1
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Yan Y, Piao S, Hammond WM, Chen A, Hong S, Xu H, Munson SM, Myneni RB, Allen CD. Climate-induced tree-mortality pulses are obscured by broad-scale and long-term greening. Nat Ecol Evol 2024; 8:912-923. [PMID: 38467712 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-024-02372-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2022] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
Vegetation greening has been suggested to be a dominant trend over recent decades, but severe pulses of tree mortality in forests after droughts and heatwaves have also been extensively reported. These observations raise the question of to what extent the observed severe pulses of tree mortality induced by climate could affect overall vegetation greenness across spatial grains and temporal extents. To address this issue, here we analyse three satellite-based datasets of detrended growing-season normalized difference vegetation index (NDVIGS) with spatial resolutions ranging from 30 m to 8 km for 1,303 field-documented sites experiencing severe drought- or heat-induced tree-mortality events around the globe. We find that severe tree-mortality events have distinctive but localized imprints on vegetation greenness over annual timescales, which are obscured by broad-scale and long-term greening. Specifically, although anomalies in NDVIGS (ΔNDVI) are negative during tree-mortality years, this reduction diminishes at coarser spatial resolutions (that is, 250 m and 8 km). Notably, tree-mortality-induced reductions in NDVIGS (|ΔNDVI|) at 30-m resolution are negatively related to native plant species richness and forest height, whereas topographic heterogeneity is the major factor affecting ΔNDVI differences across various spatial grain sizes. Over time periods of a decade or longer, greening consistently dominates all spatial resolutions. The findings underscore the fundamental importance of spatio-temporal scales for cohesively understanding the effects of climate change on forest productivity and tree mortality under both gradual and abrupt changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuchao Yan
- Institute of Carbon Neutrality, Sino-French Institute for Earth System Science, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Shilong Piao
- Institute of Carbon Neutrality, Sino-French Institute for Earth System Science, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
- State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
| | - William M Hammond
- Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Agronomy Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Anping Chen
- Department of Biology and Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
| | - Songbai Hong
- Institute of Carbon Neutrality, Sino-French Institute for Earth System Science, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Hao Xu
- Institute of Carbon Neutrality, Sino-French Institute for Earth System Science, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Seth M Munson
- U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
| | - Ranga B Myneni
- Department of Earth and Environment, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Craig D Allen
- Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
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2
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Cui E. Trait-environment relationships are timescale dependent. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2024; 241:2313-2315. [PMID: 38263681 DOI: 10.1111/nph.19546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2024]
Abstract
This article is a Commentary on Famiglietti et al. (2024), 241: 2423–2434.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erqian Cui
- Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China
- Research Center for Global Change and Complex Ecosystems, Institute of Eco-Chongming, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China
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3
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Liu C, Sack L, Li Y, Zhang J, Yu K, Zhang Q, He N, Yu G. Relationships of stomatal morphology to the environment across plant communities. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6629. [PMID: 37857672 PMCID: PMC10587080 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42136-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2022] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The relationship between stomatal traits and environmental drivers across plant communities has important implications for ecosystem carbon and water fluxes, but it has remained unclear. Here, we measure the stomatal morphology of 4492 species-site combinations in 340 vegetation plots across China and calculate their community-weighted values for mean, variance, skewness, and kurtosis. We demonstrate a trade-off between stomatal density and size at the community level. The community-weighted mean and variance of stomatal density are mainly associated with precipitation, while that of stomatal size is mainly associated with temperature, and the skewness and kurtosis of stomatal traits are less related to climatic and soil variables. Beyond mean climate variables, stomatal trait moments also vary with climatic seasonality and extreme conditions. Our findings extend the knowledge of stomatal trait-environment relationships to the ecosystem scale, with applications in predicting future water and carbon cycles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Congcong Liu
- Key Laboratory of Ecology and Environment in Minority Areas (Minzu University of China), National Ethnic Affairs Commission, 100081, Beijing, China
- College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Minzu University of China, 100081, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100101, Beijing, China
| | - Lawren Sack
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90025, USA
| | - Ying Li
- Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100101, Beijing, China
| | - Jiahui Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100101, Beijing, China
| | - Kailiang Yu
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, 08540, USA
| | - Qiongyu Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100101, Beijing, China
| | - Nianpeng He
- Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100101, Beijing, China.
- Center for Ecological Research, Northeast Forestry University, 150040, Harbin, China.
