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Lorer E, Verheyen K, Blondeel H, De Pauw K, Sanczuk P, De Frenne P, Landuyt D. Forest understorey flowering phenology responses to experimental warming and illumination. New Phytol 2024; 241:1476-1491. [PMID: 38031641 DOI: 10.1111/nph.19425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 11/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023]
Abstract
Species are altering their phenology to track warming temperatures. In forests, understorey plants experience tree canopy shading resulting in light and temperature conditions, which strongly deviate from open habitats. Yet, little is known about understorey phenology responses to forest microclimates. We recorded flowering onset, peak, end and duration of 10 temperate forest understorey plant species in two mesocosm experiments to understand how phenology is affected by sub-canopy warming and how this response is modulated by illumination, which is related to canopy change. Furthermore, we investigated whether phenological sensitivities can be explained by species' characteristics, such as thermal niche. We found a mean advance of flowering onset of 7.1 d per 1°C warming, more than previously reported in studies not accounting for microclimatic buffering. Warm-adapted species exhibited greater advances. Temperature sensitivity did not differ between early- and later-flowering species. Experimental illumination did not significantly affect species' phenological temperature sensitivities, but slightly delayed flowering phenology independent from warming. Our study suggests that integrating sub-canopy temperature and light availability will help us better understand future understorey phenology responses. Climate warming together with intensifying canopy disturbances will continue to drive phenological shifts and potentially disrupt understorey communities, thereby affecting forest biodiversity and functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eline Lorer
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, BE-9090, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Kris Verheyen
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, BE-9090, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Haben Blondeel
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, BE-9090, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Karen De Pauw
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, BE-9090, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Pieter Sanczuk
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, BE-9090, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Pieter De Frenne
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, BE-9090, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Dries Landuyt
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, BE-9090, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
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Landuyt D, Perring MP, Blondeel H, De Lombaerde E, Depauw L, Lorer E, Maes SL, Baeten L, Bergès L, Bernhardt-Römermann M, Brūmelis G, Brunet J, Chudomelová M, Czerepko J, Decocq G, den Ouden J, De Frenne P, Dirnböck T, Durak T, Fichtner A, Gawryś R, Härdtle W, Hédl R, Heinrichs S, Heinken T, Jaroszewicz B, Kirby K, Kopecký M, Máliš F, Macek M, Mitchell FJG, Naaf T, Petřík P, Reczyńska K, Schmidt W, Standovár T, Swierkosz K, Smart SM, Van Calster H, Vild O, Waller DM, Wulf M, Verheyen K. Combining multiple investigative approaches to unravel functional responses to global change in the understorey of temperate forests. Glob Chang Biol 2024; 30:e17086. [PMID: 38273496 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.17086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2023] [Revised: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
Plant communities are being exposed to changing environmental conditions all around the globe, leading to alterations in plant diversity, community composition, and ecosystem functioning. For herbaceous understorey communities in temperate forests, responses to global change are postulated to be complex, due to the presence of a tree layer that modulates understorey responses to external pressures such as climate change and changes in atmospheric nitrogen deposition rates. Multiple investigative approaches have been put forward as tools to detect, quantify and predict understorey responses to these global-change drivers, including, among others, distributed resurvey studies and manipulative experiments. These investigative approaches are generally designed and reported upon in isolation, while integration across investigative approaches is rarely considered. In this study, we integrate three investigative approaches (two complementary resurvey approaches and one experimental approach) to investigate how climate warming and changes in nitrogen deposition affect the functional composition of the understorey and how functional responses in the understorey are modulated by canopy disturbance, that is, changes in overstorey canopy openness over time. Our resurvey data reveal that most changes in understorey functional characteristics represent responses to changes in canopy openness with shifts in macroclimate temperature and aerial nitrogen deposition playing secondary roles. Contrary to expectations, we found little evidence that these drivers interact. In addition, experimental findings deviated from the observational findings, suggesting that the forces driving understorey change at the regional scale differ from those driving change at the forest floor (i.e., the experimental treatments). Our study demonstrates that different approaches need to be integrated to acquire a full picture of how understorey communities respond to global change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dries Landuyt
- Forest&Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle, Belgium
| | - Michael P Perring
- UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH), Bangor, UK
- The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Haben Blondeel
- Forest&Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle, Belgium
| | - Emiel De Lombaerde
- Forest&Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle, Belgium
| | - Leen Depauw
- Forest&Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle, Belgium
| | - Eline Lorer
- Forest&Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle, Belgium
| | - Sybryn L Maes
- Division of Forest, Nature and Landscape, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Lander Baeten
- Forest&Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle, Belgium
| | - Laurent Bergès
- Laboratoire ecosystèmes et sociétés en montagne (LESSEM), National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE), St-Martin d'Hères, France
| | - Markus Bernhardt-Römermann
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Leipzig, Germany
| | | | - Jörg Brunet
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Lomma, Sweden
| | | | | | | | - Jan den Ouden
- Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Pieter De Frenne
- Forest&Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle, Belgium
| | | | - Tomasz Durak
- Institute of Biology, University of Rzeszów, Rzeszów, Poland
| | - Andreas Fichtner
- Institute of Ecology, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany
| | | | - Werner Härdtle
- Institute of Ecology, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany
| | - Radim Hédl
- Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Palacký University in Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Steffi Heinrichs
- Department Silviculture and Forest Ecology of the Temperate Zones, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Thilo Heinken
- General Botany, Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Bogdan Jaroszewicz
- Białowieża Geobotanical Station, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Białowieża, Poland
| | - Keith Kirby
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Martin Kopecký
- Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Průhonice, Czech Republic
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | | | - Martin Macek
- Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Průhonice, Czech Republic
| | - Fraser J G Mitchell
- Botany Department, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Tobias Naaf
- Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Müncheberg, Germany
| | - Petr Petřík
- Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Průhonice, Czech Republic
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Kamila Reczyńska
- Department of Botany, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Wolfgang Schmidt
- Department Silviculture and Forest Ecology of the Temperate Zones, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Tibor Standovár
- Department of Plant Systematics, Ecology and Theoretical Biology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Krzysztof Swierkosz
- Museum of Natural History, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Simon M Smart
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), Lancaster University, Bailrigg, UK
| | | | - Ondřej Vild
- Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Průhonice, Czech Republic
| | - Donald M Waller
- Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Monika Wulf
- Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Müncheberg, Germany
| | - Kris Verheyen
- Forest&Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle, Belgium
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Gillerot L, Landuyt D, Oh R, Chow W, Haluza D, Ponette Q, Jactel H, Bruelheide H, Jaroszewicz B, Scherer-Lorenzen M, De Frenne P, Muys B, Verheyen K. Forest structure and composition alleviate human thermal stress. Glob Chang Biol 2022; 28:7340-7352. [PMID: 36062391 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2022] [Revised: 08/23/2022] [Accepted: 08/31/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Current climate change aggravates human health hazards posed by heat stress. Forests can locally mitigate this by acting as strong thermal buffers, yet potential mediation by forest ecological characteristics remains underexplored. We report over 14 months of hourly microclimate data from 131 forest plots across four European countries and compare these to open-field controls using physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) to reflect human thermal perception. Forests slightly tempered cold extremes, but the strongest buffering occurred under very hot conditions (PET >35°C), where forests reduced strong to extreme heat stress day occurrence by 84.1%. Mature forests cooled the microclimate by 12.1 to 14.5°C PET under, respectively, strong and extreme heat stress conditions. Even young plantations reduced those conditions by 10°C PET. Forest structure strongly modulated the buffering capacity, which was enhanced by increasing stand density, canopy height and canopy closure. Tree species composition had a more modest yet significant influence: that is, strongly shade-casting, small-leaved evergreen species amplified cooling. Tree diversity had little direct influences, though indirect effects through stand structure remain possible. Forests in general, both young and mature, are thus strong thermal stress reducers, but their cooling potential can be even further amplified, given targeted (urban) forest management that considers these new insights.
