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Zhigila DA, Elliott TL, Schmiedel U, Muasya AM. Do phylogenetic community metrics reveal the South African quartz fields as terrestrial-habitat islands? ANNALS OF BOTANY 2024; 133:833-850. [PMID: 38401154 PMCID: PMC11082514 DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcae027] [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] [Received: 08/15/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2024] [Indexed: 02/26/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS The quartz fields of the Greater Cape Floristic Region (GCFR) are arid and island-like special habitats, hosting ~142 habitat-specialized plant species, of which 81 % are local endemics, characterized by a rapid turnover of species between and among sites. We use several phylogenetic community metrics: (1) to examine species diversity and phylogenetic structure within and among quartz fields; (2) to investigate whether quartz field specialists are evolutionarily drawn from local species pools, whereas the alternative hypothesis posits that there is no significant evolutionary connection between quartz field specialists and the local species pools; and (3) to determine whether there is an association between certain traits and the presence of species in quartz fields. METHODS We sampled and developed dated phylogenies for six species-rich angiosperm families (Aizoaceae, Asteraceae, Crassulaceae, Cyperaceae, Fabaceae and Santalaceae) represented in the quartz field floras of southern Africa. Specifically, we focused on the flora of three quartz field regions in South Africa (Knersvlakte, Little Karoo and Overberg) and their surrounding species pools to address our research questions by scoring traits associated with harsh environments. KEY RESULTS We found that the Overberg and Little Karoo had the highest level of species overlap for families Aizoaceae and Fabaceae, whereas the Knersvlakte and the Overberg had the highest species overlap for families Asteraceae, Crassulaceae and Santalaceae. Although our phylogenetic community structure and trait analyses showed no clear patterns, relatively low pairwise phylogenetic distances between specialists and their local species pools for Aizoaceae suggest that quartz species could be drawn evolutionarily from their surrounding areas. We also found that families Aizoaceae and Crassulaceae in Knersvlakte and Little Karoo were phylogenetically even. CONCLUSIONS Despite their proximity to one another within the GCFR, the studied areas differ in their species pools and the phylogenetic structure of their specialists. Our work provides further justification for increased conservation focus on these unique habitats under future scenarios of global change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel A Zhigila
- Department of Botany, Gombe State University, PMB 127, Tudun Wada, Gombe, Gombe State, Nigeria
- Bolus Herbarium, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch, Cape Town 7701, South Africa
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Tammy L Elliott
- Bolus Herbarium, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch, Cape Town 7701, South Africa
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlarska 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Ute Schmiedel
- Organismic Botany and Mycology, Institute of Plant Science and Microbiology, University of Hamburg, Germany
| | - A Muthama Muasya
- Bolus Herbarium, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch, Cape Town 7701, South Africa
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2
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Silliman BR, Hensel MJS, Gibert JP, Daleo P, Smith CS, Wieczynski DJ, Angelini C, Paxton AB, Adler AM, Zhang YS, Altieri AH, Palmer TM, Jones HP, Gittman RK, Griffin JN, O'Connor MI, van de Koppel J, Poulsen JR, Rietkerk M, He Q, Bertness MD, van der Heide T, Valdez SR. Harnessing ecological theory to enhance ecosystem restoration. Curr Biol 2024; 34:R418-R434. [PMID: 38714175 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.03.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/09/2024]
Abstract
Ecosystem restoration can increase the health and resilience of nature and humanity. As a result, the international community is championing habitat restoration as a primary solution to address the dual climate and biodiversity crises. Yet most ecosystem restoration efforts to date have underperformed, failed, or been burdened by high costs that prevent upscaling. To become a primary, scalable conservation strategy, restoration efficiency and success must increase dramatically. Here, we outline how integrating ten foundational ecological theories that have not previously received much attention - from hierarchical facilitation to macroecology - into ecosystem restoration planning and management can markedly enhance restoration success. We propose a simple, systematic approach to determining which theories best align with restoration goals and are most likely to bolster their success. Armed with a century of advances in ecological theory, restoration practitioners will be better positioned to more cost-efficiently and effectively rebuild the world's ecosystems and support the resilience of our natural resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian R Silliman
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 135 Duke Marine Lab Road, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA.
| | - Marc J S Hensel
- Biological Sciences Department, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point, VA 23062, USA; Nature Coast Biological Station, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Cedar Key, FL 32625, USA
| | - Jean P Gibert
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Pedro Daleo
- Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), FCEyN, UNMdP-CONICET, CC 1260 Correo Central, B7600WAG, Mar del Plata, Argentina
| | - Carter S Smith
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 135 Duke Marine Lab Road, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA
| | | | - Christine Angelini
- Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Avery B Paxton
- National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 101 Pivers Island Road, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA
| | - Alyssa M Adler
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 135 Duke Marine Lab Road, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA
| | - Y Stacy Zhang
- Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
| | - Andrew H Altieri
- Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Todd M Palmer
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Holly P Jones
- Department of Biological Sciences and Institute for the Study of the Environment, Sustainability, and Energy, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115, USA
| | - Rachel K Gittman
- Department of Biology and Coastal Studies Institute, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA
| | - John N Griffin
- Department of Biosciences, Swansea University, Swansea SA2 8PP, Wales, UK
| | - Mary I O'Connor
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6R 1W4, Canada
| | - Johan van de Koppel
- Department of Estuarine and Delta Systems, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Yerseke, The Netherlands; Conservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - John R Poulsen
- The Nature Conservancy, 2424 Spruce Street, Boulder, CO 80302, USA; Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, PO Box 90328, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Max Rietkerk
- Department Environmental Sciences, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Qiang He
- Coastal Ecology Lab, MOE Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Mark D Bertness
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, 90 Witman Street, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Tjisse van der Heide
- Department of Coastal Systems, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), Den Burg, The Netherlands; Conservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Stephanie R Valdez
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 135 Duke Marine Lab Road, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA
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3
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Reyes-Ortiz M, Lira-Noriega A, Osorio-Olvera L, Luna-Vega I, Williams-Linera G. Leaf functional traits and ecological niche of Fagus grandifolia and Oreomunnea mexicana in natural forests and plantings as a proxy of climate change. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2024; 111:e16322. [PMID: 38641895 DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.16322] [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: 12/06/2023] [Revised: 02/16/2024] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 04/21/2024]
Abstract
PREMISE Functional traits reflect species' responses to environmental variation and the breadth of their ecological niches. Fagus grandifolia and Oreomunnea mexicana have restricted distribution in upper montane cloud forests (1700-2000 m a.s.l.) in Mexico. These species were introduced into plantings at lower elevations (1200-1600 m a.s.l.) that have climates predicted for montane forests in 2050 and 2070. The aim was to relate morphological leaf traits to the ecological niche structure of each species. METHODS Leaf functional traits (leaf area, specific leaf area [SLA], thickness, and toughness) were analyzed in forests and plantings. Atmospheric circulation models and representative concentration pathways (RCPs: 2.6, 4.5, 8.5) were used to assess future climate conditions. Trait-niche relationships were analyzed by measuring the Mahalanobis distance (MD) from the forests and the plantings to the ecological niche centroid (ENC). RESULTS For both species, leaf area and SLA were higher and toughness lower in plantings at lower elevation relative to those in higher-elevation forests, and thickness was similar. Leaf traits varied with distance from sites to the ENC. Forests and plantings have different environmental locations regarding the ENC, but forests are closer (MD 0.34-0.58) than plantings (MD 0.50-0.70) for both species. CONCLUSIONS Elevation as a proxy for expected future climate conditions influenced the functional traits of both species, and trait patterns related to the structure of their ecological niches were consistent. The use of distances to the ENC is a promising approach to explore variability in species' functional traits and phenotypic responses in optimal versus marginal environmental conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miriam Reyes-Ortiz
- Red de Ecología Funcional, Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Carretera antigua a Coatepec No. 351, Xalapa, 91073, Veracruz, Mexico
- Departamento de Saúde Coletiva, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Rua Tessália Vieira de Camargo, 126 - Cidade Universitária Zeferino Vaz CEP 13083-887, Campinas, SP, Brazil
| | - Andrés Lira-Noriega
- Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Red de Estudios Moleculares Avanzados, Xalapa, 91073, Veracruz, Mexico
| | - Luis Osorio-Olvera
- Departamento de Ecología de la Biodiversidad, Instituto de Ecología, UNAM, Laboratorio de Ecoinformática de la Biodiversidad, Ciudad de México, Mexico
