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opencc-by-4.0Dec 2023View details →

Data from: Mechanical soil disturbance in a pine savanna has multi-year effects on plant species composition

Data used in the manuscript Mechanical soil disturbance in a pine savanna has multi-year effects on plant species composition accepted for publication in Ecosphere. Data included are species lists for all plots and years, percent cover of species in each plot in 2021, and life-history characteristics (life span, dispersal mechanism, seed bank persistence) of all species. See manuscript for site description and data collection methodology.

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2014View details →

Fig. 1 in Species Composition And Structure Of The Communities Of Plant-Parasitic And Free-Living Soil Nematodes In The Greenhouses Of Botanical Gardens Of Ukraine

Fig. 1. Dendrogram of similarity of the nematode communities in the greenhouses of botanical gardens of Ukraine (amalgamation by the method of complete linkage). Explanation of the abbreviations is given in table 2. Рис. 1. Дендрограмма сходства нематодных сообществ в оранжереях ботанических садов Украины (объединение по методу полной связи). Расшифровка сокращений дана в таблице 2.

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2014View details →

Fig. 2 in Species Composition And Structure Of The Communities Of Plant-Parasitic And Free-Living Soil Nematodes In The Greenhouses Of Botanical Gardens Of Ukraine

Fig. 2. Dendrogram of similarity of plant-parasitic nematodes' communities in the greenhouses of botanical gardens of Ukraine (amalgamation by the method of complete linkage). Explanation of the abbreviations is given in table 2.

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2018View details →

Data from: Rhizosphere bacterial community composition depends on plant species identity and soil legacy effects

This record contains supplementary information for the article "Rhizosphere bacterial community composition depends on plant diversity legacy in soil and plant species identity". Supplemental Table S1. The table contains the annotation for all the samples sequenced and analyzed. Supplemental Table S2. The table contains all primer sequences used in the study. Supplemental Table S3. The zip-file contains a table with the taxonomic annotation of the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) identified in the study. Supplemental Table S4.  The zip-file contains a table with sequence counts of the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) identified in the study. Supplemental Table S5. The workbook contains a sheet with the number of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) exhibiting differential abundance in any of the contrasts tested in this study. Note that “down/up” indicates whether the OTU was less (“down”) or more (“up”) abundant in the first group of the contrast. For example, given the contrast “PH_mix_vs_mon_”, “down” corresponds to higher abundance in the pots from the monoculture plant history. Conversely, “up” refers to higher abundance in the pots from the mixed culture plant history. In addition, the workbook contains one sheet per contrast with the logBaseMean (log2 of the average normalized abundance across all samples), the logFC (log2 of the fold-change), the P-value, and the adjusted P-value (FDR). Only OTUs with a P-value <= 0.05 or an adjusted P-value (FDR) <= 0.1 are given. Supplemental Table S6. The table contains the number of bacterial OTUs annotated with a given bacterial phylum. Supplemental Table S7. The table contains all phyla tested for enrichment/depletion in the set of OTUs with an increased abundance in monoculture and mixed culture soils respectively. “Total counts (all OTUs)” corresponds to the total number of all OTUs annotated with a given phyla (reference set). “Observed” corresponds to the number of OTUs annotated with a given phyla in the set OTUs with increased abundance in monoculture/mixed culture soils (test set). "Expected" gives the number of OTUs which would be expected to be annotated with a given phyla if the test set were randomly sampled from the reference set. Supplemental File S1. The zip-file contains a fasta file with the 10'205 OTU sequences identified in the study.

openOpenJan 2009View details →

Eight Mile Lake Research Watershed, Thaw Gradient: Plant species composition and productivity 2004.

In this larger study, we are asking the question: Is old carbon that comprises the bulk of the soil organic matter pool released in response to thawing of permafrost? We are answering this question by using a combination of field and laboratory experiments to measure radiocarbon isotope ratios in soil organic matter, soil respiration, and dissolved organic carbon, in tundra ecosystems. The objective of these proposed measurements is to develop a mechanistic understanding of the SOM sources contributing to C losses following permafrost thawing. We are making these measurements at an established tundra field site near Healy, Alaska in the foothills of the Alaska Range. Field measurements center on a natural experiment where permafrost has been observed to warm and thaw over the past several decades. This area represents a gradient of sites each with a different degree of change due to permafrost thawing. As such, this area is unique for addressing questions at the time and spatial scales relevant for change in arctic ecosystems. This dataset reports aboveground biomass and aboveground net primary productivity for three sites across a gradient of permafrost thaw, as well as foliar nitrogen and foliar stable nitrogen isotopes for a subset of the plant species.

