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163 results for “functional plant traits”
Data from: Leaf metabolic traits reveal hidden dimensions of plant form and function
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Species composition and plant functional traits on Hog and Metompkin Islands, VA 2016-2017
Physical characteristics (soil salinity, elevation, distance from shoreline) and biological parameters (species composition, cover, biomass, and functional traits) were measured for plants on Hog Island (Northampton Co. VA) and Metompkin Island (Accomack County, VA). Physical parameters were measured during 2016. Plant biomass, species composition, percent cover, and functional traits were measured in 2017. Data Table 1: Environmental and geographic data on Hog and Metompkin Islands, VA 2016 Data Table 2: Species composition and aboveground plant functional traits on Hog and Metompkin Islands, VA 2017 Data Table 3: Vegetative biomass on Hog and Metompkin Islands, VA 2017 Data Table 4: Plot-level root functional traits on Hog and Metompkin Islands, VA 2017 Data Table 5: Latitude-longitude coordinates of plots on Hog and Metompkin Islands, VA 2016-2017
Studies of NH4+ and NO3- uptake ability of subalpine plants and resource-use strategy identified by their functional traits
<p>Data for the preprint "Studies of NH4+ and NO3- uptake ability of subalpine plants and resource-use strategy identified by their functional traits.”, by Legay N. , Grassein F., Arnoldi C., Segura R., Laîné P., Lavorel S., Clément J.C.</p>
Data from: Trait matching and phenological overlap increase the spatio-temporal stability and functionality of plant-pollinator interactions
<p>Morphology and phenology influence plant-pollinator network structure, but whether they generate more stable pairwise interactions with higher pollination success is unknown. Here we evaluate the importance of morphological trait matching, phenological overlap and specialisation for the spatio-temporal stability (measured as variability) of plant-pollinator interactions and for pollination success, while controlling for species abundance. To this end, we combined a six-year plant-pollinator interaction dataset, with information on species traits, phenologies, specialisation, abundance and pollination success, into structural equation models. Interactions among abundant plants and pollinators with well-matched traits and phenologies formed the stable and functional backbone of the pollination network, whereas poorly-matched interactions were variable in time and had lower pollination success. We conclude that phenological overlap could be more useful for predicting changes in species interactions than species abundances, and that non-random extinction of species with well-matched traits could decrease the stability of interactions within communities and reduce their functioning.</p>
Data from: Trait-based formal definition of plant functional types and functional communities in the multi-species and multi-traits context
<p>The concepts of traits, plant functional types (PFT), and functional communities are effective tools for the study of complex phenomena such as plant community assembly. Here, we (1) suggest a procedure formalising the classification of response traits to construct a PFT system; (2) integrate the PFT, and species compositional data to formally define functional communities; and, (3) identify environmental drivers that underpin the functional-community patterns.A species–trait data set featuring species pooled from two study sites (Eneabba and Cooljarloo, Western Australia), both supporting kwongan vegetation (sclerophyllous scrub and woodland communities), was subjected to classification to define PFTs. Species of both study sites were replaced with the newly derived PFTs and projected cover abundance-weighted means calculated for every plot. Functional communities were defined by classifications of the abundance-weighted PFT data in the respective sites. Distance-based redundancy analysis (using the abundance-weighted community and environmental data) was used to infer drivers of the functional community patterns for each site.A classification based on trait data assisted in reducing trait-space complexity in the studied vegetation and revealed 26 PFTs shared across the study sites. In total, seven functional communities were identified. We demonstrate a putative functional-community pattern-driving effect of soil-texture (clay—sand) gradients at Eneabba (42% of the total inertia explained) and that of water repellence at Cooljarloo (36%). Synthesis. This paper presents a procedure formalising the classification of multiple response traits leading to the delineation of PFTs and functional communities. This step captures plant responses to stresses and disturbance characteristic of kwongan vegetation, including low nutrient status, water stress, and fire (a landscape-level disturbance factor). Our study is the first to introduce a formal procedure assisting their formal recognition. Our results support the role of short-term abiotic drivers structuring the formation of fine-scale functional community patterns in a complex, species-rich vegetation of Western Australia.</p>