| | - Isolda Luna-Vega
- Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, Facultad de Ciencias, UNAM, Laboratorio de Biogeografía y Sistemática, Ciudad de México, Mexico
| | - Guadalupe Williams-Linera
- Red de Ecología Funcional, Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Carretera antigua a Coatepec No. 351, Xalapa, 91073, Veracruz, Mexico
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4
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Worthy SJ, Umaña MN, Zhang C, Lin L, Cao M, Swenson NG. Intraspecific alternative phenotypes contribute to variation in species' strategies for growth. Oecologia 2024:10.1007/s00442-024-05553-8. [PMID: 38652293 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-024-05553-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2023] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024]
Abstract
Ecologists have historically sought to identify the mechanisms underlying the maintenance of local species diversity. High-dimensional trait-based relationships, such as alternative phenotypes, have been hypothesized as important for maintaining species diversity such that phenotypically dissimilar individuals compete less for resources but have similar performance in a given environment. The presence of alternative phenotypes has primarily been investigated at the community level, despite the importance of intraspecific variation to diversity maintenance. The aims of this research are to (1) determine the presence or absence of intraspecific alternative phenotypes in three species of tropical tree seedlings, (2) investigate if these different species use the same alternative phenotypes for growth success, and (3) evaluate how findings align with species co-occurrence patterns. We model species-specific relative growth rate with individual-level measurements of leaf mass per area (LMA) and root mass fraction (RMF), environmental data, and their interactions. We find that two of the three species have intraspecific alternative phenotypes, with individuals within species having different functional forms leading to similar growth. Interestingly, individuals within these species use the same trait combinations, high LMA × low RMF and low LMA × high RMF, in high soil nutrient environments to acquire resources for higher growth. This similarity among species in intraspecific alternative phenotypes and variables that contribute most to growth may lead to their negative spatial co-occurrence. Overall, we find that multiple traits or interactions between traits and the environment drive species-specific strategies for growth, but that individuals within species leverage this multi-dimensionality in different ways for growth success.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha J Worthy
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
| | - María N Umaña
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Caicai Zhang
- Institute of Eastern-Himalaya Biodiversity Research, Dali University, Dali, 671003, Yunnan, China
| | - Luxiang Lin
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, Yunnan, China
- National Forest Ecosystem Research Station at Xishuangbanna, Mengla, 666303, Yunnan, China
| | - Min Cao
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, Yunnan, China
| | - Nathan G Swenson
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN, 46556, USA
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5
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Yang J, Wang X, Carmona CP, Wang X, Shen G. Inverse relationship between species competitiveness and intraspecific trait variability may enable species coexistence in experimental seedling communities. Nat Commun 2024; 15:2895. [PMID: 38570481 PMCID: PMC10991546 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47295-4] [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: 04/28/2023] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Theory suggests that intraspecific trait variability may promote species coexistence when competitively inferior species have higher intraspecific trait variability than their superior competitors. Here, we provide empirical evidence for this phenomenon in tree seedlings. We evaluated intraspecific variability and plastic response of ten traits in 6750 seedlings of ten species in a three-year greenhouse experiment. While we observed no relationship between intraspecific trait variability and species competitiveness in competition-free homogeneous environments, an inverse relationship emerged under interspecific competition and in spatially heterogeneous environments. We showed that this relationship is driven by the plastic response of the competitively inferior species: Compared to their competitively superior counterparts, they exhibited a greater increase in trait variability, particularly in fine-root traits, in response to competition, environmental heterogeneity and their combination. Our findings contribute to understanding how interspecific competition and intraspecific trait variability together structure plant communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Yang
- Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, School of Ecological and Environmental Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China
| | - Xiya Wang
- Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, School of Ecological and Environmental Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China
| | - Carlos P Carmona
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Xihua Wang
- Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, School of Ecological and Environmental Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China
- Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, 1515 North Zhongshan Rd. (No.2), Shanghai, 200092, China
| | - Guochun Shen
- Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, School of Ecological and Environmental Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China.
- Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, 1515 North Zhongshan Rd. (No.2), Shanghai, 200092, China.
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6
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Daniel C, Allan E, Saiz H, Godoy O. Fast-slow traits predict competition network structure and its response to resources and enemies. Ecol Lett 2024; 27:e14425. [PMID: 38577899 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14425] [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: 11/07/2023] [Revised: 03/12/2024] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 04/06/2024]
Abstract
Plants interact in complex networks but how network structure depends on resources, natural enemies and species resource-use strategy remains poorly understood. Here, we quantified competition networks among 18 plants varying in fast-slow strategy, by testing how increased nutrient availability and reduced foliar pathogens affected intra- and inter-specific interactions. Our results show that nitrogen and pathogens altered several aspects of network structure, often in unexpected ways due to fast and slow growing species responding differently. Nitrogen addition increased competition asymmetry in slow growing networks, as expected, but decreased it in fast growing networks. Pathogen reduction made networks more even and less skewed because pathogens targeted weaker competitors. Surprisingly, pathogens and nitrogen dampened each other's effect. Our results show that plant growth strategy is key to understand how competition respond to resources and enemies, a prediction from classic theories which has rarely been tested by linking functional traits to competition networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Daniel
- Institute for Plant Sciences (IPS), Bern University, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Eric Allan
- Institute for Plant Sciences (IPS), Bern University, Bern, Switzerland
- Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Hugo Saiz
- Institute for Plant Sciences (IPS), Bern University, Bern, Switzerland
- Departamento de Ciencias Agrarias y Medio Natural, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Ciencias Ambientales de Aragón (IUCA), Universidad de Zaragoza, Huesca, Spain
| | - Oscar Godoy
- Departamento de Biología, Instituto Universitario de Investigación Marina (INMAR), Universidad de Cádiz, Puerto Real, Spain
- Estación Biológica de Doñana, EBD-CSIC, Sevilla, Spain
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7
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Douce P, Simon L, Colas F, Mermillod-Blondin F, Renault D, Sulmon C, Eymar-Dauphin P, Dubreucque R, Bittebiere AK. Warming drives feedback between plant phenotypes and ecosystem functioning in sub-Antarctic ponds. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 914:169504. [PMID: 38145689 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169504] [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: 09/11/2023] [Revised: 12/14/2023] [Accepted: 12/17/2023] [Indexed: 12/27/2023]
Abstract
Ample evidence indicates that warming affects individuals in plant communities, ultimately threatening biodiversity. Individual plants in communities are also exposed to plant-plant interaction that may affect their performance. However, trait responses to these two constraints have usually been studied separately, while they may influence processes at the ecosystem level. In turn, these ecological modifications may impact the phenotypes of plants through nutrient availability and uptake. We developed an experimental approach based on the macrophyte communities in the ponds of the sub-Antarctic Iles Kerguelen. Individuals of the species Limosella australis were grown under different temperature × plant-plant interaction treatments to assess their trait responses and create litters with different characteristics. The litters were then decomposed in the presence of individual plants at different temperatures to examine effects on ecosystem functioning and potential feedback affecting plant trait values. Leaf resource-acquisition- and -conservation-related traits were altered in the context of temperature × plant-plant interaction. At 13 °C, SLA and leaf C:N were higher under interspecific and intraspecific interactions than without interaction, whereas at 23 °C, these traits increased under intraspecific interaction only. These effects only slightly improved the individual performance, suggesting that plant-plant interaction is an additional selective pressure on individuals in the context of climate warming. The decay rate of litter increased with the Leaf Carbon Content at 13 °C and 18 °C, but decreased at 23 °C. The highest decay rate was recorded at 18 °C. Besides, we observed evidence of positive feedback of the decay rate alone, and in interaction with the temperature, respectively on the leaf C:N and Leaf Dry Matter Content, suggesting that variations in ecological processes affect plant phenotypes. Our findings demonstrate that warming can directly and indirectly affect the evolutionary and ecological processes occurring in aquatic ecosystems through plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pauline Douce
- Univ Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, ENTPE, UMR5023 LEHNA, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France.
