Natural Resource Sciences (IUNR) Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) Wädenswil Switzerland
- Plant Ecology Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER) University of Bayreuth Bayreuth Germany
| | - Ute Jandt
- Geobotany and Botanical Garden Martin Luther University Halle‐Wittenberg Halle (Saale) Germany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle‐Jena‐Leipzig Leipzig Germany
| | - Florian Jansen
- Landscape Ecology Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences University of Rostock Rostock Germany
| | - Ricarda Pätsch
- Department of Botany and Zoology Faculty of Science Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic
| | - Milan Chytrý
- Department of Botany and Zoology Faculty of Science Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic
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21
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Sritharan MS, Scheele BC, Blanchard W, Lindenmayer DB. Spatial associations between plants and vegetation community characteristics provide insights into the processes influencing plant rarity. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0260215. [PMID: 34928957 PMCID: PMC8687526 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0260215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2021] [Accepted: 11/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Determining the drivers of plant rarity is a major challenge in ecology. Analysing spatial associations between different plant species can provide an exploratory avenue for understanding the ecological drivers of plant rarity. Here, we examined the different types of spatial associations between rare and common plants to determine if they influence the occurrence patterns of rare species. We completed vegetation surveys at 86 sites in woodland, forest, and heath communities in south-east Australia. We also examined two different rarity measures to quantify how categorisation criteria affected our results. Rare species were more likely to have positive associations with both rare and common species across all three vegetation communities. However, common species had positive or negative associations with rare and other common species, depending on the vegetation community in which they occurred. Rare species were positively associated with species diversity in forest communities. In woodland communities, rare species were associated negatively with species diversity but positively associated with species evenness. Rare species with high habitat specificity were more clustered spatially than expected by chance. Efforts to understand the drivers of plant rarity should use rarity definitions that consider habitat specificity. Our findings suggest that examining spatial associations between plants can help understand the drivers of plant rarity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meena S. Sritharan
- Threatened Species Recovery Hub, Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Ben C. Scheele
- Threatened Species Recovery Hub, Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Wade Blanchard
- Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - David B. Lindenmayer
- Threatened Species Recovery Hub, Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
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22
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Arnillas CA, Borer ET, Seabloom EW, Alberti J, Baez S, Bakker JD, Boughton EH, Buckley YM, Bugalho MN, Donohue I, Dwyer J, Firn J, Gridzak R, Hagenah N, Hautier Y, Helm A, Jentsch A, Knops JMH, Komatsu KJ, Laanisto L, Laungani R, McCulley R, Moore JL, Morgan JW, Peri PL, Power SA, Price J, Sankaran M, Schamp B, Speziale K, Standish R, Virtanen R, Cadotte MW. Opposing community assembly patterns for dominant and nondominant plant species in herbaceous ecosystems globally. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:17744-17761. [PMID: 35003636 PMCID: PMC8717298 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2021] [Revised: 08/14/2021] [Accepted: 09/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Biotic and abiotic factors interact with dominant plants-the locally most frequent or with the largest coverage-and nondominant plants differently, partially because dominant plants modify the environment where nondominant plants grow. For instance, if dominant plants compete strongly, they will deplete most resources, forcing nondominant plants into a narrower niche space. Conversely, if dominant plants are constrained by the environment, they might not exhaust available resources but instead may ameliorate environmental stressors that usually limit nondominants. Hence, the nature of interactions among nondominant species could be modified by dominant species. Furthermore, these differences could translate into a disparity in the phylogenetic relatedness among dominants compared to the relatedness among nondominants. By estimating phylogenetic dispersion in 78 grasslands across five continents, we found that dominant species were clustered (e.g., co-dominant grasses), suggesting dominant species are likely organized by environmental filtering, and that nondominant species were either randomly assembled or overdispersed. Traits showed similar trends for those sites (<50%) with sufficient trait data. Furthermore, several lineages scattered in the phylogeny had more nondominant species than expected at random, suggesting that traits common in nondominants are phylogenetically conserved and have evolved multiple times. We also explored environmental drivers of the dominant/nondominant disparity. We found different assembly patterns for dominants and nondominants, consistent with asymmetries in assembly mechanisms. Among the different postulated mechanisms, our results suggest two complementary hypotheses seldom explored: (1) Nondominant species include lineages adapted to thrive in the environment generated by dominant species. (2) Even when dominant species reduce resources to nondominant ones, dominant species could have a stronger positive effect on some nondominants by ameliorating environmental stressors affecting them, than by depleting resources and increasing the environmental stress to those nondominants. These results show that the dominant/nondominant asymmetry has ecological and evolutionary consequences fundamental to understand plant communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Alberto Arnillas
- Department of Physical and Environmental SciencesUniversity of Toronto ScarboroughTorontoONCanada
| | | | | | - Juan Alberti
- Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC, UNMdP, CONICET)Mar del PlataArgentina
| | - Selene Baez
- Department of BiologyEscuela Politécnica NacionalQuitoEcuador
| | - Jonathan D. Bakker
- School of Environmental and Forest SciencesUniversity of WashingtonSeattleWashingtonUSA
| | | | - Yvonne M. Buckley
- School of Natural Sciences, ZoologyTrinity College DublinDublinIreland
| | - Miguel Nuno Bugalho
- Centre for Applied Ecology Prof. Baeta Neves (CEABN‐InBIO)School of AgricultureUniversity of LisbonLisbonPortugal
| | - Ian Donohue
- School of Natural Sciences, ZoologyTrinity College DublinDublinIreland
| | - John Dwyer
- University of Queensland, School of Biological SciencesST‐LuciaQldAustralia
| | - Jennifer Firn
- Queensland University of Technology (QUT) BrisbaneQldAustralia
| | | | - Nicole Hagenah
- Department of Zoology and EntomologyMammal Research InstituteUniversity of PretoriaPretoriaSouth Africa
| | - Yann Hautier
- Ecology and Biodiversity GroupDepartment of BiologyUtrecht UniversityUtrechtThe Netherlands
| | - Aveliina Helm
- Institute of Ecology and Earth SciencesUniversity of TartuTartuEstonia
| | - Anke Jentsch
- Department of Disturbance EcologyBayCEERUniversity of BayreuthBayreuthGermany
| | - Johannes M. H. Knops
- Department of Health and Environmental SciencesXi'an Jiaotong Liverpool UniversitySuzhouChina
- School of Biological SciencesUniversity of NebraskaLincolnNebraskaUSA
| | | | - Lauri Laanisto
- Department of Agricutural and Environmental SciencesEstonian University of Life SciencesTartuEstonia
| | | | - Rebecca McCulley
- Department of Plant and Soil SciencesUniversity of KentuckyLexingtonKentuckyUSA
| | - Joslin L. Moore
- School of Biological SciencesMonash UniversityClaytonVicAustralia
| | | | | | - Sally A. Power
- Hawkesbury Institute for the EnvironmentWestern Sydney UniversityPenrithAustralia
| | - Jodi Price
- Institute for Land, Water and SocietyCharles Sturt UniversityAlburyNSWAustralia
| | - Mahesh Sankaran
- National Centre for Biological SciencesTIFRBengaluruIndia
- School of BiologyUniversity of LeedsLeedsUK
| | | | - Karina Speziale
- Grupo de Investigaciones en Biología de la Conservación, Laboratorio EcotonoINIBIOMA (CONICET‐UNCOMA)San Carlos de BarilocheRío NegroArgentina
| | - Rachel Standish
- Environmental and Conservation Sciences, College of Science, Health, Engineering and EducationMurdoch UniversityMurdochWestern AustraliaAustralia