Data from: Functional traits, not productivity, predict openness to seedling recruitment in alpine plant communities under climatic warming
Understanding the degree to which plant communities are open to seedling recruitment is key to predicting how they will be impacted by climate change. We experimentally assessed whether communities assembled under colder climates were inherently more open to recruitment than warmer-climate communities, after controlling for differences in the current climate under which the communities were growing. We then tested whether variation in openness to recruitment could be explained by community biomass or by the plant functional traits of the community. The study was conducted in a climate grid of twelve grassland sites across southern Norway, differing systematically in temperature and precipitation. Along a 2000 mm precipitation gradient, we transplanted turfs with intact plant communities from alpine and sub-alpine sites into 2℃ warmer sites, and measured natural seedling emergence in these transplanted turfs vs. locally replanted control turfs at the transplant destination sites. Mixed effect models were used to assess the effect of origin (cold vs warm climate), biomass, and functional trait composition of the communities on seedling emergence. We further assessed variation in these effects across different climatic contexts (the temperature and precipitation gradients). Communities originating from colder climates were consistently more open to recruitment, with on average 44% more seedlings emerging, than the locally replanted control communities. The higher rates of seedling emergence in colder-climate communities were attributable to systematic differences in plant functional traits, but not in biomass. The colder-climate communities were composed of species with smaller leaves and lower maximum plant heights; traits that may make these communities less effective at excluding new recruits. These trait-related responses were not significant in the warmest sites and did not very across the precipitation gradient. Our results suggest that alpine species lack the competitive effect traits required to make their communities resistant to invasion by novel competitors under climate change.
Tree seedling functional traits mediate plant-soil feedback survival responses across a gradient of light availability
<p>Though not often examined together, both plant-soil feedbacks (PSFs) and functional traits have important influences on plant community dynamics and could interact. For example, seedling functional traits could impact seedling survivorship responses to soils cultured by conspecific versus heterospecific adults. Furthermore, levels of functional traits could vary with soil culturing source. In addition, these relationships might shift with light availability, which can affect trait values, microbe abundance, and whether mycorrhizal colonization is mutualistic or parasitic to seedlings.</p> <p>To determine the extent to which functional traits mediate PSFs via seedling survival, we conducted a field experiment. We planted seedlings of four temperate tree species across a gradient of light availability and into soil cores collected beneath conspecific (sterilized and live) and heterospecific adults. We monitored seedling survival twice per week over one growing season, and we randomly selected subsets of seedlings to measure mycorrhizal colonization and phenolics, lignin, and NSC levels at three weeks.</p> <p>Though evidence for PSFs was limited, <em>Acer saccharum</em> seedlings exhibited positive PSFs (i.e., higher survival in conspecific than heterospecific soils). In addition, soil microbes had a negative effect on <em>A. saccharum</em> and <em>Prunus serotina</em> seedling survival, with reduced survival in live versus sterilized conspecific soil. In general, we found higher trait values (measured amounts of a given trait) in conspecific than heterospecific soils and higher light availability. Additionally, <em>A. saccharum</em> survival increased with higher levels of phenolics, which were higher in conspecific soils and high light.<em> Quercus alba</em> survival decreased with higher AMF colonization.</p> <p>We demonstrate that functional trait values in seedlings as young as three weeks vary in response to soil source and light availability. Moreover, seedling survivorship was associated with trait values for two species, despite both drought and heavy rainfall during the growing season that may have obscured survivorship-trait relationships. These results suggest that seedling traits could have an important role in mediating the effects of local soil source and light levels on seedling survivorship and thus plant traits could have an important role in PSFs.</p>
Inter- and intraspecific selection in alien plants: how population growth, functional traits and climate responses change with residence time