| | - Laurent Simon
- Univ Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, ENTPE, UMR5023 LEHNA, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France.
| | - Fanny Colas
- Univ Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, ENTPE, UMR5023 LEHNA, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France.
| | - Florian Mermillod-Blondin
- Univ Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, ENTPE, UMR5023 LEHNA, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France.
| | - David Renault
- Univ Rennes, CNRS, ECOBIO [(Ecosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution)], UMR 6553, F 35000 Rennes, France; Institut Universitaire de France, 1 Rue Descartes, 75231 Paris cedex 05, France.
| | - Cécile Sulmon
- Univ Rennes, CNRS, ECOBIO [(Ecosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution)], UMR 6553, F 35000 Rennes, France.
| | - Pauline Eymar-Dauphin
- Univ Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, ENTPE, UMR5023 LEHNA, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France.
| | - Roman Dubreucque
- Univ Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, ENTPE, UMR5023 LEHNA, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France.
| | - Anne-Kristel Bittebiere
- Univ Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, ENTPE, UMR5023 LEHNA, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France.
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8
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Levine JI, Pacala SW, Levine JM. Competition for time: Evidence for an overlooked, diversity-maintaining competitive mechanism. Ecol Lett 2024; 27:e14422. [PMID: 38549235 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14422] [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: 09/14/2023] [Revised: 02/28/2024] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024]
Abstract
Understanding how diversity is maintained in plant communities requires that we first understand the mechanisms of competition for limiting resources. In ecology, there is an underappreciated but fundamental distinction between systems in which the depletion of limiting resources reduces the growth rates of competitors and systems in which resource depletion reduces the time available for competitors to grow, a mechanism we call 'competition for time'. Importantly, modern community ecology and our framing of the coexistence problem are built on the implicit assumption that competition reduces the growth rate. However, recent theoretical work suggests competition for time may be the predominant competitive mechanism in a broad array of natural communities, a significant advance given that when species compete for time, diversity-maintaining trade-offs emerge organically. In this study, we first introduce competition for time conceptually using a simple model of interacting species. Then, we perform an experiment in a Mediterranean annual grassland to determine whether competition for time is an important competitive mechanism in a field system. Indeed, we find that species respond to increased competition through reductions in their lifespan rather than their rate of growth. In total, our study suggests competition for time may be overlooked as a mechanism of biodiversity maintenance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob I Levine
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
| | - Stephen W Pacala
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
| | - Jonathan M Levine
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
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9
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Chaturvedi RK, Pandey SK, Tripathi A, Goparaju L, Raghubanshi AS, Singh JS. Variations in the plasticity of functional traits indicate the differential impacts of abiotic and biotic factors on the structure and growth of trees in tropical dry forest fragments. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2024; 14:1181293. [PMID: 38333040 PMCID: PMC10851170 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1181293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/21/2023] [Indexed: 02/10/2024]
Abstract
Abiotic and biotic factors have considerable impact on the plasticity of plant functional traits, which influences forest structure and productivity; however, their inter-relationships have not been quantified for fragmented tropical dry forest (TDF) ecosystems. We asked the following questions: (1) what are the variations in the plasticity of functional traits due to soil moisture availability in TDF fragments? (2) what are the roles of soil nutrients and forest disturbances in influencing variations in the plasticity of functional traits in the TDF fragments? and (3) how do the variations in the plasticity of functional traits influence the structure and productivity of TDF fragments? Based on linear mixed-effects results, we observed significant variations among tree species for soil moisture content (SMC) under the canopy and selected functional traits across forest fragments. We categorized tree species across fragments by principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering on principal components (HCPC) analyses into three functional types, viz., low wood density high deciduous (LWHD), high wood density medium deciduous (HWMD), and high wood density low deciduous (HWLD). Assemblage of functional traits suggested that the LWHD functional type exhibits a drought-avoiding strategy, whereas HWMD and HWLD adopt a drought-tolerant strategy. Our study showed that the variations in functional trait plasticity and the structural attributes of trees in the three functional types exhibit contrasting affinity with SMC, soil nutrients, and disturbances, although the LWHD functional type was comparatively more influenced by soil resources and disturbances compared to HWMD and HWLD along the declining SMC and edge distance gradients. Plasticity in functional traits for the LWHD functional type exhibited greater variations in traits associated with the conservation of water and resources, whereas for HWMD and HWLD, the traits exhibiting greater plasticity were linked with higher productivity and water transport. The cumulative influence of SMC, disturbances, and functional trait variations was also visible in the relative abundance of functional types in large and small sized fragments. Our analysis further revealed the critical differences in the responses of functional trait plasticity of the coexisting tree species in TDF, which suggests that important deciduous endemic species with drought-avoiding strategies might be prone to strategic exclusion under expected rises in anthropogenic disturbances, habitat fragmentation, and resource limitations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ravi Kant Chaturvedi
- Center for Integrative Conservation and Yunnan Key Laboratory for Conservation of Tropical Rainforests and Asian Elephant, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Yunnan, China
| | - Santosh Kumar Pandey
- Ecosystems Analysis Laboratory, Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Anshuman Tripathi
- Training, Safety and Environment, National Mineral Development Corporation Limited, Dantewada, Chhattisgarh, India
| | - Laxmi Goparaju
- Forest and Remote Sensing, Vindhyan Ecology and Natural History Foundation, Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Akhilesh Singh Raghubanshi
- Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - J. S. Singh
- Ecosystems Analysis Laboratory, Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
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10
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Laurans M, Munoz F, Charles-Dominique T, Heuret P, Fortunel C, Isnard S, Sabatier SA, Caraglio Y, Violle C. Why incorporate plant architecture into trait-based ecology? Trends Ecol Evol 2024:S0169-5347(23)00328-2. [PMID: 38212187 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2023.11.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2023] [Revised: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 11/23/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2024]
Abstract
Trait-based ecology has improved our understanding of the functioning of organisms, communities, ecosystems, and beyond. However, its predictive ability remains limited as long as phenotypic integration and temporal dynamics are not considered. We highlight how the morphogenetic processes that shape the 3D development of a plant during its lifetime affect its performance. We show that the diversity of architectural traits allows us to go beyond organ-level traits in capturing the temporal and spatial dimensions of ecological niches and informing community assembly processes. Overall, we argue that consideration of multilevel topological, geometrical, and ontogenetic features provides a dynamic view of the whole-plant phenotype and a relevant framework for investigating phenotypic integration, plant adaptation and performance, and community structure and dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marilyne Laurans
- CIRAD, UMR AMAP, F-34398 Montpellier, France; AMAP, Université de Montpellier, CIRAD, CNRS, INRAE, IRD, Montpellier, France.
