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opencc-zeroJun 2020View details →

Nitrogen enrichment stimulates wetland plant responses whereas salt amendments alter sediment microbial communities and biogeochemical responses

Freshwater wetlands of the temperate north are exposed to a range of pollutants that may alter their function, including nitrogen (N)-rich agricultural and urban runoff, seawater intrusion, and road salt contamination, though it is largely unknown how these drivers of change interact with the vegetation to affect wetland carbon (C) fluxes and microbial communities. We implemented a full factorial mesocosm (378.5 L tanks) experiment investigating C-related responses to three common wetland plants of eastern North America (Phragmites australis, Spartina pectinata, Typha latifolia), and four water quality treatments (fresh water control, N, road salt, sea salt). During the 2017 growing season, we quantified carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) fluxes, above- and below-ground biomass, root porosity, light penetration, pore water chemistry (NH4+, NO3-, SO4-², Cl-, DOC), soil C mineralization, as well as sediment microbial communities via 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Relative to freshwater controls, N enrichment stimulated plant biomass, which in turn increased CO2 uptake and reduced light penetration, especially in Spartina stands. Root porosity was not affected by water quality, but was positively correlated with CH4 emissions, suggesting that plants can be important conduits for CH4 from anoxic sediment to the atmosphere. Sediment microbial composition was largely unaffected by N addition, whereas salt amendments induced structural shifts, reduced sediment community diversity, and reduced C mineralization rates, presumably due to osmotic stress. Methane emissions were suppressed by sea salt, but not road salt, providing evidence for the additional chemical control (SO4-2 availability) on this microbial-mediated process. Thus, N may have stimulated plant activity while salting treatments preferentially enriched specific microbial populations. Together our findings underpin the utility of combining plant and microbial responses, and highlight the need for more integrative studies to predict the consequences of a changing environment on freshwater wetlands.

Optimal resource allocation and prolonged dormancy strategies in herbaceous plants

1. Understanding the fitness consequences of different life histories is critical for explaining their diversity and for predicting effects of changing environmental conditions. However, current theory on plant life histories relies on phenomenological, rather than mechanistic, models of resource production. 2. We combined a well-supported mechanistic model of ontogenetic growth that incorporates differences in the size-dependent scaling of gross resource production and maintenance costs with a dynamic optimization model to predict schedules of reproduction and prolonged dormancy (plants staying below ground for ≥ 1 growing season) that maximize lifetime offspring production. 3. Our model makes three novel predictions: First, maintenance costs strongly influence the conditions under which a monocarpic or polycarpic life history evolves and how resources should be allocated to reproduction by polycarpic plants. Second, in contrast to previous theory, our model allows plants to compensate for low survival conditions by allocating a larger proportion of resources to storage and thereby improving overwinter survival. Incorporating this ecological mechanism in the model is critically important because without it our model never predicts significant investment into storage, which is inconsistent with empirical observations. Third, our model predicts that prolonged dormancy may evolve solely in response to resource allocation tradeoffs. 4. Significance: Our findings reveal that maintenance costs and the effects of resource allocation on survival are primary determinants of the fitness consequences of different life history strategies, yet previous theory on plant life history evolution has largely ignored these factors. Our findings also validate recent arguments that prolonged dormancy may be an optimal response to costs of sprouting. These findings have broad implications for understanding patterns of plant life history variation and predicting plant responses to changing environments.

Data from: Plant protection services mediated by extrafloral nectaries decline with aridity but are not influenced by chronic anthropogenic disturbance in Brazilian Caatinga

1. Most terrestrial species occur in human-modified landscapes that are experiencing climate change. In addition to direct impacts on species, both anthropogenic disturbance and climate change can have important effects through changes in species interactions, including the disruption of ecological services provided by them. 2. Here we investigate how chronic anthropogenic disturbance (CAD) and aridity affect the effectiveness of plant protection services provided by ants to plants bearing extrafloral nectaries (EFNs). 3. The study was conducted across 13 01-ha plots distributed along CAD and aridity gradients in Caatinga vegetation of northeastern Brazil. We focused on Pityrocarpa moniliformis, the most abundant and widely distributed EFN-bearing tree species occurring in our study area, and used experimental attack rates on termites as a measure of effectiveness of ant protection services. We investigated the relative roles of nectar production (volume and concentration) and ant species composition in mediating the effects of CAD and aridity on the effectiveness of protection services. 4. Attack rates by ants declined with increasing aridity but were not related to CAD. The volume of extrafloral nectar declined with increasing CAD but was not affected by aridity, whereas the concentration was not related to either CAD or aridity. The composition of attendant ant species varied with aridity but not with CAD. 5. Synthesis: The decline in ant-protection services with increased aridity was therefore mediated by changes in the composition of attendant ant species rather than by changes in the production of extrafloral nectar. Our findings suggest that CAD does not affect plant-protection services provided by ants but highlights the vulnerability of EFN-bearing plants to climate change through decreased predation of herbivores.