- Earth Critical Zone and Flux Research Station of Xing'an Mountains, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 165200, Daxing'anling, China.
| | - Guirui Yu
- Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100101, Beijing, China
- College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China
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4
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Vandvik V, Halbritter AH, Althuizen IHJ, Christiansen CT, Henn JJ, Jónsdóttir IS, Klanderud K, Macias-Fauria M, Malhi Y, Maitner BS, Michaletz S, Roos RE, Telford RJ, Bass P, Björnsdóttir K, Bustamante LLV, Chmurzynski A, Chen S, Haugum SV, Kemppinen J, Lepley K, Li Y, Linabury M, Matos IS, Neto-Bradley BM, Ng M, Niittynen P, Östman S, Pánková K, Roth N, Castorena M, Spiegel M, Thomson E, Vågenes AS, Enquist BJ. Plant traits and associated data from a warming experiment, a seabird colony, and along elevation in Svalbard. Sci Data 2023; 10:578. [PMID: 37666874 PMCID: PMC10477187 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-023-02467-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2023] [Accepted: 08/11/2023] [Indexed: 09/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The Arctic is warming at a rate four times the global average, while also being exposed to other global environmental changes, resulting in widespread vegetation and ecosystem change. Integrating functional trait-based approaches with multi-level vegetation, ecosystem, and landscape data enables a holistic understanding of the drivers and consequences of these changes. In two High Arctic study systems near Longyearbyen, Svalbard, a 20-year ITEX warming experiment and elevational gradients with and without nutrient input from nesting seabirds, we collected data on vegetation composition and structure, plant functional traits, ecosystem fluxes, multispectral remote sensing, and microclimate. The dataset contains 1,962 plant records and 16,160 trait measurements from 34 vascular plant taxa, for 9 of which these are the first published trait data. By integrating these comprehensive data, we bridge knowledge gaps and expand trait data coverage, including on intraspecific trait variation. These data can offer insights into ecosystem functioning and provide baselines to assess climate and environmental change impacts. Such knowledge is crucial for effective conservation and management in these vulnerable regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vigdis Vandvik
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
- Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
| | - Aud H Halbritter
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Inge H J Althuizen
- Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- NORCE, Norwegian Research Centre AS, Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Bergen, Norway
| | | | - Jonathan J Henn
- Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, USA
| | | | - Kari Klanderud
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| | - Marc Macias-Fauria
- School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Yadvinder Malhi
- School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Brian Salvin Maitner
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA
| | - Sean Michaletz
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Ruben E Roos
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| | - Richard J Telford
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Polly Bass
- Department of Ethnobotany, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Canada
| | | | | | - Adam Chmurzynski
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA
| | - Shuli Chen
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA
| | - Siri Vatsø Haugum
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | | | - Kai Lepley
- School of Geography, Development and Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA
| | - Yaoqi Li
- Department of Health and Environmental Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, China
| | - Mary Linabury
- Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA
| | - Ilaíne Silveira Matos
- Department of Environmental Science Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, USA
| | | | - Molly Ng
- Section of Botany, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, USA
| | | | - Silje Östman
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Karolína Pánková
- Department of Botany, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Nina Roth
- Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Matiss Castorena
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA
| | - Marcus Spiegel
- School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Eleanor Thomson
- School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | | | - Brian J Enquist
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA.