| | - François Munoz
- LiPhy, Université Grenoble-Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble, France
| | - Tristan Charles-Dominique
- AMAP, Université de Montpellier, CIRAD, CNRS, INRAE, IRD, Montpellier, France; CNRS UMR7618, Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Paris, Sorbonne University, Paris, France
| | - Patrick Heuret
- AMAP, Université de Montpellier, CIRAD, CNRS, INRAE, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | - Claire Fortunel
- AMAP, Université de Montpellier, CIRAD, CNRS, INRAE, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | - Sandrine Isnard
- AMAP, Université de Montpellier, CIRAD, CNRS, INRAE, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | - Sylvie-Annabel Sabatier
- CIRAD, UMR AMAP, F-34398 Montpellier, France; AMAP, Université de Montpellier, CIRAD, CNRS, INRAE, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | - Yves Caraglio
- CIRAD, UMR AMAP, F-34398 Montpellier, France; AMAP, Université de Montpellier, CIRAD, CNRS, INRAE, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | - Cyrille Violle
- CEFE, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France
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11
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Zuo Y, Southard M, Xu Q, Zhang G, Skibinski E, Moon N, Gan L, Chen Y, Jiang L. Cell size-dependent species sensitivity to nanoparticles underlies changes in phytoplankton diversity and productivity. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2024; 30:e17049. [PMID: 37988188 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.17049] [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] [Received: 06/27/2023] [Revised: 09/30/2023] [Accepted: 10/28/2023] [Indexed: 11/23/2023]
Abstract
Nanoparticle pollution has been shown to affect various organisms. However, the effects of nanoparticles on species interactions, and the role of species traits, such as body size, in modulating these effects, are not well-understood. We addressed this issue using competing freshwater phytoplankton species exposed to copper oxide nanoparticles. Increasing nanoparticle concentration resulted in decreased phytoplankton species growth rates and community productivity (both abundance and biomass). Importantly, we consistently found that nanoparticles had greater negative effects on species with smaller cell sizes, such that nanoparticle pollution weakened the competitive dominance of smaller species and promoted species diversity. Moreover, nanoparticles reduced the growth rate differences and competitive ability differences of competing species, while having little effect on species niche differences. Consequently, nanoparticle pollution reduced the selection effect on phytoplankton community abundance, but increased the selection effect on community biomass. Our results suggest cell size as a key functional trait to consider when predicting phytoplankton community structure and ecosystem functioning in the face of increasing nanopollution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiping Zuo
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Michael Southard
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Qianna Xu
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St Paul, Minnesota, USA
| | - Guangxing Zhang
- The Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Emily Skibinski
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | | | - Lan Gan
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Yongsheng Chen
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Lin Jiang
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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12
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Xu Z, Jiang L, Ren H, Han X. Opposing responses of temporal stability of aboveground and belowground net primary productivity to water and nitrogen enrichment in a temperate grassland. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2024; 30:e17071. [PMID: 38273548 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.17071] [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] [Received: 09/08/2023] [Revised: 11/07/2023] [Accepted: 11/08/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
Changes in water and nitrogen availability, as important elements of global environmental change, are known to affect the temporal stability of aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP). However, evidences for their effects on the temporal stability of belowground net primary productivity (BNPP), and whether such effects are consistent between belowground and aboveground, are rather scarce. Here, we investigated the responses of temporal stability of both ANPP and BNPP to water and nitrogen addition based on a 9-year manipulative experiment in a temperate grassland in northern China. The results showed that the temporal stability of ANPP increased with water addition but decreased with nitrogen addition. By contrast, the temporal stability of BNPP decreased with water addition but increased with nitrogen enrichment. The temporal stability of ANPP was mainly determined by the soil moisture and inorganic nitrogen, which modulated species asynchrony, as well as by the stability of dominant species. On the other hand, the temporal stability of BNPP was mainly driven by the soil moisture and inorganic nitrogen that modulated ANPP of grasses, and by the direct effect of soil water availability. Our study provides the first evidence on the opposite responses of aboveground and belowground grassland temporal stability to increased water and nitrogen availability, highlighting the importance of considering both aboveground and belowground components of ecosystems for a more comprehensive understanding of their dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhuwen Xu
- Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology, School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, China
- Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, Liaoning, China
- Autonomous Region Collaborative Innovation Center for Integrated Management of Water Resources and Water Environment in the Inner Mongolia Reaches of the Yellow River, Hohhot, China
| | - Lin Jiang
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Haiyan Ren
- Key Laboratory of Grassland Resources, College of Grassland, Resources and Environment, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, China
| | - Xingguo Han
- College of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding, Hebei, China
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13
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Song S, Xiong K, Chi Y. Response of grassland ecosystem function to plant functional traits under different vegetation restoration models in areas of karst desertification. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1239190. [PMID: 38148857 PMCID: PMC10749941 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1239190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/28/2023]
Abstract
Plant functional traits serve as a bridge between plants, the environment, and ecosystem function, playing an important role in predicting the changes in ecosystem function that occur during ecological restoration. However, the response of grassland ecosystem function to plant functional traits in the context of ecological restoration in areas of karst desertification remains unclear. Therefore, in this study, we selected five plant functional traits [namely, plant height (H), specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), root length (RL), and root dry matter content (RDMC)], measured these along with community-weighted mean (CWM) and functional trait diversity, and combined these measures with 10 indexes related to ecosystem function in order to investigate the differences in plant functional traits and ecosystem function, as well as the relationship between plant functional traits and ecosystem functions, under four ecological restoration models [Dactylis glomerata (DG), Lolium perenne (LP), Lolium perenne + Trifolium repens (LT), and natural grassland (NG)]. We found that: 1) the Margalef index and Shannon-Wiener index were significantly lower for plant species in DG and LP than for those in NG (P<0.05), while the Simpson index was significantly higher in the former than in NG (P<0.05); 2) CWMH, CWMLDMC, and CWMRDMC were significantly higher in DG, LP, and LT than in NG, while CWMSLA was significantly lower in the former than in NG (P<0.05). The functional richness index (FRic) was significantly higher in DG and LP than in NG and LT, but the functional dispersion index (FDis) and Rao's quadratic entropy index (RaoQ) were significantly lower in DG and LP than in NG and LT (P<0.05), and there was no significant difference between DG and LP, or between NG and LT (P>0.05); 3) ecosystem function, including ecosystem productivity, carbon storage, water conservation and soil conservation, was highest in LT and lowest in NG; and 4) CWMLDMC (F=56.7, P=0.024), CWMRL (F=28.7, P=0.024), and CWMH (F=4.5, P=0.048) were the main factors affecting ecosystem function. The results showed that the mixed pasture of perennial ryegrass and white clover was most conductive to restoration of ecosystem function. This discovery has important implications for the establishment of vegetation, optimal utilization of resources, and the sustainable development of degraded karst ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuzhen Song
- School of Karst Science, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, China
| | - Kangning Xiong
- State Engineering Technology Institute for Karst Desertification Control, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, China
| | - Yongkuan Chi
- School of Karst Science, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, China
- State Engineering Technology Institute for Karst Desertification Control, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, China
