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181 results for “woody plant”
Post-burn study of woody plants at Jacobs Branch West burn site, 1991-1992
Recent declines in the yellow pine component of pine-hardwood stands in the southern Appalachian Mountains has prompted managers to increase the use of fire as a silviculture tool. The fell and burn treatment is designed to remove competing vegetation (hardwoods and mountain laurel [Kalmia latifolia]) to ensure successful establishment of planted eastern white pine (Pinus strobus). Two years after burning, mountain laurel had accumulated more biomass than any other species and accounted for 43% of total biomass in year 1 and 20% in year 2. By year 4, mountain laurel ranked fifth (8.9% of total) in total biomass among hardwood species behind Allegheny serviceberry (Amalanchier arborea, 14.3%), chestnut oak (Quercus prinus, 13.7%), red maple (Acer rubrum, 12.4%), and scarlet oak (Q. coccinea, 9.3%). Across sites, woody species richness ranged from 19-24 in year 1 and 14-22 in year 4. Species richness varied across sites and years, and there were substantial changes in the distribution of biomass among species. The introduction of fire allowed the once dominant pitch pine (P. rigida) to successfully reestablish. On sites, pine accounted for 25% of pretreatment stem density, but <1% and 2% in the first and fourth growing seasons after burning, respectively. However; in year 1, pines had increased in density 20-fold compared to pretreatment levels, and by year 4, had maintained a 17-fold increase compared to pretreatment. The use of fire in forest management has been the subject of considerable criticism. In light of current public concerns over the loss of critical or unique habitats, fire may gain public support for use as a restoration tool.
Post-burn study of woody plants at the Jacobs Branch West burn site, 1994
Recent declines in the yellow pine component of pine-hardwood stands in the southern Appalachian Mountains has prompted managers to increase the use of fire as a silviculture tool. The fell and burn treatment is designed to remove competing vegetation (hardwoods and mountain laurel [Kalmia latifolia]) to ensure successful establishment of planted eastern white pine (Pinus strobus). Two years after burning, mountain laurel had accumulated more biomass than any other species and accounted for 43% of total biomass in year 1 and 20% in year 2. By year 4, mountain laurel ranked fifth (8.9% of total) in total biomass among hardwood species behind Allegheny serviceberry (Amalanchier arborea, 14.3%), chestnut oak (Quercus prinus, 13.7%), red maple (Acer rubrum, 12.4%), and scarlet oak (Q. coccinea, 9.3%). Across sites, woody species richness ranged from 19-24 in year 1 and 14-22 in year 4. Species richness varied across sites and years, and there were substantial changes in the distribution of biomass among species. The introduction of fire allowed the once dominant pitch pine (P. rigida) to successfully reestablish.
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>
Data from: Phylogenetic conservatism and biogeographic affinity influence woody plant species richness-climate relationships in eastern Eurasia
<p>Mechanisms underlying species richness patterns remain a central yet controversial issue in biology. Climate has been regarded as a major determinant of species richness. However, the relative influences of different evolutionary processes, (i.e. niche conservatism, diversification rate, and time for speciation) on species richness-climate relationships remain to be tested. Here, using newly compiled distribution maps for 11,422 woody plant species in eastern Eurasia, we estimated species richness patterns for all species and for families with tropical and temperate affinities separately, and explored the phylogenetic signals in species richness patterns of different families and their relationships with contemporary climate and climate change since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). We further compared the effects of niche conservatism (represented by contemporary-ancestral climate niches differences), diversification rate and time for speciation (represented by family age) on variation in the slopes of species richness-climate relationships. We found that winter coldness was the best predictor for species richness patterns of most tropical families while Quaternary climate change was the best predictor for those of most temperate families. Species richness patterns of closely-related families were more similar than those of distantly-related families within eudicots, and significant phylogenetic signals characterized the slopes of species richness-climate relationships across all angiosperm families. Contemporary-ancestral climate niche differences dominated variation in the relationships between family-level species richness and most climate variables. Our results indicate significant phylogenetic conservatism in family-level species richness patterns and their relationships with contemporary climate within eudicots. These findings shed light on the mechanisms underlying large-scale species richness patterns and suggest that ancestral climatic niche may influence the evolution of species richness-climate relationships in plants through niche conservatism.</p>
Data from: Soil carbon response to woody plant encroachment: Importance of spatial heterogeneity and deep soil storage
