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691 results for “plant traits”
Supplementary material 4 from: Martín-Forés I, Casado MA, Castro I, del Pozo A, Molina-Montenegro MA, de Miguel JM, Acosta-Gallo B (2018) Variation in phenology and overall performance traits can help to explain the plant invasion process amongst Mediterranean ecosystems. NeoBiota 41: 67-89. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.41.29965
Supplementary material 4 from: Martín-Forés I, Casado MA, Castro I, del Pozo A, Molina-Montenegro MA, de Miguel JM, Acosta-Gallo B (2018) Variation in phenology and overall performance traits can help to explain the plant invasion process amongst Mediterranean ecosystems. NeoBiota 41: 67-89. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.41.29965
Supplementary material 3 from: Martín-Forés I, Casado MA, Castro I, del Pozo A, Molina-Montenegro MA, de Miguel JM, Acosta-Gallo B (2018) Variation in phenology and overall performance traits can help to explain the plant invasion process amongst Mediterranean ecosystems. NeoBiota 41: 67-89. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.41.29965
Supplementary material 3 from: Martín-Forés I, Casado MA, Castro I, del Pozo A, Molina-Montenegro MA, de Miguel JM, Acosta-Gallo B (2018) Variation in phenology and overall performance traits can help to explain the plant invasion process amongst Mediterranean ecosystems. NeoBiota 41: 67-89. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.41.29965
Supplementary material 1 from: Martín-Forés I, Casado MA, Castro I, del Pozo A, Molina-Montenegro MA, de Miguel JM, Acosta-Gallo B (2018) Variation in phenology and overall performance traits can help to explain the plant invasion process amongst Mediterranean ecosystems. NeoBiota 41: 67-89. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.41.29965
Figure S1 : Explanation note: Distribution of Leontodonsaxatilis, Hypochaerisglabra and Trifoliumglomeratum in both the native (Spain) and the introduced (Chile) ranges.
Dataset for: Temporal trajectories of plant functional traits in mediterranean grasslands under different grazing regimes
<p>The excel file contains three spreadsheets:</p> <ol> <li>the environmental and temporal information about the plot (sample)</li> <li>the plant functional traits of the species (traits)</li> <li>the species composition of the plant communities (species).</li> </ol> <p>These data have been used for the statistical analysis of the manuscript Nour et al., 2024 on Applied Vegetation Science. For more information see the manuscript "Temporal trajectories of plant functional traits in Mediterranean grasslands under different grazing regimes" (Nour et al., 2024).</p>
Plant community composition and traits modulate the impacts of drought intensity on soil microbial community composition and function
<p>Terrestrial ecosystems are increasingly threatened by extreme drought events. Soil microbial communities are central to terrestrial ecosystem function via their role in regulating biogeochemical cycling. Consequently, the impact of increasingly intense drought events on soil microbial communities will have knock-on effects for how ecosystems cope with climate change. In an outdoor grassland mesocosm experiment, we determined how increasing drought intensity affects bacterial and fungal community composition, and functioning, during and after drought. We also tested whether plant community resource acquisition strategy (fast- versus slow-strategy plant communities), plant community composition, and plant functional traits mediate soil microbial responses to increasing drought intensity. We found that increasing drought intensity markedly shifted bacterial and fungal community composition, and these effects persisted until the end of the experiment (two months after re-wetting). Bacterial and fungal communities that experienced severe droughts did not return to baseline composition, while those that experienced a mild drought did. Microbial community functioning (potential extracellular enzyme activity) was reduced at peak drought and shortly after re-wetting. While drought intensity effects on bacterial or fungal communities were insensitive to plant community resource acquisition strategy, functional group abundance (aboveground biomass of grass or forb plant species) composition (grass:forb ratio) and leaf traits (leaf dry matter content and leaf nitrogen concentration) explained significant variation in bacterial and fungal community composition during and after drought. Notably, plant community leaf dry matter content and soil nitrogen were the key factors mediating the effect of increasing drought intensity on microbial indicator taxa (ASVs). We conclude that increasing drought intensity affects grassland soil microbial communities during and after drought, and this impact is influenced by plant community composition and functional traits.</p>
Data from: Foraging modality and plasticity in foraging traits determine the strength of competitive interactions among carnivorous plants, spiders, and toads
