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691 results for “plant traits”
Linking species-level network metrics to flower traits and plant fitness
1. Theoretical models indicate that the structure of plant-pollinator networks has important implications for species' reproduction and survival. However, despite the growing information on the mechanisms underlying such structure, we are still far from being able to predict the functional consequences of species' structural positions in such networks. From the plants' perspective, species position and roles in pollination networks might be related to traits describing flower attractiveness, availability, and dependence on pollinators. In turn, both, network metrics and species traits might influence plant fitness. 2. During two field seasons, we collected data of the 23 most abundant plant species from a rich coastal community in order to evaluate the association between population and floral traits (floral abundance at the population level and flowers/individual, flower shape and size, flowering length, nectar volume, pollinator dependence), species-level network metrics (linkage level, specialization –d'–, weighted closeness centrality, network roles related to modularity) and plant fitness (seeds/flower, seed weight). 3. Flowering length, flower size, flower abundance and pollinator dependence were positively related to increased generalization, as measured with different indices. More abundant species and those with larger flowers showed higher linkage levels (i.e. higher number of pollinator species), whereas longer flowering periods were negatively related to d' and positively related to closeness centrality and important roles in the network. Likewise, plants more dependent on pollinators occupied more central positions in the network. Furthermore, species' centrality in the networks was significantly associated with plant fitness. Specifically, central species in the network produced more and heavier seeds than the others. However, other plant traits, such as flower size and pollinator dependence had additional direct effects on seed production. 4. Synthesis. Our study highlights how population and floral traits define the positions and roles of species structuring the pollination communities. Moreover, the relationships between network metrics and plant reproduction indicate, for the first time, the functional implications of these structural positions at the inter-specific level of community assembly.
Data from: Soil types select for plants with matching nutrient‐acquisition and ‐use traits in hyperdiverse and severely nutrient‐impoverished campos rupestres and cerrado in Central Brazil
1. Understanding the mechanisms that underlie the generation of beta-diversity remains a challenge in ecology. Underground plant adaptations to environmental gradients have received relatively little attention. 2. We studied plant nutrient-acquisition strategies and nutrient-use efficiency at three stages of pedogenesis in infertile soils from campos rupestres and on less infertile soil from cerrado sensu stricto in Brazil. All soils support very high plant diversity with high species turnover between soil types at small spatial scales (meters). We expected that differences in nutrient–acquisition and –use strategies would be associated with this high species turnover. With severely decreasing phosphorus (P) availability, we expected the effectiveness of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbioses for plant P acquisition to decrease, and reliance on non-mycorrhizal strategies (NM) to increase, while maintaining efficient nutrient-use. 3. Concentrations of total soil P and nitrogen (N) were greater in soils in cerrado than in those from campos rupestres, and the more weathered soils from campos rupestres were severely P– and N–impoverished. The proportion of the root length colonised by AM fungi was 71% in the soils from the cerrado and campos rupestres. Conversely, the proportion of species with non-mycorrhizal P-acquisition strategies such as rhizosheaths was greater in the most P-impoverished soils. Leaf [P] and [N] were very low and decreased with decreasing soil [P] and [N]. Leaf N: P ratios suggest P-limitation of plant productivity in the campos rupestres but N-P co-limitation in the cerrado. Photosynthetic rates decreased with increasing P-impoverishment, but photosynthetic P-use efficiency was very high and photosynthetic N-use efficiency moderately high on all soils. Most species had very high P-remobilisation efficiency during leaf senescence (>70%), but only moderate N-remobilisation efficiency (~50%). 4. Synthesis. We observed very high P-use efficiency and moderately high N-use efficiency in campos rupestres and cerrado species, consistent with plant productivity being more strongly limited by P than by N. Our findings demonstrate that different soil characteristics (nutrient availability and soil texture) select for species differing in nutrient-acquisition and -use strategies (especially belowground traits) which is likely key for the very high species turnover at a very small scale between soil types (i.e. beta-diversity) in campos rupestres and cerrado.
Data from: An exotic invader drives the evolution of plant traits that determine mycorrhizal fungal diversity in a native competitor.