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Affiliation(s)
- Loïc Gillerot
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
- Division of Forest, Nature and Landscape, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Dries Landuyt
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Rachel Oh
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Ecosystem Services, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Leipzig, Germany
| | - Winston Chow
- School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Daniela Haluza
- Department of Environmental Health, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Quentin Ponette
- Earth and Life Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Hervé Jactel
- Biogeco, INRAE, University of Bordeaux, Cestas, France
| | - Helge Bruelheide
- Institute of Biology, Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany
| | - Bogdan Jaroszewicz
- Białowieża Geobotanical Station, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | | | - Pieter De Frenne
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Bart Muys
- Division of Forest, Nature and Landscape, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Kris Verheyen
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
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Zhang S, De Frenne P, Landuyt D, Verheyen K. Impact of tree species diversity on throughfall deposition in a young temperate forest plantation. Sci Total Environ 2022; 842:156947. [PMID: 35753456 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2022] [Revised: 06/07/2022] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Throughfall deposition is an important pathway via which particles, aerosols and gases can move from the atmosphere to the forest floor, which can greatly impact forest biodiversity and functioning. Although throughfall deposition biochemistry has been well studied in forest ecosystems, less is known about how throughfall deposition is modified by tree species diversity. To disentangle the effects of tree species identity and diversity on throughfall deposition, we installed rain gauges in a 10-year-old tree diversity experiment. With these rain gauges, we monitored throughfall biweekly, and performed chemical analyses monthly for all the major ions (Na+, Cl-, SO42--S, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, PO43--P, NO3--N and NH4+-N), for a period of one year. Based on these data, we analysed species identity (i.e. whether throughfall deposition depended on the tree species present in the overstorey), and diversity effects (i.e. whether throughfall deposition depended on tree species richness). We confirmed species identity effects on throughfall deposition. Presence of pine led to higher throughfall deposition of inorganic nitrogen, and lower amounts of phosphorus, calcium and magnesium reaching the forest floor. Additionally, species characteristics and stand structural characteristics, i.e. basal area and canopy cover, emerged as key factors driving throughfall deposition of sodium, chloride, nitrate, sulphate and potassium. Tree species diversity effects on throughfall deposition were also present, mostly via increased basal area and canopy cover, leading to increased throughfall deposition of inorganic nitrogen, sulphate, chloride, sodium and potassium. Our findings thus suggest that tree species diversity enhances throughfall deposition of most ions that we analysed, potentially increasing nutrient availability for below-canopy plant communities. Given that inorganic nitrogen and sulphur are major atmospheric pollutants, increased deposition in mixed plots might affect ecosystem functioning. Further research will be needed to determine the extent of this impact.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shengmin Zhang
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Melle, Gontrode, Belgium.
| | - Pieter De Frenne
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Melle, Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Dries Landuyt
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Melle, Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Kris Verheyen
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Melle, Gontrode, Belgium
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5
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Gerits F, Reubens B, Messely L, De Smedt P, Landuyt D, Loos A, Verheyen K. Disentangling the interrelated abiotic and biotic pathways linking landscape composition and crop production. J Appl Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.14269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Dries Landuyt
- Forest & Nature Lab Ghent University Gontrode Belgium
| | - Annelies Loos
- Forest & Nature Lab Ghent University Gontrode Belgium
| | - Kris Verheyen
- Forest & Nature Lab Ghent University Gontrode Belgium
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6
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Zhang S, Landuyt D, Verheyen K, De Frenne P. Tree species mixing can amplify microclimate offsets in young forest plantations. J Appl Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.14158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Shengmin Zhang
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment Ghent University Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Melle‐Gontrode Belgium
| | - Dries Landuyt
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment Ghent University Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Melle‐Gontrode Belgium
| | - Kris Verheyen
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment Ghent University Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Melle‐Gontrode Belgium
| | - Pieter De Frenne
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment Ghent University Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Melle‐Gontrode Belgium
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De Lombaerde E, Baeten L, Verheyen K, Perring MP, Ma S, Landuyt D. Understorey removal effects on tree regeneration in temperate forests: A meta‐analysis. J Appl Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Emiel De Lombaerde
- Forest & Nature Lab Department of Environment Faculty of Bioscience Engineering Ghent University Melle‐Gontrode Belgium
| | - Lander Baeten
- Forest & Nature Lab Department of Environment Faculty of Bioscience Engineering Ghent University Melle‐Gontrode Belgium
| | - Kris Verheyen
- Forest & Nature Lab Department of Environment Faculty of Bioscience Engineering Ghent University Melle‐Gontrode Belgium
| | - Michael P. Perring
- Forest & Nature Lab Department of Environment Faculty of Bioscience Engineering Ghent University Melle‐Gontrode Belgium
- Ecosystem Restoration and Intervention Ecology Research Group School of Biological Sciences The University of Western Australia Crawley WA Australia
- UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Environment Centre Wales Bangor UK
| | - Shiyu Ma
- School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences East China Normal University Shanghai China
| | - Dries Landuyt
- Forest & Nature Lab Department of Environment Faculty of Bioscience Engineering Ghent University Melle‐Gontrode Belgium
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8
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Landuyt D, Ampoorter E, Bastias CC, Benavides R, Müller S, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Valladares F, Wasof S, Verheyen K. Importance of overstorey attributes for understorey litter production and nutrient cycling in European forests. For Ecosyst 2020; 7:45. [PMID: 32685240 PMCID: PMC7357776 DOI: 10.1186/s40663-020-00256-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2019] [Accepted: 06/23/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND In contrast with the negligible contribution of the forest understorey to the total aboveground phytobiomass of a forest, its share in annual litter production and nutrient cycling may be more important. Whether and how this functional role of the understorey differs across forest types and depends upon overstorey characteristics remains to be investigated. METHODS We sampled 209 plots of the FunDivEUROPE Exploratory Platform, a network of study plots covering local gradients of tree diversity spread over six contrasting forest types in Europe. To estimate the relative contribution of the understorey to carbon and nutrient cycling, we sampled non-lignified aboveground understorey biomass and overstorey leaf litterfall in all plots. Understorey samples were analysed for C, N and P concentrations, overstorey leaf litterfall for C and N concentrations. We additionally quantified a set of overstorey attributes, including species richness, proportion of evergreen species, light availability (representing crown density) and litter quality, and investigated whether they drive the understorey's contribution to carbon and nutrient cycling. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Overstorey litter production and nutrient stocks in litterfall clearly exceeded the contribution of the understorey for all forest types, and the share of the understorey was higher in forests at the extremes of the climatic gradient. In most of the investigated forest types, it was mainly light availability that determined the contribution of the understorey to yearly carbon and nutrient cycling. Overstorey species richness did not affect the contribution of the understorey to carbon and nutrient cycling in any of the investigated forest types.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dries Landuyt
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Evy Ampoorter