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14
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Huang J, Yu R, Zang R. Differences in functional niche hypervolume among four types of forest vegetation and their environmental determinants across various climatic regions in China. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1243209. [PMID: 38116149 PMCID: PMC10728642 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1243209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 11/23/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
Abstract
Functional traits play an important role in studying the functional niche in plant communities. However, it remains unclear whether the functional niches of typical forest plant communities in different climatic regions based on functional traits are consistent. Here, we present data for 215 woody species, encompassing 11 functional traits related to three fundamental niche dimensions (leaf economy, mechanical support, and reproductive phenology). These data were collected from forests across four climatic zones in China (tropical, subtropical, warm-temperate, and cold-temperate) or sourced from the literature. We calculated the functional niche hypervolume, representing the range of changes in the multidimensional functional niche. This metric quantifies how many functional niche spaces are occupied by existing plants in the community. Subsequently, we analyzed differences in functional niche hypervolume and their associated environmental factors across different types of forest vegetation. The results indicate that the functional niche hypervolume and the degree of forest vegetation overlap decrease with increasing latitude (e.g., from tropical rainforest to cold temperate coniferous forest). The total explanatory power of both climate and soil factors on the variation in functional niche hypervolume was 50%, with climate factors exhibiting a higher explanatory power than soil factors. Functional niche hypervolume is positively correlated with climate factors (annual mean temperature and annual precipitation) and negatively correlated with soil factors (soil pH, soil organic matter content, soil total nitrogen content, and soil total phosphorus content). Among these factors, annual mean temperature, soil pH, and soil total nitrogen content most significantly affect the difference in functional niche hypervolume among forest vegetation. Our study emphasizes the significant variation in the functional niche hypervolume among typical forest vegetation in China.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jihong Huang
- Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Environment of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Ecology and Nature Conservation Institute, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, China
- Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China
| | - Ruoyun Yu
- Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Environment of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Ecology and Nature Conservation Institute, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, China
- Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China
- Coconut Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Wenchang, Hainan, China
| | - Runguo Zang
- Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Environment of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Ecology and Nature Conservation Institute, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, China
- Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China
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15
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Barbosa Fontana R, Both C, Hartz SM. Direct development in Atlantic Forest anurans: What can environmental and biotic influences explain about its evolution and occurrence? PLoS One 2023; 18:e0291644. [PMID: 38032887 PMCID: PMC10688756 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0291644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2022] [Accepted: 09/04/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Different environmental and biological factors can originate and support different alternative life histories in different taxonomic groups. Likewise, these factors are important for the processes that assemble and structure communities. Amphibians, besides being highly susceptible to environmental conditions, have various reproductive strategies, such as the direct development of individuals. Several hypotheses have been raised about possible selective pressures related to the emergence of direct development in anurans, as well as the relationship between environmental characteristics and the occurrence of these species. Such investigations, however, have mainly focused on specific clades and/or regions. Here, we use structural equation modelling to investigate the relationships between different abiotic (temperature, precipitation, humidity, and terrain slope) and biotic (phylogenetic composition and functional diversity) factors and the proportion of species with direct development in 766 anuran communities of the Atlantic Forest, a biome with a vast diversity of anuran species and high environmental complexity. Anuran communities with higher proportions of direct developing species were found to be mainly influenced by low potential evapotranspiration, low temperature seasonality, and high functional diversity. Phylogenetic composition and terrain slope were also found to be important in determining the occurrence of these species in Atlantic Forest communities. These results show the importance of these factors in the structuring of these communities and provide important contributions to the knowledge of direct development in anurans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo Barbosa Fontana
- Instituto de Biociências, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
| | - Camila Both
- Departamento Interdisciplinar, Centro de Estudos Limnológicos e Marinhos, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Imbé, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
| | - Sandra Maria Hartz
- Instituto de Biociências, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
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16
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Spaak JW, Schreiber SJ. Building modern coexistence theory from the ground up: The role of community assembly. Ecol Lett 2023; 26:1840-1861. [PMID: 37747362 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14302] [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: 01/23/2023] [Revised: 08/06/2023] [Accepted: 08/12/2023] [Indexed: 09/26/2023]
Abstract
Modern coexistence theory (MCT) is one of the leading methods to understand species coexistence. It uses invasion growth rates-the average, per-capita growth rate of a rare species-to identify when and why species coexist. Despite significant advances in dissecting coexistence mechanisms when coexistence occurs, MCT relies on a 'mutual invasibility' condition designed for two-species communities but poorly defined for species-rich communities. Here, we review well-known issues with this component of MCT and propose a solution based on recent mathematical advances. We propose a clear framework for expanding MCT to species-rich communities and for understanding invasion resistance as well as coexistence, especially for communities that could not be analysed with MCT so far. Using two data-driven community models from the literature, we illustrate the utility of our framework and highlight the opportunities for bridging the fields of community assembly and species coexistence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jurg W Spaak
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
- Institute for Environmental Sciences, Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Univerität Kaiserslautern-Landau, Landau, Germany
| | - Sebastian J Schreiber
- Department of Evolution and Ecology and Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, California, USA
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17
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Hallett LM, Aoyama L, Barabás G, Gilbert B, Larios L, Shackelford N, Werner CM, Godoy O, Ladouceur ER, Lucero JE, Weiss-Lehman CP, Chase JM, Chu C, Harpole WS, Mayfield MM, Faist AM, Shoemaker LG. Restoration ecology through the lens of coexistence theory. Trends Ecol Evol 2023; 38:1085-1096. [PMID: 37468343 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2023.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2023] [Revised: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 06/15/2023] [Indexed: 07/21/2023]
Abstract
Advances in restoration ecology are needed to guide ecological restoration in a variable and changing world. Coexistence theory provides a framework for how variability in environmental conditions and species interactions affects species success. Here, we conceptually link coexistence theory and restoration ecology. First, including low-density growth rates (LDGRs), a classic metric of coexistence, can improve abundance-based restoration goals, because abundances are sensitive to initial treatments and ongoing variability. Second, growth-rate partitioning, developed to identify coexistence mechanisms, can improve restoration practice by informing site selection and indicating necessary interventions (e.g., site amelioration or competitor removal). Finally, coexistence methods can improve restoration assessment, because initial growth rates indicate trajectories, average growth rates measure success, and growth partitioning highlights interventions needed in future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren M Hallett
- Department of Biology and Environmental Studies Program, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA.
