Find research datasets worth reusing

Search datasets from major research repositories and use ShareScore to quickly assess how well each record supports discovery, access, and reuse.

104

datasets available to search

ShareScore release 0.9.0

Dataset results

104 results for “forbs”

Learn how ShareScore rates datasets ↗

dryad36/100

Data from: Climate change shifts natural selection and the adaptive potential of the perennial forb Boechera stricta in the Rocky Mountains

Heritable genetic variation is necessary for populations to evolve in response to anthropogenic climate change. However, antagonistic genetic correlations among traits may constrain the rate of adaptation, even if substantial genetic variation exists. We examine potential genetic responses to selection by comparing multivariate genetic variance-covariances of traits and fitness (multivariate Robertson-Price identities) across different environments in a reciprocal transplant experiment of the forb Boechera stricta in the Rocky Mountains. By transplanting populations into four common gardens arrayed along an elevational gradient, and exposing populations to control and snow removal treatments, we simulated future and current climates and snowmelt regimes. Genetic variation in flowering and germination phenology declined in plants moved downslope to warmer, drier sites, suggesting that these traits may have a limited ability to evolve under future climates. Simulated climate change via snow removal altered the strength of selection on flowering traits, but we found little evidence that genetic correlations among traits are likely to affect the rate of adaptation to climate change. Overall, our results suggest that climate change may alter the evolutionary potential of B. stricta, but reduced expression of genetic variation may be a larger impediment to adaptation than constraints imposed by antagonistic genetic correlations.

opencc-zeroSep 2019View details →

dryad36/100

Data from: Declining demographic performance and dispersal limitation influence the geographic distribution of the perennial forb, Astragalus utahensis (fabaceae)

1. A central goal of ecology is understanding the determinants of species' distributions. 'Metapopulation' models for the existence of distributional boundaries predict that species' geographic ranges arise from the landscape-scale deterioration of habitat suitability towards the range edge (i.e. niche mechanisms), which simultaneously hinders demographic performance and limits dispersal to suitable habitat beyond the edge (i.e. dispersal limitation). However, few studies have examined both of these mechanisms for the same species by examining abundance and comprehensive measures of demographic performance across the distribution and beyond its boundary. 2. We tested the predictions of metapopulation models for range limits by contrasting abundance, demographic performance, and population growth (λ) of the perennial forb Astragalus utahensis in central and northern range edge populations. We tested for dispersal limitation by transplanting individuals at and beyond the northern range boundary and monitoring their demographic performance. 3. Astragalus abundance and stochastic λ decreased from the range center to the northern range edge, with stochastic λ falling to or below replacement in range edge populations. However, transplants at some sites beyond the northern range edge survived and reproduced at levels similar to transplants within the range. Thus, in addition to deteriorating conditions at the range edge, dispersal limitation appears to contribute to limiting A. utahensis' northern distribution. 4. Synthesis: Our results support metapopulation models for range limits by suggesting that decreased demographic performance constrains the viability of range edge populations while contributing to dispersal limitation of A. utahensis' distribution. Thus, the tandem action of niche and dispersal processes appears to play an important role in constraining this species' northern latitudinal range.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

dryad36/100

Early- and late-flowering forbs and recruitment limitation

We conducted an experiment to test whether three early- and three late-flowering forb species are seed or recruitment limited, if mowing can incluence this limitation, and if forb additions will impact overal plant diversity in ongoing restorations. A split-plot design was initiated with mowing or no mowing in main plots, and forb additions (transplants or seeds, single species or mixtures) in suplots at three sites. Target forb biomass, survivorship and percent cover were sampled over three years (2019-2021). target forb total biomass (all individuals combined per plot) was much higher when transplants were added than when seeds were added. Plant diversity measures were estimated within subplots to determine if forb additions impacted diversity. Plant diversity was higher when forbs were transplanted, than when they were seeded, and diversity increased linearly with the number of forb species added. Mowed and unmowed plots had similar diversity and forb abundances. We recommend transplanting a rich mix of early and late flowering forbs to increase their biomass and ensure flowering throughout the growing season in prairie restorations.