The symbiosis between land plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) is one of the most widespread and ancient mutualisms on the planet. However, relatively little is known about the evolution of these symbiotic plant-fungal interactions in natural communities. In this study, we investigated the symbiotic AMF communities of populations of the native plant species Pilea pumila (Urticaceae) with varying histories of coexistence with an non-mycorrhizal invasive species, Alliaria petiolata (Brassicaceae), known to affect mycorrhizal communities. We found that native populations of P. pumila with a long history of coexistence with the invasive species developed more diverse symbiotic AMF communities. This effect was strongest when A. petiolata plants were actively growing with the natives, and in soils with the longest history of A. petiolata growth. These results suggest that despite the ancient and widespread nature of the plant-AMF symbiosis, the plant traits responsible for symbiotic preferences can nevertheless evolve rapidly in response to environmental changes.
Data from: Genotypic diversity and trait variance interact to affect marsh plant performance
1. Intraspecific diversity can have important effects on population, community and ecosystem processes, yet we have little understanding of the relative importance of genetic- vs. trait-based measures of intraspecific diversity. 2. I conducted a manipulative field experiment of plant (Spartina alterniflora) genotypic diversity and trait diversity to examine their independent and interactive effects on plant performance and community structure. I focused on variation within and among genotypes in plant stem height, a trait that varies substantially across environmental gradients and can be an important predictor of plant competition intensity. 3. Trait and genotypic diversity interactively affected multiple metrics of plant performance. Both stem density and spatial spread increased with genotypic diversity in the low trait diversity combinations, yet there were negligible to weak negative effects in the high trait diversity treatments. S. alterniflora percent cover also varied with genotypic and trait diversity, but not in a clear linear pattern. 4. There were no effects of trait or genotypic diversity on associated macrofauna above-ground, yet they interactively affected below-ground measures. Infaunal abundance and sediment oxygen availability mirrored the idiosyncratic response of plant percent cover. 5. Despite the interactive effects of genotypic and trait diversity, high trait diversity consistently increased plant performance in genotypic monoculture. 6. Synthesis: The effects of intraspecific plant trait diversity on a range of plant and community responses in this study reinforce the premise that functional differences underlie ecological effects of genetic diversity and suggest that readily measured trait variance may serve as a valuable predictor of plant performance.
Data from: Species traits and abundances predict metrics of plant–pollinator network structure, but not pairwise interactions
Plant–pollinator mutualistic networks represent the ecological context of foraging (for pollinators) and reproduction (for plants and some pollinators). Plant–pollinator visitation networks exhibit highly conserved structural properties across diverse habitats and species assemblages. The most successful hypotheses to explain these network properties are the neutrality and biological constraints hypotheses, which posit that species interaction frequencies can be explained by species relative abundances, and trait mismatches between potential mutualists respectively. However, previous network analyses emphasize the prediction of metrics of qualitative network structure, which may not represent stringent tests of these hypotheses. Using a newly documented temporally explicit alpine plant–pollinator visitation network, we show that metrics of both qualitative and quantitative network structure are easy to predict, even by models that predict the identity or frequency of species interactions poorly. A variety of phenological and morphological constraints as well as neutral interactions successfully predicted all network metrics tested, without accurately predicting species observed interactions. Species phenology alone was the best predictor of observed interaction frequencies. However, all models were poor predictors of species pairwise interaction frequencies, suggesting that other aspects of species biology not generally considered in network studies, such as reproduction for dipterans, play an important role in shaping plant–pollinator visitation network structure at this site. Future progress in explaining the structure and dynamics of mutualistic networks will require new approaches that emphasize accurate prediction of species pairwise interactions rather than network metrics, and better reflect the biology underlying species interactions.
Data from: Trait evolution, resource specialization and vulnerability to plant extinctions among Antillean hummingbirds
Species traits are thought to predict feeding specialisation and the vulnerability of a species to extinctions of interaction partners, but the context in which a species evolved and currently inhabits may also matter. Notably, the predictive power of traits may require that traits evolved to fit interaction partners. Furthermore, local abiotic and biotic conditions may be important. On islands, for instance, specialised and vulnerable species are predicted to be found mainly in mountains, whereas species in lowlands should be generalized and less vulnerable. We evaluated these predictions for hummingbirds and their nectar-food plants on Antillean islands. Our results suggest that the rates of hummingbird trait divergence were higher among ancestral mainland forms before the colonization of the Antilles. In correspondence with the limited trait evolution that occurred within the Antilles, local abiotic and biotic conditions – not species traits – correlate with hummingbird resource specialisation and the vulnerability of hummingbirds to extinctions of their floral resources. Specifically, hummingbirds were more specialised and vulnerable in conditions with high topographical complexity, high rainfall, low temperatures, and high floral resource richness, which characterize the Antillean Mountains. These findings show that resource specialisation and species vulnerability to extinctions of interaction partners are highly context dependent.