1. Foraging modalities (e.g., passive, sit-and-wait, active) and traits are plastic in some species, but the extent to which this plasticity affects interspecific competition remains unclear. 2. Using a long-term laboratory mesocosm experiment, we quantified competition strength and the plasticity of foraging traits in a guild of generalist predators of arthropods with a range of foraging modalities. 3. Each mesocosm contained eight passively foraging pink sundews, and we employed an experimental design where treatments were the presence or absence of a sit-and-wait foraging spider and actively foraging toad crossed with five levels of prey abundance. We hypothesized that actively foraging toads would outcompete the other species at low prey abundance, but that spiders and sundews would exhibit plasticity in foraging traits to compensate for strong competition when prey were limited. 4. Results generally supported our hypotheses. Toads had a greater effect on sundews at low prey abundances, and toad presence caused spiders to locate webs higher above the ground. Additionally, the closer large spider webs were to the ground, the greater the trichome densities produced by sundews. Also, spider webs were larger with than without toads and as sundew numbers increased, and these effects were more prominent as resources became limited. Finally, spiders negatively affected toad growth only at low prey abundance. 5. These findings highlight the long-term importance of foraging modality and plasticity of foraging traits in determining the strength of competition within and across taxonomic kingdoms. Future research should assess whether plasticity in foraging traits helps to maintain coexistence within this guild and whether foraging modality can be used as a trait to reliably predict the strength of competitive interactions.
Data from: Microenvironment and functional-trait context dependence predict alpine plant community dynamics
Predicting the structure and dynamics of communities is difficult. Approaches linking functional traits to niche boundaries, species co‐occurrence and demography are promising, but have so far had limited success. We hypothesized that predictability in community ecology could be improved by incorporating more accurate measures of fine‐scale environmental heterogeneity and the context‐dependent function of traits. We tested these hypotheses using long term whole‐community demography data from an alpine plant community in Colorado. Species distributions along microenvironmental gradients covaried with traits important for below‐ground processes. Positive associations between species distributions across life stages could not be explained by abiotic microenvironment alone, consistent with facilitative processes. Rates of growth, survival, fecundity and recruitment were predicted by the direct and interactive effects of trait, microenvironment, macroenvironment and neighbourhood axes. Synthesis. Context‐dependent interactions between multiple traits and microenvironmental axes are needed to predict fine‐scale community structure and dynamics.
Data from: Independent and interactive effects of plant genotype and environment on plant traits and insect herbivore performance: a meta-analysis with Salicaceae
1. Ecological research has increasingly highlighted the importance of intraspecific variation in shaping the structure and function of communities and ecosystems. Indeed, the effects of intraspecific variation can match or exceed those of interspecific variation. Previous reviews of intraspecific variation in plant traits across heterogeneous environments have focused primarily on mean phenotypic effects. We propose that a richer and fuller understanding of the ecological causes and consequences of intraspecific variation would be provided by partitioning trait variance into its subcomponents (genetic, environment, genotype by environment interaction). 2. We used a meta-analysis of 352 sets of genetic, environment, and genotype by environment (GxE) variation estimates from 72 studies of Salicaceae to compare these sources of variation across plant traits (growth, foliar nitrogen, defense compounds), insect herbivore performance metrics (e.g., survival, growth, fecundity), and environmental conditions (e.g., soil nutrients, water, defoliation). 3. Our findings revealed that variation in levels of defense compounds (both condensed tannins and salicinoids) and insect herbivore performance were primarily genetically determined, while variation in plant growth and foliar nitrogen were more environmentally determined. 4. Plasticity in plant growth, foliar nitrogen levels, and insect herbivore performance varied substantially across different sites (year x location), and nutrient, water, and carbon dioxide environments. Plasticity was lowest for chemical defense traits and all traits in contrasting ozone and defoliation environments. 5. Our quantitative review also revealed several gaps in the literature, including a need for surveying more mature plants (>2 years-old), a wider variety of insect herbivore species (e.g., leaf-modifiers, specialist insects), and underrepresented environmental treatments (e.g., competition, defoliation, disease, light, water). This work will help to assess how the patterns within this meta-analysis may or may not be confined within particular parameters (e.g., plant maturity). 6. Findings from this analysis further highlight the importance of and patterns within intraspecific variation in shaping the evolvability and plasticity of traits and in governing plant-insect interactions.