| | | | - Marc W. Cadotte
- Department of Biological SciencesUniversity of Toronto ScarboroughTorontoONCanada
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of TorontoTorontoONCanada
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Belluau M, Paquette A, Gravel D, Reich PB, Stefanski A, Messier C. Exotics are more complementary over time in tree biodiversity–ecosystem functioning experiments. Funct Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Michael Belluau
- Centre d’étude de la forêt Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) Montréal QC Canada
| | - Alain Paquette
- Centre d’étude de la forêt Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) Montréal QC Canada
| | - Dominique Gravel
- Département de biologie Université de Sherbrooke Sherbrooke QC Canada
| | - Peter B. Reich
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment Western Sydney University Penrith NSW Australia
| | - Artur Stefanski
- Department of Forest Resources University of Minnesota St. Paul MN USA
| | - Christian Messier
- Centre d’étude de la forêt Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) Montréal QC Canada
- Département des sciences naturelles and Institut des sciences de la forêt tempérée (ISFORT) Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO) Ripon QC Canada
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24
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Fabritius H, Knegt HD, Ovaskainen O. Effects of a mobile disturbance pattern on dynamic patch networks and metapopulation persistence. Ecol Modell 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2021.109738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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25
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Titcomb GC, Amooni G, Mantas JN, Young HS. The effects of herbivore aggregations at water sources on savanna plants differ across soil and climate gradients. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2021; 31:e02422. [PMID: 34288228 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2020] [Revised: 01/29/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Water sources in arid and semiarid ecosystems support humans, wildlife, and domestic animals, forming nodes of activity that sculpt surrounding plant communities and impact critical grazing and soil systems. However, global aridification and changing surface water supply threaten to disrupt these water resources, with strong implications for conservation and management of these ecosystems. To understand how effects of herbivore aggregation at water impact plant communities across contexts, we measured herbivore activity, plant height, cover (trees, grasses, forbs, and bare ground), diversity, and composition at 17 paired water sources and matrix sites across a range of abiotic factors in a semiarid savanna in Kenya. The effects of proximity to surface water and herbivore aggregation on plant communities varied substantially depending on soil and rainfall. In arid areas with nutrient-poor sandy soils, forb and tree cover were 50% lower at water sources compared to neighboring matrix sites, bare ground was 20% higher, species richness was 15% lower, and a single globally important grazing grass (Cynodon dactylon) dominated 60% of transects. However, in mesic areas with nutrient-rich finely textured soils, species richness was 25% higher, despite a 40% increase in bare ground, concurrent with the decline of a dominant tall grass (Themeda triandra) and increase in C. dactylon and other grass species near water sources. Recent rainfall was important for grasses; cover was higher relative to matrix sites only during wet periods, a potential indication of compensatory grazing. These findings suggest that effects of herbivore aggregation on vegetation diversity and composition will vary in magnitude, and in some cases direction, depending on other factors at the site. Where moisture and nutrient resources are high and promote the dominance of few plant species, herbivore aggregations may maintain diversity by promoting grazing lawns and increasing nondominant species cover. However, in arid conditions and sites with low nutrient availability, diversity can be substantially reduced by these aggregations. Our results highlight the importance of considering abiotic conditions when managing for effects of herbivore aggregations near water. This will be particularly important for future managers in light of growing global aridification and surface water changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georgia C Titcomb
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, 93106, USA
- Mpala Research Centre, Box 555, Nanyuki, 10400, Kenya
| | | | | | - Hillary S Young
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, 93106, USA
- Mpala Research Centre, Box 555, Nanyuki, 10400, Kenya
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26
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Liu X, Shi X, Zhang S. Soil abiotic properties and plant functional diversity co-regulate the impacts of nitrogen addition on ecosystem multifunctionality in an alpine meadow. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 780:146476. [PMID: 33773353 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2020] [Revised: 03/10/2021] [Accepted: 03/10/2021] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Soil abiotic properties and plant diversity have been shown to affect ecosystem functions in alpine meadow ecosystems. However, we know little about the relative importance of these factors in driving the responses of multiple ecosystem functions simultaneously (multifunctionality) to nitrogen (N) enrichment. Here, we measured soil abiotic properties (soil pH; available nitrogen, AN; available phosphorous, AP; and dissolved organic carbon, DOC) and multiple plant diversity metrics (species diversity, SD; functional diversity, FD; and phylogenetic diversity, PD) after a 5-year N fertilization experiment (0, 5, 10, and 15 g N m-2 yr-1) to evaluate their roles in mediating the impacts of N addition on aboveground plant functions (APF), soil microbial functions (SMF), and ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) in a N-limited Tibetan alpine meadow. We found that N addition decreased APF but increased SMF and EMF. Structural equation models (SEMs) showed that APF was co-driven by soil DOC and the community weighted mean for plant traits (CWMs), and SMF was driven by soil DOC, soil AN, CWMs and functional dispersion (FDis). The effects of N addition on EMF were driven by soil AN and FDis. Our results suggest that the effects of N enrichment on APF, SMF, and EMF are driven by differential mechanisms. Furthermore, the findings suggest that FD is superior to SD and PD in mediating the responses of ecosystem functions to N enrichment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaochen Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland and Agro-Ecosystems, College of Life Science, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Xiaoming Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland and Agro-Ecosystems, College of Life Science, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Shiting Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland and Agro-Ecosystems, College of Life Science, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
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27
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Gross N, Le Bagousse-Pinguet Y, Liancourt P, Saiz H, Violle C, Munoz F. Unveiling ecological assembly rules from commonalities in trait distributions. Ecol Lett 2021; 24:1668-1680. [PMID: 34128304 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2020] [Revised: 12/02/2020] [Accepted: 05/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Deciphering the effect of neutral and deterministic processes on community assembly is critical to understand and predict diversity patterns. The information held in community trait distributions is commonly assumed as a signature of these processes, but empirical and modelling attempts have most often failed to untangle their confounding, sometimes opposing, impacts. Here, we simulated the assembly of trait distributions through stochastic (dispersal limitation) and/or deterministic scenarios (environmental filtering and niche differentiation). We characterized the shape of trait distributions using the skewness-kurtosis relationship. We identified commonalities in the co-variation between the skewness and the kurtosis of trait distributions with a unique signature for each simulated assembly scenario. Our findings were robust to variation in the composition of regional species pools, dispersal limitation and environmental conditions. While ecological communities can exhibit a high degree of idiosyncrasy, identification of commonalities across multiple communities can help to unveil ecological assembly rules in real-world ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Gross