openCC0Jun 2021View details →

Plant species percent cover data: Natural Enemies, Plant Diversity and Plant Community Composition

The purpose of this experiment is to determine the influences of natural enemies, including plant pathogenic fungi and insect pests, influence plant community composition, productivity, and diversity over time. The experiment is being conducted in a subset of plots within the Big Biodiversity field, including monoculture, 2-species, 4-species, 8-species, 16-species, and 32-species plots. There are 5 different treatments: foliar fungicide, soil drench fungicide, foliar insecticide, the combination of all pesticides, and nontreated control. The pesticides are applied repeatedly throughout the growing season. Within the plots, community productivity, species composition, percent cover, and pest damage are being quantified over time.

openCC0Jun 2021View details →

Plant species percent cover data: The influence of natural enemies on plant community composition and productivity

The purpose of this experiment is to determine the influences of natural enemies, including plant pathogenic fungi and insect pests, influence plant community composition, productivity, and diversity over time. The experiment is being conducted in an old field that is burned every other year. Within the old field, there are 8 blocks, and within each block there are 6 treatments: foliar fungicide, soil drench fungicide, foliar insecticide, mammal exclosure, the combination of all enemy suppression tactics (pesticides and mammal exclosure), and a nontreated control. The pesticides are applied repeatedly throughout the growing season. Within the plots, community productivity, species composition, percent cover, and pest damage are being quantified over time.

openCC0May 2021View details →

Plant Species Composition percent cover:Nutrient Network: A cross-site investigation of bottom-up control over herbaceous plant community dynamics and ecosystem function.

This experiment is one implementation of a globally distributed experiment, known as the Nutrient Network. At Cedar Creek, as in over 70 other sites in grasslands around the world, the experiment aims to describe impacts of increased nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur and other metals) and decreased herbivory (removal of mammals by fencing). Two overarching questions are being explored with these manipulations: 1. To what extent are plant production and diversity co-limited by multiple nutrients in herbaceous-dominated communities? 2. Under what conditions do grazers or fertilization control plant biomass, diversity, and composition? By utilizing identical protocols at diverse grassland sites around the world, NutNet aims to uncover both the generalities in ecosystem functioning, and the contingencies or differences which can obscure those common mechanisms. In addition to the standard NutNet protocol, e247 includes an additional low Nitrogen gradient (1 gram Nitrogen per meter squared per year and 5 grams Nitrogen per meter squared per year in addition to the standard 10 grams Nitrogen per meter squared per year).

openCC (other)Dec 2019View details →

N and P fertilization experiment plant species composition and diversity data for South of saddle, 1990 - 2000.

The effects of nitrogen, phosphorus, and nitrogen+phosphorus fertilization on alpine plant species composition and diversity in a dry and a wet meadow community were examined. A point-quadrat system was used to estimate the cover frequencies for each species in plots in the 2 communities on the south slope of Niwot Ridge. Treatments were N, P, N+P, and control. Observations were made once per year per plot over a period of several years. Diversity (Shannon-Weaver) indices were also calculated.

openCC (other)Mar 2020View details →

Warming and snow experiment plant species composition data for Saddle snowfence, 1993 - 2000.

The International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) is a consortium of research sites seeking to understand the response of tundra plant populations to changes in growing season temperatures through a simple temperature manipulation and transplant experiment. The research goal is to examine the phenologic and reproductive responses of a set of species to experimentally-induced warming at a network of sites. The ITEX design is hierarchical, with sites participating at whatever level they are able. At the minimum, participation in ITEX requires climate monitoring (using the LTER MSR standards), a temperature manipulation using one of three possible designs, and monitoring phenologic and reproductive variables for at least one designated ITEX species or two other species. The temperature manipulation is achieved through use of conical or hexagonal open-top chambers of solar fiberglass, which have been shown to increase the air temperature at the surface approximately 3 degrees C. ITEX studies at Niwot Ridge, a logical outgrowth of the long-term phenology studies there, uses a factorial design based around the long-term snowfence experiment. Twenty cones are placed behind the snowfence, distributed at 10, 25, 45, and 75 m from the fence; each cone is paired with an adjacent plot. Beginning with the 1995 season, 24 additional plots were implemented outside of the snowfence influence. Twelve cones are distributed beyond both the north and south edges of the snowfence area, at 10, 25, 45, and 75 m behind the line of the snowfence; each cone is paired with an adjacent plot. This results in the following treatments: increased winter snow, increased summer temperature, increased snow and increased temperature, and control. Key phenologic, growth, and reproductive traits are being followed on marked individuals of Acomastylis (Geum) rossii and Bistorta (Polygonum) bistortoides, and complete species composition is being monitored. The point-quadrat technique used was identical to that d

openOpenMar 2016View details →

The Effect of Kangaroo-Rat Activity on Plant Species Composition at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (1999)

