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76 results for “grassland plant species”
Species diversity and plant dominance influence grassland stability in response to extreme climatic events and anthropogenic drivers across three LTER sites: Cedar Creek, Konza Prairie, and Kellogg Biological Station, 1982-2023.
The data in this package is associated with the analysis for a manuscript titled "Multiple community properties drive ecosystem resistance and resilience to extreme climate events across mesic grasslands". The files include compiled data on plant biomass production, species abundance, experimental treatments, extreme climate event values, and calculated diversity and stability measures from grassland plots in experiments at CDR, KBS, and KNZ LTER sites.
Species cover, community biomass, and richness in global grasslands from NutNet (2007–2023): Dominant species predict plant richness and biomass in global grasslands
The Nutrient Network (NutNet) is a globally coordinated research initiative designed to investigate the impacts of human-driven alterations in nutrient availability and consumer presence on grassland ecosystems. Data were collected from over 130 herbaceous-dominated sites worldwide, spanning diverse environmental conditions from desert grasslands to arctic tundra. Standardized methodologies were employed across all sites to enable direct comparisons of productivity, diversity, and ecosystem responses. Experimental treatments included nutrient additions to assess co-limitation of plant growth by multiple nutrients, as well as grazer manipulations to examine their role in regulating biomass, species diversity, and community composition. By compiling these cross-site data, NutNet aims to enhance our understanding of productivity-diversity relationships and provide new insights into the ecological consequences of anthropogenic changes to nutrient cycles and food webs at a global scale.
Species richness of vascular plants and bryophytes in nine grassland sites (Europe and California collected in 2013-2016)
We sampled vascular plants (VP) and bryophytes (non-vascular plant; NVP) 1×1 m experimental plots in nine sites belonging to the Nutrient Network. Three sites were in California, two in Finland and UK and one in Germany and Switzerland. The data were collected to compare the responses of NVPs and VPs to nutrient addition and grazing exclusion treatments. The NVP and VP cover sampling was conducted in March-August 2016, except for heron.uk and rook.uk, which had been sampled for VPs in 2013. NVPs were mostly identified to species, but in absence of necessary diagnostic characters (capsules, other reproductive organs, distinctive gametophytic features), some specimens were identified at morphospecies group, subgenus, or genus level. We calculated three plant diversity indices for NVPs, VPs and total (NVPs and VPs combined) in each plot. First, species richness (S) is the number of species per 1 m2 for NVPs and VPs. For plots having no NVPs, NVP richness is zero. Second, for plots having at least one NVP, we calculated Inverse Simpson’s index of diversity (referred to as species diversity), which is equivalent to the Probability of Interspecific Encounter or Effective Number of Species (ENSPIE). Third, we calculated Simpson’s evenness (E = ENSPIE/S; referred to as evenness), which was expected to reflect changes in species’ dominance. We also sampled aboveground plant biomass at peak biomass of vascular plants (in May- August, depending on local site level characteristics) by clipping at ground level and removing all aboveground vegetation (live and dead) from two 0.1 × 1 m strips, sorting the current year’s VP and NVP biomass from the previous year’s biomass (dead litter), drying the biomass to a constant mass at 60 °C, and weighing it to the nearest 0.01 g. Except for two sites (heron.uk and rook.uk), we also measured photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) at the ground surface and above grassland canopy at time of peak biomass and calculated the proportion of tra
Scanned images of monocultures and mixtures of six grassland plant species roots, and of simulated fine roots
<p>Soil core samples were taken from a multi-species grassland experiment with field plots of monocultures and mixtures of six grassland plant species: <em>Lolium perenne</em> L. (PRG),<em> Phleum pratense</em> L. (TIM), <em>Trifolium pratense</em> L. (RC), <em>Trifolium repens</em> L. (WC), <em>Cichorium intybus </em>L. (CHIC), and <em>Plantago lanceolata </em>L.. The multi-species plots had a two species mixture with <em>Trifolium repens </em>L. and<em> Lolium perenne</em> L. (PRGWC), and a 6 species mixture with all species mentioned above. The cores were separated into soil depths of 0-10 cm, 10-15 cm and 15-20 cm and the roots separated from the soil.</p> <p>A ground-truth image set was created to simulate fine roots using fishing line. The fishing line used was a clear copolymer monofilament (Greys<sup>TM</sup> Greylon Tippet Material 3 lb), measured using a scanning electron microscope (Hitachi SU8200) to be 0.14 mm in diameter. The fishing line was used in its clear colour or coloured black using a permanent marker to simulate unstained and stained fine roots respectively. The fishing line was cut into lengths of 30 cm or 5 cm. </p> <p>Roots and fishing line were scanned using an Epson Perfection V800 flatbed scanner at 600 dpi. </p> <p>The Roots ZIP file contains a folder for the scanned root images and the Line zip file contains a folder with the scanned fishing line. The excel spreadsheet describes the naming convention for the images.</p> <p>Further details about the root sampling and image acquisition can be found in the publication that analyses these images: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ppj2.20034">https://doi.org/10.1002/ppj2.20034</a></p>
DCA and GNMDS output for 4640 subplots and 95 vascular plant species in four alpine grasslands