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5
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Zhu T, Jiang W, Shen H, Yuan J, Chen J, Gong Z, Wang L, Zhang M, Rao Q. Characteristics of plant trait network and its influencing factors in impounded lakes and channel rivers of South-to-North Water Transfer Project, China. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1127209. [PMID: 36968420 PMCID: PMC10036390 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1127209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Trait-based approaches have been widely used to evaluate the effects of variable environments on submerged macrophytes communities. However, little research focused on the response of submerged macrophytes to variable environmental factors in impounded lakes and channel rivers of water transfer project, especially from a whole plant trait network (PTN) perspective. Here, we conducted a field survey designed to clarify the characteristic of PTN topology among impounded lakes and channel rivers of the East Route of South-to-North Water Transfer Project (ERSNWTP) and to unravel the effects of determining factors on the PTN topology structure. Overall, our results showed that leaf-related traits and organ mass allocation traits were the hub traits of PTNs in impounded lakes and channel rivers of the ERSNWTP, which traits with high variability were more likely to be the hub traits. Moreover, PTNs showed different structures among impounded lakes and channel rivers, and PTNs topologies were related to the mean functional variation coefficients of lakes and channel rivers. Specially, higher mean functional variation coefficients represented tight PTN, and lower mean functional variation coefficients indicated loose PTN. The PTN structure was significantly affected by water total phosphorus and dissolved oxygen. Edge density increased, while average path length decreased with increasing total phosphorus. Edge density and average clustering coefficient showed significant decreases with increasing dissolved oxygen, while average path length and modularity exhibited significant increases with increasing dissolved oxygen. This study explores the changing patterns and determinants of trait networks along environmental gradients to improve our understanding of ecological rules regulating trait correlations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tianshun Zhu
- College of Life Sciences, Zaozhuang University, Zaozhuang, China
- Institute of Aquatic Environment, Jiangxi Academy of Eco-Environmental Sciences and Planning, Nanchang, China
| | - Wanxiang Jiang
- College of Life Sciences, Zaozhuang University, Zaozhuang, China
| | - Henglun Shen
- College of Life Sciences, Zaozhuang University, Zaozhuang, China
| | - Juanjuan Yuan
- College of Life Sciences, Zaozhuang University, Zaozhuang, China
| | - Jing Chen
- College of Life Sciences, Zaozhuang University, Zaozhuang, China
| | - Zheng Gong
- College of Life Sciences, Zaozhuang University, Zaozhuang, China
| | - Lihong Wang
- College of Life Sciences, Zaozhuang University, Zaozhuang, China
| | - Meng Zhang
- Institute of Aquatic Environment, Jiangxi Academy of Eco-Environmental Sciences and Planning, Nanchang, China
| | - Qingyang Rao
- Institute for Ecological Research and Pollution Control of Plateau Lakes, School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
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6
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Kambach S, Sabatini FM, Attorre F, Biurrun I, Boenisch G, Bonari G, Čarni A, Carranza ML, Chiarucci A, Chytrý M, Dengler J, Garbolino E, Golub V, Güler B, Jandt U, Jansen J, Jašková A, Jiménez-Alfaro B, Karger DN, Kattge J, Knollová I, Midolo G, Moeslund JE, Pielech R, Rašomavičius V, Rūsiņa S, Šibík J, Stančić Z, Stanisci A, Svenning JC, Yamalov S, Zimmermann NE, Bruelheide H. Climate-trait relationships exhibit strong habitat specificity in plant communities across Europe. Nat Commun 2023; 14:712. [PMID: 36759605 PMCID: PMC9911725 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36240-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2022] [Accepted: 01/20/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Ecological theory predicts close relationships between macroclimate and functional traits. Yet, global climatic gradients correlate only weakly with the trait composition of local plant communities, suggesting that important factors have been ignored. Here, we investigate the consistency of climate-trait relationships for plant communities in European habitats. Assuming that local factors are better accounted for in more narrowly defined habitats, we assigned > 300,000 vegetation plots to hierarchically classified habitats and modelled the effects of climate on the community-weighted means of four key functional traits using generalized additive models. We found that the predictive power of climate increased from broadly to narrowly defined habitats for specific leaf area and root length, but not for plant height and seed mass. Although macroclimate generally predicted the distribution of all traits, its effects varied, with habitat-specificity increasing toward more narrowly defined habitats. We conclude that macroclimate is an important determinant of terrestrial plant communities, but future predictions of climatic effects must consider how habitats are defined.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephan Kambach
- Institute of Biology/Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany. .,German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Francesco Maria Sabatini
- Institute of Biology/Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany.,German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.,BIOME Lab, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences (BiGeA), Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.,Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague - Suchdol, Czech Republic
| | - Fabio Attorre
- Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Roma, Italy
| | - Idoia Biurrun
- Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Bilbao, Spain
| | | | - Gianmaria Bonari