1. Recent global trends of increasing woody plant abundance in grass-dominated ecosystems may substantially enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) storage and could represent a strong carbon (C) sink in the terrestrial environment. However, few studies have quantitatively addressed the influence of spatial heterogeneity of vegetation and soil properties on SOC storage at the landscape scale. In addition, most studies assessing SOC response to woody encroachment consider only surface soils, and have not explicitly assessed the extent to which deeper portions of the soil profile may be sequestering C. 2. We quantified the direction, magnitude, and pattern of spatial heterogeneity of SOC in the upper 1.2 m of the profile following woody encroachment via spatially-specific intensive soil sampling across a landscape in a subtropical savanna in the Rio Grande Plains, USA, that has undergone woody proliferation during the past century. 3. Increased SOC accumulation following woody encroachment was observed to considerable depth, albeit at reduced magnitudes in deeper portions of the profile. Overall, woody clusters and groves accumulated 12.87 and 18.67 Mg C ha-1 more SOC compared to grasslands to a depth of 1.2 m. 4. Woody encroachment significantly altered the pattern of spatial heterogeneity of SOC to a depth of 5 cm, with marginal effect at 5-15 cm, and no significant impact on soils below 15 cm. Fine root density explained greater variability of SOC in the upper 15 cm, while a combination of fine root density and soil clay content accounted for more of the variation in SOC in soils below 15 cm across this landscape. 5. Synthesis: Substantial SOC sequestration can occur in deeper portions of the soil profile following woody encroachment. Furthermore, vegetation patterns and soil properties influenced the spatial heterogeneity and uncertainty of SOC in this landscape, highlighting the need for spatially specific sampling that can characterize this variability and enable scaling and modeling. Given the geographic extent of woody encroachment on a global scale, this undocumented deep soil C sequestration suggests this vegetation change may play a more significant role in regional and global C sequestration than previously thought.
Data from: Herbivory and climate as drivers of woody plant growth: Do deer decrease the impacts of warming?
<p>Vegetation at ecotone transitions between open and forested areas is often heavily affected by two key processes: climate change and management of large herbivore densities. These both drive woody plant state-shifts, determining the location and the nature of the limit between open and tree or shrub-dominated landscapes. In order to adapt management to prevailing and future climate, we need to understand how browsing and climatic factors together affect the growth of plants at biome borders. To disentangle herbivory and climate effects, we combined long-term tree growth monitoring and dendroecology to investigate woody plant growth under different temperatures and red deer (<i>Cervus elaphus</i>) herbivory pressures at forest-moorland ecotones in the Scottish highlands. Reforestation and deer densities are core and conflicting management concerns in the area, and there is an urgent need for additional knowledge. We found that deer herbivory and climate had significant and interactive effects on tree growth: in the presence of red deer, pine (<i>Pinus sylvestris</i>) growth responded more strongly to annual temperature than in the absence of deer, possibly reflecting differing plant-plant competition and facilitation conditions. As expected, pine growth was negatively related to deer density and positively to temperature. However, at the tree population level, warming decreased growth when more than 60% of shoots were browsed. Heather (<i>Calluna vulgaris</i>) growth was negatively related to temperature and the direction of the response to deer switched from negative to positive when mean annual temperatures fell below 6.0°C. In addition, our models allow estimates to be made of how woody plant growth responds under specific combinations of temperature and herbivory, and show how deer management can be adapted to predicted climatic changes in order to more effectively achieve reforestation goals. Our results support the hypothesis that temperature and herbivory have interactive effects on woody plant growth, and thus accounting for just one of these two factors is insufficient for understanding plant growth mechanics at biome transitions. Furthermore, we show that climate-driven woody plant growth increases can be negated by herbivory.</p>
Data from: Contrasting per-gram competitive and soil resource effects in grasses and woody plants
1. Plant species differ in their competitive effects by decreasing resource availability via uptake, but in some cases may increase resource availability via non-uptake pathways. Here we explore differences between grasses and woody plants in their competitive effects, and relate these to differences in resource effects. 2. We grew five species each of grasses and woody plants in monocultures for eight years. In the final two growing seasons, competitive effects were measured by growing transplants in all monocultures and in plots without neighbours. 3. Total competitive effects were significantly greater for woody plants than grasses. In contrast, the competitive effect per gram of grasses was about 17 times greater than that of woody plants. 4. For grasses, soil water and soil available N decreased significantly with increasing biomass. In contrast, for woody plants, soil water and soil available N increased significantly with increasing biomass. The results suggest that the intense per-gram competitive effects in grasses is related to the uptake of soil resources, and that the significantly lower per-gram competitive effects of woody plants may be related to their positive effects on soil resources. 5. Synthesis. The results link differences in competitive effects between grasses and woody plants to differences in the direction of their effects on soil resources. These differences may contribute to the entrainment of negative feedback in grasslands, excluding trees by means of strong competition, and the entrainment of positive feedback beneath woody plants establishing in grasslands, resulting in a state change from grassland to woody vegetation.