Data from: Introduced bees (Osmia cornifrons) collect pollen from both coevolved and novel host-plant species within their family-level phylogenetic preferences

Studying the pollen preferences of introduced bees allows us to investigate how species utilize host-plants when establishing in new environments. Osmia cornifrons is a solitary bee introduced into North America from East-Asia for pollination of crops in the Rosaceae. We investigated whether O. cornifrons 1) more frequently collected pollen from host-plant species they coevolved with from their geographic origin, or 2) prefer hosts-plant species of specific plant taxa independent of origin. To address this question, using pollen metabarcoding we examined the identity and relative abundance of pollen in larval provisions from nests located in different habitats with varying abundance of East-Asian and non-Asian plant species. Our results show that O. cornifrons disproportionately, yet not exclusively, collected pollen from their native range. Plants in the family Rosaceae were their most preferred pollen hosts, where they differentially collected species native to East-Asia, Europe, or North America depending on the landscape. Our results suggest that while O. cornifrons more frequently collect pollen of East-Asian origin, the collection of pollen from novel species within their phylogenetic familial affinities can facilitate pollinator establishment. This phylogenetic preference highlights the effectiveness of O. cornifrons as crop pollinators of a variety of Rosaceae crops from different geographic origins. Ourresults imply that globalization of non-native plant species may ease the naturalization of their coevolved pollinators outside of their native range.

opencc-zeroDec 2019View details →

Data from: Chemical structure predicts the effect of plant-derived low-molecular weight compounds on soil microbiome structure and pathogen suppression

1. Plant-derived low molecular weight compounds play a crucial role in shaping soil microbiome functionality. While various compounds have been demonstrated to affect soil microbes, most data are case-specific and do not provide generalizable predictions on their effects. Here we show that the chemical structural affiliation of low molecular weight compounds typically secreted by plant roots – sugars, amino acids, organic acids and phenolic acids – can predictably affect microbiome diversity, composition and functioning in terms of plant disease suppression. 2. We amended soil with single or mixtures of representative compounds, mimicking carbon deposition by plants. We then assessed how different classes of compounds, or their combinations, affected microbiome composition and the protection of tomato plants from the soil-borne Ralstonia solanacearum bacterial pathogen. 3. We found that chemical class predicted well the changes in microbiome composition and diversity. Organic and amino acids generally decreased the microbiome diversity compared to sugars and phenolic acids. These changes were also linked to disease incidence, with amino acids and nitrogen-containing compound mixtures inducing more severe disease symptoms connected with a reduction in bacterial community diversity. 4. Together, our results demonstrate that low molecular weight compounds can predictably steer rhizosphere microbiome functioning providing guidelines to engineer microbiomes based on root exudation patterns by specific plant cultivars or crop regimes.

Vascular plant community data for Northwest Territories, Canada

Climate change is altering disturbance regimes outside of historical norms, which can impact biodiversity by selecting for plants with particular traits. The relative impact of disturbance characteristics on plant traits and community structure may be mediated by environmental gradients. We aimed to understand how wildfire impacted understory plant communities and plant regeneration strategies along gradients of environmental conditions and wildfire characteristics in boreal forests. We established 207 plots (60m2) in recently burned stands and 133 plots in mature stands with no recent fire history in comparable gradients of stand type, site moisture (drainage), and soil organic layer (SOL) depth in two ecozones in Canada's Northwest Territories. <a name="_Hlk43198784">At each plot, we recorded all vascular plant taxa in the understory</a> and measured the regeneration strategy (seeder, resprouter, survivor) in burned plots, along with seedbed conditions (mineral soil and bryophyte cover). Dispersal, longevity, and growth form traits were determined for each taxon. Fire characteristics measured included proportion pre-fire SOL combusted (fire severity), date of burn (fire seasonality), and pre-fire stand age (time following fire). Results showed understory community composition was altered by fire. However, burned and mature stands had similar plant communities in wet sites with deep SOL. In the burned plots, regeneration strategies were determined by fire severity, drainage, and pre- and post-fire SOL depth. Resprouters were more common in wet sites with deeper SOL and lower fire severity, while seeders were associated with drier sites with thinner SOL and greater fire severity. This led to drier burned stands being compositionally different from their mature counterparts and seedbed conditions were important. Our study highlights the importance of environment-wildfire interactions in shaping plant regeneration strategies and patterns of understory plant community structure across landscapes, and the overriding importance of SOL depth and site drainage in mediating fire severity, plant regeneration, and community structure.