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Cristina C. Bastias
- LINCGlobal, Department of Biogeography and Global Change, National Museum of Natural Science-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
| | - Raquel Benavides
- LINCGlobal, Department of Biogeography and Global Change, National Museum of Natural Science-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
| | - Sandra Müller
- Faculty of Biology, Geobotany, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
| | | | - Fernando Valladares
- LINCGlobal, Department of Biogeography and Global Change, National Museum of Natural Science-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
| | - Safaa Wasof
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Kris Verheyen
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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Blondeel H, Perring MP, De Lombaerde E, Depauw L, Landuyt D, Govaert S, Maes SL, Vangansbeke P, De Frenne P, Verheyen K. Individualistic responses of forest herb traits to environmental change. Plant Biol (Stuttg) 2020; 22:601-614. [PMID: 32109335 DOI: 10.1111/plb.13103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2019] [Accepted: 02/19/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Intraspecific trait variation (ITV; i.e. variability in mean and/or distribution of plant attribute values within species) can occur in response to multiple drivers. Environmental change and land-use legacies could directly alter trait values within species but could also affect them indirectly through changes in vegetation cover. Increasing variability in environmental conditions could lead to more ITV, but responses might differ among species. Disentangling these drivers on ITV is necessary to accurately predict plant community responses to global change. We planted herb communities into forest soils with and without a recent history of agriculture. Soils were collected across temperate European regions, while the 15 selected herb species had different colonizing abilities and affinities to forest habitat. These mesocosms (384) were exposed to two-level full-factorial treatments of warming, nitrogen addition and illumination. We measured plant height and specific leaf area (SLA). For the majority of species, mean plant height increased as vegetation cover increased in response to light addition, warming and agricultural legacy. The coefficient of variation (CV) for height was larger in fast-colonizing species. Mean SLA for vernal species increased with warming, while light addition generally decreased mean SLA for shade-tolerant species. Interactions between treatments were not important predictors. Environmental change treatments influenced ITV, either via increasing vegetation cover or by affecting trait values directly. Species' ITV was individualistic, i.e. species responded to different single resource and condition manipulations that benefited their growth in the short term. These individual responses could be important for altered community organization after a prolonged period.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Blondeel
- Forest & Nature Lab, Campus Gontrode, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - M P Perring
- Forest & Nature Lab, Campus Gontrode, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
- Ecosystem Restoration and Intervention Ecology Research Group, School of Biological Sciences, the University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - E De Lombaerde
- Forest & Nature Lab, Campus Gontrode, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - L Depauw
- Forest & Nature Lab, Campus Gontrode, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - D Landuyt
- Forest & Nature Lab, Campus Gontrode, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - S Govaert
- Forest & Nature Lab, Campus Gontrode, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - S L Maes
- Forest & Nature Lab, Campus Gontrode, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - P Vangansbeke
- Forest & Nature Lab, Campus Gontrode, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - P De Frenne
- Forest & Nature Lab, Campus Gontrode, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - K Verheyen
- Forest & Nature Lab, Campus Gontrode, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
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10
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Maes SL, Perring MP, Depauw L, Bernhardt-Römermann M, Blondeel H, Brūmelis G, Brunet J, Decocq G, den Ouden J, Govaert S, Härdtle W, Hédl R, Heinken T, Heinrichs S, Hertzog L, Jaroszewicz B, Kirby K, Kopecký M, Landuyt D, Máliš F, Vanneste T, Wulf M, Verheyen K. Plant functional trait response to environmental drivers across European temperate forest understorey communities. Plant Biol (Stuttg) 2020; 22:410-424. [PMID: 31840363 DOI: 10.1111/plb.13082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2019] [Accepted: 12/02/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Functional traits respond to environmental drivers, hence evaluating trait-environment relationships across spatial environmental gradients can help to understand how multiple drivers influence plant communities. Global-change drivers such as changes in atmospheric nitrogen deposition occur worldwide, but affect community trait distributions at the local scale, where resources (e.g. light availability) and conditions (e.g. soil pH) also influence plant communities. We investigate how multiple environmental drivers affect community trait responses related to resource acquisition (plant height, specific leaf area (SLA), woodiness, and mycorrhizal status) and regeneration (seed mass, lateral spread) of European temperate deciduous forest understoreys. We sampled understorey communities and derived trait responses across spatial gradients of global-change drivers (temperature, precipitation, nitrogen deposition, and past land use), while integrating in-situ plot measurements on resources and conditions (soil type, Olsen phosphorus (P), Ellenberg soil moisture, light, litter mass, and litter quality). Among the global-change drivers, mean annual temperature strongly influenced traits related to resource acquisition. Higher temperatures were associated with taller understoreys producing leaves with lower SLA, and a higher proportional cover of woody and obligate mycorrhizal (OM) species. Communities in plots with higher Ellenberg soil moisture content had smaller seeds and lower proportional cover of woody and OM species. Finally, plots with thicker litter layers hosted taller understoreys with larger seeds and a higher proportional cover of OM species. Our findings suggest potential community shifts in temperate forest understoreys with global warming, and highlight the importance of local resources and conditions as well as global-change drivers for community trait variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- S L Maes
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - M P Perring
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - L Depauw
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - M Bernhardt-Römermann
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - H Blondeel
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - G Brūmelis
- Faculty of Biology, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia
| | - J Brunet
- Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, Sweden
| | - G Decocq
- Ecologie et Dynamique des Systèmes Anthropisés (EDYSAN, UMR 7058 CNRS), Jules Verne University of Picardie, Amiens, France
| | - J den Ouden
- Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - S Govaert
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - W Härdtle
- Institute of Ecology, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany
| | - R Hédl
- Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Průhonice, Czech Republic
- Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Palacký University in Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - T Heinken
- General Botany, Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - S Heinrichs
- Silviculture and Forest Ecology of the Temperate Zones, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - L Hertzog
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - B Jaroszewicz
- Białowieża Geobotanical Station, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Białowieża, Poland
| | - K Kirby
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - M Kopecký
- Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Průhonice, Czech Republic
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - D Landuyt
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - F Máliš
- Faculty of Forestry, Technical University, Zvolen, Slovakia
- National Forest Centre, Zvolen, Slovakia
| | - T Vanneste
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - M Wulf
- Leibniz-ZALF e.V. Müncheberg, Müncheberg, Germany
| | - K Verheyen
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
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11