Wood density and leaf size jointly predict woody plant growth rates across (but not within) species along a steep precipitation gradient
<p>1. Functional traits have been proposed to define key dimensions of plant ecological strategies, but we lack consensus on whether traits can accurately predict plant demography. Despite theoretical expectations, it has been challenging to find consistent relationships between functional traits and growth. 2. In this study, we quantified inter- and intraspecific trait variation and individual growth rates of woody plants across a steep moisture gradient that varies 10-fold in annual precipitation (350–3,700 mm) in southern Chile and used a hierarchical Bayesian model to predict growth as a function of trait values. 3. We show that large-leaved species with lower stem tissue density exhibited the fastest growth rates, and these two traits exhibited the highest proportion of interspecific variation. Predictions of growth improved considerably (R2 of the best model increased from 0.28 to 0.49) when species-level multiple traits and their interactions were considered. The inclusion of intraspecific trait variation (ITV), however, did not improve models of growth rate. 4. We found that trait-growth rate relationships were not always consistent across levels of biological organization; relationships observed at the interspecific level did not necessarily hold at the intraspecific level. We found that the relationships between wood density or leaf size and growth were consistent in direction across the precipitation gradient, and the relationships between leaf economics traits and growth were weak and site-specific. 5. Synthesis. Although using more than one functional trait considerably improved growth predictions, wood density and leaf size successfully predicted growth rates across (not within) species, which is consistent with a whole-plant carbon economy. We assert that these two traits are intimately linked and ultimately describe a continuum of plant architecture and carbon economy that covers multiple trait syndromes.</p>
Pattern and driver of the compositional variations in a tropical cloud forest: Comparing vascular epiphytes with terrestrial woody plants
<p>β-diversity patterns (the compositional variations across sites) and their drivers are the major concerns of biodiversity research and conservation practices, whereas such information remains scarce for vascular epiphytes, especially in tropical forest communities. This study aimed to reveal the pattern and driving process of the compositional variations of vascular epiphytes in a tropical cloud forest on Hainan island, southern China, and their differences from those of terrestrial woody plants. To this end, we quantified their between-habitat compositional variations and distinguished the underlying components of β-diversity (nestedness and turnover). We then examined the relative roles of niche-based and neutral processes in driving the compositional variations by using a null model approach. Our results showed that the between-habitat compositional variations were significant for both plant assemblages and stronger in vascular epiphytes than in terrestrial woody plants. The turnover component of β-diversity was significantly stronger in terrestrial woody plants, accounting for 73.16%–80.08% of the variations. By contrast, the nestedness component was significantly stronger in vascular epiphytes and characterized 46.82%–67.5% of the variations. Besides, the compositional variations of both plant assemblages, especially terrestrial woody plants, were generally poorly fitted by the simulated niche-based scenarios but well fitted by the simulated neutral scenarios. Overall, the compositional variations of both plant assemblages were significant and mainly due to dispersal limitation, albeit to varying degrees. Hence, further studies of these plant assemblages at local scales should not be ideologically limited to the niche-based framework. Moreover, the stronger nestedness observed in vascular epiphytes suggests the greater importance of prioritizing conservation efforts in the species-rich habitats for these plants.</p>
Non-target woody plant responses to broadcast herbicide treatment for mesquite and pricklypear control