<p>Ordination output from detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) and global non-metric multidimensional scaling (GNMDS).</p> <p>Analyses were performed in R with the <em>vegan</em> package (Oksanen 2022) for the entire data set of 4630 subplots and 95 species' occurrences ('global', indicated by global or missing site name in file names), and for each of four sites: Skjellingahaugen (skj), Gudmedalen (gud), Låvisdalen (lav), and Ulvehaugen (ulv). Access .Rds files with readRDS in R/RStudio.</p> <p>For GNMDS files, k indicates the chosen number of dimensions. See GitHub repository for scripts to produce and perform further analysis with the files in this archive.</p> <p>Analyses performed by EL with scripts based on originals by RH.</p>
Combined data on plant species abundance and composition from LTER and other grasslands in the United States, 1943 - 2010
Understanding how biotic mechanisms confer stability in variable environments is a fundamental quest in ecology, and one that is becoming increasingly urgent with global change. Several mechanisms, notably a portfolio effect associated with species richness, compensatory dynamics generated by negative species covariance and selection for stable dominant species populations can increase the stability of the overall community. While the importance of these mechanisms is debated, few studies have contrasted their importance in an environmental context. We compiled nine long-term datasets of grassland species composition to evaluate the strength of biotic mechanisms of community stability and assess how these mechanisms change across precipitation gradients. Data were collected in replicate plots over time at nine different sites throughout the US (replicates within a site range from 5-100, plot sizes from 0.1 m² to 17 m²; minimum 9 years, maximum 30 years). Species abundance was measured as either percent cover, biomass, or allometrically-derived biomass. At all sites the measurement techniques and management regimes remained constant over the collection period, and the data collection methods were not relativized. For example, sites in which species composition were measured as percent cover do not require their estimates to sum to 100. For sites with long-term experimental treatments, only the control plots were included. These data have been presented in: Lauren M. Hallett, Joanna S. Hsu, Elsa E. Cleland, Scott L. Collins, Timothy L. Dickson, Emily C. Farrer, Laureano A. Gherardi, Katherine L. Gross, Richard J. Hobbs, Laura Turnbull, Katharine N. Suding. 2014. Biotic mechanisms of community stability shift along a precipitation gradient. Ecology 95:1693–1700. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/13-0895.1
VCF files of common grassland plants from wild collected seeds of 19 common European grassland species with up to 4 consecutive generations grown in monoculture for seed production for restoration
<p>A growing number of restoration projects require large amounts of seeds. As harvesting natural populations cannot cover the demand, wild plants are often propagated in large-scale monocultures. There are concerns that this cultivation process may cause genetic drift and unintended selection, which would alter the genetic properties of the cultivated populations and reduce their genetic diversity. Such changes could reduce the pre-existing adaptation of restored populations, and limit their adaptability to environmental change.</p> <p>We used single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers and a pool-sequencing approach to test for genetic differentiation and changes in gene diversity during cultivation in 19 wild grassland species, comparing the source populations and up to four consecutive cultivation generations. We then linked the magnitudes of genetic changes to the species' breeding systems and seed dormancy, to understand the roles of these traits in genetic change.</p> <p>The propagation changed the genetic composition of the cultivated generations only moderately. The genetic differentiation we observed as a consequence of cultivation was much lower than the natural genetic differentiation between different source regions. The propagated generations harbored even higher gene diversity than wild-collected seeds. Genetic change was stronger in self-compatible than in self-incompatible species, probably as a result of increased outcrossing in the monocultures.</p> <p><em>Synthesis and applications</em>: Our study indicates that large-scale seed production maintains the genetic integrity of natural populations. Increased genetic diversity may be indicative of increased adaptive potential of propagated seeds, which would make them especially suitable for ecological restoration. Yet, it remains to be tested whether these patterns observed on the level of molecular markers will be mirrored also in plant phenotypes. Further, we used seeds produced in Germany and Austria, where the seed production is regulated and certified. Whether other seed production systems perform equally well remains to be tested.</p>
Deciphering the interactions between plant species and their main fungal root pathogens in mixed grassland communities
<p>1. Plant diversity can reduce the risk of plant disease, but positive, and neutral effects have also been reported. These contrasting relationships suggest that plant community composition, rather than diversity per se, affects disease risk. Here, we investigated how diversity and composition of plant communities drive root-associated pathogen accumulation belowground.</p> <p>2. In a temperate grassland biodiversity experiment, containing 16 plant species (forbs and grasses), we determined the abundance of root-associated fungal pathogens in individual plant species growing in monocultures and in 4-species mixtures through Illumina MiSeq amplicon sequencing.