opencc-zeroNov 2023View details →

dryad36/100

Ventenata Dubia Cover, forb diversity and forb richness

Questions: Grassland degradation due to agriculture, changing fire regimes, and invasive species negatively affects forb communities. Conserving forbs and the services they provide requires a better understanding of their responses to interacting disturbances. Although fire and livestock grazing are important disturbances, their effect on forb communities in the Pacific Northwest Bunchgrass Prairies is not fully understood. Our objectives were to: 1) determine how prescribed fire and livestock grazing influence forb community composition, cover, species richness, and diversity over a 10-year span; 2) identify indicator species for each treatment; and 3) quantify forb responses to increasing cover of the invasive grass Ventenata dubia. Location: Pacific Northwest Bunchgrass Prairie, Oregon, USA. Methods: We monitored plant responses in a manipulative study established in 2004 with four treatments (prescribed fire, livestock grazing, both fire and grazing, and a control with no fire or grazing). Fall burns occurred in 2006 and 2016. Results: Forb communities changed significantly over ten years and were influenced more by fire than cattle grazing. Treatments involving fire were more associated with annual forbs and fewer perennial species than treatments not burned. Although forb cover was lower in grazed compared to ungrazed treatments, richness and diversity did not differ among treatments. Several fire-adapted forb species were associated with burned treatments. V. dubia cover was negatively correlated with forb cover and richness in 2016 and 2018 when cover of this invasive species reached 20-37%. Conclusions: We found fall prescribed burns at a ten-year return interval affected forb community composition and cover but not richness or diversity. Fire may promote annual and fire-tolerant perennial forbs, but this relationship may be compromised by V. dubia invasions. This study provides insights into management strategies aimed at conserving forb communities and emphasizes the need for continued monitoring of the invasion of V. dubia in this unique prairie.

opencc-zeroApr 2022View details →

dryad36/100

Dataset of forb composition in a Pacific Northwest Bunchgrass Prairie

This dataset supports the research article "Forb composition gradients and intra-annual variation in a threatened Pacific Northwest Bunchgrass Prairie; Averett and Endress. In Print. Ecology and Evolution". This data includes: (1) perennial forb species composition data from Pacific Northwest Bunchgrass Pairie habitat in the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range, northeastern Oregon; (2) environmental, abiotic, and species trait variables measured from each sampling site; (3) plant species list; (4) densities of culturally important forb species; and (5) long-term sample dates for vegetation plots from the Starkey Experimental Forest and surrounding National Forest lands. Forb composition data was collected from 29 plots in the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range, northeastern Oregon, at three different times during 2016 (April; May; July).

opencc-zeroMay 2022View details →

dryad36/100

Data for: Prescribed fire increases plant-pollinator network robustness to losses of rare native forbs

Restoration efforts often focus on changing the composition and structure of invaded plant communities, with two implicit assumptions: 1) functional interactions with species of other trophic levels, such as pollinators, will reassemble automatically when native plant diversity is restored; and 2) restored communities will be more resilient to future stressors. However, the impact of restoration activities on pollinator richness, plant-pollinator interaction network structure, and network robustness is incompletely understood. Leveraging a restoration chronosequence in Pacific Northwest prairies, we examined the effects of restoration-focused prescribed fire and native forb replanting on floral resources, pollinator visitation, and plant-pollinator network structure. We then simulated the effects of plant species loss/removal scenarios on secondary extinction cascades in the networks. Specifically, we explored three management-relevant plant loss scenarios (removal of an abundant exotic forb, removal of an abundant forb designated a noxious weed, and loss of the rarest native forb) and compared them to control scenarios. Pyrodiversity, proportion of area recently burned, and cumulative replanting effort (plugging and seeding) over the prior 10 years increased the abundance and diversity of floral resources, with concomitant increases in pollinator visitation and diversity. Pyrodiversity also decreased network connectance and nestedness, increased modularity, and buffered networks against secondary extinction cascades. Rare forbs contributed disproportionately to network robustness in less restored prairies, while removal of typical "problem" plants like exotic and noxious species had relatively small impacts on network robustness, particularly in prairies with a long history of restoration activities. Restoration actions aimed mainly at improving the diversity and abundance of pollinator-provisioning plants may also produce plant-pollinator networks with increased resilience to plant species losses.

opencc-zeroFeb 2023View details →

dryad36/100