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Blondeel H, Perring MP, Depauw L, De Lombaerde E, Landuyt D, De Frenne P, Verheyen K. Light and warming drive forest understorey community development in different environments. Glob Chang Biol 2020; 26:1681-1696. [PMID: 31811690 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14955] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2019] [Revised: 10/08/2019] [Accepted: 11/26/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Plant community composition and functional traits respond to chronic drivers such as climate change and nitrogen (N) deposition. In contrast, pulse disturbances from ecosystem management can additionally change resources and conditions. Community responses to combined environmental changes may further depend on land-use legacies. Disentangling the relative importance of these global change drivers is necessary to improve predictions of future plant communities. We performed a multifactor global change experiment to disentangle drivers of herbaceous plant community trajectories in a temperate deciduous forest. Communities of five species, assembled from a pool of 15 forest herb species with varying ecological strategies, were grown in 384 mesocosms on soils from ancient forest (forested at least since 1850) and postagricultural forest (forested since 1950) collected across Europe. Mesocosms were exposed to two-level full-factorial treatments of warming, light addition (representing changing forest management) and N enrichment. We measured plant height, specific leaf area (SLA) and species cover over the course of three growing seasons. Increasing light availability followed by warming reordered the species towards a taller herb community, with limited effects of N enrichment or the forest land-use history. Two-way interactions between treatments and incorporating intraspecific trait variation (ITV) did not yield additional inference on community height change. Contrastingly, community SLA differed when considering ITV along with species reordering, which highlights ITV's importance for understanding leaf morphology responses to nutrient enrichment in dark conditions. Contrary to our expectations, we found limited evidence of land-use legacies affecting community responses to environmental changes, perhaps because dispersal limitation was removed in the experimental design. These findings can improve predictions of community functional trait responses to global changes by acknowledging ITV, and subtle changes in light availability. Adaptive forest management to impending global change could benefit the restoration and conservation of understorey plant communities by reducing the light availability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haben Blondeel
- Forest & Nature Lab, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Michael P Perring
- Forest & Nature Lab, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
- Ecosystem Restoration and Intervention Ecology Research Group, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Leen Depauw
- Forest & Nature Lab, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Emiel De Lombaerde
- Forest & Nature Lab, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Dries Landuyt
- Forest & Nature Lab, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Pieter De Frenne
- Forest & Nature Lab, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Kris Verheyen
- Forest & Nature Lab, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
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12
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Landuyt D, De Lombaerde E, Perring MP, Hertzog LR, Ampoorter E, Maes SL, De Frenne P, Ma S, Proesmans W, Blondeel H, Sercu BK, Wang B, Wasof S, Verheyen K. The functional role of temperate forest understorey vegetation in a changing world. Glob Chang Biol 2019; 25:3625-3641. [PMID: 31301199 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2019] [Accepted: 06/17/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Temperate forests cover 16% of the global forest area. Within these forests, the understorey is an important biodiversity reservoir that can influence ecosystem processes and functions in multiple ways. However, we still lack a thorough understanding of the relative importance of the understorey for temperate forest functioning. As a result, understoreys are often ignored during assessments of forest functioning and changes thereof under global change. We here compiled studies that quantify the relative importance of the understorey for temperate forest functioning, focussing on litter production, nutrient cycling, evapotranspiration, tree regeneration, pollination and pathogen dynamics. We describe the mechanisms driving understorey functioning and develop a conceptual framework synthesizing possible effects of multiple global change drivers on understorey-mediated forest ecosystem functioning. Our review illustrates that the understorey's contribution to temperate forest functioning is significant but varies depending on the ecosystem function and the environmental context, and more importantly, the characteristics of the overstorey. To predict changes in understorey functioning and its relative importance for temperate forest functioning under global change, we argue that a simultaneous investigation of both overstorey and understorey functional responses to global change will be crucial. Our review shows that such studies are still very scarce, only available for a limited set of ecosystem functions and limited to quantification, providing little data to forecast functional responses to global change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dries Landuyt
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Emiel De Lombaerde
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Michael P Perring
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
- Ecosystem Restoration and Intervention Ecology Research Group, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Lionel R Hertzog
- Terrestrial Ecology Research Unit, Department of Biology, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium
| | - Evy Ampoorter
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Sybryn L Maes
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Pieter De Frenne
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Shiyu Ma
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Willem Proesmans
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Haben Blondeel
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Bram K Sercu
- Terrestrial Ecology Research Unit, Department of Biology, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium
| | - Bin Wang
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Safaa Wasof
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Kris Verheyen
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
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13
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Perring MP, Diekmann M, Midolo G, Schellenberger Costa D, Bernhardt-Römermann M, Otto JCJ, Gilliam FS, Hedwall PO, Nordin A, Dirnböck T, Simkin SM, Máliš F, Blondeel H, Brunet J, Chudomelová M, Durak T, De Frenne P, Hédl R, Kopecký M, Landuyt D, Li D, Manning P, Petřík P, Reczyńska K, Schmidt W, Standovár T, Świerkosz K, Vild O, Waller DM, Verheyen K. Understanding context dependency in the response of forest understorey plant communities to nitrogen deposition. Environ Pollut 2018; 242:1787-1799. [PMID: 30115529 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.07.089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2018] [Revised: 07/03/2018] [Accepted: 07/20/2018] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Understorey communities can dominate forest plant diversity and strongly affect forest ecosystem structure and function. Understoreys often respond sensitively but inconsistently to drivers of ecological change, including nitrogen (N) deposition. Nitrogen deposition effects, reflected in the concept of critical loads, vary greatly not only among species and guilds, but also among forest types. Here, we characterize such context dependency as driven by differences in the amounts and forms of deposited N, cumulative deposition, the filtering of N by overstoreys, and available plant species pools. Nitrogen effects on understorey trajectories can also vary due to differences in surrounding landscape conditions; ambient browsing pressure; soils and geology; other environmental factors controlling plant growth; and, historical and current disturbance/management regimes. The number of these factors and their potentially complex interactions complicate our efforts to make simple predictions about how N deposition affects forest understoreys. We review the literature to examine evidence for context dependency in N deposition effects on forest understoreys. We also use data from 1814 European temperate forest plots to test the ability of multi-level models to characterize context-dependent understorey responses across sites that differ in levels of N deposition, community composition, local conditions and management history. This analysis demonstrated that historical management, and plot location on light and pH-fertility gradients, significantly affect how understorey communities respond to N deposition. We conclude that species' and communities' responses to N deposition, and thus the determination of critical loads, vary greatly depending on environmental contexts. This complicates our efforts to predict how N deposition will affect forest understoreys and thus how best to conserve and restore understorey biodiversity. To reduce uncertainty and incorporate context dependency in critical load setting, we should assemble data on underlying environmental conditions, conduct globally distributed field experiments, and analyse a wider range of habitat types.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael P Perring
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium; Ecosystem Restoration and Intervention Ecology Research Group, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35, Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia.