| | - Lina Aoyama
- Department of Biology and Environmental Studies Program, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA
| | - György Barabás
- Division of Ecological and Environmental Modeling (ECOMOD), Dept. IFM, Linköping University, SE-58183 Linköping, Sweden; Institute of Evolution, Centre for Ecological Research, 1121 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Benjamin Gilbert
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3B2, Canada
| | - Loralee Larios
- Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California Riverside, CA 92521, USA
| | - Nancy Shackelford
- School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada
| | - Chhaya M Werner
- University of Wyoming, Botany Department, Laramie, WY 82071, USA; Department of Environmental Science, Policy, & Sustainability, Southern Oregon University, Ashland, OR 97520, USA
| | - Oscar Godoy
- Departamento de Biología, Instituto Universitario de Investigación Marina (INMAR), Universidad de Cádiz, E-11510 Puerto Real, Spain
| | - Emma R Ladouceur
- Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research - UFZ, Department of Physiological Diversity, Permoserstrasse 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jacob E Lucero
- Department of Rangeland, Wildlife, and Fisheries Management, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | | | - Jonathan M Chase
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Chengjin Chu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
| | - W Stanley Harpole
- Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research - UFZ, Department of Physiological Diversity, Permoserstrasse 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, am Kirchtor 1, 06108 Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Margaret M Mayfield
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Akasha M Faist
- Department of Animal and Range Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA; Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA
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18
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Fox JW. The existence and strength of higher order interactions is sensitive to environmental context. Ecology 2023; 104:e4156. [PMID: 37622464 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2023] [Revised: 07/10/2023] [Accepted: 07/28/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023]
Abstract
One strategy for understanding the dynamics of any complex system, such as a community of competing species, is to study the dynamics of parts of the system in isolation. Ecological communities can be decomposed into single species, and pairs of interacting species. This reductionist strategy assumes that whole-community dynamics are predictable and explainable from knowledge of the dynamics of single species and pairs of species. This assumption will be violated if higher order interactions (HOIs) are strong. Theory predicts that HOIs should be common. But it is difficult to detect HOIs, and to infer their long-term consequences for species coexistence, solely from short-term data. I conducted a protist microcosm experiment to test for HOIs among competing bacterivorous ciliates, and test the sensitivity of HOIs to environmental context. I grew three competing ciliate species in all possible combinations at each of two resource enrichment levels, and used the population dynamic data from the one- and two-species treatments to parameterize a competition model at each enrichment level. I then compared the predictions of the parameterized model to the dynamics of the whole community (three-species treatment). I found that the existence, and thus strength, of HOIs was environment dependent. I found a strong HOI at low enrichment, which enabled the persistence of a species that would otherwise have been competitively excluded. At high enrichment, three-species dynamics could be predicted from a parameterized model of one- and two-species dynamics, provided that the model accounted for nonlinear intraspecific density dependence. The results provide one of the first rigorous demonstrations of the long-term consequences of HOIs for species coexistence, and demonstrate the context dependence of HOIs. HOIs create difficult challenges for predicting and explaining species coexistence in nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy W Fox
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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19
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Wiens JJ. Trait-based species richness: ecology and macroevolution. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2023; 98:1365-1387. [PMID: 37015839 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2022] [Revised: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 04/06/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the origins of species richness patterns is a fundamental goal in ecology and evolutionary biology. Much research has focused on explaining two kinds of species richness patterns: (i) spatial species richness patterns (e.g. the latitudinal diversity gradient), and (ii) clade-based species richness patterns (e.g. the predominance of angiosperm species among plants). Here, I highlight a third kind of richness pattern: trait-based species richness (e.g. the number of species with each state of a character, such as diet or body size). Trait-based richness patterns are relevant to many topics in ecology and evolution, from ecosystem function to adaptive radiation to the paradox of sex. Although many studies have described particular trait-based richness patterns, the origins of these patterns remain far less understood, and trait-based richness has not been emphasised as a general category of richness patterns. Here, I describe a conceptual framework for how trait-based richness patterns arise compared to other richness patterns. A systematic review suggests that trait-based richness patterns are most often explained by when each state originates within a group (i.e. older states generally have higher richness), and not by differences in transition rates among states or faster diversification of species with certain states. This latter result contrasts with the widespread emphasis on diversification rates in species-richness research. I show that many recent studies of spatial richness patterns are actually studies of trait-based richness patterns, potentially confounding the causes of these patterns. Finally, I describe a plethora of unanswered questions related to trait-based richness patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- John J Wiens
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721-0088, USA
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20
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Spaak JW, Adler PB, Ellner SP. Mechanistic Models of Trophic Interactions: Opportunities for Species Richness and Challenges for Modern Coexistence Theory. Am Nat 2023; 202:E1-E16. [PMID: 37384764 DOI: 10.1086/724660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2023]
Abstract
AbstractMany potential mechanisms promote species coexistence, but we know little about their relative importance. To compare multiple mechanisms, we modeled a two-trophic planktonic food web based on mechanistic species interactions and empirically measured species traits. We simulated thousands of possible communities under realistic and altered interaction strengths to assess the relative importance of three potential drivers of phytoplankton and zooplankton species richness: resource-mediated coexistence mechanisms, predator-prey interactions, and trait trade-offs. Next, we computed niche and fitness differences of competing zooplankton to obtain a deeper understanding of how these mechanisms determine species richness. We found that predator-prey interactions were the most important driver of phytoplankton and zooplankton species richness and that large zooplankton fitness differences were associated with low species richness, but zooplankton niche differences were not associated with species richness. However, for many communities we could not apply modern coexistence theory to compute niche and fitness differences of zooplankton because of conceptual issues with the invasion growth rates arising from trophic interactions. We therefore need to expand modern coexistence theory to fully investigate multitrophic-level communities.
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21
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Christie MR, McNickle GG. Negative frequency dependent selection unites ecology and evolution. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10327. [PMID: 37484931 PMCID: PMC10361363 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10327] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2023] [Revised: 06/02/2023] [Accepted: 07/07/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023] Open
Abstract
From genes to communities, understanding how diversity is maintained remains a fundamental question in biology. One challenging to identify, yet potentially ubiquitous, mechanism for the maintenance of diversity is negative frequency dependent selection (NFDS), which occurs when entities (e.g., genotypes, life history strategies, species) experience a per capita reduction in fitness with increases in relative abundance. Because NFDS allows rare entities to increase in frequency while preventing abundant entities from excluding others, we posit that negative frequency dependent selection plays a central role in the maintenance of diversity. In this review, we relate NFDS to coexistence, identify mechanisms of NFDS (e.g., mutualism, predation, parasitism), review strategies for identifying NFDS, and distinguish NFDS from other mechanisms of coexistence (e.g., storage effects, fluctuating selection). We also emphasize that NFDS is a key place where ecology and evolution intersect. Specifically, there are many examples of frequency dependent processes in ecology, but fewer cases that link this process to selection. Similarly, there are many examples of selection in evolution, but fewer cases that link changes in trait values to negative frequency dependence. Bridging these two well-developed fields of ecology and evolution will allow for mechanistic insights into the maintenance of diversity at multiple levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark R. Christie
- Department of Biological SciencesPurdue UniversityWest LafayetteIndianaUSA
- Department of Forestry and Natural ResourcesPurdue UniversityWest LafayetteIndianaUSA
| | - Gordon G. McNickle
- Department of Biological SciencesPurdue UniversityWest LafayetteIndianaUSA
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22
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Wuest SE, Schulz L, Rana S, Frommelt J, Ehmig M, Pires ND, Grossniklaus U, Hardtke CS, Hammes UZ, Schmid B, Niklaus PA. Single-gene resolution of diversity-driven overyielding in plant genotype mixtures. Nat Commun 2023; 14:3379. [PMID: 37291153 PMCID: PMC10250416 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39130-z] [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: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 06/10/2023] Open
Abstract
In plant communities, diversity often increases productivity and functioning, but the specific underlying drivers are difficult to identify. Most ecological theories attribute positive diversity effects to complementary niches occupied by different species or genotypes. However, the specific nature of niche complementarity often remains unclear, including how it is expressed in terms of trait differences between plants. Here, we use a gene-centred approach to study positive diversity effects in mixtures of natural Arabidopsis thaliana genotypes. Using two orthogonal genetic mapping approaches, we find that between-plant allelic differences at the AtSUC8 locus are strongly associated with mixture overyielding. AtSUC8 encodes a proton-sucrose symporter and is expressed in root tissues. Genetic variation in AtSUC8 affects the biochemical activities of protein variants and natural variation at this locus is associated with different sensitivities of root growth to changes in substrate pH. We thus speculate that - in the particular case studied here - evolutionary divergence along an edaphic gradient resulted in the niche complementarity between genotypes that now drives overyielding in mixtures. Identifying genes important for ecosystem functioning may ultimately allow linking ecological processes to evolutionary drivers, help identify traits underlying positive diversity effects, and facilitate the development of high-performance crop variety mixtures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel E Wuest
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies and Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland.
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology and Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, University of Zurich, Zollikerstrasse 107, 8008, Zurich, Switzerland.
- Department of Geography, Remote Sensing Laboratories, University of Zurich, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland.