<p><strong>Aim: </strong>When alien species are introduced to new ranges, climate or trait mismatches may initially constrain their population growth. However, inter- and intraspecific selection in the new environment should cause population growth rates to increase with residence time. Using a species-for-time approach, we test whether with increasing residence time (a) negative effects of climatic mismatches between the species' new and native range on population growth weaken, and (b) functional traits converge towards values that maximize population growth in the new range.</p> <p><strong>Location:</strong> Germany.</p> <p><strong>Time period: </strong>12,000 years BP to present.</p> <p><strong>Major taxa studied: </strong>46 plant species of the Asteraceae family.</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> We set up a common-garden mesocosm-experiment using annual plant species with a wide range of residence times (7-12,000 years) and followed their population dynamics over two years. We calculated climatic distance between the common garden and the species' native range. We also measured key functional traits of each species to analyse trait-demography relationships and test trait convergence with increasing residence time.</p> <p><strong>Results: </strong>We found no support for the hypothesis that negative effects of climatic mismatches on population growth weaken with residence time. However, seed mass had a clear negative effect on population growth. As expected under such strong directional selection between or within species, increasing residence time led seed mass to converge to low values that increase population growth. Accordingly, population growth tended to increase with residence time.</p> <p><strong>Main conclusions: </strong>We identify trait but not climatic mismatches as important constraints on population growth of invaders. Understanding how inter- and intraspecific selection shapes functional traits of alien species should improve the predictability of future invasions and help understanding limits to the population growth and spread of invaders already present. In a broader context, this study contributes to the conceptual integration of invasion biology with community, functional, and population ecology.</p>
Functional traits explain the consistent resistance of biodiversity to plant invasion under nitrogen enrichment
<p>Elton's biotic resistance hypothesis, which posits that diverse communities should be more resistant to biological invasions, has received considerable experimental support. However, it remains unclear whether such a negative diversity–invasibility relationship would persist under anthropogenic environmental change. By using the common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) as a model invader, our four-year grassland experiment demonstrated consistently negative relationships between resident species diversity and community invasibility, irrespective of nitrogen addition, a result further supported by a meta-analysis. Importantly, our experiment showed that plant diversity consistently resisted invasion simultaneously through increased resident biomass, increased trait dissimilarity among residents, and increased community weighted means of resource-conservative traits that strongly resist invasion, pointing to the importance of both trait complementarity and sampling effects for invasion resistance even under resource enrichment. Our study provides unique evidence that considering species functional traits can help further our understanding of biotic resistance to biological invasions in a changing environment.</p>
Clonal functional traits favor the invasive success of alien plants into native communities
<p><span>Functional traits are frequently proposed to determine the invasiveness of alien species. However, few empirical studies have directly manipulated functional traits and tested their importance in the invasion success of alien species into native plant communities, particularly under global change. We manipulated clonal integration (a key clonal functional trait) of four alien clonal plants by severing inter-ramet connections or keeping them intact, and simulated their invasion into native plant communities with two levels of species diversity, population density and nutrient availability</span><span>. High community diversity and density impeded the invasion success of the alien clonal plants. Clonal integration of the alien plants promoted their invasion success, particularly in the low-density communities associated with low species diversity or nutrient addition, which resulted in a negative correlation between performance of alien plants and native communities, as expected under global change. Thus, clonal integration can favor the invasion success of alien clonal plants into degraded resident communities with </span><span>a high degree of disturbance</span><span> and eutrophication. Our findings confirm the role of clonal</span><span> functional traits in facilitating alien plant invasions into native plant communities, and suggest that </span><span>clonal functional traits should be considered to efficiently restore degraded communities heavily invaded by alien clonal plants.</span></p>