</p> <p>3. In the plant monocultures, we identified three major fungal pathogens that differed in host range: <em>Paraphoma chrysanthemicola</em>, associated with roots of forb species of the Asteraceae family, <em>Slopeiomyces cylindrosporus</em>, associated with grass species, and <em>Rhizoctonia solani</em>, associated with multiple forb and grass species. In mixtures, there was no significant reduction in relative abundance of these pathogens in their host species as compared to monocultures. However, in mixtures, there was a significant increase in relative abundance of each pathogen in several non-host and host plant species. Across mixtures, plant community composition affected pathogen relative abundance in individual plant species. This effect was driven by the presence of a particular neighbouring plant species (depending on the pathogen), rather than functional group composition (i.e. grass/forb ratio) or averaged pathogen pressure (based on monocultures) of all neighbours. Specifically, the presence of neighbour host species <em>Achillea millefolium</em> significantly increased <em>P. chrysanthemicola</em>, but decreased <em>R. solani</em> relative abundance in several host and non-host plant species in mixtures.</p> <p>4. Synthesis: Our results indicate that interactions between different plant species – both host and non-hosts – and fungal pathogens underlie effects of plant diversity on root pathogen abundance. Non-host species may act as pathogen reservoirs in diverse plant communities, as they harboured certain pathogens in mixtures, but not in monocultures. Additionally, particular host species can strongly affect pathogen abundance in other (host and non-host) plant species in plant mixtures, suggesting clear effects of species identity in the diversity-disease relationship. Belowground disease risk thus depends on plant community composition rather than diversity per se, via specific interactions between plant species and their root-associated pathogens.</p>
Data from: Fertiliser application modulates the impact of interannual climate fluctuations and plant-to-plant interactions on the dynamics of annual species in a Mediterranean grassland
<p><span><strong><span>Background:</span></strong><span> Climate and land-use changes, which include the application of various types of organic and inorganic fertilisers, have been reducing the species diversity of Mediterranean grasslands and threatening their conservation. Annual plants are one of the most diverse functional groups of species in these grasslands, despite suffering competitive pressure from perennial herbaceous and woody species, and they are essential for ecosystem functioning and stability. </span></span></p> <p><span><strong><span>Aims:</span></strong><span> To quantify how fertilisation modulates the impact of plant-to-plant interactions and climate fluctuations on the dynamics of annuals in Mediterranean grasslands. We hypothesised that the application of sewage sludge would increase competition between functional groups, reducing the abundance of annuals in the long-term, but would buffer the negative impacts of drought on the year-to-year fluctuation of the diversity of annuals.</span></span></p> <p><span><strong><span>Methods:</span></strong><span> In a semi-natural species-rich Mediterranean grassland in northern Spain, we analysed the changes in the taxonomical and functional composition and diversity of annuals over 14 years in response to variations in the abundance of perennial herbaceous and woody species, climate fluctuations, and fertilisation with sewage sludge. We quantified separately the patterns of year-to-year fluctuations and long-term trends. </span></span></p> <p><span><strong><span>Results:</span></strong><span> The frequency and diversity of annuals decreased with a higher abundance of perennial herbaceous species, drought in June, and cold winters. The addition of sewage sludge decreased the abundance of annuals in the long-term, seemed to promote competition between annuals and other functional groups at an interannual scale, and mitigated the negative effects of drought and cold.</span></span></p> <p><span><span><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Fertilisation influences differently the temporal response of annuals to climate fluctuations and plant-to-plant interactions.</span></span></p>
Data from: Fertiliser application modulates the impact of interannual climate fluctuations and plant-to-plant interactions on the dynamics of annual species in a Mediterranean grassland
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VCF files of common grassland plants from wild collected seeds of 19 common European grassland species with up to 4 consecutive generations grown in monoculture for seed production for restoration
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Deciphering the interactions between plant species and their main fungal root pathogens in mixed grassland communities
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Data from: Plant diversity loss has limited effects on belowground biomass and traits but alters community short-term root production in a species-rich grassland
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Full-length transcriptomes of 25 grassland plant species
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Effects of Kangaroo Rats on Plant Species Dominance in a Chihuahuan Desert Grassland at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (1988)
Our objective was to evaluate the effects of burrowing activities by banner-tail kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spectabilis Merriam) on plant community structure and species dominance for two patch types at an ecotone between shortgrass steppe and desert grasslands in New Mexico, USA. Ten mounds produced by kangaroo rats were selected in patches dominated by Bouteloua gracilis (the dominant in shortgrass steppe communities) and ten mounds were selected in patches dominated by Bouteloua eriopoda (the dominant in Chihuahuan desert grasslands). Plant cover and density by species were sampled from three locations associated with each mound: the mound proper, the edge of the mound in the transition area, and the off-mound vegetation. Similar cover of B. eriopoda for the edges of mounds in both patch types indicates the ability of this species to respond to animal disturbances regardless of the amount of cover in the surrounding undisturbed vegetation. By contrast, cover of B. gracilis was low for all mounds and mound edges in patches dominated by this species. Much higher cover of B. eriopoda on mound edges compared to the undisturbed vegetation in B. gracilis- dominated patches indicates that kangaroo rats have important positive effects on this species. Lower cover of perennial grasses and higher cover of forbs, shrubs, and succulents on the edges of mounds in B. eriopoda - dominated patches compared to patches dominated by B. gracilis indicate the importance of surrounding vegetation to plant responses on disturbed areas. Our results show that kangaroo rats have important effects on both species dominance and composition for different patch types, and may provide a mechanism for small-scale dominance patterns at an ecotonal boundary; thus providing further support for their role as keystone species in desert grasslands.