- Université Clermont Auvergne, INRAE, VetAgro Sup, UMR Ecosystème Prairial, Clermont-Ferrand, France
| | | | - Pierre Liancourt
- Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Science, Průhonice, Czech Republic.,Plant Ecology Group, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Hugo Saiz
- Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Cyrille Violle
- CEFE, Univ Montpellier - CNRS - EPHE - IRD - Univ Paul Valéry Montpellier, Montpellier Cedex 5, France
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28
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Falster DS, Kunstler G, FitzJohn RG, Westoby M. Emergent Shapes of Trait-Based Competition Functions from Resource-Based Models: A Gaussian Is Not Normal in Plant Communities. Am Nat 2021; 198:253-267. [PMID: 34260875 DOI: 10.1086/714868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
AbstractIn community ecology, it is widely assumed that organisms with similar traits compete more intensely with one another for resources. This assumption is often encoded into theory and empirical tests via a unimodal competition function, which predicts that per capita competitive effect declines with separation in traits. Yet it remains unknown how well this function represents the true effect of traits on competitive outcomes, especially for long-lived plant communities, where lifetime fitness is difficult to estimate. Here, we evaluate the shape of competition functions embedded in two resource-based (RB) models, wherein plants compete for shared, essential resources. In the first RB model individuals compete for two essential nutrients, and in the second they compete for light in a size-based successional setting. We compared the shapes of the competition functions that emerged from interactions within these RB models to the unimodal function and others shapes commonly applied. In few instances did the trait-based competition function emerging from the RB model even vaguely resemble any of the shapes previously used. The mismatch between these two approaches suggests that theory derived using fixed competition functions based on trait separation may not apply well to plant systems, where individuals compete for shared resources. The more promising path will be to model depletion of resources by populations in relation to their traits, with its consequences for fitness landscapes and competitive exclusion.
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29
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Pinus massoniana population dynamics: Driving species diversity during the pioneer stage of ecological restoration. Glob Ecol Conserv 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022] Open
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30
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Leidinger L, Vedder D, Cabral JS. Temporal environmental variation may impose differential selection on both genomic and ecological traits. OIKOS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.08172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ludwig Leidinger
- Center for Computational and Theoretical Biology, Faculty of Biology, Univ. of Würzburg Würzburg Germany
| | - Daniel Vedder
- Center for Computational and Theoretical Biology, Faculty of Biology, Univ. of Würzburg Würzburg Germany
| | - Juliano Sarmento Cabral
- Center for Computational and Theoretical Biology, Faculty of Biology, Univ. of Würzburg Würzburg Germany
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31
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Feng G, Huang J, Xu Y, Li J, Zang R. Disentangling Environmental Effects on the Tree Species Abundance Distribution and Richness in a Subtropical Forest. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2021; 12:622043. [PMID: 33828571 PMCID: PMC8020568 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.622043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2020] [Accepted: 02/16/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
As a transitional vegetation type between evergreen broadleaved forest and deciduous broadleaved forest, evergreen-deciduous broadleaved mixed forest is composed of diverse plant species. This distinctive forest is generally distributed in mountainous areas with complex landforms and heterogeneous microenvironments. However, little is known about the roles of environmental conditions in driving the species diversity patterns of this forest. Here, based on a 15-ha plot in central China, we aimed to understand how and to what extent topographical characteristics and soil nutrients regulate the number and relative abundance of tree species in this forest. We measured environmental factors (terrain convexity, slope, soil total nitrogen, and phosphorus concentrations) and species diversity (species abundance distribution and species richness) in 20 m × 20 m subplots. Species abundance distribution was characterized by skewness, Berger-Parker index, and the proportion of singletons. The generalized additive model was used to examine the variations in diversity patterns caused by environmental factors. The structural equation model was used to assess whether and how topographical characteristics regulate species diversity via soil nutrients. We found that soil nutrients had significant negative effects on species richness and positive effects on all metrics of species abundance distribution. Convexity had significant positive effects on species richness and negative effects on all metrics of species abundance distribution, but these effects were mostly mediated by soil nutrients. Slope had significant negative effects on skewness and the Berger-Parker index, and these effects were almost independent of soil nutrients. Soil nutrients and topographical characteristics together accounted for 9.5-17.1% of variations in diversity patterns and, respectively, accounted for 8.9-13.9% and 3.3-10.7% of the variations. We concluded that soil nutrients were more important than topographical factors in regulating species diversity. Increased soil nutrient concentration led to decreased taxonomic diversity and increased species dominance and rarity. Convexity could be a better proxy for soil nutrients than slope. Moreover, these abiotic factors played limited roles in regulating diversity patterns, and it is possible that the observed patterns are also driven by some biotic and abiotic factors not considered here.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guang Feng
- Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Conservation of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Environment of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Research Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, China
- Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China
- College of Forestry, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
| | - Jihong Huang
- Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Conservation of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Environment of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Research Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, China
- Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yue Xu
- Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Conservation of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Environment of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Research Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, China
- Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China
| | - Junqing Li
- College of Forestry, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
| | - Runguo Zang
- Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Conservation of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Environment of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Research Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, China
- Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China
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32