| | - Martin Diekmann
- Vegetation Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Ecology, FB 2, University of Bremen, Leobener Str. 5, DE-28359, Bremen, Germany
| | - Gabriele Midolo
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen/Bolzano, Piazza Università 5, 39100, Bozen/Bolzano, Italy
| | - David Schellenberger Costa
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Dornburger Str. 159, DE-07743, Jena, Germany
| | - Markus Bernhardt-Römermann
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Dornburger Str. 159, DE-07743, Jena, Germany
| | - Johanna C J Otto
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Dornburger Str. 159, DE-07743, Jena, Germany
| | - Frank S Gilliam
- Department of Biology, University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL, 32514, USA
| | - Per-Ola Hedwall
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, 230 53, Alnarp, Sweden
| | - Annika Nordin
- Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå Plant Science Centre, 901 83, Umeå, Sweden
| | | | - Samuel M Simkin
- National Ecological Observatory Network, 1685 38th St., Suite 100, Boulder, CO, 80301, USA
| | - František Máliš
- Technical University in Zvolen, Faculty of Forestry, T. G. Masaryka 24, 960 53, Zvolen, Slovakia; National Forest Centre, T. G. Masaryka 22, 960 92, Zvolen, Slovakia
| | - Haben Blondeel
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Jörg Brunet
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, 230 53, Alnarp, Sweden
| | - Markéta Chudomelová
- Department of Vegetation Ecology, Institute of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Lidická 25/27, CZ-60200, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Tomasz Durak
- Department of Ecology, University of Rzeszów, ul. Rejtana 16C, PL-35- 959, Rzeszów, Poland
| | - Pieter De Frenne
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Radim Hédl
- Department of Vegetation Ecology, Institute of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Lidická 25/27, CZ-60200, Brno, Czech Republic; Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Palacký University in Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 27, CZ-78371, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Martin Kopecký
- Department of GIS and Remote Sensing, Institute of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Zámek 1, CZ-252 43, Průhonice, Czech Republic; Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, CZ-165 00, Prague 6, Suchdol, Czech Republic
| | - Dries Landuyt
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Daijiang Li
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
| | - Peter Manning
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Petr Petřík
- Department of GIS and Remote Sensing, Institute of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Zámek 1, CZ-252 43, Průhonice, Czech Republic
| | - Kamila Reczyńska
- Department of Botany, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Wrocław, Kanonia 6/8, PL-50-328, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Wolfgang Schmidt
- Department of Silviculture and Forest Ecology of the Temperate Zones, University of Göttingen, Büsgenweg 1, D-37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Tibor Standovár
- Department of Plant Systematics, Ecology and Theoretical Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány P. sétány 1/c, H-1117, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Krzysztof Świerkosz
- Museum of Natural History, University of Wrocław, Sienkiewicza 21, PL-50-335, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Ondřej Vild
- Department of Vegetation Ecology, Institute of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Lidická 25/27, CZ-60200, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Donald M Waller
- Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Kris Verheyen
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
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14
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Ruyts SC, Landuyt D, Ampoorter E, Heylen D, Ehrmann S, Coipan EC, Matthysen E, Sprong H, Verheyen K. Low probability of a dilution effect for Lyme borreliosis in Belgian forests. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 2018; 9:1143-1152. [PMID: 29716838 DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2018.04.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2017] [Revised: 04/20/2018] [Accepted: 04/21/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
An increasing number of studies have investigated the consequences of biodiversity loss for the occurrence of vector-borne diseases such as Lyme borreliosis, the most common tick-borne disease in the northern hemisphere. As host species differ in their ability to transmit the Lyme borreliosis bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. to ticks, increased host diversity can decrease disease prevalence by increasing the proportion of dilution hosts, host species that transmit pathogens less efficiently. Previous research shows that Lyme borreliosis risk differs between forest types and suggests that a higher diversity of host species might dilute the contribution of small rodents to infect ticks with B. afzelii, a common Borrelia genospecies. However, empirical evidence for a dilution effect in Europe is largely lacking. We tested the dilution effect hypothesis in 19 Belgian forest stands of different forest types along a diversity gradient. We used empirical data and a Bayesian belief network to investigate the impact of the proportion of dilution hosts on the density of ticks infected with B. afzelii, and identified the key drivers determining the density of infected ticks, which is a measure of human infection risk. Densities of ticks and B. afzelii infection prevalence differed between forest types, but the model indicated that the density of infected ticks is hardly affected by dilution. The most important variables explaining variability in disease risk were related to the density of ticks. Combining empirical data with a model-based approach supported decision making to reduce tick-borne disease risk. We found a low probability of a dilution effect for Lyme borreliosis in a north-western European context. We emphasize that under these circumstances, Lyme borreliosis prevention should rather aim at reducing tick-human contact rate instead of attempting to increase the proportion of dilution hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanne C Ruyts
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Dries Landuyt
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Evy Ampoorter
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Dieter Heylen
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 11, 2610, Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Steffen Ehrmann
- Geobotany, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Schänzlestr. 1, D-79104, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Elena C Coipan
- Wageningen University and Research, Plant Sciences Group, Bio-interactions and Plant Health Business Unit, P.O. Box 16, 6700 AA,Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Erik Matthysen
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 11, 2610, Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Hein Sprong
- Centre for Infectious Disease Control Netherlands, National Institute for Public Health and Environment, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA, Bilthoven, The Netherlands
| | - Kris Verheyen
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium.