<p>Aerial spraying of herbicides is an option for treating undesirable woody species on grasslands and rangelands, but few studies have determined the effects of these products on non-target woody plants important to wildlife. A recently introduced herbicide containing a mixture of clopyralid and aminopyralid ("CA") is thought to be specific to honey mesquite (<em>Prosopis glandulosa</em>) control. Our objective was to document the effects of CA alone and mixed with other brush herbicides, including picloram and triclopyr, on two target species, honey mesquite and pricklypear (<em>Opuntia</em> spp.), and two non-target woody plants, lotebush (<em>Zizyphus obtusifolia</em>) and hackberry (<em>Celtis laevigata </em>var <em>reticulata</em>). Treatments were 1) CA, 2) CA + triclopyr (CA+Tr), 3) CA + picloram (CA+Pc), and 4) clopyralid + triclopyr (Cp+Tr). We applied aerial spray treatments on four, 4-ha replicated plots of mature mesquite thickets that also contained pricklypear in each of 3 consecutive years in north-central Texas and evaluated plots at 1 year and 2 years post-treatment (YPT). We developed a tolerance-rating model with 5 levels (highly tolerant, tolerant, moderately tolerant, moderately susceptible, and susceptible) that integrated stand-level percent whole plant mortality (root-kill) and percent canopy reduction of surviving plants. Mesquite was susceptible to all treatments in all spray years. Pricklypear was susceptible to CA+Pc [root-kill more than doubled (33 to 84%) from 1 to 2 YPT], but highly tolerant of the other treatments. Lotebush was highly tolerant or tolerant of all treatments. Hackberry was tolerant of CA and Cp+Tr but susceptible to CA+Pc. The negative effect of CA+Pc on hackberry was greater when hackberry was drought-stressed. We recommend inspection of drought status, foliage condition, and abundance of non-target woody species prior to broadcast spraying for control of targeted woody species or cacti.</p>
Fraxinus americana (Oleaceae) - woody angiosperms - fruit - as borne on the plant
Image of Fraxinus americana (Oleaceae) - woody angiosperms - fruit - as borne on the plant
Data from: Woody plant secondary chemicals increase in response to abundant deer and arrival of invasive plants in suburban forests
<p>Plants in suburban forests of eastern North America face the dual stressors of high white-tailed deer density and invasion by nonindigenous plants. The combination of chronic deer herbivory and strong competition from invasive plants could alter a plant's stress- and defense-related secondary chemistry, especially for long-lived juvenile trees in the understory, but this has not been studied. We measured foliar total antioxidants, phenolics, and flavonoids in juveniles of two native trees, <em>Fraxinus pennsylvanica</em> (green ash) and <em>Fagus grandifolia </em>(American beech), growing in six forests in the suburban landscape of central New Jersey, USA. The trees grew in experimental plots that had been subject for 2.5 years to factorial treatments of deer access/exclosure X addition/no addition of the nonindigenous invasive grass <em>Microstegium vimineum </em>(Japanese stiltgrass). As other hypothesized drivers of plant secondary chemistry, we also measured non-stiltgrass herb layer cover, light levels, and water availability. Univariate mixed model analysis of the deer and stiltgrass effects and multivariate structural equation modeling (SEM) of all variables showed that both greater stiltgrass cover and greater deer pressure induced antioxidants, phenolics, and flavonoids, with some variation between species. Deer were generally the stronger factor, and stiltgrass effects were most apparent at high stiltgrass density. SEM also revealed that soil dryness directly increased the chemicals; deer had additional positive, but indirect, effects via influence on the soil; in beech PAR positively affected flavonoids; and herb layer cover had no effect. Juvenile trees' chemical defense/stress responses to deer and invasive plants can be protective, but also could have a physiological cost, with negative consequences for recruitment to the canopy. Ecological implications for species and their communities will depend on costs and benefits of stress/defense chemistry in the specific environmental context, particularly with respect to invasive plant competitiveness, extent of invasion, local deer density, and deer browse preferences.</p>
Cross-scale drivers of woody plant species commonness and rarity in the Brazilian drylands
<p><strong>Aim</strong>: <span>Locally abundant species are typically widespread, while locally scarce species are geographically restricted – the </span>so-called abundance-occupancy relationships (AORs)<span>. AORs help explain the drivers of species rarity and community assembly</span>, but little is known about how variation around such relationships is driven by species traits and niche-based processes, particularly in tropical woody plants. We<span> tested the hypothesis that AORs in tropical dryland woody plants are positive and mediated by niche and functional traits along environmental gradients.</span></p> <p><strong><span>Location</span></strong><span>: The Caatinga dry forest and Cerrado savannah, Brazil.