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy
| | - Andraž Čarni
- Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Jovan Hadži Institute of Biology, ZRC-SAZU, Ljubljana, Slovenia.,University of Nova Gorica, School for Viticulture and Enology, Nova Gorica, Slovenia
| | - Maria Laura Carranza
- Envixlab, Department of Biosciences and Territory, University of Molise, Pesche, Italy
| | - Alessandro Chiarucci
- BIOME Lab, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences (BiGeA), Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Milan Chytrý
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Jürgen Dengler
- Vegetation Ecology Research Group, Institute of Natural Resource Sciences (IUNR), Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), Wädenswil, Switzerland.,Plant Ecology, Bayreuth Center for Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER), University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Emmanuel Garbolino
- Climpact Data Science (CDS), Nova Sophia - Regus Nova, Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France
| | - Valentin Golub
- Samara Federal Research Scientific Center, Institute of Ecology of the Volga River Basin, Russian Academy of Sciences, Togliatti, Russia
| | - Behlül Güler
- Biology Education, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Ute Jandt
- Institute of Biology/Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany.,German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jan Jansen
- Department of Ecology and Physiology, Faculty of Science, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Anni Jašková
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Borja Jiménez-Alfaro
- IMIB Biodiversity Research Institute (Univ.Oviedo-CSIC-Princ. Asturias), University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain
| | | | - Jens Kattge
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.,Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
| | - Ilona Knollová
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Gabriele Midolo
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | | | - Remigiusz Pielech
- Department of Forest Biodiversity, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Kraków, Poland
| | | | - Solvita Rūsiņa
- Faculty of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia
| | - Jozef Šibík
- Institute of Botany, Plant Science and Biodiversity Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Zvjezdana Stančić
- Faculty of Geotechnical Engineering, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Angela Stanisci
- Envixlab, Department of Biosciences and Territory, University of Molise, Pesche, Italy
| | - Jens-Christian Svenning
- Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World (BIOCHANGE), Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Sergey Yamalov
- Botanical Garden-Institute, Ufa Scientific Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences, Ufa, Russia
| | | | - Helge Bruelheide
- Institute of Biology/Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany.,German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
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7
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Beck JJ, Li D, Johnson SE, Rogers D, Cameron KM, Sytsma KJ, Givnish TJ, Waller DM. Functional traits mediate individualistic species-environment distributions at broad spatial scales while fine-scale species associations remain unpredictable. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2022; 109:1991-2005. [PMID: 36254552 PMCID: PMC10099973 DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.16085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2022] [Revised: 09/24/2022] [Accepted: 09/27/2022] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE Numerous processes influence plant distributions and co-occurrence patterns, including ecological sorting, limiting similarity, and stochastic effects. To discriminate among these processes and determine the spatial scales at which they operate, we investigated how functional traits and phylogenetic relatedness influence the distribution of temperate forest herbs. METHODS We surveyed understory plant communities across 257 forest stands in Wisconsin and Michigan (USA) and applied Bayesian phylogenetic linear mixed-effects models (PGLMMs) to quantify how functional traits and phylogenetic relatedness influence the environmental distribution of 139 herbaceous plant species along broad edaphic, climatic, and light gradients. These models also allowed us to test how functional and phylogenetic similarity affect species co-occurrence within microsites. RESULTS Leaf height, specific leaf area, and seed mass all influenced individualistic plant distributions along landscape-scale gradients in soil texture, soil fertility, light availability, and climate. In contrast, phylogenetic relationships did not consistently predict species-environment relationships. Neither functionally similar nor phylogenetically related herbs segregated among microsites within forest stands. CONCLUSIONS Trait-mediated ecological sorting appears to drive temperate-forest community assembly, generating individualistic plant distributions along regional environmental gradients. This finding links classic studies in plant ecology and prior research in plant physiological ecology to current trait-based approaches in community ecology. However, our results fail to support the common assumption that limiting similarity governs local plant co-occurrences. Strong ecological sorting among forest stands coupled with stochastic fine-scale interactions among species appear to weaken deterministic, niche-based assembly processes at local scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jared J. Beck
- Negaunee Institute for Plant Conservation ScienceChicago Botanic Garden1000 Lake Cook RoadGlencoeIllinois60022USA
- Department of BotanyUniversity of Wisconsin‐Madison430 Lincoln DriveMadisonWisconsin53706USA
| | - Daijiang Li
- Department of Biological SciencesLouisiana State UniversityBaton RougeLouisiana70808USA
- Center for Computation & TechnologyLouisiana State UniversityBaton RougeLouisiana70808USA
| | | | - David Rogers