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15
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Perring MP, Bernhardt-Römermann M, Baeten L, Midolo G, Blondeel H, Depauw L, Landuyt D, Maes SL, De Lombaerde E, Carón MM, Vellend M, Brunet J, Chudomelová M, Decocq G, Diekmann M, Dirnböck T, Dörfler I, Durak T, De Frenne P, Gilliam FS, Hédl R, Heinken T, Hommel P, Jaroszewicz B, Kirby KJ, Kopecký M, Lenoir J, Li D, Máliš F, Mitchell FJG, Naaf T, Newman M, Petřík P, Reczyńska K, Schmidt W, Standovár T, Świerkosz K, Van Calster H, Vild O, Wagner ER, Wulf M, Verheyen K. Global environmental change effects on plant community composition trajectories depend upon management legacies. Glob Chang Biol 2018; 24:1722-1740. [PMID: 29271579 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2017] [Accepted: 11/30/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The contemporary state of functional traits and species richness in plant communities depends on legacy effects of past disturbances. Whether temporal responses of community properties to current environmental changes are altered by such legacies is, however, unknown. We expect global environmental changes to interact with land-use legacies given different community trajectories initiated by prior management, and subsequent responses to altered resources and conditions. We tested this expectation for species richness and functional traits using 1814 survey-resurvey plot pairs of understorey communities from 40 European temperate forest datasets, syntheses of management transitions since the year 1800, and a trait database. We also examined how plant community indicators of resources and conditions changed in response to management legacies and environmental change. Community trajectories were clearly influenced by interactions between management legacies from over 200 years ago and environmental change. Importantly, higher rates of nitrogen deposition led to increased species richness and plant height in forests managed less intensively in 1800 (i.e., high forests), and to decreases in forests with a more intensive historical management in 1800 (i.e., coppiced forests). There was evidence that these declines in community variables in formerly coppiced forests were ameliorated by increased rates of temperature change between surveys. Responses were generally apparent regardless of sites' contemporary management classifications, although sometimes the management transition itself, rather than historic or contemporary management types, better explained understorey responses. Main effects of environmental change were rare, although higher rates of precipitation change increased plant height, accompanied by increases in fertility indicator values. Analysis of indicator values suggested the importance of directly characterising resources and conditions to better understand legacy and environmental change effects. Accounting for legacies of past disturbance can reconcile contradictory literature results and appears crucial to anticipating future responses to global environmental change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael P Perring
- Forest & Nature Lab, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | | | - Lander Baeten
- Forest & Nature Lab, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Gabriele Midolo
- Forest & Nature Lab, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
- Environmental Systems Analysis Group, Wageningen University, AA Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Haben Blondeel
- Forest & Nature Lab, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Leen Depauw
- Forest & Nature Lab, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Dries Landuyt
- Forest & Nature Lab, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Sybryn L Maes
- Forest & Nature Lab, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Emiel De Lombaerde
- Forest & Nature Lab, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Maria Mercedes Carón
- Laboratorio de Investigaciones Botánicas (LABIBO) - CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Salta, Salta, Argentina
| | - Mark Vellend
- Département de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
| | - Jörg Brunet
- Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, Sweden
| | - Markéta Chudomelová
- Department of Vegetation Ecology, Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Guillaume Decocq
- Unité de recherche "Ecologie et Dynamique des Systèmes Anthropisés" (EDYSAN, UMR 7058 CNRS-UPJV), Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens Cedex 1, France
| | - Martin Diekmann
- Vegetation Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Ecology, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
| | | | - Inken Dörfler
- Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Management, Technische Universität München, Freising, Germany
| | - Tomasz Durak
- Department of Ecology, University of Rzeszów, Rzeszów, Poland
| | - Pieter De Frenne
- Forest & Nature Lab, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
- Department of Plant Production, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Frank S Gilliam
- Department of Biological Sciences, Marshall University, Huntington, WV, USA
| | - Radim Hédl
- Department of Vegetation Ecology, Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Palacký University in Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Thilo Heinken
- General Botany, Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Patrick Hommel
- Wageningen Environmental Research (Alterra), AA Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Bogdan Jaroszewicz
- Białowieża Geobotanical Station, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Białowieża, Poland
| | - Keith J Kirby
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Martin Kopecký
- Department of GIS and Remote Sensing, Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Průhonice, Czech Republic
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague 6 - Suchdol, Czech Republic
| | - Jonathan Lenoir
- Unité de recherche "Ecologie et Dynamique des Systèmes Anthropisés" (EDYSAN, UMR 7058 CNRS-UPJV), Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens Cedex 1, France
| | - Daijiang Li
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - František Máliš
- Faculty of Forestry, Technical University in Zvolen, Zvolen, Slovakia
- National Forest Centre, Zvolen, Slovakia
| | - Fraser J G Mitchell
- Botany Department, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Tobias Naaf
- Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Müncheberg, Germany
| | - Miles Newman
- Botany Department, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Petr Petřík
- Department of GIS and Remote Sensing, Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Průhonice, Czech Republic
| | - Kamila Reczyńska
- Department of Botany, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Wolfgang Schmidt
- Department Silviculture and Forest Ecology of the Temperate Zones, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Tibor Standovár
- Department of Plant Systematics, Ecology and Theoretical Biology, L. Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary
| | | | | | - Ondřej Vild
- Department of Vegetation Ecology, Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Eva Rosa Wagner
- Faculty of Biology and Preclinical Medicine, Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Monika Wulf
- Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Müncheberg, Germany
| | - Kris Verheyen
- Forest & Nature Lab, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
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16
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Landuyt D, Perring M, Seidl R, Taubert F, Verbeeck H, Verheyen K. Modelling understorey dynamics in temperate forests under global change-Challenges and perspectives. Perspect Plant Ecol Evol Syst 2018; 31:44-54. [PMID: 29628800 PMCID: PMC5884426 DOI: 10.1016/j.ppees.2018.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
The understorey harbours a substantial part of vascular plant diversity in temperate forests and plays an important functional role, affecting ecosystem processes such as nutrient cycling and overstorey regeneration. Global change, however, is putting these understorey communities on trajectories of change, potentially altering and reducing their functioning in the future. Developing mitigation strategies to safeguard the diversity and functioning of temperate forests in the future is challenging and requires improved predictive capacity. Process-based models that predict understorey community composition over time, based on first principles of ecology, have the potential to guide mitigation endeavours but such approaches are rare. Here, we review fourteen understorey modelling approaches that have been proposed during the last three decades. We evaluate their inclusion of mechanisms that are required to predict the impact of global change on understorey communities. We conclude that none of the currently existing models fully accounts for all processes that we deem important based on empirical and experimental evidence. Based on this review, we contend new models are needed to project the complex impacts of global change on forest understoreys. Plant functional traits should be central to such future model developments, as they drive community assembly processes and provide valuable information on the functioning of the understorey. Given the important role of the overstorey, a coupling of understorey models to overstorey models will be essential to predict the impact of global change on understorey composition and structure, and how it will affect the functioning of temperate forests in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- D. Landuyt