</span></p> <p><strong><span>Methods</span></strong><span>: We aggregated abundance and occurrence data into grid-cells representing local (10-km) to landscape scales (50-km). We calculated species mean relative abundance at occupied grid-cells (local abundance) and the proportion of grid-cells occupied (occupancy), and estimated their niche breadth and marginality along multivariate environmental gradients. </span></p> <p><strong><span>Results</span></strong><span>: AORs were positive but weak at different scales in both regions due to some locally abundant but geographically restricted species, with most species being both locally and geographically rare. Cross-species variation in local abundance was largely unpredictable, but occupancy was strongly driven by niche and functional traits, with a prominent negative effect of niche marginality. Geographically restricted species were associated with rare habitats,</span><span> such as wetter and less intensively used habitats. Large seeds and abiotic dispersal favoured occupancy in Caatinga at small and large spatial scales, respectively, whereas species with conservative leaves were more widespread across scales in Cerrado. </span></p> <p><strong><span>Main conclusions</span></strong><span>: Woody plants in dry tropical biotas exhibit weak AORs, likely related to low habitat availability and dispersal limitation. Caatinga and Cerrado emerge as environmentally structured at multiple spatial scales, with several habitat-specialist rare species bearing specific regenerative and resource-use traits and relying on conditions threatened by climate change and land-use intensification. </span>Examining AORs through the lens of niche, functional traits and spatial scales enables mapping patterns and drivers of species commonness and rarity, enhancing understanding of species assembly and providing tools for biodiversity conservation.</p>
Data From: Evolution of woody plants to the land‐sea interface: The atypical genomic features of mangroves with atypical phenotypic adaptation
<p><span>How plants adapt and diverge in extreme environments is a key question of plant evolution and ecology. Mangrove invasion of intertidal environments is facilitated by adaptive phenotypes such as aerial roots, salt-secreting leaf, and viviparity, and genomic mechanisms including whole genome duplication and transposable element number reduction. However, a number of mangroves lack these typical phenotypes. The question we ask is whether these phenotypically atypical mangroves also have distinct genomic features? The sibling mangrove species <em>Lumnitzera littorea</em> and <em>Lumnitzera racemosa</em> provide a model to study this question. We sequenced and assembled their genomes to chromosome level, together with a closely related species <em>Combretum micranthum</em>. While most mangroves have small genomes, the genomes of both <em>Lumnitzera </em>species are large (1443 and 1317 Mb) and carry a high proportion of repeat sequences (~75%). Moreover, <em>Lumnitzera</em> species have not undergone post-gamma whole-genome duplications. Their genome size increased mainly due to the expansion of repeat sequences in their ancestors. However, <em>Lumnitzera </em>genomes have reduced transposable elements by constraining the proliferation of new LTR-RTs. Meanwhile, the two species have more gene families contracted than expanded, and some gene families with reversed size change may underlie their differentiation in root morphology and local distribution. We identified 86 chromosomal inversions, five of which are measured between 6.5 and 12.8 megabases. A number of genes located in these inversions function in pigment biosynthesis, a process likely involved in flower color differentiation between the <em>Lumnitzera </em>species. We conclude that the mangroves with atypical phenotypes also have atypical genomic evolution.</span></p>
Data from: Integrating herbivore assemblages and woody plant cover in an African savanna to reveal how herbivores respond to ecosystem management
<p>African savannas are experiencing anthropogenically-induced stressors that are accelerating the increase of woody vegetation cover. To combat this, land managers frequently implement large-scale clearing of trees, which can have a cascading influence on mammalian herbivores. Studies rarely focus on how differences in woody cover influence the herbivore assemblage, making it difficult to assess how aggressive measures, or the lack of management, to counteract increasing woody cover affect the local composition and biodiversity of herbivores. We address this knowledge gap by applying a model-based clustering approach to field observations from to identify multiple herbivore–vegetation ‘configurations,’ defined as unique sets of herbivore assemblages (i.e., groups of herbivores) associated with differing woody plant covers. Our approach delineated how tree-clearing influences the distribution and abundance of the herbivore community in relation to surrounding savanna areas, which represent a natural mosaic of varying woody cover. Regardless of season, both intensively managed areas cleared of trees and unmanaged areas with high tree cover contained configurations that had depauperate assemblages of herbivores (low species richness, low abundance). By contrast, habitats with intermediate cover of woody vegetation had much higher richness and abundance. These results have substantial implications for managing African savannas in a rapidly changing climate.</p>