Our objective was to evaluate the effects of kangaroo rat mounds on species diversity and composition at a semiarid-arid grassland ecotone. We expected that source populations of plants occurring on kangaroo rat mounds have important influences on the species composition of vegetation at the landscape scale, and that these influences differ by grassland type. Our study was conducted at the Sevilleta LTER in New Mexico, where a grassland type dominated by Bouteloua gracilis, a shortgrass steppe species, and a grassland type dominated by B. eriopoda, a desert grassland species, meet to form patches across the landscape. Four 0.4 ha plots were sampled for species diversity and composition in a regular 7m x 7m grid in each grassland type. Kangaroo rat mounds were also mapped and sampled for vegetation measures in four areas of 1.6 ha in each type. The landscape scale abundance of many subordinate species was increased significantly by populations occurring on kangaroo rat mounds in both grassland types. However, the area affected by the burrowing activity of kangaroo rats was twice as large in the B. eriopoda dominated grassland type. Furthermore, dominant plants on mounds in the B. eriopoda type were also abundant in off-mound areas whereas dominant plants on mounds in the B. gracilis type were not as abundant off-mound. These results indicate that the presence of mounds in the B. gracilis dominated type is creating islands of plant communities that are distinct from the rest of the grassland. Therefore, the occurrence of certain plant species in this grassland type may be intimately associated with the disturbance regime at this ecotone. This study demonstrates that effects of small burrowing animals may facilitate the coexistence of species at this ecotone.

openOpenSep 2010View details →

Livestock Exclosure Study: Plant Species Composition in a Chihuahuan Desert Grassland at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (2004-2007)

Grazing in grasslands creates changes in plant community structure. The magnitude of these changes depends on the productivity and the intensity of grazing. Low productivity grasslands coupled with high grazing intensity may lead to shrub encroachment in some aridland ecosystems. We examined the effects of cattle grazing in arid grassland at the Sevilleta LTER site in central New Mexico USA where cattle were removed in 1973 and an area just north of the Sevilleta LTER where grazing by cattle still occurs. At each site we measured plant species composition and cover in permanent plots in the spring and fall from 2004 to 2007. Quadrats were clipped annually to quantify aboveground standing crop to answer the following questions: 1) Does cattle grazing affect plant species composition and standing crop? 2) Does grazing alter community response to inter-annual climate variability? and 3) How does grazing impact the abundance of native grasses?

openCustomAug 2017View details →

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

opencc-zeroAug 2020View details →

Data from: Interactions between seed-dispersing ant species affect plant community composition in field mesocosms

1. In generalized mutualisms, species vary in the quality of services they provide to their partners directly via traits that affect partner fitness and indirectly via traits that influence interactions with mutualist species that play similar functional roles. Myrmecochory, or seed dispersal by ants, is a generalized mutualism with ant species varying in the quality of dispersal services they provide to their plant partners. Variation in ant species identity can directly impact seed dispersal patterns and plant community composition; however, we know less about how interactions among seed-dispersing ant species indirectly influence plant partners. 2. The invasive ant, Myrmica rubra, is a high-quality seed-disperser in its native range and interacts with myrmecochores (ant-dispersed plants) and the high-quality seed disperser Aphaenogaster sp. in its invaded range. We use this system to examine how interactions between two functionally similar mutualist ant species influence the recruitment and community composition of ant-dispersed plants. 3. We performed a field mesocosm experiment and a lab behavioral experiment to compare discovery and dominance behaviors between ant species, and seed dispersal and seedling recruitment of four myrmecochore species among intraspecific interaction treatments of each ant species and an interspecific interaction treatment. 4. We found that M. rubra was better at discovering and dispersing seeds, but that Aphaenogaster sp. was dominantly aggressive over M. rubra. Interspecific interactions dampened seed dispersal relative to dispersal by the better disperser. Despite this dampening, we found no effect of interspecific interaction on seedling recruitment. However, community composition of seedlings in the interspecific interaction treatment was more similar to composition in the aggressively dominant ant (Aphaenogaster sp.) treatment than in the better discoverer ant (M. rubra) treatment. 5. We show that interspecific interaction between mutualist species in the same functional guild affects the outcome of mutualistic interactions with partner species. Despite the native ant dispersing fewer seeds, its dominance over the subordinate (invasive) ant has the potential to allow for some level of biotic resistance against the effects of M. rubra on plant communities when these species co-exist.