opencc-zeroDec 2019View details →

Data from: Invertebrate phenology modulates the effect of the leaf economics spectrum on litter decomposition rate across 41 subtropical woody plant species

<ol> <li>Litter quality and decomposers are critical to carbon and nutrient cycling through litter decomposition. However, how relationships between litter quality and invertebrate detritivores change litter mass loss through time is poorly known. Species' initial leaf litter quality, as a legacy of their position on the "leaf economics spectrum" (LES), may determine the invertebrate contribution to litter mass loss. This contribution may change through time, as both population peaks of invertebrate detritivores and litter quality of given species will change through time.</li> <li>Here we introduce invertebrate phenology into a conceptual model of drivers of litter mass loss. We hypothesized that in the early decomposition period, LES can predict litter decomposability with or without a strong invertebrate contribution, i.e., litter with higher nutrient content would decompose faster. But in the later decomposition period, when higher quality litter will already have decomposed too much and lower quality litters have still been less degraded, a strong invertebrate peak would coincide with relatively more consumption of initially lower quality litters; this would lead to a hump-back relationship between leaf litter mass loss and initial LES position in this period.</li> <li>We tested our hypothesis through a one-year field decomposition experiment using leaf litter of 41 woody species in each of two sites in subtropical forest in China; only one of these sites had a strong late peak of leaf litter-feeding moth larvae in the litter layer.</li> <li>LES score of litter species had a positive linear relationship with litter mass loss before the key invertebrate consumer peaks in the litter layer. However, with the invertebrates peaking later into the decomposition process, the invertebrate consumption peaked at initially lower quality litters, which altered the species' decomposability trajectory on the LES, consistent with the hypothesized hump-back relationship between leaf litter mass loss and LES. This phenomenon resulted in a strongly reduced slope of cumulative mass loss on initial LES score across species.</li> <li>Our finding highlights the importance of considering interactions between the timing of detritivore activities and the timing of litter quality for better understanding the relationships between soil animals and ecosystem carbon and nutrient cycling.</li> </ol>

opencc-zeroJan 2020View details →

Data from: Drivers of plant traits that allow survival in wetlands

<ol> <li>Plants have developed a suite of traits to survive the anaerobic and anoxic soil conditions in wetlands. Previous studies on wetland plant adaptive traits have focused mainly on physiological aspects under experimental conditions, or compared the trait expression of the local species pool. Thus, a comprehensive analysis of potential factors driving wetland plant adaptive traits under natural environmental conditions is still missing.</li> <li>In this study, we analysed three important wetland adaptive traits, i.e. root porosity, root/shoot ratio and underwater photosynthetic rate, to explore driving factors using a newly compiled dataset of wetland plants. Based on 21 studies at 38 sites across different biomes, we found that root porosity was affected by an interaction of temperature and hydrological regime; root:shoot ratio was affected by temperature, precipitation and habitat type; and underwater photosynthetic rate was affected by precipitation and life form. This suggests that a variety of driving mechanisms affect the expression of different adaptive traits.</li> <li>The quantitative relationships we observed between the adaptive traits and their driving factors will be a useful reference for future global methane and denitrification modelling studies. Our results also stress that besides the traditionally emphasized hydrological driving factors, other factors at several spatial scales should also be taken into consideration in the context of future functional wetland ecology.</li> </ol>

Data from: The genetic architecture of plant defense tradeoffs in a common monkeyflower