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Pintar MR, Resetarits WJ. Aquatic beetles influence colonization of disparate taxa in small lentic systems. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:12170-12182. [PMID: 33209279 PMCID: PMC7664000 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6845] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2020] [Accepted: 08/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Structure of natural communities is shaped by both abiotic characteristics and the ongoing processes of community assembly. Important to this process are the habitat selection behaviors and subsequent survival of colonists, both in the context of temporal changes in the abiotic characteristics and priority effects driven by earlier colonists. Aquatic beetles are prevalent in temporary freshwater systems, form speciose assemblages, and are often early colonists of temporary ponds. While beetles have the potential to influence community structure through post-colonization interactions (predation and competition), our goal was to determine whether the presence of beetle assemblages (versus patches without beetles) influences the colonization and oviposition of a diverse group of animals in a naturally colonized experimental landscape. We established mesocosms that either contained existing beetle assemblages or contained no beetles and assessed abundances of subsequent colonists. Treefrogs, Hyla chrysoscelis, and mosquitoes, Culex restuans, both deposited fewer eggs in patches containing beetle assemblages, while two beetles, Copelatus glyphicus and Paracymus, colonized those patches at lower rates. One beetle, Helophorus linearis, colonized patches containing beetle assemblages at higher rates, while two beetles, Berosus infuscatus and Tropisternus lateralis, exhibited no colonization differences between treatments. Overall, there were no differences in the assemblage structure or richness of beetles that colonized patches. Our results illustrate the importance of species-specific habitat selection behavior in determining the species composition of habitat patches, while emphasizing the role of priority effects in influencing patterns of community assembly. Habitat selection in response to abiotic and biotic characteristics of habitat patches can potentially create greater spatiotemporal niche separation among the numerous, often closely related species (phylogenetically and trophically), that can be simultaneously found in similar patches across landscapes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew R. Pintar
- Department of Biology and Centers for Water and Wetland Resources, and Biodiversity and Conservation ResearchUniversity of MississippiUniversityMSUSA
- Present address:
Institute of EnvironmentFlorida International UniversityMiamiFLUSA
| | - William J. Resetarits
- Department of Biology and Centers for Water and Wetland Resources, and Biodiversity and Conservation ResearchUniversity of MississippiUniversityMSUSA
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33
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Affiliation(s)
- Loralee Larios
- Department of Botany and Plant Sciences University of California Riverside CA USA
- Division of Biological Sciences University of Montana Missoula MT USA
| | - John L. Maron
- Division of Biological Sciences University of Montana Missoula MT USA
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34
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Doudová J, Douda J. Along with intraspecific functional trait variation, individual performance is key to resolving community assembly processes. Funct Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13646] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jana Doudová
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Prague Czech Republic
| | - Jan Douda
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Prague Czech Republic
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35
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Cohen H, Philpott SM, Liere H, Lin BB, Jha S. The relationship between pollinator community and pollination services is mediated by floral abundance in urban landscapes. Urban Ecosyst 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s11252-020-01024-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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36
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Balazs KR, Kramer AT, Munson SM, Talkington N, Still S, Butterfield BJ. The right trait in the right place at the right time: Matching traits to environment improves restoration outcomes. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2020; 30:e02110. [PMID: 32115812 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2019] [Revised: 02/18/2020] [Accepted: 01/24/2020] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
The challenges of restoration in dryland ecosystems are growing due to a rise in anthropogenic disturbance and increasing aridity. Plant functional traits are often used to predict plant performance and can offer a window into potential outcomes of restoration efforts across environmental gradients. We analyzed a database including 15 yr of seeding outcomes across 150 sites on the Colorado Plateau, a cold desert ecoregion in the western United States, and analyzed the independent and interactive effects of functional traits (seed mass, height, and specific leaf area) and local biologically relevant climate variables on seeding success. We predicted that the best models would include an interaction between plant traits and climate, indicating a need to match the right trait value to the right climate conditions to maximize seeding success. Indeed, we found that both plant height and seed size significantly interacted with temperature seasonality, with larger seeds and taller plants performing better in more seasonal environments. We also determined that these trait-environment patterns are not influenced by whether a species is native or nonnative. Our results inform the selection of seed mixes for restoring areas with specific climatic conditions, while also demonstrating the strong influence of temperature seasonality on seeding success in the Colorado Plateau region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathleen R Balazs
- Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS), Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, 86001, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, 86001, USA
| | - Andrea T Kramer
- Botanic Gardens Conservation International US, Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, Illinois, 60022, USA
| | - Seth M Munson
- Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, 86001, USA
- U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Flagstaff, Arizona, 86001, USA
| | - Nora Talkington
- Botanic Gardens Conservation International US, Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, Illinois, 60022, USA
| | - Shannon Still
- Botanic Gardens Conservation International US, Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, Illinois, 60022, USA
- U.C. Davis Arboretum & Public Garden, One Shields Avenue, Davis, California, 95616, USA
| | - Bradley J Butterfield
- Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS), Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, 86001, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, 86001, USA
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37
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Wang C, Wei M, Wang S, Wu B, Cheng H. Erigeron annuus (L.) Pers. and Solidago canadensis L. antagonistically affect community stability and community invasibility under the co-invasion condition. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 716:137128. [PMID: 32045766 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2019] [Revised: 01/07/2020] [Accepted: 02/03/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The successful invasion of one invasive alien plant (IAP) can generate a favorable habitat in the invaded communities that beneficial to the successful invasion of the subsequent IAP. Advanced variations in the species number of IAP have the potential to alter the functional similarity and dissimilarity between IAP and co-existing native plant species (NPS), plant taxonomic diversity, plant functional diversity, community stability, and community invasibility. This study aims to evaluate the effects of the co-invasion of two notorious IAP, Erigeron annuus (L.) Pers. and Solidago canadensis L., on the functional similarity and dissimilarity between IAP and co-existing NPS, plant taxonomic diversity, plant functional diversity, community stability, and community invasibility in East China by using a comparative study. Results presented that: (I) IAP and co-existing NPS tend to converge functionally under E. annuus invasion and the functional similarity between IAP and co-existing NPS under E. annuus invasion supports the habitat filtering; (II) IAP and co-existing NPS tend to diverge functionally under S. canadensis invasion and the co-invasion condition and the functional dissimilarity between IAP and co-existing NPS under S. canadensis invasion and the co-invasion condition supports the niche differentiation; (III) plant taxonomic diversity was dramatically reduced under invasion condition, especially under S. canadensis invasion; (IV) Mason's α functional diversity was remarkably elevated under S. canadensis invasion and the co-invasion condition; (V) E. annuus and S. canadensis antagonistically affect community stability and community invasibility under the co-invasion condition compared with their independent invasion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Congyan Wang
- Institute of Environment and Ecology, School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, PR China.