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Forest and Water Management, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - M.P. Perring
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Forest and Water Management, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
- Ecosystem Restoration and Intervention Ecology Research Group, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
| | - R. Seidl
- Institute of Silviculture, Department of Forest- and Soil Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Peter Jordan Straße 82, 1190 Vienna, Austria
| | - F. Taubert
- Department of Ecological Modelling, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research—UFZ, Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - H. Verbeeck
- Computational and Applied Vegetation Ecology (CAVELab), Department of Applied Ecology and Environmental Biology, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - K. Verheyen
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Forest and Water Management, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
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17
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Verheyen K, De Frenne P, Baeten L, Waller DM, Hédl R, Perring MP, Blondeel H, Brunet J, Chudomelova M, Decocq G, De Lombaerde E, Depauw L, Dirnböck T, Durak T, Eriksson O, Gilliam FS, Heinken T, Heinrichs S, Hermy M, Jaroszewicz B, Jenkins MA, Johnson SE, Kirby KJ, Kopecký M, Landuyt D, Lenoir J, Li D, Macek M, Maes S, Máliš F, Mitchell FJG, Naaf T, Peterken G, Petřík P, Reczyńska K, Rogers DA, Schei FH, Schmidt W, Standovár T, Świerkosz K, Ujházy K, Van Calster H, Vellend M, Vild O, Woods K, Wulf M, Bernhard-Römermann M. Combining community resurvey data to advance global change research. Bioscience 2016; 67:73-83. [PMID: 30220729 PMCID: PMC6136644 DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biw150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
More and more ecologists have started to resurvey communities sampled in earlier decades to determine long-term shifts in community composition and infer the likely drivers of the ecological changes observed. However, to assess the relative importance of, and interactions among, multiple drivers joint analyses of resurvey data from many regions spanning large environmental gradients are needed. In this paper we illustrate how combining resurvey data from multiple regions can increase the likelihood of driver-orthogonality within the design and show that repeatedly surveying across multiple regions provides higher representativeness and comprehensiveness, allowing us to answer more completely a broader range of questions. We provide general guidelines to aid implementation of multi-region resurvey databases. In so doing, we aim to encourage resurvey database development across other community types and biomes to advance global environmental change research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kris Verheyen
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Forest & Water Management, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Melle-Gontrode, Belgium
| | - Pieter De Frenne
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Forest & Water Management, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Melle-Gontrode, Belgium,
| | - Lander Baeten
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Forest & Water Management, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Melle-Gontrode, Belgium,
| | - Donald M Waller
- Botany Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 430 Lincoln Dr., Madison, WI 53706, USA,
| | - Radim Hédl
- Department of Vegetation Ecology, Institute of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Lidická 25/27, Brno, 60200, Czech Republic, ; Department of Botany, Palacky University in Olomouc, Slechtitelu 27, Olomouc, 78371, Czech Republic
| | - Michael P Perring
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Forest & Water Management, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Melle-Gontrode, Belgium, ; Ecosystem Restoration and Intervention Ecology Research Group; School of Plant Biology, The University of Western Australia, 35, Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, AUSTRALIA,
| | - Haben Blondeel
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Forest & Water Management, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Melle-Gontrode, Belgium,
| | - Jörg Brunet
- Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 49, 230 53 Alnarp, Sweden,
| | - Markéeta Chudomelova
- Department of Vegetation Ecology, Institute of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Lidická 25/27, Brno, 60200, Czech Republic; Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Sciences, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, Brno CZ-60200, Czech Republic,
| | - Guillaume Decocq
- UR "Ecologie et Dynamique des Systèmes Anthropisés" (EDYSAN, FRE 3498 CNRS-UPJV), Jules Verne University of Picardy, 1, rue des Louvels, 80037 Amiens Cédex, FRANCE,
| | - Emiel De Lombaerde
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Forest & Water Management, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Melle-Gontrode, Belgium,
| | - Leen Depauw
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Forest & Water Management, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Melle-Gontrode, Belgium,
| | - Thomas Dirnböck
- Department for Ecosystem Research, Environment Agency Austria, Spittelauer Lände 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria,
| | - Tomasz Durak
- Department of Botany, University of Rzeszów, Zelwerowicza 4, Rzeszów PL-35-601, Poland,
| | - Ove Eriksson
- Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, SE - 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden,
| | - Frank S Gilliam
- Department of Biological Sciences, Marshall University, 1 John Marshall Drive, Huntington, WV 25755-2510, USA,
| | - Thilo Heinken
- Biodiversity Research / Systematic Botany, Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Maulbeerallee 1, 14469 Potsdam, Germany,
| | - Steffi Heinrichs
- Department Silviculture & Forest Ecology of the Temperate Zones, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Burckhardt Institute, Büsgenweg 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany,
| | - Martin Hermy
- Dept Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Celestijnenlaan 200E, Heverlee 3001, Belgium,
| | - Bogdan Jaroszewicz
- Białowieża Geobotanical Station, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Biology, Sportowa 19, Białowieża, 17-230, Poland
| | - Michael A Jenkins
- Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, 715 West State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2061, USA,
| | - Sarah E Johnson
- Department of Natural Resources and Biology, Northland College, 1411 Ellis Avenue, Ashland, Wisconsin 54806, USA,
| | - Keith J Kirby
- Department of Plant Sciences, Oxford University, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RB, UK,
| | - Martin Kopecký
- Department of Vegetation Ecology, Institute of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Lidická 25/27, Brno, CZ-602 00, Czech Republic, , : Department of Forest Ecology, : Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, : Kamýcká 129, CZ-165 21, Prague 6 - Suchdol, Czech Republic
| | - Dries Landuyt
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Forest & Water Management, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Melle-Gontrode, Belgium,
| | - Jonathan Lenoir
- UR "Ecologie et dynamique des systems anthropisés" (EDYSAN, FRE 3498 CNRS-UPJV), Université de Picardie Jules Verne, 1 Rue des Louvels, 80000 Amiens, France,
| | - Daijiang Li
- Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA,
| | - Martin Macek
- Dept. of GIS and RS, Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Zámek 1, Průhonice 252 43, Czech Republic,
| | - Sybryn Maes
- Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Forest & Water Management, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Melle-Gontrode, Belgium,
| | - Frantisek Máliš
- Department of Phytology, Faculty of Forestry, Technical University in Zvolen, T. G. Masaryka 24, 960 53 Zvolen, Slovakia,
| | | | - Tobias Naaf
- Institute of Land Use Systems, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Eberswalder Straße 84, 15374 Müncheberg, Germany,
| | | | - Petr Petřík
- Department of GIS and Remote Sensing, Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Zámek 1, Průhonice 25243, Czech Republic,
| | - Kamila Reczyńska
- Wrocław University, Museum of Natural History, Sienkiewicza 21, Wrocław 50-335, Poland,
| | - David A Rogers
- Biological Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Parkside, 900 Wood Rd., Kenosha, Wisconsin 53141, USA,