- Agroscope, Group Breeding Research, Mueller-Thurgau-Strasse 29, 8820, Waedenswil, Switzerland.
| | - Lukas Schulz
- Plant Systems Biology, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, 85354, Freising, Germany
| | - Surbhi Rana
- Department of Plant Molecular Biology, University of Lausanne, Biophore Building, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland
- Department of Crop Genetics, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Colney Ln, Norwich, NR4 7UH, United Kingdom
| | - Julia Frommelt
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies and Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Merten Ehmig
- Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Zurich, Zollikerstrasse 107, 8008, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Nuno D Pires
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology and Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, University of Zurich, Zollikerstrasse 107, 8008, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Ueli Grossniklaus
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology and Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, University of Zurich, Zollikerstrasse 107, 8008, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Christian S Hardtke
- Department of Plant Molecular Biology, University of Lausanne, Biophore Building, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland
| | - Ulrich Z Hammes
- Plant Systems Biology, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, 85354, Freising, Germany
| | - Bernhard Schmid
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies and Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Geography, Remote Sensing Laboratories, University of Zurich, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Pascal A Niklaus
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies and Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland
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23
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Chen Y, Wang J, Jiang L, Li H, Wang H, Lv G, Li X. Prediction of spatial distribution characteristics of ecosystem functions based on a minimum data set of functional traits of desert plants. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1131778. [PMID: 37332722 PMCID: PMC10272538 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1131778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2022] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 06/20/2023]
Abstract
The relationship between plant functional traits and ecosystem function is a hot topic in current ecological research, and community-level traits based on individual plant functional traits play important roles in ecosystem function. In temperate desert ecosystems, which functional trait to use to predict ecosystem function is an important scientific question. In this study, the minimum data sets of functional traits of woody (wMDS) and herbaceous (hMDS) plants were constructed and used to predict the spatial distribution of C, N, and P cycling in ecosystems. The results showed that the wMDS included plant height, specific leaf area, leaf dry weight, leaf water content, diameter at breast height (DBH), leaf width, and leaf thickness, and the hMDS included plant height, specific leaf area, leaf fresh weight, leaf length, and leaf width. The linear regression results based on the cross-validations (FTEIW - L, FTEIA - L, FTEIW - NL, and FTEIA - NL) for the MDS and TDS (total data set) showed that the R2 (coefficients of determination) for wMDS were 0.29, 0.34, 0.75, and 0.57, respectively, and those for hMDS were 0.82, 0.75, 0.76, and 0.68, respectively, proving that the MDSs can replace the TDS in predicting ecosystem function. Then, the MDSs were used to predict the C, N, and P cycling in the ecosystem. The results showed that non-linear models RF and BPNN were able to predict the spatial distributions of C, N and P cycling, and the distributions showed inconsistent patterns between different life forms under moisture restrictions. The C, N, and P cycling showed strong spatial autocorrelation and were mainly influenced by structural factors. Based on the non-linear models, the MDSs can be used to accurately predict the C, N, and P cycling, and the predicted values of woody plant functional traits visualized by regression kriging were closer to the kriging results based on raw values. This study provides a new perspective for exploring the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yudong Chen
- College of Ecology and Environment, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, China
- Key Laboratory of Oasis Ecology of Education Ministry, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, China
- Xinjiang Jinghe Observation and Research Station of Temperate Desert Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Jinghe, China
| | - Jinlong Wang
- College of Ecology and Environment, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, China
- Key Laboratory of Oasis Ecology of Education Ministry, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, China
- Xinjiang Jinghe Observation and Research Station of Temperate Desert Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Jinghe, China
| | - Lamei Jiang
- College of Ecology and Environment, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, China
- Key Laboratory of Oasis Ecology of Education Ministry, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, China
- Xinjiang Jinghe Observation and Research Station of Temperate Desert Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Jinghe, China
| | - Hanpeng Li
- College of Ecology and Environment, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, China
- Key Laboratory of Oasis Ecology of Education Ministry, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, China
- Xinjiang Jinghe Observation and Research Station of Temperate Desert Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Jinghe, China
| | - Hengfang Wang
- College of Ecology and Environment, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, China
- Key Laboratory of Oasis Ecology of Education Ministry, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, China
- Xinjiang Jinghe Observation and Research Station of Temperate Desert Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Jinghe, China
| | - Guanghui Lv
- College of Ecology and Environment, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, China
- Key Laboratory of Oasis Ecology of Education Ministry, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, China
- Xinjiang Jinghe Observation and Research Station of Temperate Desert Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Jinghe, China
| | - Xiaotong Li
- College of Ecology and Environment, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, China
- Key Laboratory of Oasis Ecology of Education Ministry, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, China
- Xinjiang Jinghe Observation and Research Station of Temperate Desert Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Jinghe, China
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24
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Ward D, Kirkman K, Morris C. Long-term subtropical grassland plots take a long time to change: Replacement is more important than richness differences for beta diversity. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:ECE310195. [PMID: 37325718 PMCID: PMC10266706 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2022] [Revised: 04/07/2023] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023] Open
Abstract
We studied β diversity of grasses in a subtropical grassland over 60 years in South Africa. We examined the effects of burning and mowing on 132 large plots. We sought to determine the effects of burning and mowing, and mowing frequency, on the replacement of species and the species richness. We conducted the study at Ukulinga, research farm of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa (29°24'E, 30°24'S) from 1950-2010. Plots were burned annually, biennially, triennially, and a control (unburned). Plots were mowed in spring, late summer, spring plus late summer, and a control (unmowed). We calculated β diversity, with a focus on replacement and richness differences. We also used distance-based redundancy analyses to examine the relative effects of replacement and richness differences on mowing and burning. We used beta regressions to test for the effect of soil depth and its interactions with mowing and burning. There was no significant change in grass beta diversity until 1995. Thereafter, there were changes in β diversity that demonstrated the primary effects of summer mowing frequency. There was no significant effect of richness differences but a strong effect of replacement post-1995. There was a significant interaction between mowing frequency and soil depth in one of the analyses. Changes in grassland composition took a long time to manifest themselves and were unapparent prior to 1988. However, there was a change in sampling strategy prior to 1988, from point hits to nearest plants, that may also have influenced the rates of changes in replacement and richness differences. Using β-diversity indices, we found that mowing was more important than burning that burning frequency was unimportant, and there was a significant interaction effect between mowing and soil depth in one of the analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Ward
- Department of Biological SciencesKent State UniversityKentOhioUSA
| | - Kevin Kirkman
- School of Life SciencesUniversity of KwaZulu‐NatalScottsvilleSouth Africa
| | - Craig Morris
- School of Life SciencesUniversity of KwaZulu‐NatalScottsvilleSouth Africa
- Agricultural Research Council – Animal Productionc/o University of KwaZulu‐NatalPietermaritzburgSouth Africa
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25