Livestock Exclosure Study: Plant Species Composition in a Chihuahuan Desert Grassland at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (2004-2007)
Grazing in grasslands creates changes in plant community structure. The magnitude of these changes depends on the productivity and the intensity of grazing. Low productivity grasslands coupled with high grazing intensity may lead to shrub encroachment in some aridland ecosystems. We examined the effects of cattle grazing in arid grassland at the Sevilleta LTER site in central New Mexico USA where cattle were removed in 1973 and an area just north of the Sevilleta LTER where grazing by cattle still occurs. At each site we measured plant species composition and cover in permanent plots in the spring and fall from 2004 to 2007. Quadrats were clipped annually to quantify aboveground standing crop to answer the following questions: 1) Does cattle grazing affect plant species composition and standing crop? 2) Does grazing alter community response to inter-annual climate variability? and 3) How does grazing impact the abundance of native grasses?
Raster and original working data for the paper Holocene matters: landscape history accounts for current species richness of vascular plants in forests and grasslands of eastern Central Europe
<p>Aim: Current species-richness patterns are sometimes interpreted as a legacy of landscape history, but historical processes shaping the distribution of species during the Holocene are frequently omitted in biodiversity models. Here, we test their importance in modelling current species richness of vascular plants in forest and grassland vegetation.<br> Location: Western Carpathians and adjacent regions.<br> Taxon: Vascular plants.<br> Methods: Numbers of all species and of habitat specialists were extracted from plot records of forest and grassland vegetation. For each plot, environmental and historical data were derived from thematic maps. Historical data related to the persistence of (i) temperate taxa during the Late Glacial and Early Holocene, (ii) open-landscape taxa during the Middle Holocene, and (iii) taiga species during the Late Holocene were based on 112 fossil pollen profiles. Boosted regression trees were used to model spatial patterns in species richness.<br> Results: Historical variables always appeared among the best predictors of current species richness. In light forests, species richness highly mirrored both the Late Glacial (12.5% contribution) and Middle-Holocene (8.6%) landscape history. The latter factor became an important predictor also for species richness of steppe grasslands (8.3%) along with temperature seasonality (11.9%). Species richness of dark coniferous forests was best predicted by the Late-Holocene occurrence of taiga forests (14.8%), which had an even stronger effect on the richness of habitat specialists (20.5%). <br> Main conclusions: Landscape changes since the Last Glacial Maximum are important predictors of current plant species richness. The historical effects were found to be habitat-specific and, because they may interact with recent environmental conditions and anthropogenic pressures, they often show a non-linear relationship with species richness. We provide one possible direction of incorporating past landscape changes into the models of species richness.</p>
Data from: Sensitivity to AMF species is greater in late-successional than early-successional native or non-native grassland plants
Sensitivity of plant species to individual arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal species is of primary importance to understanding the role of AM fungal diversity and composition in plant ecology. Currently, we do not have a predictive framework for understanding which plant species are sensitive to different AM fungal species. In two greenhouse studies, we tested for differences in plant sensitivity to different AM fungal species and mycorrhizal responsiveness across 17 grassland plant species of North America that varied in successional stage, native status, and plant family by growing plants with different AM fungal treatments including eight single AM fungal isolates, diverse mixtures of AM fungi, and non-inoculated controls. We found that late successional grassland plant species were highly responsive to AM fungi and exhibited stronger sensitivity in their response to individual AM fungal taxa compared to non-native or early successional native grassland plant species. We confirmed these results using a meta-analysis that included 13 experiments, 37 plant species, and 40 fungal isolates (from nine publications and two greenhouse experiments presented herein). Mycorrhizal responsiveness and sensitivity of response (i.e., variation in plant biomass response to different AM fungal taxa) did not differ by the source of fungal inocula (i.e., local or not local) or plant family. Sensitivity of plant response to AM fungal species was consistently correlated with the average mycorrhizal response of that plant species. This study identifies that AM fungal identity is more important to the growth of late successional plant species than early successional or non-native plant species, thereby predicting that AM fungal composition will be more important to plant community dynamics in late successional communities than in early successional or invaded plant communities.