| | - Fride Hoistad Schei
- Forestry and Forest Resources, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, Fanaflaten 4, 5244 Fana, Norway,
| | - Wolfgang Schmidt
- Silviculture and Forest Ecology of the Temperate Zones, Faculty of Forestry and Forest Ecology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany,
| | - Tibor Standovár
- Dept. Plant Systematics, Ecology and Theoretical Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány sétány 1/C, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary,
| | - Krzystof Świerkosz
- Wrocław University, Museum of Natural History, Sienkiewicza 21, Wrocław 50-335, Poland,
| | - Karol Ujházy
- Department of Phytology, Technical University in Zvolen, T. G. Masaryka 24, SK-960 53 Zvolen, Slovakia,
| | - Hans Van Calster
- Biometry & Quality Assurance, Research Institute for Nature and Forest, Kliniekstraat 25, Brussels, 1070, Belgium,
| | - Mark Vellend
- Département de biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500 boulevard de l'Université, Sherbrooke, Québec J1K 2R1, Canada,
| | - Ondřej Vild
- Department of Vegetation Ecology, Institute of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Lidická 25/27, Brno, 60200, Czech Republic, Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Sciences, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, Brno CZ-60200, Czech Republic,
| | - Kerry Woods
- Natural Sciences, Bennington College, 1 College Drive, Bennington, VT 05201, USA,
| | - Monika Wulf
- Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Institute of Land Use Systems, Eberswalder Straße 84, Müncheberg, 15374, Germany,
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18
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Landuyt D, Broekx S, Engelen G, Uljee I, Van der Meulen M, Goethals PLM. The importance of uncertainties in scenario analyses--A study on future ecosystem service delivery in Flanders. Sci Total Environ 2016; 553:504-518. [PMID: 26930321 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.02.098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2015] [Revised: 02/10/2016] [Accepted: 02/15/2016] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Land use is rapidly changing and is significantly affecting ecosystem service delivery all around the world. The socio-economic context and political choices largely determine land use change. This land use change, driven by socio-economic pressures, will impact diverse elements of the environment including, for example, air quality, soil properties, water infiltration and food and wood production, impacts that can be linked to the provisioning of ecosystem services. To gain more insight into the effects of alternative socio-economic developments on ecosystem service delivery, land use change models are being coupled to ecosystem service delivery models to perform scenario analyses. Although the uncertainty of the results of these kind of scenario analyses are generally far from negligible, studies rarely take them into account. In this study, a cellular automaton land use change model is coupled to Bayesian belief network ecosystem service delivery models to facilitate the study of error propagation in scenario analysis. The proposed approach is applied to model the impact of alternative socio-economic developments on ecosystem service delivery in Flanders, Belgium and to assess the impact of land use allocation uncertainty on the uncertainty associated to future ecosystem service delivery. Results suggest that taking into account uncertainties may have an effect on policy recommendations that come out of the scenario analysis. However, in this study, uncertainties in the applied ecosystem service models were dominant, reducing the importance of accounting for land use allocation uncertainty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dries Landuyt
- Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Aquatic Ecology, Ghent University, Jozef Plateaustraat 22, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium; Unit Environmental Modelling, Flemish Institute For Technological Research, Boeretang 200, B-2240 Mol, Belgium.
| | - Steven Broekx
- Unit Environmental Modelling, Flemish Institute For Technological Research, Boeretang 200, B-2240 Mol, Belgium
| | - Guy Engelen
- Unit Environmental Modelling, Flemish Institute For Technological Research, Boeretang 200, B-2240 Mol, Belgium
| | - Inge Uljee
- Unit Environmental Modelling, Flemish Institute For Technological Research, Boeretang 200, B-2240 Mol, Belgium
| | - Maarten Van der Meulen
- Unit Environmental Modelling, Flemish Institute For Technological Research, Boeretang 200, B-2240 Mol, Belgium
| | - Peter L M Goethals
- Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Aquatic Ecology, Ghent University, Jozef Plateaustraat 22, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
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19
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Forio MAE, Landuyt D, Bennetsen E, Lock K, Nguyen THT, Ambarita MND, Musonge PLS, Boets P, Everaert G, Dominguez-Granda L, Goethals PL. Bayesian belief network models to analyse and predict ecological water quality in rivers. Ecol Modell 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2015.05.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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20
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Landuyt D, Lemmens P, D'hondt R, Broekx S, Liekens I, De Bie T, Declerck SAJ, De Meester L, Goethals PLM. An ecosystem service approach to support integrated pond management: a case study using Bayesian belief networks--highlighting opportunities and risks. J Environ Manage 2014; 145:79-87. [PMID: 25005053 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.06.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2014] [Accepted: 06/17/2014] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Freshwater ponds deliver a broad range of ecosystem services (ESS). Taking into account this broad range of services to attain cost-effective ESS delivery is an important challenge facing integrated pond management. To assess the strengths and weaknesses of an ESS approach to support decisions in integrated pond management, we applied it on a small case study in Flanders, Belgium. A Bayesian belief network model was developed to assess ESS delivery under three alternative pond management scenarios: intensive fish farming (IFF), extensive fish farming (EFF) and nature conservation management (NCM). A probabilistic cost-benefit analysis was performed that includes both costs associated with pond management practices and benefits associated with ESS delivery. Whether or not a particular ESS is included in the analysis affects the identification of the most preferable management scenario by the model. Assessing the delivery of a more complete set of ecosystem services tends to shift the results away from intensive management to more biodiversity-oriented management scenarios. The proposed methodology illustrates the potential of Bayesian belief networks. BBNs facilitate knowledge integration and their modular nature encourages future model expansion to more encompassing sets of services. Yet, we also illustrate the key weaknesses of such exercises, being that the choice whether or not to include a particular ecosystem service may determine the suggested optimal management practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dries Landuyt
- Unit Environmental Modelling-RMA, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Boeretang 200, B-2400 Mol, Belgium; Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Aquatic Ecology, Ghent University, Jozef Plateaustraat 22, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
| | - Pieter Lemmens
- Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Conservation, KU Leuven, Charles Deberiotstraat 32, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Rob D'hondt
- Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Aquatic Ecology, Ghent University, Jozef Plateaustraat 22, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Steven Broekx
- Unit Environmental Modelling-RMA, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Boeretang 200, B-2400 Mol, Belgium
| | - Inge Liekens
- Unit Environmental Modelling-RMA, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Boeretang 200, B-2400 Mol, Belgium
| | - Tom De Bie
- Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Conservation, KU Leuven, Charles Deberiotstraat 32, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Steven A J Declerck
- Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Conservation, KU Leuven, Charles Deberiotstraat 32, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium; Department of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Postbus 50, 6700 AB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Luc De Meester
- Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Conservation, KU Leuven, Charles Deberiotstraat 32, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Peter L M Goethals
- Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Aquatic Ecology, Ghent University, Jozef Plateaustraat 22, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
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