Determining how adaptive combinations of traits arose requires understanding the prevalence and scope of genetic constraints. Frequently observed phenotypic correlations between plant growth, defenses, and/or reproductive timing have led researchers to suggest that pleiotropy or strong genetic linkage between variants affecting independent traits is pervasive. Alternatively, these correlations could arise via independent mutations in different genes for each trait and extensive correlational selection. Here we evaluate these alternatives by conducting a QTL mapping experiment involving a cross between two populations of common monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus) that differ in growth rate as well as total concentration and arsenal composition of plant defense compounds, phenylpropanoid glycosides (PPGs). We find no evidence that pleiotropy underlies correlations between defense and growth rate. However, there is a strong genetic correlation between levels of total PPGs and flowering time that is largely attributable to a single shared QTL. While this result suggests a role for pleiotropy/close linkage, several other QTLs also contribute to variation in total PPGs. Additionally, divergent PPG arsenals are influenced by a number of smaller-effect QTLs that each underlie variation in one or two PPGs. This result indicates that chemical defense arsenals can be finely-adapted to biotic environments despite sharing a common biochemical precursor. Together, our results show correlations between defense and life history traits are influenced by pleiotropy or genetic linkage, but genetic constraints may have limited impact on future evolutionary responses, as a substantial proportion of variation in each trait is controlled by independent loci.

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.

Influence of climate, soil and land cover on plant species distribution in the European Alps

Although the importance of edaphic factors and habitat structure for plant growth and survival is known, both are often neglected in favor of climatic drivers when investigating the spatial patterns of plant species and diversity. Yet, especially in mountain ecosystems with complex topography, missing edaphic and habitat components may be detrimental for a sound understanding of biodiversity distribution. Here, we compare the relative importance of climate, soil and land cover variables when predicting the distributions of 2'616 vascular plant species in the European Alps, representing approximately two thirds of all European Flora. Using presence-only data, we built point-process models (PPMs) to relate species observations to different combinations of covariates. We evaluated the PPMs through block cross-validations, and assessed the independent contributions of climate, soil and land cover covariates to predict plant species distributions using an innovative predictive partitioning approach. We found climate to be the most influential driver of spatial patterns in plant species with a relative influence of ~58.5% across all species, with decreasing importance from low to high elevations. Soil (~20.1%) and land cover (~21.4%), overall, were less influential than climate, but increased in importance along the elevation gradient. Furthermore, land cover showed strong local effects in lowlands, while the contribution of soil stabilized at mid-elevations. The decreasing influence of climate with elevation is explained by increasing endemism, and the fact that climate becomes more homogeneous as habitat diversity declines at higher altitudes. In contrast, soil predictors were found to follow the opposite trend. Additionally, at low elevations, human-mediated land cover effects appear to reduce the importance of climate predictors. We conclude that soil and land cover are, like climate, principal drivers of plant species distribution in the European Alps. While disentangling their effects remains a challenge, future studies can benefit markedly by including soil and land cover effects when predicting species distributions.

Data from: Addition of nitrogen to canopy versus understory has different effects on leaf traits of understory plants in a subtropical evergreen broad–leaved forest

Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has substantial effects on forest ecosystems. The effects of N deposition on understory plants have been simulated by spraying N on the forest floor. Such understory addition of N (UAN) might simulate atmospheric N deposition in a biased manner, because it bypasses the canopy. We compared the effects of UAN and canopy addition of N (CAN) at 0, 25, and 50 kg N ha–1 year–1 on specific leaf area (SLA), leaf construction costs (CC), concentrations of leaf carbon ([C]), nitrogen ([N]), phosphorus ([P]), minerals ([Mineral]), nitrate ([NO3-]), lignin ([Lignin]), lipids ([Lipid]), organic acids ([OA]), soluble phenolics ([SP]), total non-structural carbohydrates ([TNC]), and total structural carbohydrates ([TSC]) in six dominant understory species in a subtropical evergreen forest after five years of N treatments. We found that leaf CC, [C], [Lignin], [OA], [TNC] and [TSC] were significantly affected by N-addition approach and rate, but leaf [P] and [Lipid] were affected by N-addition approach and N-addition rate, respectively; leaf CC, [C], [P], [OA], and [TNC] were significantly lower under UAN than under CAN, but leaf [TSC] and [Lignin] were significantly higher and lower, respectively, under UAN than under CAN at 50 kg N ha–1 year–1; the decline of leaf [C] and [Lignin] contributed to the significantly lower leaf CC under UAN than under CAN. Synthesis. We show that canopy and understory N addition exerted significantly different effects on leaf traits of understory plants. The results indicate that understory plants in subtropical forest respond differently to understory addition of N from those to atmospheric deposition of N. Further studies are warranted to evaluate the unbiased ecological processes and functions of forest ecosystem responding to atmospheric N deposition via both canopy and understory N addition experiments over a longer term.