Catchment properties and the photosynthetic trait composition of freshwater plant communities
Unlike in land plants, photosynthesis in many aquatic plants relies on bicarbonate in addition to carbon dioxide (CO2) to compensate for the low diffusivity and potential depletion of CO2 in water. Concentrations of bicarbonate and CO2 vary greatly with catchment geology. In this study, we investigate whether there is a link between these concentrations and the frequency of freshwater plants possessing the bicarbonate use trait. We show, globally, that the frequency of plant species with this trait increases with bicarbonate concentration. Regionally, however, the frequency of bicarbonate use is reduced at sites where the CO2 concentration is substantially above the air equilibrium, consistent with this trait being an adaptation to carbon limitation. Future anthropogenic changes of bicarbonate and CO2 concentrations may alter the species compositions of freshwater plant communities.
Data from: Environmental resource deficit may drive the evolution of intraspecific trait variation in invasive plant populations
Intraspecific trait variation within natural populations (i.e. intra‐population trait variation, IPTV) is the basic source for selection and can have significant ecological consequences. Higher IPTV may increase a population's niche breath and benefit interspecies competition under a resource‐limited environment, thus affecting the ability of a species to move into novel habitats. However, the reciprocal influences of variation in environmental conditions and phenotypic trait expression in spreading plant populations are not clearly defined. We propose that during invasion, IPTV and its relative change in response to key resource enrichment may increase with the resource deficit of invaded sites, and that this relationship may facilitate plant invasions into resource‐limited environments. We analyzed the invasion trend, IPTV and its response to water enrichment, and moisture variability among populations of an annual grass Brachypodium hybridum in California, United States. We incorporated a genotyping‐by‐sequencing approach, a common garden experiment that had two water level treatments, and public plant and climate databases. Our hypothesis was supported by the observation that for populations that invaded sites with higher spring moisture deficit, both their seed biomass IPTV (for the water‐enriched treatment only) and relative change of the IPTV across water treatments were larger when examined in the common garden experiment. A generally north to south spreading direction was found in these B. hybridum populations, towards a drier and warmer climate exhibiting higher moisture deficit for plant growth. Our results suggest a role for interactions between IPTV (rather than trait means) and environmental resource availability in promoting plant invasions, providing new insights into the significance of IPTV in shaping plant geographic distributions.