Woody plant diversity before and after the Horseshoe Two Fire in the Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona, USA
<p>Aim: Drastic changes in fire regimes are altering plant communities, inspiring ecologists to better understand the relationship between fire and plant species diversity. We examined the impact of a 90,000-ha wildfire on woody plant species diversity in an arid mountain range in southern Arizona, USA. We tested recent fire-diversity hypotheses by addressing the impacts of fire severity, fire variability, historical fire regimes, and topography on diversity.</p> <p>Location: Chiricahua National Monument, Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona. USA., part of the Sky Islands of the US-Mexico borderlands.</p> <p>Taxon: Woody plant species.</p> <p>Methods: We sampled woody plant diversity in 138 plots before (2002-2003) and after (2017-2018) the 2011 Horseshoe Two Fire in three vegetation types and across fire severity and topographic gradients. We calculated gamma, alpha, and beta diversity and examined changes over time in burned vs. unburned plots and the shapes of the relationships of diversity with fire severity and topography.</p> <p>Results: Alpha species richness declined and beta and gamma diversity increased in burned but not unburned plots. Fire-induced enhancement of gamma diversity was confined to low fire severity plots. Alpha diversity did not exhibit a clear continuous relationship with fire severity. Beta diversity was enhanced by fire severity variation among plots and increased with fire severity up to very high severity, where it declined slightly.</p> <p>Main Conclusions: The results reject the intermediate disturbance hypothesis for alpha diversity but weakly support it for gamma diversity. Spatial variation in fire severity promoted variation among plant assemblages, supporting the pyrodiversity hypothesis. Long-term drought probably amplified fire-driven diversity changes. Despite the apparent benign impact of the fire on diversity, the replacement of two large conifer species with a suite of drought-tolerant shrubs signals the potential loss of functional diversity, a pattern that may warrant restoration efforts to retain these important compositional elements.</p>
Data from: The functional diversity–productivity relationship of woody plants is climatically sensitive
<p><span>Plot-scale experiments show that functional diversity (FD) plays a pivotal role in maintaining ecosystem functions such as net primary productivity (NPP). However, how FD affects NPP across larger scales under varying climatic conditions is sparsely studied, yet is important for forest–atmosphere interactions and policy development. </span></p> <p><span>Hence, we assess the effects of functional dispersion (FDis) and community-weighted means (CWMs) of woody plant traits on NPP across China and if such effects are modulated by climatic conditions at large scale. Using comprehensive datasets on distribution, functional traits and productivity for 9120 Chinese woody plant species, we evaluated the distribution pattern and the relationships of FDis and CWM (including three orthogonal trait indicators: plant size, photosynthetic capacity and flower duration) with NPP through multiple linear regression models. Structural equation models were used to test the effects of climatic conditions on FDis/CWM–NPP relationships.</span></p> <p><span>We found both general FD effects, but also that the magnitude of these could be modified by climate, with CWM and FDis of plant size especially promoting NPP in warm and wet regions, respectively. Climate indirectly increased NPP through positive effects on CWM or FDis, notably via mean photosynthetic capacity.</span></p> <p><span>This study provides the first comprehensive evidence for FD effects on NPP under varying climates at large scale. Importantly, our results suggest a general increase in the importance of plant traits for woody vegetation NPP with rising temperatures and wetter climates. Restoration and reforestation actions need to carefully consider not just CWMs and FDis, but, as an additional path, also their interactions with climate, to predict how FD may promote ecosystem functioning under future climatic conditions.</span></p>