Data from: Phenotypic selection favors missing trait combinations in coexisting annual plants
Trade-offs among traits are important for maintaining biodiversity, but the role of natural selection in their construction is not often known. It is possible that trade-offs reflect fundamental constraints, negative correlational selection, or directional selection operating on costly, redundant traits. In a Sonoran Desert community of winter annual plants, we have identified a trade-off between relative growth rate and water-use efficiency among species, such that species with high relative growth rate have low water-use efficiency and vice versa. We measured selection on water-use efficiency, relative growth rate, and underlying traits within populations of four species at two study sites with different average climates. Phenotypic trait correlations within species did not match the among-species trade-off. In fact, for two species with high water-use efficiency, individuals with high relative growth rate also had high water-use efficiency. All populations experienced positive directional selection for water-use efficiency and relative growth rate. Selection tended to be stronger on water-use efficiency at the warmer and drier site, and selection on relative growth rate tended to be stronger at the cooler and wetter site. Our results indicate that directional natural selection favors a phenotype not observed among species in the community, suggesting that the among-species trade-off could be due to pervasive genetic constraints, perhaps acting in concert with processes of community assembly.
Using proxies of microbial community‐weighted means traits to explain the cascading effect of management intensity, soil and plant traits on ecosystem resilience in mountain grasslands
<p>1. Trait-based approaches provide a framework to understand the role of functional biodiversity on ecosystem functioning under global change. While plant traits have been reported as potential drivers of soil microbial community composition and resilience, studies directly assessing microbial traits are scarce, limiting our mechanistic understanding of ecosystem functioning.</p> <p>2. We used microbial biomass and enzyme stoichiometry, and mass-specific enzymes activity as proxies of microbial community-weighted mean (CWM) traits, to infer trade-offs in microbial strategies of resource use with cascading effects on ecosystem resilience. We simulated a drought event on intact plant-soil mesocosms extracted from mountain grasslands along a management intensity gradient. Ecosystem processes and properties related to nitrogen cycling were quantified before, during and after drought to characterize ecosystem resilience.</p> <p>3. Soil microbial CWM traits and ecosystem resilience to drought were strongly influenced by grassland type. Structural equation modelling revealed a cascading effect from management to ecosystem resilience through modifications in soil nutrients, and plant and microbial CWM traits. Overall, our results depict a shift from high investment in extracellular enzymes in nutrient poor soils (oligotrophic strategy), to a copiotrophic strategy with low microbial biomass N:P and low investment in extracellular enzymes associated with exploitative plant traits in nutrient rich soils.</p> <p>4. Microbial CWM traits responses to management intensity were highly related to ecosystem resilience. Microbial communities with a copiotrophic strategy had lower resistance but higher recovery to drought, while microbial communities with an oligotrophic strategy showed the opposite responses. The unexpected trade-off between plant and microbial resistance suggested that the lower resistance of copiotrophic microbial communities enabled plant resistance to drought.</p> <p>5. Synthesis Grassland management has cascading effects on ecosystem resilience through its combined effects on soil nutrients and plant traits propagating to microbial traits and resilience. We suggest that intensification of permanent grassland management and associated increases in soil nutrient availability decreased plant-microbe competition for N under drought through the selection of drought-sensitive microbial communities with a copiotrophic strategy that promoted plant resistance. Including proxies of microbial CWM traits into the functional trait framework will strengthen our understanding of soil ecosystem functioning under global change.</p>
Data from: Association between inbreeding depression and floral traits in a generalist-pollinated plant
Individual variation in the magnitude of inbreeding depression (ID) in plants and its association with phenotypic traits may have important consequences for mating system evolution. This association has been investigated only scarcely, and always considering traits functionally related to autogamy. Here, we explore the association between individual variation in ID and plant traits associated with pollinator attractiveness (related to plant size, corolla size and corolla shape) in two populations of Erysimum mediohispanicum (Brassicaceae). ID was calculated along the entire life cycle of the plants. In addition, we also explored the relationship between phenotypic traits and the individual levels of heterozygosity. We found significant associations between ID and corolla diameter and stalk height, being taller plants with larger corollas those undergoing a lower intensity of ID. Furthermore, we found a negative relationship between corolla diameter and heterozygosity, suggesting that plants with large flowers have purged their genetic load. Finally, we found a significant effect of corolla diameter on the intrapopulation genetic structure. All these findings suggest that plants with large flowers have secularly suffered frequent inbreeding in the study populations. Because corolla diameter is a trait frequently selected by pollinators in E. mediohispanicum, we believe that the observed relationship between this trait and ID could be mediated by pollinators, probably throughout an increasing in biparental inbreeding, geitonogamy or autogamy.