Chronic browsing by an introduced mammalian herbivore in a tropical island alters species composition and functional traits of forest understory plant communities
<p>Mammalian herbivores have large-scale impacts on vegetation, altering structure and species composition, especially in tropical grasslands and savannas. However, there is limited understanding of the potential impacts of mammalian herbivores in tropical wet forests, where they are typically less abundant. We investigated the effects of an introduced mammalian herbivore chital (<em>Axis axis</em>) on vegetation structure, composition and leaf functional traits of tropical evergreen forests of the Andaman Islands, India. Across seven islands, representing a gradient of herbivore densities, increasing chital presence was associated with decreased understory richness, understory density and adult tree richness, but was not related to adult tree density or size class distributions. We also found a significant decrease in community-level leaf palatability traits (specific leaf area decreased and leaf thickness increased) with increasing chital habitat use. This community-level shift in leaf trait values was better explained by intra-specific variation in leaf traits across islands rather than changes in species composition. In summary, we show persistent long-term impacts of an introduced mammalian herbivore on understory tropical tree communities although there is little impact on adult tree communities. Our results also show that functional traits of species can be altered in response to novel herbivory, even at herbivore densities where there are no detectable impacts on adult forest structure or composition. Such altered functional traits may potentially alter ecosystem functioning in these forests even without changes in vegetation structure.</p>
Data from: Functional traits underlying performance variations in the overwintering of the cosmopolitan invasive plant water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) under climate warming and water drawdown
<p><span>Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicate that temperature rise is still the general trend of the global climate in the 21st century. Invasive species may benefit from the increase in temperature, as climate can be viewed as a resource, and the increase in the available resources favors the invasibility of invasive species. This study aimed to assess the overwintering growth of the cosmopolitan invasive plant water hyacinth (<em>Eichhornia crassipes</em>) at its northern boundary. Using <em>E. crassipes</em> as a model plant, a cross-year mesocosm experiment was conducted to determine 17 plant functional traits, including growth, morphological, root topological, photosynthetic and stoichiometric traits, under climate warming (ambient, temperature rises of 1.5°C and 3.0°C) and water drawdown or water withdrawal (water depths of 1 cm, 10 cm and 20 cm) treatments. The overwintering growth of <em>E. crassipes</em> was facilitated by climate warming and proper water drawdown, and climate warming played a leading role. A temperature rises of 3.0°C and a water depth of 10 cm were the most suitable conditions for the overwintering and rooting behavior of the plant. Controlling the temperature to within 1.5°C, an ambitious goal for China, still facilitated the overwintering of <em>E. crassipes</em>. With climate warming, the plant can overwinter successfully, which possibly assists it in producing and spreading new ramets in the vernal flood season. The new rooting behavior induced by ambient low temperature may be viewed as a unique growth adaptation strategy for a niche change, as it helps these plants invade empty niches left by dead free-floating plants on the water surface following winter freezes. With continued global warming, the distribution of the plant may expand northward, and eradication of the plant during the winter water drawdown period may be a more effective strategy.</span></p>
Understanding woody plant encroachment: A plant functional trait approach
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Optical traits perform equally well as directly-measured functional traits in explaining the impact of an invasive plant on litter decomposition
<p>1. Functional traits can help elucidate and predict the impact of invasive plant species on ecosystem functioning. Yet, this approach requires comprehensive and labor-intensive trait collection campaigns, covering intraspecific trait variation of both the invader and native species in the invaded community. One potential way to overcome these logistic constraints is using hyperspectral remote sensing technology to efficiently quantify functional trait values. Although such spectrally derived or 'optical' traits are known to closely link to directly-measured functional traits, little research has explored how well these optical traits perform in assessing invader-induced ecosystem impact. 