| | - Mei Wei
- Institute of Environment and Ecology, School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, PR China
| | - Shu Wang
- Institute of Environment and Ecology, School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, PR China
| | - Bingde Wu
- Institute of Environment and Ecology, School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, PR China
| | - Huiyuan Cheng
- Institute of Environment and Ecology, School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, PR China
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38
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Muthukrishnan R, Sullivan LL, Shaw AK, Forester JD. Trait plasticity alters the range of possible coexistence conditions in a competition-colonisation trade-off. Ecol Lett 2020; 23:791-799. [PMID: 32086876 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2019] [Revised: 09/13/2019] [Accepted: 01/15/2020] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Most of the classical theory on species coexistence has been based on species-level competitive trade-offs. However, it is becoming apparent that plant species display high levels of trait plasticity. The implications of this plasticity are almost completely unknown for most coexistence theory. Here, we model a competition-colonisation trade-off and incorporate trait plasticity to evaluate its effects on coexistence. Our simulations show that the classic competition-colonisation trade-off is highly sensitive to environmental circumstances, and coexistence only occurs in narrow ranges of conditions. The inclusion of plasticity, which allows shifts in competitive hierarchies across the landscape, leads to coexistence across a much broader range of competitive and environmental conditions including disturbance levels, the magnitude of competitive differences between species, and landscape spatial patterning. Plasticity also increases the number of species that persist in simulations of multispecies assemblages. Plasticity may generally increase the robustness of coexistence mechanisms and be an important component of scaling coexistence theory to higher diversity communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ranjan Muthukrishnan
- Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | - Lauren L Sullivan
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | - Allison K Shaw
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | - James D Forester
- Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA
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39
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Combined effects of land-use intensification and plant invasion on native communities. Oecologia 2020; 192:823-836. [PMID: 31982953 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-020-04603-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2018] [Accepted: 01/16/2020] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Land-use intensification (LUI) and biological invasions are two of the most important global change pressures driving biodiversity loss. However, their combined impacts on biological communities have been seldom explored, which may result in misleading ecological assessments or mitigation actions. Based on an extensive field survey of 445 paired invaded and control plots of coastal vegetation in SW Spain, we explored the joint effects of LUI (agricultural and urban intensification) and invasion on the taxonomic and functional richness, mean plant height and leaf area of native plants. Our survey covered five invasive species with contrasting functional similarity and competitive ability in relation to the native community. We modeled the response of native communities for the overall and invader-specific datasets, and determined if invader-native functional differences could influence the combined impacts of LUI and invasion. Overall, we found that urban intensification reduced taxonomic richness more strongly at invaded plots (synergistic interactive effects). In contrast, functional richness loss caused by urban intensification was less pronounced at invaded plots (antagonistic interactive effects). Overall models showed also that urban intensification led to reduced mean leaf area, while agriculture was linked to higher mean plant height. When exploring invader-specific models, we observed that the combined effects of agricultural and urban intensification with invasion were heterogeneous. At invaded plots, invader-native functional differences accounted for part of this variability. Our findings demonstrate the importance of considering the interactive effects of global change pressures for a better assessment and management of ecosystems.