Flower traits, habitat and phylogeny as predictors of pollinator service: a plant community perspective
<p>Pollinator service is essential for successful sexual reproduction and long-term population persistence of animal-pollinated plants, and innumerable studies have shown that insufficient service by pollinators results in impaired sexual reproduction ("pollen limitation"). Studies directly addressing the predictors of variation in pollinator service across species or habitats remain comparatively scarce, which limits our understanding of the primary causes of natural variation in pollen limitation. This paper evaluates the importance of pollination-related features, evolutionary history and environment as predictors of pollinator service in a large sample of plant species from undisturbed montane habitats in southeastern Spain. Quantitative data on pollinator visitation were obtained for 191 insect-pollinated species belonging to 142 genera in 43 families, and the predictive values of simple floral traits (perianth type, class of pollinator visitation unit, and visitation unit dry mass), phylogeny, and habitat type were assessed. A total of 24,866 pollinator censuses accounting for 5,414,856 flower-min of observation were conducted on 510 different dates. Flowering patch and single flower visitation probabilities by all pollinators combined were significantly predicted by the combined effects of perianth type (open vs. restricted), class of visitation unit (single flower vs. flower packet), mass of visitation unit, phylogenetic relationships, and habitat type. Pollinator composition at insect order level varied extensively among plant species, largely reflecting the contrasting visitation responses of Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera to variation in floral traits. Pollinator composition had a strong phylogenetic component, and the distribution of phylogenetic autocorrelation hotspots of visitation rates across the plant phylogeny differed widely among insect orders. Habitat type was a key predictor of pollinator composition, as major insect orders exhibited decoupled variation across habitat types in visitation rates. Comprehensive pollinator sampling of a regional plant community has shown that pollinator visitation and composition can be parsimoniously predicted by a combination of simple floral features, habitat type and evolutionary history. Ambitious community-level studies can help to formulate novel hypotheses and questions, shed fresh light on long-standing controversies in pollination research (e.g., "pollination syndromes"), and identify methodological cautions that should be considered in pollination community studies dealing with small, phylogenetically-biased plant species samples.</p>
Data from: Linking native and invader traits explains native spider population responses to plant invasion
Theoretically, the functional traits of native species should determine how natives respond to invader-driven changes. To explore this idea, we simulated a large-scale plant invasion using dead spotted knapweed (Centaurea stoebe) stems to determine if native spiders' web-building behaviors could explain differences in spider population responses to structural changes arising from C. stoebe invasion. After two years, irregular web-spiders were >30 times more abundant and orb weavers were >23 times more abundant on simulated invasion plots compared to controls. Additionally, irregular web-spiders on simulated invasion plots built webs that were 4.4 times larger and 5.0 times more likely to capture prey, leading to >2-fold increases in recruitment. Orb-weavers showed no differences in web size or prey captures between treatments. Web-spider responses to simulated invasion mimicked patterns following natural invasions, confirming that C. stoebe's architecture is likely the primary attribute driving native spider responses to these invasions. Differences in spider responses were attributable to differences in web construction behaviors relative to historic web substrate constraints. Orb-weavers in this system constructed webs between multiple plants, so they were limited by the overall quantity of native substrates but not by the architecture of individual native plant species. Irregular web-spiders built their webs within individual plants and were greatly constrained by the diminutive architecture of native plant substrates, so they were limited both by quantity and quality of native substrates. Evaluating native species traits in the context of invader-driven change can explain invasion outcomes and help to identify factors limiting native populations.