opencc-zeroJun 2021View details →

Effects of three-dimensional soil heterogeneity and species composition on plant biomass and biomass allocation of grass-mixtures

Soil heterogeneity significantly affects plant dynamics such as plant growth and biomass. Most studies developed soil heterogeneity in two dimensions, i.e. either horizontally or vertically. However, soil heterogeneity in natural ecosystems varies both horizontally and vertically i.e. in three dimensions. Previous studies on plant biomass and biomass allocation rarely considered the joint effects of soil heterogeneity and species composition. Thus, to investigate such joint effects on plant biomass and biomass allocation, a controlled experiment was conducted, where three levels of soil heterogeneity and seven types of species compositions were applied. Such soil heterogeneity was developed by filling nutrient-rich and nutrient-poor substrates in an alternative pattern in pots with different patch sizes (small, medium or large), and species compositions was achieved by applying three plant species (i.e. Festuca elata, Bromus inermis, Elymus breviaristatus) in all possible combinations (growing either in monoculture or in mixtures). Results showed that patch size significantly impacted plant biomass and biomass allocation, which differed among plant species. Specially, at the pot scale, with increasing patch size, shoot biomass decreased, while root biomass and R: S ratio increased, and total biomass tended to show a unimodal pattern, where the medium patch supported higher total biomass. Moreover, at the substrate scale, more shoot biomass and total biomass were found in nutrient-rich substrate. Furthermore, at the community scale, two of the three target plant species growing in monoculture had more shoot biomass than those growing together with other species. Thus, our results indicate soil heterogeneity significantly affected plant biomass and biomass allocation, which differ among plant species, though more research is needed on the generalization on biomass allocation. We propose that soil heterogeneity should be considered more explicitly in studies with more species in long-term experiments.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Between-year changes in community composition shape species' roles in an Arctic plant-pollinator network

Inter-annual turnover in community composition can affect the richness and functioning of ecological communities. If incoming and outgoing species do not interact with the same partners, ecological functions such as pollination may be disrupted. Here, we explore the extent to which turnover affects species' roles --as defined based on their participation in different motifs positions-- in a series of temporally replicated plant-pollinator networks from high-Arctic Zackenberg, Greenland. We observed substantial turnover in the plant and pollinator assemblages, combined with significant variation in species' roles between networks. Variation in the roles of plants and pollinators tended to increase with the amount of community turnover, although a negative interaction between turnover in the plant and pollinator assemblages complicated this trend for the roles of pollinators. This suggests that increasing turnover in the future will result in changes to the roles of plants and likely those of pollinators. These changing roles may in turn affect the functioning or stability of this pollination network.

opencc-zeroNov 2023View details →

Plant species composition and key-species abundance drive ecosystem multifunctionality

Global biodiversity loss has aroused great concern about the role of plant communities in driving ecosystem functions. However, there is limited understanding of how soil property, plant richness, and composition interact to affect ecosystem multifunctionality. We conducted a constructed-ecosystem experiment by simultaneously manipulating soil origin (i.e., fertile farmland soil and infertile bare land soil), plant richness (from one to four species) and composition (five single species, and all possible two-, three-, and four- species combinations of the five species) to evaluate their importance for driving multiple ecosystem functions related to accumulation of biomass, carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) in plants, greenhouse gas emissions, soil nutrients, soil N fixation, and mineralization of N and phosphorus (P).

zenodo36/100

Raw data for the manuscript entitled "Forest age and topographic position jointly shape the species richness and composition of vascular plants in karstic habitats"

Doline surveys from the Mecsek Mountains, Hungary. Transects were established with north to south orientation across each doline, traversing their deepest point. Transects began and ended on doline rims, and consisted of 1 m  × 1 m plots spaced at 2 m intervals (94, 89, 90 and 99 plots in the different forest age classes, respectively; 372 plots in total). We recorded the presence/absence data of shrubs and herbs in each plot. Fieldwork was carried out between 2007 and 2019 from June to August, at the peak of the growing season.

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2022View details →

opencc-zeroSep 2022View details →

Chronic browsing by an introduced mammalian herbivore in a tropical island alters species composition and functional traits of forest understory plant communities

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 (Axis axis) 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.