Data from: Shifts in plant functional composition following long-term drought in grasslands

1. Plant traits can provide unique insights into plant performance at the community scale. Functional composition, defined by both functional diversity and community-weighted trait means (CWMs), can affect the stability of aboveground net primary production (ANPP) in response to climate extremes. Further complexity arises, however, when functional composition itself responds to environmental change. The duration of climate extremes, such as drought, is expected to increase with rising global temperatures; thus, understanding the impacts of long-term drought on functional composition and the corresponding effect that has on ecosystem function could improve predictions of ecosystem sensitivity to climate change. 2. We experimentally reduced growing season precipitation by 66% across six temperate grasslands for four years and measured changes in three indices of functional diversity (functional dispersion, richness, and evenness), community-weighted trait means, and phylogenetic diversity (PD). Specific leaf area (SLA), leaf nitrogen content (LNC) and (at most sites) leaf turgor loss point (πTLP) were measured for species cumulatively representing ~90% plant cover at each site. 3. Long-term drought led to increased community functional dispersion in three sites, with negligible effects on the remaining sites. Species re-ordering following the mortality/senescence of dominant species was the main driver of increased functional dispersion. The response of functional diversity was not consistently matched by changes in phylogenetic diversity. Community-level drought strategies (assessed as CWMs) largely shifted from drought tolerance to drought avoidance and/or escape strategies, as evidenced by higher community-weighted πTLP, SLA, and LNC. Lastly, ecosystem drought sensitivity (i.e. relative reduction in ANPP) was positively correlated with community-weighted SLA and negatively correlated with functional diversity. 4. Synthesis: Increased functional diversity following long-term drought may stabilize ecosystem functioning in response to future drought. However, shifts in community-scale drought strategies may increase ecosystem drought sensitivity, depending on the nature and timing of drought. Thus, our results highlight the importance of considering both functional diversity and abundance-weighted traits means of plant communities as their collective effect may either stabilize or enhance ecosystem sensitivity to drought.

Climate and plant structure determine the spatiotemporal butterfly distribution in a tropical mountain

Mountains are among the most powerful natural gradients for testing ecological and evolutionary responses of biota to environmental influences because differences in climate and plant structure occur over short spatial scales. We describe the spatiotemporal distribution patterns and drives of fruit-feeding butterfly diversity on the mountaineous region of Serra do Cipó, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Seven elevations from 822 to 1388 m were selected for evaluating the effects of abiotic factors and vegetation characteristics on butterfly diversity. A total of 44 fruit-feeding butterfly species were recorded in a two-years study. Species richness (local and regional) of fruit-feeding butterflies decreased with increasing elevation. The interaction between temperature or humidity and precipitation influenced the abundance and β-diversity of butterflies in the altitudinal gradient, while β-diversity decreased with increasing plant richness. Butterfly richness (local and regional) and β-diversity varied with the sampling period, with fewer species in July (2012 and 2013), dry period, as expected for Neotropical insects. β-diversity in space and time was due to species replacement (turnover), indicating that butterfly composition differs throughout the mountain and over time. In summary, climate and plant richness largely influenced butterfly diversity in the altitudinal gradient. Climatic changes in conjunction with increasing anthropic impacts in mountainous regions of southeast Brazil will likely influence the community of mountaintop butterflies in Espinhaço Mountain Range.

Household survey data: incentives influencing tree planting in the Albertine Rift Region of Uganda

The study assessed the influence of incentives on tree planting by farmers in Kiryanga Sub county, Kagadi district, Albertine Rift Region, Western Uganda. Key informant interviews, focus group discussions and household interviews were conducted to generate data on the influence of incentives on tree planting. The χ2 test established associations between incentives and tree planting while a t-test was conducted to test for differences in characteristics of non-tree farmers and tree farmers. Results indicate that incentives are important in tree planting although some did not match farmers' interests (χ2 = 35.13, p <0.05). The incentives that were significant were: provision of tree seedlings (84.6%) and cash payments (69.4%) while farm tours as an incentive did not match farmers' interests. The success attributed to incentives mainly depended on land size, and tree species' preferences. The study concluded that, provision of tree seedlings and cash payments should be the incentives to be promoted. It is therefore important that stakeholders adopt incentive-based tree planting.

opencc-by-4.0Aug 2014View details →

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Figure 3 in Distinct parasitoid communities associated with host races of the leaf-mining moth Acrocercops transecta on distantly related host plants (Juglandaceae and Ericaceae)

Figure 3. Lateral view of female Aneurobracon philippinensis.