Data from: Interactive life-history traits predict sensitivity of plants and animals to temporal autocorrelation
Temporal autocorrelation in demographic processes is an important aspect of population dynamics, but a comprehensive examination of its effects on different life-history strategies is lacking. We use matrix populations models from 454 plant and animal populations to simulate stochastic population growth rates (log λs) under different temporal autocorrelations in demographic rates, using simulated and observed covariation among rates. We then test for differences in sensitivities, or changes, of log λs to changes in autocorrelation among two major axes of life-history strategies, obtained from phylogenetically-informed principal component analysis: the fast-slow and semelparous-iteroparous continua. Fast life histories exhibit highest sensitivities to simulated autocorrelation in demographic rates across reproductive strategies. Slow life histories are less sensitive to temporal autocorrelation, but their sensitivities increase among highly iteroparous species. We provide cross-taxonomic evidence that changes in the autocorrelation of environmental variation may affect a wide range of species, depending on complex interactions of life-history strategies.
Data from: Geographic variation of reproductive traits and competition for pollinators in a bird-pollinated plant
Geographic variation in the reproductive traits of animal-pollinated plants can be shaped by spatially variable selection imposed by differences in the local pollination environment. We investigated this in Babiana ringens (Iridaceae), an enigmatic species from the Western Cape region of South Africa. B. ringens has evolved a specialized perch facilitating cross-pollination by sunbirds and displays striking geographic variation in perch size and floral traits. Here, we investigate whether this variation can be explained by geographic differences in the pollinator communities. We measured floral and inflorescence traits, abiotic variables (N, P, C and rainfall) and made observations of sunbirds in populations spanning the range of B. ringens. In each population, we recorded sunbird species identity and measured visitation rates, inter-floral pollen transfer and whether the seed set of flowers was pollen limited. To evaluate whether competition from co-occurring sunbird-pollinated species might reduce visitation, we quantified nectar rewards in B. ringens and of other co-flowering bird-pollinated species in local communities in which populations occurred. Variation in abiotic variables was not associated with geographical variation of traits in B. ringens. Malachite sunbirds were the dominant visitor (97% of visits) and populations with larger-sized traits exhibited higher visitation rates, more between-flower pollen transfer and set more seed. No sunbirds were observed in four populations, all with smaller-sized traits. Sunbird visitation to B. ringens was not associated with local sunbird activity in communities, but sunbird visitation was negatively associated with the amount of B. ringens sugar relative to the availability of alternative nectar sources. Our study provides evidence that B. ringens populations with larger floral traits are visited more frequently by sunbirds and we propose that visitation rates to B. ringens may be influenced, in part, by competition with other sunbird pollinated species.
Data from: Contrasting trait assembly patterns in plant and bird communities along environmental and human-induced land-use gradients
Human-driven environmental changes can induce marked shifts in the functional structure of biological communities with possible repercussion on important ecosystem functions and services. At the same time it remains unclear to which extent these changes may differently affect various types of organisms. We investigated species richness and community functional structure of species assemblages at the landscape scale (1km2 plots) for two contrasting model taxa, i.e., plants (producers and sessile organisms) and birds (consumers and mobile organisms), along topography, climate, landscape heterogeneity, and land-use (agriculture and urbanization) gradients in a densely populated region of Switzerland. Our study revealed that agricultural and urban land uses drove marked shifts in the functional structure of biological communities compared to changes along climate and topography gradients, especially for plants, while for birds these changes were comparable. Agricultural and urban land uses enhanced divergence in traits related to resource use for birds (diet and nesting), growth forms, dispersal, and reproductive traits for plants, while it induced convergence in vegetative plant traits (plant height and leaf dry matter content). These results suggest that contrasting assembly patterns may arise within and across taxonomic groups along the same environmental gradients as result of distinct underlying processes and 'organism-specific' environmental perceptions. Our results further suggest a potential homogenization of biological communities, as well as low functional diversity and redundancy levels of bird assemblages in our human-dominated study region. This might potentially compromise the maintenance of key ecological processes under future environmental changes.