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40
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Meilhac J, Deschamps L, Maire V, Flajoulot S, Litrico I. Both selection and plasticity drive niche differentiation in experimental grasslands. NATURE PLANTS 2020; 6:28-33. [PMID: 31873193 DOI: 10.1038/s41477-019-0569-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2018] [Accepted: 11/11/2019] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
The way species avoid each other in a community by using resources differently across space and time is one of the main drivers of species coexistence in nature1,2. This mechanism, known as niche differentiation, has been widely examined theoretically but still lacks thorough experimental validation in plants. To shape niche differences over time, species within communities can reduce the overlap between their niches or find unexploited environmental space3. Selection and phenotypic plasticity have been advanced as two candidate processes driving niche differentiation4,5, but their respective role remains to be quantified6. Here, we tracked changes in plant height, as a candidate trait for light capture7, in 5-year multispecies sown grasslands. We found increasing among-species height differences over time. Phenotypic plasticity promotes this change, which explains the rapid setting of differentiation in our system. Through the inspection of changes in genetic structure, we also highlighted the contribution of selection. Altogether, we experimentally demonstrated the occurrence of species niche differentiation within artificial grassland communities over a short time scale through the joined action of both plasticity and selection.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lucas Deschamps
- Département des Sciences de l'Environnement, UQTR, Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada
| | - Vincent Maire
- Département des Sciences de l'Environnement, UQTR, Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada
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Dong K, Hao G, Yang N, Zhang JL, Ding XF, Ren HQ, Shen JF, Wang JL, Jiang L, Zhao NX, Gao YB. Community assembly mechanisms and succession processes significantly differ among treatments during the restoration of Stipa grandis - Leymus chinensis communities. Sci Rep 2019; 9:16289. [PMID: 31705024 PMCID: PMC6841928 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-52734-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2018] [Accepted: 10/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding community assembly mechanisms is helpful to predict community dynamics. To explore which community assembly mechanism(s) drive(s) the grassland restoration in semi-arid region, we investigated the relationships between plant trait and species relative abundance (SRA), and estimated community functional diversity indices for each community under different treatments (enclosure, grazing and mowing treatment) in a restoration region of Stipa grandis - Leymus chinensis communities in the northern China from 2010 to 2012. There was a high fraction of significant relationships between trait value and SRA, suggesting that niche theory structured the grassland restoration in this region. The functional richness was higher and the functional divergence was lower in the enclosure community than that in the grazing or mowing community, and significantly positive plant height - SRA relationship was found in the enclosure community. These findings demonstrated that limiting similarity based on niche theory was more important in structuring the enclosure community and that environmental filtering based on niche theory played a more important role in driving the grazing or mowing community. Only the factor of year significantly affected the functional evenness (FEve), and the lowest FEve in 2011 implied that the relatively lower precipitation could enhance the effect of limiting similarity on community assembly in the semi-arid grassland.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ke Dong
- Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, P.R. China
| | - Guang Hao
- Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, P.R. China
| | - Nan Yang
- Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, P.R. China
| | - Jian-Li Zhang
- Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, P.R. China
| | - Xin-Feng Ding
- Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, P.R. China
| | - Hui-Qin Ren
- Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, P.R. China
| | - Jun-Fang Shen
- Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, P.R. China
| | - Jin-Long Wang
- College of Agronomy & Resources and Environment, Tianjin Agricultural University, Tianjin, 300384, P.R. China
| | - Lin Jiang
- School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
| | - Nian-Xi Zhao
- Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, P.R. China.
| | - Yu-Bao Gao
- Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, P.R. China
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Cuellar-Gempeler C, Munguia P. Habitat filters mediate successional trajectories in bacterial communities associated with the striped shore crab. Oecologia 2019; 191:957-970. [PMID: 31690999 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-019-04549-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2019] [Accepted: 10/28/2019] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
The relative importance of stochastic- and niche-based processes shifts during successional time and across different types of habitats. Microbial biofilms are known to undergo such successional shifts. However, little is known about the interaction between these successional trajectories and habitat filters. Harsh habitat filters could affect biofilm successional trajectories by strengthening niche-based processes and weakening stochastic processes. We used mesocosms to track successional trajectories in bacterial communities associated with the striped shore crab (Pachygrapsus transversus). We followed replicated microbial communities under strong and weak habitat filters associated with the crab's gut and carapace. For bacteria, colonization of the crab's gut is constrained by strong chemical and physical filtering, while the carapace remains relatively open for colonization. Consistent with successional models of bacterial biofilms, carapace microbial communities initially converged in community composition at day 8 and diverged thereafter. We expected gut microbial communities to deviate from the trajectory in the carapace and converge towards a subset of tolerant species. Instead, bacterial communities in the gut exhibited low richness, unchanging similarity in composition and turnover in species identities throughout the duration of our study. These habitat filter effects were linked with weak species interactions and low influence from colonization in the gut. If these findings are representative of differences in filter strength in a continuum of successional trajectories, habitat filters may provide basis for predictions that link successional models and habitat types.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Pablo Munguia
- Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia
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Trivedi C, Reich PB, Maestre FT, Hu HW, Singh BK, Delgado-Baquerizo M. Plant-driven niche differentiation of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea in global drylands. THE ISME JOURNAL 2019; 13:2727-2736. [PMID: 31249390 PMCID: PMC6794256 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-019-0465-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2019] [Revised: 06/04/2019] [Accepted: 06/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Under controlled laboratory conditions, high and low ammonium availability are known to favor soil ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA) communities, respectively. However, whether this niche segregation is maintained under field conditions in terrestrial ecosystems remains unresolved, particularly at the global scale. We hypothesized that perennial vegetation might favor AOB vs. AOA communities compared with adjacent open areas devoid of perennial vegetation (i.e., bare soil) via several mechanisms, including increasing the amount of ammonium in soil. To test this niche-differentiation hypothesis, we conducted a global field survey including 80 drylands from 6 continents. Data supported our hypothesis, as soils collected under plant canopies had higher levels of ammonium, as well as higher richness (number of terminal restriction fragments; T-RFs) and abundance (qPCR amoA genes) of AOB, and lower richness and abundance of AOA, than those collected in open areas located between plant canopies. Some of the reported associations between plant canopies and AOA and AOB communities can be a consequence of the higher organic matter and available N contents found under plant canopies. Other aspects of soils associated with vegetation including shading and microclimatic conditions might also help explain our results. Our findings provide strong evidence for niche differentiation between AOA and AOB communities in drylands worldwide, advancing our understanding of their ecology and biogeography at the global scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chanda Trivedi
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South, NSW, 2751, Australia
| | - Peter B Reich
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South, NSW, 2751, Australia
- Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | - Fernando T Maestre
- Departamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Móstoles, 28933, Spain
- Departamento de Ecología and Instituto Multidisciplinar para el Estudio del Medio "Ramon Margalef", Universidad de Alicante, Alicante, Spain
| | - Hang-Wei Hu
- Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Brajesh K Singh
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South, NSW, 2751, Australia.
- Global Centre for Land Based Innovation, Western Sydney University, Building L9, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South, NSW, 2751, Australia.
| | - Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South, NSW, 2751, Australia.
- Departamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Móstoles, 28933, Spain.
- Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
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Chatanga P, Sieben EJ. Ecology of palustrine wetlands in Lesotho: Vegetation classification, description and environmental factors. KOEDOE: AFRICAN PROTECTED AREA CONSERVATION AND SCIENCE 2019. [DOI: 10.4102/koedoe.v61i1.1574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
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Xu C, Wang Z, Li Z, Wang L, Han G. Grazing intensity and climate factors shape species abundance distribution by influencing different components of plant communities in a desert steppe. Ecol Res 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/1440-1703.12047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Cailin Xu
- College of Grassland, Resources and Environment, Key Laboratory of Grassland Resources, Ministry of Education of China, and Key Laboratory of Forage Cultivation and Processing of Ministry of Agriculture of China, Key Laboratory of Grassland Management and Utilization of Inner Mongolia, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University Hohhot Inner Mongolia China
| | - Zhongwu Wang
- College of Grassland, Resources and Environment, Key Laboratory of Grassland Resources, Ministry of Education of China, and Key Laboratory of Forage Cultivation and Processing of Ministry of Agriculture of China, Key Laboratory of Grassland Management and Utilization of Inner Mongolia, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University Hohhot Inner Mongolia China
| | - Zhiguo Li
- College of Grassland, Resources and Environment, Key Laboratory of Grassland Resources, Ministry of Education of China, and Key Laboratory of Forage Cultivation and Processing of Ministry of Agriculture of China, Key Laboratory of Grassland Management and Utilization of Inner Mongolia, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University Hohhot Inner Mongolia China
| | - Ling Wang
- Institute of Grassland Science, and Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education of China, Northeast Normal University Changchun Jilin China
| | - Guodong Han
- College of Grassland, Resources and Environment, Key Laboratory of Grassland Resources, Ministry of Education of China, and Key Laboratory of Forage Cultivation and Processing of Ministry of Agriculture of China, Key Laboratory of Grassland Management and Utilization of Inner Mongolia, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University Hohhot Inner Mongolia China
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46
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Wu B, Zhang H, Jiang K, Zhou J, Wang C. Erigeron canadensis
affects the taxonomic and functional diversity of plant communities in two climate zones in the North of China. Ecol Res 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/1440-1703.12024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Bingde Wu
- Institute of Environment and Ecology, Academy of Environmental Health and Ecological Security & School of the Environment and Safety Engineering Jiangsu University Zhenjiang China
| | - Huanshi Zhang
- Institute of Biochemical and Microbial Applications Nanjing Institute for Comprehensive Utilization of Wild Plants Nanjing China
| | - Kun Jiang
- Institute of Environment and Ecology, Academy of Environmental Health and Ecological Security & School of the Environment and Safety Engineering Jiangsu University Zhenjiang China
| | - Jiawei Zhou
- Institute of Environment and Ecology, Academy of Environmental Health and Ecological Security & School of the Environment and Safety Engineering Jiangsu University Zhenjiang China
- School of the Environment Nanjing University Nanjing China
| | - Congyan Wang
- Institute of Environment and Ecology, Academy of Environmental Health and Ecological Security & School of the Environment and Safety Engineering Jiangsu University Zhenjiang China
- State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences Nanjing China
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47
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Michelaki C, Fyllas NM, Galanidis A, Aloupi M, Evangelou E, Arianoutsou M, Dimitrakopoulos PG. An integrated phenotypic trait-network in thermo-Mediterranean vegetation describing alternative, coexisting resource-use strategies. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 672:583-592. [PMID: 30965269 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.04.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2019] [Revised: 03/26/2019] [Accepted: 04/02/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Vascular plants have been found to align along globally-recognised resource-allocation trade-offs among specific functional traits. Genetic constrains and environmental pressures limit the spectrum of viable resource-use strategies employed by plant species. While conspecific plants have often been described as identical, intraspecific variation facilitates species coexistence and evolutionary potential. This study attempts to link an individual's phenotype to its environmental tolerance and ecosystem function. We hypothesised that: (1) seasonal variation in water availability has selected for tight phenotypic integration patterns that shape Mediterranean vegetation; however, (2) coexisting species employ alternative resource-use strategies to avoid competitive exclusion; specifically (3) species with smaller climatic niches (i.e. potential distributions) display higher functional diversity. We examined the interdependence among and the sources of variation within 11 functional traits, reflecting whole-plant economics (e.g. construction costs, hydraulics, defences, water storage capacity), from nine dominant, thermo-Mediterranean species measured across a wide environmental and geographic gradient. Furthermore, we delineated the phenotypic and climatic hypervolumes of each studied species to test for climatic niche overlap and functional distinctiveness. By adopting this multidimensional trait-based approach we detected fundamental phenotypic integration patterns that define thermo-Mediterranean species regardless of life history strategy. The studied traits emerged intercorrelated shaping a resource-allocation spectrum. Significant intraspecific variability in most measured traits allowed for functional distinctiveness among the measured species. Higher functional diversity was observed in species restricted within narrower climatic niches. Our results support our initial hypotheses. The studied functional traits collectively formed an integrated space of viable phenotypic expressions; however, phenotypic plasticity enables functionally distinctive species to succeed complementary in a given set of environmental conditions. Functional variability among coexisting individuals defined species' climatic niches within the trait-spectrum permitted by Mediterranean conditions. Ultimately, a species establishment in a locality depends on the extent that it can shift its trait values.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chrysanthi Michelaki
- Biodiversity Conservation Laboratory, Department of Environment, University of the Aegean, 81100 Mytilene, Lesbos, Greece.