2. Here, we explored the trait-mediated impact of the invasive Rosa rugosa on litter decomposition and evaluated whether optical traits perform equally well as directly-measured traits in predicting litter decomposition variation. We collected data on species-specific functional traits, leaf hyperspectral reflectance and standardized 'tea bag index' litter decomposition across 25 invaded and 25 uninvaded coastal grassland plots. The selected traits were all potentially related to litter decomposition and covered the leaf economics spectrum, additional leaf structural components and competitive ability. Optical traits were quantified through a combination of a physical radiative transfer model inversion and vegetation indices calculations. 3. Invasion significantly increased the stabilization factor, i.e. the amount of resulting recalcitrant litter. Invader impact on litter decomposition could be entirely explained by changes it induced in the functional traits of the native community, rather than by the invader's traits itself. More specifically, the invader pushed the invaded community towards traits associated with high litter quality. Optical traits performed equally well as directly-measured traits in explaining the invasion impact on the stabilization factor (R2= 41.9% vs. 38.5%). Furthermore, the interpretation of the results based on optical traits resulted in a similar functional understanding of the invader impact. 4. Synthesis: Our results indicate the potential of hyperspectral data to explain changes in ecosystem functioning. The combination of radiative transfer models and vegetation indices allowed to extract all relevant trait information from the hyperspectral data. This framework thus presents a practical short-cut to assess relevant leaf traits, requiring only a limited amount of field trait measurements.</p>
Mapping trait versus species turnover reveals spatiotemporal variation in functional redundancy and network robustness in a plant‐pollinator community
<p>1. Functional overlap among species (redundancy) is considered important in shaping competitive and mutualistic interactions that determine how communities respond to environmental change. Most studies view functional redundancy as static, yet traits within species – which ultimately shape functional redundancy – can vary over seasonal or spatial gradients. We therefore have limited understanding of how trait turnover within and between species could lead to changes in functional redundancy or how loss of traits could differentially impact mutualistic interactions depending on where and when the interactions occur in space and time.</p> <p>2. Using an Arctic bumblebee community as a case study, and 1,277 individual measures from 14 species over three annual seasons, we quantified how inter- and intraspecific body-size turnover compared to species turnover with elevation and over the season. Coupling every individual and their trait with a plant visitation, we investigated how grouping individuals by a morphological trait or by species identity altered our assessment of network structure and how this differed in space and time. Finally, we tested how the sensitivity of the network in space and time differed when simulating extinction of nodes representing either morphological trait similarity or traditional species groups. This allowed us to explore the degree to which trait-based groups increase or decrease interaction redundancy relative to species-based nodes.</p> <p>3. We found that i) groups of taxonomically and morphologically similar bees turn over in space and time independently from each other, with trait turnover being larger over the season; ii) networks composed of nodes representing species versus morphologically similar bees were structured differently; and iii) simulated loss of bee trait groups caused faster coextinction of bumblebee species and flowering plants than when bee taxonomic groups were lost. Crucially, the magnitude of these effects varied in space and time, highlighting the importance of considering spatiotemporal context when studying the relative importance of taxonomic and trait contributions to interaction network architecture.</p> <p>4. Our finding that functional redundancy varies spatiotemporally demonstrates how considering the traits of individuals within networks is needed to understand the impacts of environmental variation and extinction on ecosystem functioning and resilience.</p>
The data table of eleven invasive species in Hungary and Romania: Invasive species' cover, invasive species' traits, basic characteristics, trait composition, functional diversity indices and soil parameters of recipient plant communities