Data from: Nurse species and indirect facilitation through grazing drive plant community functional traits in tropical alpine peatlands
Facilitation among plants mediated by grazers occurs when an unpalatable plant extends its protection against grazing to another plant. This type of indirect facilitation impacts species coexistence and ecosystem functioning in a large array of ecosystems worldwide. It has nonetheless generally been understudied so far in comparison with the role played by direct facilitation among plants. We aimed at providing original data on indirect facilitation at the community scale to determine the extent to which indirect facilitation mediated by grazers can shape plant communities. Such experimental data are expected to contribute to refining the conceptual framework on plant–plant–herbivore interactions in stressful environments. We set up a 2-year grazing exclusion experiment in tropical alpine peatlands in Bolivia. Those ecosystems depend entirely on a few, structuring cushion-forming plants (hereafter referred to as "nurse" species), in which associated plant communities develop. Fences have been set over two nurse species with different strategies to cope with grazing (direct vs. indirect defenses), which are expected to lead to different intensities of indirect facilitation for the associated communities. We collected functional traits which are known to vary according to grazing pressure (LDMC, leaf thickness, and maximum height), on both the nurse and their associated plant communities in grazed (and therefore indirect facilitation as well) and ungrazed conditions. We found that the effect of indirectly facilitated on the associated plant communities depended on the functional trait considered. Indirect facilitation decreased the effects of grazing on species relative abundance, mean LDMC, and the convergence of the maximum height distribution of the associated communities, but did not affect mean height or cover. The identity of the nurse species and grazing jointly affected the structure of the associated plant community through indirect facilitation. Our results together with the existing literature suggest that the "grazer–nurse–beneficiary" interaction module can be more complex than expected when evaluated in the field.
Data from: Attracting mutualists and antagonists: plant trait variation explains the distribution of specialist floral herbivores and pollinators on crops and wild gourds
PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Floral traits play important roles in pollinator attraction and defense against floral herbivory. However, plants may experience trade-offs between conspicuousness to pollinators and herbivore attraction. Comparative studies provide an excellent framework to examine the role of multiple traits shaping mutualist and antagonist interactions. METHODS: To assess whether putative defensive and attractive traits predict species interactions, we grew 20 different Cucurbitaceae species and varieties in the field to measure interactions with pollinators and herbivores and in the greenhouse to assess trait variation. Cucurbits are characterized by the production of cucurbitacins, bitter nonvolatile terpenoids that are effective against generalist herbivores but can attract specialist beetles. We determined whether plant traits such as cucurbitacins predict herbivore resistance and pollinator attraction using an information-theoretic approach. KEY RESULTS: Mutualists and floral antagonists were attracted to the same cucurbit varieties once they flowered. However, rather than cucurbitacin concentration, we found that the size of the flower and volatile emissions of floral sesquiterpenoids explained both pollinator and floral herbivore visitation preference across cucurbit taxa. This pattern held across cucurbit taxa and within the Cucurbita genus. CONCLUSIONS: Surprisingly, floral sesquiterpenoid volatiles, which are associated with direct defense, indirect defense, and attraction, rather than defense traits such as cucurbitacins, appeared to drive interactions with both pollinators and floral herbivores across cucurbit taxa. Identifying the relevant plant traits for attraction and deterrence is important in this economically valuable crop, particularly if pollinators and floral herbivores use the same plant traits as cues.