| | - Nikolaos M Fyllas
- Biodiversity Conservation Laboratory, Department of Environment, University of the Aegean, 81100 Mytilene, Lesbos, Greece
| | - Alexandros Galanidis
- Biodiversity Conservation Laboratory, Department of Environment, University of the Aegean, 81100 Mytilene, Lesbos, Greece
| | - Maria Aloupi
- Water and Air Quality Laboratory, Department of Environment, University of the Aegean, 81100 Mytilene, Lesbos, Greece
| | | | - Margarita Arianoutsou
- Department of Ecology and Systematics, Faculty of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784, Greece
| | - Panayiotis G Dimitrakopoulos
- Biodiversity Conservation Laboratory, Department of Environment, University of the Aegean, 81100 Mytilene, Lesbos, Greece
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48
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Wong MKL, Guénard B, Lewis OT. Trait-based ecology of terrestrial arthropods. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2019; 94:999-1022. [PMID: 30548743 PMCID: PMC6849530 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12488] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2018] [Revised: 11/21/2018] [Accepted: 11/23/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
In focusing on how organisms' generalizable functional properties (traits) interact mechanistically with environments across spatial scales and levels of biological organization, trait-based approaches provide a powerful framework for attaining synthesis, generality and prediction. Trait-based research has considerably improved understanding of the assembly, structure and functioning of plant communities. Further advances in ecology may be achieved by exploring the trait-environment relationships of non-sessile, heterotrophic organisms such as terrestrial arthropods, which are geographically ubiquitous, ecologically diverse, and often important functional components of ecosystems. Trait-based studies and trait databases have recently been compiled for groups such as ants, bees, beetles, butterflies, spiders and many others; however, the explicit justification, conceptual framework, and primary-evidence base for the burgeoning field of 'terrestrial arthropod trait-based ecology' have not been well established. Consequently, there is some confusion over the scope and relevance of this field, as well as a tendency for studies to overlook important assumptions of the trait-based approach. Here we aim to provide a broad and accessible overview of the trait-based ecology of terrestrial arthropods. We first define and illustrate foundational concepts in trait-based ecology with respect to terrestrial arthropods, and justify the application of trait-based approaches to the study of their ecology. Next, we review studies in community ecology where trait-based approaches have been used to elucidate how assembly processes for terrestrial arthropod communities are influenced by niche filtering along environmental gradients (e.g. climatic, structural, and land-use gradients) and by abiotic and biotic disturbances (e.g. fire, floods, and biological invasions). We also review studies in ecosystem ecology where trait-based approaches have been used to investigate biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships: how the functional diversity of arthropod communities relates to a host of ecosystem functions and services that they mediate, such as decomposition, pollination and predation. We then suggest how future work can address fundamental assumptions and limitations by investigating trait functionality and the effects of intraspecific variation, assessing the potential for sampling methods to bias the traits and trait values observed, and enhancing the quality and consolidation of trait information in databases. A roadmap to guide observational trait-based studies is also presented. Lastly, we highlight new areas where trait-based studies on terrestrial arthropods are well positioned to advance ecological understanding and application. These include examining the roles of competitive, non-competitive and (multi-)trophic interactions in shaping coexistence, and macro-scaling trait-environment relationships to explain and predict patterns in biodiversity and ecosystem functions across space and time. We hope this review will spur and guide future applications of the trait-based framework to advance ecological insights from the most diverse eukaryotic organisms on Earth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark K. L. Wong
- Department of ZoologyUniversity of OxfordOxford, OX1 3PSU.K.
| | - Benoit Guénard
- School of Biological SciencesThe University of Hong Kong, Kadoorie Biological Sciences BuildingHong KongSARChina
| | - Owen T. Lewis
- Department of ZoologyUniversity of OxfordOxford, OX1 3PSU.K.
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49
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Arnillas CA, Cadotte MW. Experimental dominant plant removal results in contrasting assembly for dominant and non-dominant plants. Ecol Lett 2019; 22:1233-1242. [PMID: 31134752 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2019] [Accepted: 04/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Understanding why communities appear deterministically dominated by relatively few species is an age-old debate in ecology. We hypothesised that the dominant and non-dominant species in a community are governed by different assembly mechanisms where environmental conditions influence dominant species more than non-dominant species. Further, dominant plants moderate the environment where non-dominant species thrive, diminishing the influence of environmental filtering and increasing the influence of limiting similarity for non-dominant species. We tested these hypotheses by removing two dominant species in five temperate meadows. We found that the composition of the non-dominants diverged while the new dominants converged over time. Phylogenetic analyses suggested that habitat filtering and limiting similarity drove the new dominant species simultaneously. Conversely, non-dominant community assembly appeared more unpredictable. These suggest that dominant species converged towards a predictable environmentally driven optimum, while non-dominant species thrive in a moderated habitat, which probably reduced non-dominant species predictability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Alberto Arnillas
- Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, University of Toronto, Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Marc W Cadotte
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto, Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada
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50
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Kearsley E, Hufkens K, Verbeeck H, Bauters M, Beeckman H, Boeckx P, Huygens D. Large-sized rare tree species contribute disproportionately to functional diversity in resource acquisition in African tropical forest. Ecol Evol 2019; 9:4349-4361. [PMID: 31031910 PMCID: PMC6476792 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.4836] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2018] [Revised: 10/29/2018] [Accepted: 11/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Increasing evidence is available for a positive effect of biodiversity on ecosystem productivity and standing biomass, also in highly diverse systems as tropical forests. Biodiversity conservation could therefore be a critical aspect of climate mitigation policies. There is, however, limited understanding of the role of individual species for this relationship, which could aid in focusing conservation efforts and forest management planning. This study characterizes the functional specialization and redundancy for 95% of all tree species (basal area weighted percentage) in a diverse tropical forest in the central Congo Basin and relates this to species' abundance, contribution to aboveground carbon, and maximum size. Functional characterization is based on a set of traits related to resource acquisition (wood density, specific leaf area, leaf carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus content, and leaf stable carbon isotope composition). We show that within both mixed and monodominant tropical forest ecosystems, the highest functional specialization and lowest functional redundancy are solely found in rare tree species and significantly more in rare species holding large-sized individuals. Rare species cover the entire range of low and high functional redundancy, contributing both unique and redundant functions. Loss of species supporting functional redundancy could be buffered by other species in the community, including more abundant species. This is not the case for species supporting high functional specialization and low functional redundancy, which would need specific conservation attention. In terms of tropical forest management planning, we argue that specific conservation of large-sized trees is imperative for long-term maintenance of ecosystem functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Hans Verbeeck
- Department of EnvironmentGhent UniversityGentBelgium
| | - Marijn Bauters
- Department of EnvironmentGhent UniversityGentBelgium
- Department of Green Chemistry and TechnologyGhent UniversityGentBelgium
| | - Hans Beeckman
- Service of Wood BiologyRoyal Museum for Central AfricaTervurenBelgium
| | - Pascal Boeckx
- Department of Green Chemistry and TechnologyGhent UniversityGentBelgium
| | - Dries Huygens
- Department of Green Chemistry and TechnologyGhent UniversityGentBelgium
- Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Soil ScienceUniversidad Austral de ChileValdiviaChile
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