Data from: Plant functional traits and environmental conditions shape community assembly and ecosystem functioning during restoration
Recovering biological diversity and ecosystem functioning are primary objectives of ecological restoration, yet these outcomes are often unpredictable. Assessments based on functional traits may help with interpreting variability in both community composition and ecosystem functioning because of their mechanistic and generalizable nature. This promise remains poorly realized, however, because tests linking environmental conditions, functional traits, and ecosystem functioning in restoration are rare. Here, we provide such a test through what is to our knowledge the first empirical application of the 'response–effect trait framework' to restoration. This framework provides a trait-based bridge between community assembly and ecosystem functioning by describing how species respond to environmental conditions based on traits and how the traits of species affect ecosystem functioning. Our study took place across 29 prairies restored from former agricultural fields in southwestern Michigan. We considered how environmental conditions affect ecosystem functioning through and independently of measured functional traits. To do so, we paired field-collected trait data with data on plant community composition and measures of ecosystem functioning and used structural equation modelling to determine relationships between environmental conditions, community-weighted means of functional traits and ecosystem functioning. Environmental conditions were predictive of trait composition. Sites restored directly from tillage (as opposed to those allowed to fallow) supported taller species with larger seeds and higher specific leaf area (SLA). Site age and fire frequency were both negatively related to SLA. We also found a positive relationship between soil moisture and SLA. Both trait composition and environmental conditions predicted ecosystem functioning, but these relationships varied among the measured functions. Pollination mode (animal pollination) increased and fire frequency decreased floral resource availability, seed mass had a negative effect on below-ground biomass production, and vegetative height increased decomposition rate. Soil moisture and fire frequency both increased while site age decreased above-ground biomass production, and site age and soil moisture both increased decomposition rate. Synthesis and applications. Our results suggest that both trait composition and environmental conditions play a role in shaping ecosystem function during restoration, and the importance of each is dependent on the function of interest. Because of this, environmental heterogeneity will be necessary to promote multiple ecosystem functions across restored landscapes. A trait-based approach to restoration can aid interpretation of variable outcomes through insights into community assembly and ecosystem functioning.
Relationships between plant-soil feedbacks and functional traits
<p>Plant-soil feedbacks (PSF) and functional traits are two active but not well theoretically integrated areas of research. However, PSF and traits are both affected by life history evolution, so the two should theoretically be related.</p> <p>We provide a conceptual framework to link plant functional traits to two types of PSF metrics, and hypothesize that individual PSF (plant performance in conspecific versus heterospecific soil) should be related to the fast-slow trait spectrum, while pairwise PSF (the sum of the individual feedbacks for two species growing in each other's soils) should be related to trait dissimilarity. We performed meta-analyses to test these hypotheses by compiling two datasets, one dataset consisting of individual PSF values and plant trait values (specific leaf area, SLA; leaf N concentration, LNC; specific root length, SRL; fine root diameter, FRD; plant height; seed mass), and the second consisting of pairwise PSF values and trait dissimilarity.</p> <p>Our meta-analyses showed that individual PSF values were more negative in faster-growing species with greater SLA, LNC and SRL, supporting the growth-defence trade-off hypothesis. Plant height was positively correlated with individual PSF, perhaps because large, long-lived plants defend against pathogens better than smaller, shorter-lived plants. We also found that larger-seeded species had more positive or less negative PSF, likely reflecting greater tolerance of soil pathogens. The direction of relationships between trait dissimilarity and pairwise PSF varied with trait identity. Dissimilarities in SRL and FRD were negatively correlated with pairwise PSF, while height dissimilarity was positively correlated with pairwise PSF. The contrasting relationships may reflect distinct links between trait dissimilarity and niche and fitness differences.</p> <p>Synthesis. Our results demonstrate how an integration of PSF and trait-based approaches can advance plant community ecology.</p>
Figure 6 in Nesting habits of the Japanese foliage spider, Cheiracanthium japonicum (Araneae: Miturgidae): host plant preference based on the physical traits of plant leaves
Figure 6. Differences in the nest size among all types examined by the Tukey test. A solid line indicates a range of 95% confidence intervals. If the interval crosses zero, the difference between the nest types is not significant. On the contrary, if the interval does not cross zero, the difference is significant. The nest types are abbreviated as follows: S1, season's first nest; S2, season's second nest; S3, season's third nest; S4, season's fourth nest; S5, season's fifth nest; M, mating nest; B, breeding nest.