Plant traits shape soil legacy effects on individual plant-insect interactions
<p>Plant-mediated soil legacy effects can be important determinants of the performance of plants and their aboveground insect herbivores, but so far, soil legacy effects on plant-insect interactions have been tested for only a limited number of host plant species and soils. Here, we tested the performance of a polyphagous aboveground herbivore, caterpillars of the cabbage moth, <i>Mamestra brassicae</i> on twelve host plant species that were grown on a set of soils conditioned by each of these twelve species. We tested how growth rate (fast- or slow-growing) and functional type (grass or forb) of the plant species that conditioned the soil and of the responding host plant species growing in those soils affect the response of insect herbivores to conditioned soils. Our results show that plants and insect herbivores had lower biomass in soils that were conditioned by fast-growing forbs than in soils conditioned by slow-growing forbs. In soils conditioned by grasses, growth rate of the conditioning plant had the opposite effect, i.e., plants and herbivores had higher biomass in soils conditioned by fast-growing grasses, than in soils conditioned by slow-growing grasses. <a name="_Hlk21962191">We show that the response of aboveground insects to soil legacy effects is strongly positively correlated with the response of the host plant species, indicating that plant vigour may explain these relationships. </a>We provide evidence that soil communities can play an important role in shaping plant-insect interactions aboveground. Our results further emphasize the important and interactive role of the conditioning and the response plant in mediating soil-plant-insect interactions.</p>
Data from: Quantifying the importance of functional traits for primary production in aquatic plant communities
1. Aquatic plant meadows are important coastal habitats that sustain many ecosystem functions such as primary production and carbon sequestration. Currently, there is a knowledge gap in understanding which plant functional traits e.g. leaf size or plant height underlie primary production in aquatic plant communities. 2. To study how plant traits are related to primary production, we conducted a field survey in the Baltic Sea, Finland, which is characterized by high plant species and functional diversity. 30 sites along an exposure gradient were sampled (150 plots) and nine plant morphological and chemical traits measured. The aim was to discern how community-weighted mean traits affect community production and whether this relationship changes along an environmental gradient using structural equation modelling (SEM). 3. Plant height had a direct positive effect on production along the exposure gradient (r = 0.33) and indirect effects through two leaf chemical traits, Leaf δ15N and Leaf δ13C (r = 0.24 and 0.18 respectively) resulting in a total effect of 0.28. In plant communities experiencing varying exposure, traits such as root N concentration and leaf δ15N had positive and negative effects on production, respectively. 4. Synthesis: Our results demonstrate that the relationship between plant functional traits and community production is variable and changes over environmental gradients. Plant height generally has a positive effect on community production along an exposure gradient, while the link between other traits and production changes in plant communities experiencing varying degrees of exposure. Thus, the underlying biological mechanisms influencing production differ in plant communities, emphasizing the need to resolve variability and its drivers in real-world communities. Importantly, functionally diverse plant communities sustain ecosystem functioning differently and highlight the importance of benthic diversity for coastal ecosystem stability.
Data from: Correlated evolution of mating system and floral display traits in flowering plants and its implications for the distribution of mating system variation
Reduced allocation to structures for pollinator attraction is predicted in selfing species. We explored the association between outcrossing and floral display in a broad sample of angiosperms. We used the demonstrated relationship to test for bias against selfing species in the outcrossing rate distribution, the shape of which has relevance for the stability of mixed mating. Relationships between outcrossing rate, flower size, flower number and floral display, measured as the product of flower size and number, were examined using phylogenetically independent contrasts. The distribution of floral displays among species in the outcrossing rate database was compared with that of a random sample of the same flora. The outcrossing rate was positively associated with the product of flower size and number; individually, components of display were less strongly related to outcrossing. Compared with a random sample, species in the outcrossing rate database showed a deficit of small floral display sizes. We found broad support for reduced allocation to attraction in selfing species. We suggest that covariation between mating systems and total allocation to attraction can explain the deviation from expected trade-offs between flower size and number. Our results suggest a bias against estimating outcrossing rates in the lower half of the distribution, but not specifically against highly selfing species.
Data from: Strong natural selection during plant restoration favors an unexpected suite of plant traits
Restoration is an opportunity to study natural selection: one can measure the distribution of traits in source propagules used to found populations, compare this with the distribution of traits in successful recruits, and determine the strength and direction of selection on potentially adaptive traits. We asked if natural selection influenced seedling establishment during post-fire restoration in the Great Basin, an area where large-scale restoration occurs with a few widely available cultivars planted over a large range of environmental conditions. We collected seeds from established plants of the perennial grass Elymus elymoides ssp. californicus (squirreltail) at two restoration sites, and compared the distribution of phenotypic traits of surviving plants with the original pool of restoration seeds. Seeds were planted in common gardens for two generations. Plants grown from seeds that established in the field were a non-random subset of the original seeds, with directional selection consistently favoring a correlated suite of traits in both field sites: small plant and seed size, and earlier flowering phenology. These results demonstrate that natural selection can affect restoration establishment in strong and predictable ways, and that adaptive traits in these sites were opposite of the current criteria used for selection of restoration material in this system.
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Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
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