<p>We studied 11 widespread herbaceous invasive alien species of East-Central Europe and their 16 impact metrics (resident plant communities' ecological characteristics, trait composition, functional diversity, and soil parameters) by sampling invaded and similar, uninvaded sites (space-for-time substitution method). Our aim was to (1) investigate the detailed ecological impacts of invasive plants on native plant communities; (2) explore the type of cover-impact relationships across impact metrics and their consistency across species; (3) study whether the cover-impact relationship depends on functional traits of invasive species. We present the data table with the 11 invasive species: the status of the sites (invaded, uninvaded), the cover of invasive species at plot level, the invasive species traits (lifespan, height, SLA, seed mass, clonal spread, flowering duration), community characteristics (species richness and diversity, native vegetation cover and bare ground cover at plot level), trait composition of native plant communities (native vegetation height, CWM height, CWM SLA, CWM seed mass, CWM clonal spread), functional diversity (functional richness, functional evenness, functional divergence, functional distance, RaoQ) and soil properties (N, P, organic C, pH).</p>
Plant functional traits predict heterogeneous distributional shifts in response to climate change
<p>Climate change is causing the rapid redistribution of vegetation as plant species move to track their climatic optima. Despite a global trend of upward movement in latitude and elevation, there is extensive heterogeneity among species and locations, with few emerging generalizations. Greater generalization may be achieved by considering multidimensional changes in species' distributions as well as incorporating ecologically relevant functional traits into studies of range shifts.</p> <p>To better understand how recent changes in climate are influencing the elevational distribution of plant species and how species' functional traits mediate distributional changes, we resampled a 2,438-meter elevation transect spanning a distance of 16 kilometers which encompasses desert scrub, pinyon-juniper woodland, chaparral, and coniferous forest plant communities.</p> <p>Over the last 42 years, total perennial cover and species' average cover increased at lower elevations and decreased at higher elevations while the average elevational leading-edge increased 116 m and the elevational rear edge decreased 84 m. Notably, these changes were mediated by species' functional traits, where species exhibiting more conservative traits (lower SLA, greater δ13C, larger seed mass) and taller height shifted upward in their leading-edge range limit, average elevation, and trailing edge range limit, while declining in abundance at the median and trailing edge of their range. Species possessing more acquisitive traits (higher SLA, lower δ13C, smaller seed mass) and shorter height shifted downward and increased in abundance at their trailing edge, with increases in their total range size.</p> <p>Our results provide clear evidence that heterogeneous range dynamics under recent climate change can be generalized by considering ecologically relevant plant functional traits, and how they respond to localized climate exposure. Further, by documenting changes across a steep ecological gradient comprising a large aridity gradient, we show divergent patterns for plants occupying contrasting positions along the global spectrum of plant form and function, which provides critical insight into how trait-mediated changes under increasing aridity will impact ecosystem functioning.</p>
Effects of long-term mowing on leaf- and root-associated bacterial community structures are linked to functional traits in 11 plant species from a temperate steppe
<ol> <li><span>Long-term mowing can cause morphological stuntedness of plants, thus reducing grassland productivity and exacerbating grassland degradation. Although plant microbiomes can enhance plant resistance against disturbance, considerable uncertainty exists regarding how mowing and mowing-induced plant trait plasticity affect plant microbiomes in natural grasslands. </span></li> <li><span>Here we examined the responses of leaf-/root-associated bacterial (LAB/RAB) communities of 11 dominant herbaceous perennials (6 replicates per species) to a 17-year mowing treatment in a temperate grassland. We also measured leaf/root physiological and morphological traits and analyzed the relationships among mowing practice, bacterial community structures, and leaf/root trait parameters. </span></li> <li><span>We found that both leaf and root functional traits showed interspecific variations (variations across different plant species), while only the leaf traits exhibited intraspecific variation (treatment-induced variations within plant species) between the treatments. Similarly, the LAB community structure was more sensitive to mowing but less influenced by host species identity, compared to the RAB community. The RAB community structure was primarily shaped by host species identity, while mowing was a secondary influencing factor. </span></li> <li> <span>The different patterns of LAB and RAB communities in response to mowing could be specifically explained by the inter-/intraspecific variations of the related leaf and root traits. The LAB community was strongly correlated with the leaf traits which exhibited mowing-induced plasticity (intraspecific variation), with the correlations with nitrogen resorption efficiency and aboveground dry weight being the greatest. The root traits were important indicators of bacterial community structure in the root compartment across the hosts, rather than between the treatments. Root tissue density</span> <span>showed the strongest interspecific variation, and was identified as an overwhelming driver of the RAB community. The shifts in LAB/RAB communities under mowing were largely attributed to the increased proportions of Actinobacteria. The high mowing sensitivity of the LAB community was associated with the enrichment of soil-derived Actinobacteria in leaves under mowing. Actinobacteria were also the main keystone taxa in the bacterial community networks under mowing.