Figure 5 in Nesting habits of the Japanese foliage spider, Cheiracanthium japonicum (Araneae: Miturgidae): host plant preference based on the physical traits of plant leaves
Figure 5. Relationship between the nest size and the nest type (n = 167). The nest types are abbreviated as follows: S1, season's first nest; S2, season's second nest; S3, season's third nest; S4, season's fourth nest; S5, season's fifth nest; M, mating nest; B, breeding nest.
Figure 4 in Nesting habits of the Japanese foliage spider, Cheiracanthium japonicum (Araneae: Miturgidae): host plant preference based on the physical traits of plant leaves
Figure 4. Principal component analysis bi-plot of relationships between the four physical traits of a leaf and the nest type (n = 133). Physical traits are shown by vectors. Each plot represents a nest type: square: season's first nest; diamond: season's second nest; solid square: season's third nest; circle: season's fourth nest; solid circle: season's fifth nest; triangle: mating nest; solid triangle: breeding nest. Plots with similar physical traits are formed into three groups (A, B and C) surrounded by lines.
Equilibrium in plant functional trait responses to warming is stronger under higher climate variability during the Holocene
Aim.The functional trait composition of plant communities is thought to be largely determined by climate, but relationships between contemporary trait distributions and climate are often weak. Spatial mismatches between trait and climatic conditions are commonly thought to arise from disequilibrium responses to past environmental changes. We here investigated whether current trait-climate disequilibrium were likely to emerge during plant functional responses to Holocene climate warming. Location.North America Time period.14-0Kya Major taxa studied. Terrestrial plants Methods. We joined global trait data with paleoecological time-series and climate simulations on 425 sites. We estimated plant community functional composition for three leaf traits involved in resource use. We then quantified disequilibrium in plant trait temporal responses to climate change during two contrasted periods : a period of high climate variability (14-7 Kya), and a period low climate variability (7-0 Kya). Results. Functional trait composition showed consistent deviation from climatic equilibrium during both periods. The temporal dynamics of trait composition tends to be positively correlated to climate equilibrium expectations during Holocene climate warming (14-7 Kya), but not during a following period of low climate variability (7-0 Kya). Main conclusions.Long-term functional responses of plants to climate change showed mixed evidence for both equilibrium and disequilibrium responses. Temporal trait dynamics were closer to spatial dynamics expectations under high climate variability, indicating that relevance of space-for-time substitution might be partially dependent on climate variability. Our results further suggest that current mismatches between trait and climatic conditions may arise due to a divergence of factors influencing trait dynamics during low climate variability periods. These findings provide a counterpoint to the common assumption that contemporary trait-climate mismatches result from lagged responses to past climate warming. Our study also demonstrates the need for a deeper investigation of the potential influence of non-climatic factors on functional plant community dynamics.
Data from: Nitrogen addition and warming modulate the pathogen impact on plant biomass by shifting intraspecific functional traits and reducing species richness
<p><span>1. </span><span>Foliar fungal pathogens can substantially reduce plant biomass. This effect can be modulated by environment conditions, such as soil nitrogen availability and air temperature. The ongoing global changes are altering these variables and thus interact with pathogens to influence plant biomass, but experimental test of their interactions is scarce. </span></p> <p><span>2. </span><span>We conducted a 4-year field experiment in a Tibetan alpine meadow to examine the interactive effects of nitrogen addition, warming and foliar pathogens (via fungicide application) on plant biomass. We also measured plant functional traits, species richness and abundance to test the possible mechanisms underlying these interactions. </span></p> <p><span>3. </span><span>Our results showed that foliar fungal pathogens reduced plant community biomass under nitrogen addition, which in turn weakened the positive nitrogen effect on community biomass. Mechanistically, nitrogen addition shifted the plant communities towards fast-growing traits; this happened predominantly because of changes in within-species trait values, including an increase in specific leaf area and height. These trait changes resulted in greater suppression of plant biomass by pathogens, likely because of the trade-offs associated with the allocation of resources to plant growth and defense. Moreover, the reduction in species richness amplified the pathogen effect under nitrogen addition due to the increased density and susceptibility of the most dominant species (i.e. Kobresia capillifolia). Furthermore, warming did not interact with pathogens and nitrogen addition to influence plant community biomass, but their three-way interaction modified the biomass of K. capillifolia. Specifically, warming enhanced the positive effect of nitrogen addition on the biomass of K. capillifolia in the fungicide, low infection plots, while it weakened the nitrogen effect in the no fungicide, high infection plots.