Data on soil variables (with plot IDs) and grassland species traits used for the analysis of grassland vegetation data by Pillar, V.D. (2024) Trait divergence in plant community assembly is generated by environmental factor interactions. Journal of Vegetation Science, 35, e13259. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.13259
<p>File <a href="../api/records/10983049/draft/files/Plot_IDs_990ua.txt/content" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Plot_IDs_990ua.txt</a> contains the IDs of the 1-m2 plots used for the analysis of grassland vegetation data by Pillar, V.D. (2024) Trait divergence in plant community assembly is generated by environmental factor interactions. The plot data are stored in the sPlot database (PPBio South Brazilian Grassland Database).</p> <p>File <a href="../api/records/10983049/draft/files/E_990ua_21SoilVar.txt/content" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">E_990ua_21SoilVar.txt</a> contains data on soil variables evaluated in the 250 m transects, but here expanded to the 990 1-m2 plots (each transect was sampled using 10 1-m2 pots).</p> <p>File <a href="../api/records/10983049/draft/files/B_769spp_4t.txt/content" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">B_769spp_4t.txt</a> is the species trait database collected in the framework of several research projects in the Quantitative Ecology Lab (EcoQua) and Grassland Vegetation Studies Lab (LevCamp) of Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). Data gaps were filled by compiled from the TRY database and data imputation.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p>
The effect of niche filtering on plant species abundance in temperate grassland communities
<p>1. Niche filtering predicts that abundant species in communities have similar traits that are suitable for the environment. However, niche filtering can operate on distinct axes of trait variation in response to different ecological conditions. Here, we use a trait-based approach to infer niche filtering processes and (1) test if abundant and rare species in grassland communities are differently positioned along distinct axes of trait variation, (2) determine if these trait variation axes, as well as phylogenetic and functional similarities, drive species relative abundance (aboveground cover) within communities, and (3) explore if these relationships vary across grassland types and macro-climatic gradients.</p> <p>2. We analysed species abundance in a set of ~2,000 vegetation plots from temperate grasslands in Central Europe as a function of species position along three axes of trait variation: the 'Plant Size Spectrum' (PSS), the 'Leaf Economics Spectrum' (LES), and the 'Lifespan/Clonality Spectrum' (LCS). We also used phylogenetic and functional similarities in the multi-dimensional trait space as predictors of species abundance. We compared our results among alpine, wet, mesic, and dry grasslands and tested if the effect of the predictors on species abundance was significant across macro-climatic gradients.</p> <p>3. Compared to abundant species, rare species in grassland communities were more commonly annual and non-clonal, had lower stature and smaller leaves and seeds, and relied on more acquisitive leaf economics. Our predictors significantly explained species abundance in approximately one-third of the plots. LES was the most important predictor across all plots, with the most prominent effect in alpine and dry grasslands and areas with more extreme temperatures. In contrast, in mesic and wet grasslands and grasslands located in warmer and less seasonal regions, species abundance was best predicted by phylogenetic similarities between species, with Poaceae species becoming more abundant.</p> <p>4. Our study explored trait-abundance relationships for different community types across a large area and broad macro-climatic gradients. We conclude that niche filtering, and particularly resource-acquisition trade-offs, drives species abundance in temperate grassland communities of Central Europe. Our findings emphasize the interaction between local environmental conditions and plant function in determining community assembly.</p>
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Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
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