Study of the state of woody plants in arid conditions of Mangistau (Kazakhstan)
<p><span>This study, conducted with meticulous attention to detail, comprehensively examines the state of plants and their adaptation to Kazakhstan's extra-arid climatic zone of the Mangistau. It uses the collections of woody plants from the Mangyshlak Experimental Botanical Garden in Aktau as a case study and extrapolates the results to the entire region. The study area is arid and unsuitable for many plants, so examining physiological adaptation mechanisms and strategies for preserving plants in unfavourable conditions is crucial. The study employed a range of methods, including the measurement of the intensity of transpiration, leaf hydration, and the content of chlorophyll A, B, and carotenoids. These methods were chosen for their proven effectiveness in similar studies and their ability to provide accurate and reliable data. The samples were also assessed using a point system for resistance to drought, phytophagy, gas tolerance, salt tolerance, winter hardiness, and soil fertility. The results obtained and entered into the IEBG platform “DinTseR” to assess the value of the introduction using a diagnostic scale revealed a high variability (up to 51.7-52.2%) of physiological indicators of growth and development. The highest values of transpiration intensity were observed in deciduous trees and shrubs, rose varieties (205-243 mg/g fresh leaf mass per hour), leaf water content - in climbing plants (68.9%), chlorophyll A and B content - in deciduous plants, and plants - old trees, fruit trees and varietal roses (3.46-3.93 and 1.34-1.84%). Their concentration in coniferous species is almost two times lower (0.63%). A correlation was also made between various significant factors. Twenty regression equations and forecasts have been identified that can be used to diagnose and assess resistance, thereby reducing the cost of determining the introduction value in the conditions of Mangistau. These findings are essential in understanding and preserving the unique flora of the Mangistau region.</span></p>
Understanding woody plant encroachment: A plant functional trait approach
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EstablishMed: a dataset of transition probabilities for woody plant establishment in the Mediterranean Region
<p><strong>Motivation</strong>: Plant establishment is the result of sequential demographic processes, namely post-dispersal seed survival, seed germination, seedling survival and sapling survival. These processes can be quantified as transition probabilities between life stages through field experiments, and their product provides an overall establishment probability. This information is essential to understand demography within populations and plant colonization potential under global change scenarios. The Mediterranean Region constitutes a biodiversity hotspot characterised by severe summer droughts, which suppose a critical demographic bottleneck for perennial plant establishment. Despite many studies have quantified transition probabilities of woody species in this region, information is scattered through literature and has not yet been compiled. To fill this gap, we collated data from a systematic literature review and completed them with new unpublished data to create the <em>EstablishMed</em> dataset.</p> <p><strong>Main types of variables contained</strong>: <em>EstablishMed</em> is a compilation of 4728 records of transition probabilities that quantify demographic processes operating during plant establishment. All records belong to native species and were obtained <em>in situ </em>under field conditions. Each record includes information about the specific spatiotemporal context of the study (i.e., year, site, population, habitat and microhabitat) and the experimental procedures employed (e.g., degree of protection against natural enemies). In addition, we included taxonomic and trait information of the study species (i.e., seed mass, dispersal syndrome and life form), and the bioclimate of the study sites.</p> <p><strong>Spatial location and grain</strong>: The dataset covers the whole Mediterranean Region. The finest spatial resolution corresponds to microhabitat types within populations.</p> <p><strong>Time period and grain</strong>: Data were extracted from 271 studies originated between 1991 and 2024.</p> <p><strong>Major taxa and level of measurement</strong>: 134 woody species from 80 genera and 39 families.</p> <p><strong>Software format</strong>: <em>EstablishMed</em> is available in .csv format in Dryad repository.</p>
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Allen Brain Atlas
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Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
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