</span> </li> <li><span>Our results demonstrate that the magnitude of plant-associated microbial community response to long-term mowing is plant compartment- and trait-variation-dependent, and advance our understanding of the leaf/root microbiome-trait relationships in complex plant communities.</span></li> </ol>
Habitat preferences and functional traits drive longevity in Himalayan high-mountain plants
<p>Plant lifespan has important evolutionary, physiological, and ecological implications related to population persistence, community stability, and resilience to ongoing environmental change impacts. Although biologists have long been puzzled over the extraordinary variation in plant lifespan and its causes, our understanding of interspecific variability in plant lifespan and the key internal and external factors influencing longevity remains limited. Here, we demonstrate the concurrent impacts of environmental, morphological, physiological, and anatomical constraints on interspecific variation in longevity among >300 vascular dicot plant species naturally occurring at an elevation gradient (2800-6150 m) in the western Himalayas. First, we show that plant longevity (ranging from 1 to 100 years) is largely related to species' habitat preferences. Ecologically stressful habitats such as alpine and subnival host long-lived species, while productive ruderal and wetland habitats contain a higher proportion of shorter-lived species. Second, longevity is influenced by growth form with monocarpic forbs having the shortest lifespan and woody shrubs having the highest. Small-statured cushion plants with compact canopies and deep roots, most found on cold and infertile alpine and subnival soils, had a higher chance of achieving longevity. Third, plant traits reflecting plant adaptations to stress and disturbance affect interspecific differences in plant longevity. We show that longevity and growth are negatively correlated. Slow-growing species are those that have a higher chance of reaching a high age. Finally, higher longevity was associated with high leaf carbon and phosphorus, low root phosphorus and nitrogen, and with large bark-xylem ratio. Our findings suggest that plant longevity in high elevation is intricately determined by a combination of habitat preferences and growth form, as well as the plant growth rate and physiological processes.</p>
Ecosystem stability is determined by plant defense functional traits and population stability under mowing in a semi-arid temperate steppe
<ol> <li><span>As a common grassland management practice in many high-latitude regions worldwide, mowing has great impacts on grassland functioning and stability. Species richness, species asynchrony and species stability have been suggested as central in responses to environmental change. Mowing can evoke plant defense systems due to physical damages to plants. However, no studies have comprehensively evaluated the role of plant defense functional traits, species richness, species asynchrony and stability in ecosystem functioning under mowing regimes across time-scales. </span></li> <li> <span>In the present study, we set up short-term (4-years) and long-term (16-years) mowing experiments with three stubble heights (control, 10 cm, 2 cm) in a temperate steppe of Inner Mongolia. We investigated the effects of mowing-induced changes in distribution metrics associated with plant defense traits, i.e. mean, variance, skewness and kurtosis of trait distribution, on ecosystem stability of grassland communities using structural equation modeling.</span> </li> <li><span>We found that grassland ecosystem stability was enhanced by increasing mowing duration and decreasing stubble height. Mowing-induced increases in abundance and diversity of plant defense traits contributed to greater ecosystem stability by enhancing species asynchrony and population stability. Moreover, we found that mowing enhanced the abundance and diversity of plant defense traits of dominant species and contributed to population stability and species asynchrony, thus enhancing temporal stability of grassland ecosystems. </span></li> <li><span>These results demonstrate the important roles of plant defense traits in maintaining stability of grasslands under mowing, and highlight that, in addition to species richness, asynchrony and population stability, plant functional defense trait act in stabilizing ecosystem functions under human-induced environmental changes.</span></li> </ol>
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