- Department of Biological SciencesUniversity of Wisconsin‐ParksideKenoshaWisconsin53144USA
| | - Kenneth M. Cameron
- Department of BotanyUniversity of Wisconsin‐Madison430 Lincoln DriveMadisonWisconsin53706USA
| | - Kenneth J. Sytsma
- Department of BotanyUniversity of Wisconsin‐Madison430 Lincoln DriveMadisonWisconsin53706USA
| | - Thomas J. Givnish
- Department of BotanyUniversity of Wisconsin‐Madison430 Lincoln DriveMadisonWisconsin53706USA
| | - Donald M. Waller
- Department of BotanyUniversity of Wisconsin‐Madison430 Lincoln DriveMadisonWisconsin53706USA
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8
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Kemppinen J, Niittynen P. Microclimate relationships of intraspecific trait variation in sub‐Arctic plants. OIKOS 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.09507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Pekka Niittynen
- Dept of Geosciences and Geography, Univ. of Helsinki Helsinki Finland
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9
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Viitamäki S, Pessi IS, Virkkala AM, Niittynen P, Kemppinen J, Eronen-Rasimus E, Luoto M, Hultman J. The activity and functions of soil microbial communities in the Finnish sub-Arctic vary across vegetation types. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 2022; 98:6626023. [PMID: 35776963 PMCID: PMC9341781 DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fiac079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2021] [Revised: 06/21/2022] [Accepted: 06/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Due to climate change, increased microbial activity in high-latitude soils may lead to higher greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, microbial GHG production and consumption mechanisms in tundra soils are not thoroughly understood. To investigate how the diversity and functional potential of bacterial and archaeal communities vary across vegetation types and soil layers, we analyzed 116 soil metatranscriptomes from 73 sites in the Finnish sub-Arctic. Meadow soils were characterized by higher pH and lower soil organic matter (SOM) and carbon/nitrogen ratio. By contrast, dwarf shrub-dominated ecosystems had higher SOM and lower pH. Although Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria and Planctomycetes were dominant in all communities, there were significant differences at the genus level between vegetation types; plant polymer-degrading groups were more active in shrub-dominated soils than in meadows. Given that climate-change scenarios predict the expansion of shrubs at high latitudes, our results indicate that tundra soil microbial communities harbor potential decomposers of increased plant litter, which may affect the rate of carbon turnover in tundra soils. Additionally, transcripts of methanotrophs were detected in the mineral layer of all soils, which may moderate methane fluxes. This study provides new insights into possible shifts in tundra microbial diversity and activity due to climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Igor S Pessi
- Department of Microbiology, University of Helsinki, Finland.,Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), Helsinki, Finland
| | - Anna-Maria Virkkala
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Finland.,Woodwell Climate Research Center, Falmouth, MA, USA
| | - Pekka Niittynen
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Finland
| | | | - Eeva Eronen-Rasimus
- Department of Microbiology, University of Helsinki, Finland.,Finnish Environment Institute, Marine Research Centre, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Miska Luoto
- Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), Helsinki, Finland.,Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jenni Hultman
- Department of Microbiology, University of Helsinki, Finland.,Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), Helsinki, Finland.,Natural Resources Institute Finland, Helsinki, Finland
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10
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Norberg J, Blenckner T, Cornell SE, Petchey OL, Hillebrand H. Failures to disagree are essential for environmental science to effectively influence policy development. Ecol Lett 2022; 25:1075-1093. [PMID: 35218290 PMCID: PMC9542146 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2021] [Accepted: 01/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
While environmental science, and ecology in particular, is working to provide better understanding to base sustainable decisions on, the way scientific understanding is developed can at times be detrimental to this cause. Locked‐in debates are often unnecessarily polarised and can compromise any common goals of the opposing camps. The present paper is inspired by a resolved debate from an unrelated field of psychology where Nobel laureate David Kahneman and Garry Klein turned what seemed to be a locked‐in debate into a constructive process for their fields. The present paper is also motivated by previous discourses regarding the role of thresholds in natural systems for management and governance, but its scope of analysis targets the scientific process within complex social‐ecological systems in general. We identified four features of environmental science that appear to predispose for locked‐in debates: (1) The strongly context‐dependent behaviour of ecological systems. (2) The dominant role of single hypothesis testing. (3) The high prominence given to theory demonstration compared investigation. (4) The effect of urgent demands to inform and steer policy. This fertile ground is further cultivated by human psychological aspects as well as the structure of funding and publication systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jon Norberg
- Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, Sweden
| | | | | | - Owen L Petchey
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Helmut Hillebrand
- Institute for Chemistry and Biology of Marine Environments [ICBM], Carl-von-Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, Germany
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