</span></p> <p><span>4. </span><span>Synthesis:</span> <span>Our results demonstrate how pathogens interact with nitrogen addition and warming to influence the biomass of dominant species and the whole plant community. Our study highlights the importance of considering foliar fungal pathogens when assessing ecosystem responses to multiple global change factors.</span></p>
Data and code from: The functional trait distinctiveness of plant species is scale dependent
<p>Beyond the local abundance of species, their functional trait distinctiveness is now recognized as a key driver of community dynamics and ecosystem functioning. Yet, since the functional distinctiveness of a species is always relative to a given species pool, a species distinct at the regional scale might not necessarily be distinct at the local or community scale, and reciprocally. To assess the importance of scale (i.e the definition of a species pool) when quantifying the functional distinctiveness of species, and how it might distort the ecological conclusions derived from it, we quantified trait distinctiveness of 1,350 plant species at regional, local, and community scales over ca. 88 000 grassland plots in France. We measured differences in functional distinctiveness of species between regional, local and community scales and tested the influence of environmental predictors (climate and nitrogen input) and contexts (environmental distinctiveness, frequency, and heterogeneity) on these variations. In line with theoretical expectations, we found large variations of functional distinctiveness (in particular between regional and community scales) for many species, with a general tendency of lower distinctiveness at smaller scales. We also showed that nitrogen input – a key aspect of high land use intensity – and environmental frequency partly explained the differences between local and regional scales only. These results suggest the role played by environmental filtering on species' distinctiveness at the local scale, but the determinant of distinctiveness variations at the community scale still needs to be elucidated. Our study provides robust empirical evidence that measures of ecological originality are strongly scale-dependent. We urge ecologists to carefully consider the scale at which they measure distinctiveness, as ignoring scale dependencies could lead to biased (or even entirely wrong) conclusions when not considered at the scale of interest for the respective research question.</p>
Supplementary material 3 from: Worthy SJ, Marsico TD, Lucardi RD, Whitehurst LE, Burgess KS (2022) Variation in plant traits and phylogenetic structure associated with native and nonnative species in an industrialized flora. NeoBiota 77: 101-123. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.77.87307
Phylogenetic tree depicting genetic relationships among 159 species of the flora at the Port of Savannah, Savannah, Georgia, USA, with available sequences
Data from: Observed and dark diversity dynamics over millennial time scales: Fast-life history traits linked to expansion lags of plants in northern Europe
<p>Global change drivers (e.g. climate and land use) affect the species and functional traits observed in a local site but also its dark diversity—the set of species and traits locally suitable but absent. Dark diversity links regional and local scales and, over time, reveals taxa under expansion lags by depicting the potential biodiversity that remains suitable but is absent locally. Since global change effects on biodiversity are both spatially and temporally scale dependent, examining long-term temporal dynamics in observed and dark diversity would be relevant to assessing and foreseeing biodiversity change. Here, we used sedimentary pollen data to examine how both taxonomic and functional observed and dark diversity changed over the past 14500 years in northern Europe. We found that taxonomic and functional observed and dark diversity increased over time, especially after the Late Glacial and during the Late Holocene. However, dark diversity dynamics revealed expansion lags related to species' functional characteristics (dispersal limitation and stress intolerance) and an extensive functional redundancy when compared to taxa in observed diversity. We highlight that assessing observed and dark diversity dynamics is a promising tool to examine biodiversity change across spatial scales, its possible causes, and functional consequences.</p>
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