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Figure 2 in Distinct parasitoid communities associated with host races of the leaf-mining moth Acrocercops transecta on distantly related host plants (Juglandaceae and Ericaceae)

Figure 2. Map of Japan showing the sampling localities of Acrocercops transecta mines.

opencc-by-4.0Aug 2014View details →

Climate seasonality drives ant-plant-herbivore interactions via plant phenology in an extrafloral nectary-bearing plant community

<ol> <li>Interactions between ants and plants bearing extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) are among the most common mutualisms in Neotropical regions. Plants secrete extrafloral nectar, a carbohydrate-rich food that attracts ants, which in return protect plants against herbivores. This ant-plant mutualism is subjected to temporal variation, in which abiotic factors can drive the establishment and frequency of such mutualistic interaction. However, studies investigating how abiotic factors (e.g., climate) directly and indirectly influence ant-plant-herbivore interactions are incipient.</li> <li>In this study, we investigated direct and indirect (via plant phenology) effects of temperature and rainfall on ant-plant-herbivore interactions. To address these goals, we estimated six plant phenophases (newly flushed leaves, fully-expanded leaves, deciduousness, floral buds, flowers, and fruits) monthly, the activity of EFNs and abundance of ants and herbivores in 18 EFN-bearing plant species growing in a markedly seasonal region (the Brazilian Cerrado) during a complete growing season.</li> <li>Our results showed that (i) there were marked seasonal patterns in all plant phenophases, EFN activity, and the abundance of ants and herbivores; (ii) the peak of EFN activity and ant and herbivore abundance simultaneously occurred at the beginning of the rainy season, when new leaves flushed; and (iii) rainfall directly and indirectly (via changes in theproduction of new leaves) influenced EFN activity and this in turn provoked changes in ant abundance (but not on herbivores).</li> <li> Synthesis: Overall, our results build toward a better understanding of how climate drives seasonal patterns in ant-plant-herbivore interactions, explicitly considering plant phenology over time.</li> </ol>

Data from: Characterization of rhizome transcriptome and identification of a rhizomatous ER body in the clonal plant Cardamine leucantha

The rhizome is a plant organ that develops from a shoot apical meristem but penetrates into belowground environments. To characterize the gene expression profile of rhizomes, we compared the rhizome transcriptome with those of the leaves, shoots and roots of a rhizomatous Brassicaceae plant, Cardamine leucantha. Overall, rhizome transcriptomes were characterized by the absence of genes that show rhizome-specific expression and expression profiles intermediate between those of shoots and roots. Our results suggest that both endogenous developmental factors and external environmental factors are important for controlling the rhizome transcriptome. Genes that showed relatively high expression in the rhizome compared to shoots and roots included those related to belowground defense, control of reactive oxygen species, and cell elongation under dark conditions. A comparison of transcriptomes further allowed us to identify the presence of an ER body, a defense-related belowground organelle, in epidermal cells of the C. leucantha rhizome, which is the first report of ER bodies in rhizome tissue.

Data from: Plant trait response of tundra shrubs to permafrost and nutrient addition

Plants may alter their strategies, such as growth and resource acquisition, as a result of climate change, especially in areas like the Arctic. These changes might affect in turn ecosystem functions and vegetation-climate interactions. Plant traits reflect both strategies and plant trade-offs in response to environmental conditions. In combination with observational data, experiments mimicking future climate conditions and data involving multiple leaf and stem traits, can contribute to a better mechanistic understanding of feedbacks between shrub growth strategies, permafrost thaw and carbon and energy fluxes. This dataset contains both metadata and plant trait data measured in individuals of four arctic shrub species under experimental conditions. The permafrost thaw and fertilization experiment (Peng et al., 2017) ran for four years (2011-2014) in the nature reserve of Kytalyk, north-eastern Siberia (70°49'N, 147°28'E). The shrub species, dominant at the research site, were the deciduous species Betula nana ssp. exilis (Sukazcev) Hultén and Salix pulchra Cham., and the evergreen species Ledum palustre ssp. decumbens (Aiton) Hultén and Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.