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Pu Z, Zhang R, Wang H, Li Q, Zhang J, Wang XX. Root morphological and physiological traits and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi shape phosphorus-acquisition strategies of 12 vegetable species. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1150832. [PMID: 37223810 PMCID: PMC10202175 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1150832] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2023] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Trait plasticity and integration mediate vegetable adaptive strategies. However, it is unclear how patterns of vegetables in root traits influence vegetable adaptation to different phosphorus (P) levels. Nine root traits and six shoot traits were investigated in 12 vegetable species cultivated in a greenhouse with low and high P supplies to identify distinct adaptive mechanisms in relation to P acquisition (40 and 200 P mg kg-1 as KH2PO4). At the low P level, a series of negative correlations among root morphology, exudates and mycorrhizal colonization, and different types of root functional properties (root morphology, exudates and mycorrhizal colonization) respond differently to soil P levels among vegetable species. non-mycorrhizal plants showed relatively stable root traits as compared to solanaceae plants that showed more altered root morphologies and structural traits. At the low P level, the correlation between root traits of vegetable crops was enhanced. It was also found in vegetables that low P supply enhances the correlation of morphological structure while high P supply enhances the root exudation and the correlation between mycorrhizal colonization and root traits. Root exudation combined with root morphology and mycorrhizal symbiosis to observe P acquisition strategies in different root functions. Vegetables respond highly under different P conditions by enhancing the correlation of root traits. Low P supply could significantly improve the direct and indirect ways of mycorrhizal vegetable crops' root traits axis on shoot biomass, and enhance the direct way of non-mycorrhizal vegetable crops' root traits axis and reduce the indirect way of root exudates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zitian Pu
- State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement and Regulation, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, China
- Mountain Area Research Institute, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, China
| | - Ruifang Zhang
- Mountain Area Research Institute, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, China
| | - Hong Wang
- Mountain Area Research Institute, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, China
| | - Qingyun Li
- College of Horticulture, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, China
| | - Jianheng Zhang
- Mountain Area Research Institute, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, China
- Key Laboratory of North China Water-Saving Agriculture of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, China
| | - Xin-Xin Wang
- State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement and Regulation, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, China
- Mountain Area Research Institute, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, China
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26
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Adomako MO, Yu FH. Potential effects of micro- and nanoplastics on phyllosphere microorganisms and their evolutionary and ecological responses. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 884:163760. [PMID: 37120023 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163760] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2023] [Revised: 04/22/2023] [Accepted: 04/23/2023] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Plastic pollution is among the most urgent environmental and social challenges of the 21st century, and their influxes in the environment have altered critical growth drivers in all biomes, attracting global concerns. In particular, the consequences of microplastics on plants and their associated soil microorganisms have gained a large audience. On the contrary, how microplastics and nanoplastics (M/NPs) may influence the plant-associated microorganisms in the phyllosphere (i.e., the aboveground portion of plants) is nearly unknown. We, therefore, summarize evidence that may potentially connect M/NPs, plants, and phyllosphere microorganisms based on studies on other analogous contaminants such as heavy metals, pesticides, and nanoparticles. We show seven pathways that may link M/NPs into the phyllosphere environment, and provide a conceptual framework explaining the direct and indirect (soil legacy) effects of M/NPs on phyllosphere microbial communities. We also discuss the adaptive evolutionary and ecological responses, such as acquiring novel resistance genes via horizontal gene transfer and microbial degradation of plastics of the phyllosphere microbial communities, to M/NPs-induced threats. Finally, we highlight the global consequences (e.g., disruption of ecosystem biogeochemical cycling and impaired host-pathogen defense chemistry that can lead to reduced agricultural productivity) of altered plant-microbiome interactions in the phyllosphere in the context of a predicted surge of plastic production and conclude with pending questions for future research priorities. In conclusion, M/NPs are very likely to produce significant effects on phyllosphere microorganisms and mediate their evolutionary and ecological responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Opoku Adomako
- Institute of Wetland Ecology & Clone Ecology/Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation, Taizhou University, Taizhou 318000, Zhejiang, China
| | - Fei-Hai Yu
- Institute of Wetland Ecology & Clone Ecology/Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation, Taizhou University, Taizhou 318000, Zhejiang, China.
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27
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Rypel AL. Ecosystem size filters life-history strategies to shape community assembly in lakes. J Anim Ecol 2023. [PMID: 37081674 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2022] [Accepted: 03/13/2023] [Indexed: 04/22/2023]
Abstract
Enhancing understanding of community assembly rules hinges on shared conceptualizations that operate across scales and levels of ecological organization. Knowledge of the biogeography of life-history strategies is especially limited but crucial for building fundamental information on the relationships between trait diversity and species richness. The goals of this study were to (i) demonstrate how life histories can be classified using a previously identified triangular continuum of evolutionary trade-offs; (ii) test whether spatial and temporal heterogeneity in species abundances is linked to life-history strategy; (iii) compare species-area relationships across the primary life-history strategist groups and (iv) explore how species life-history niche spaces are shaped by ecosystem size and landscape architecture. Fish communities were sampled in 40 lakes that varied widely in volume; 11 lakes were sampled annually for 28 or 42 years. Seventy-one species were classified as equilibrium, periodic or opportunistic strategists, and species-area curves were quantified and compared among strategy types. As predicted by life-history theory, relative abundances of opportunistic strategists were extremely variable over space and time, whereas abundances of equilibrium and periodic strategists were more stable. Small lakes were often dominated by only one species, usually an opportunistic strategist. Species richness increased with ecosystem size, but larger ecosystems were increasingly inhabited by equilibrium, and then, periodic strategists. Richness of periodic species increased with ecosystem size at a faster rate compared with opportunistic species showing that colonization-extinction points fundamentally vary by strategy. Similarly, life-history niche space increased with ecosystem size in accord with species-area relationships but showed saturation behaviour. Niche space became increasingly crowded in large lakes, particularly in lakes with higher hydrologic connectance. Ecosystem size mediates the assembly of communities through effects on environmental stability, hydrology and life-history filtering. This finding provides novel insights into community assembly at multiple scales and has broad conservation applications. Because ecosystem size filters towards orthogonal and inverse life histories, conservation actions (e.g. fish stockings) that do not consider life-history and community filtering rules will probably fail.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew L Rypel
- Department of Wildlife, Fish & Conservation Biology, University of California Davis, Davis, California, USA
- Center for Watershed Sciences, University of California Davis, Davis, California, USA
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28
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Jiang X, Guo X, Lu H, Yang J, Li W, Hao Q. Distinct Community Assembly Mechanisms of Different Growth Stages in a Warm Temperate Forest. DIVERSITY 2023. [DOI: 10.3390/d15040507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/05/2023]
Abstract
Community phylogenetic structure and diversity analysis are useful complements to species-centric approaches in biodiversity studies by providing new insights into the processes that drive community assembly. In this study, we aimed to understand the differences in the relative importance of abiotic filtering, biotic interactions, and dispersal limitation on community assembly of trees at different vegetation growth stages. We also examined the influence of geographical distance, elevation, terrain, and soil. Thus, we examined the phylogenetic structures and β-diversities of saplings and adults along different abiotic gradients. The results of the net relatedness index (NRI) showed that, instead of being random, the phylogenetic structure of saplings tended to be convergent, whereas that of adults tended to be divergent. This result implies that the relative forces of abiotic filtering and biotic interactions change throughout vegetation growth. The results of generalized dissimilarity modelling (GDM) showed that dispersal limitation (geographical distance) and abiotic filtering influenced the community assembly of both adults and saplings. This result confirmed our hypothesis that both deterministic and stochastic processes were prevalent. The explanatory rates of geographic distance and environmental factor distance to phylogenetic β-diversity were quite different between adults and saplings, which meant that the relative force of dispersal limitation and abiotic filtering had also changed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaolei Jiang
- School of Landscape Architecture and Forestry, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China
| | - Xiao Guo
- School of Landscape Architecture and Forestry, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China
| | - Huicui Lu
- School of Landscape Architecture and Forestry, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China
| | - Jinming Yang
- School of Landscape Architecture and Forestry, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China
| | - Wei Li
- School of Landscape Architecture and Forestry, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China
| | - Qing Hao
- School of Landscape Architecture and Forestry, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China
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29
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Famiglietti CA, Worden M, Quetin GR, Smallman TL, Dayal U, Bloom AA, Williams M, Konings AG. Global net biome CO 2 exchange predicted comparably well using parameter-environment relationships and plant functional types. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2023; 29:2256-2273. [PMID: 36560840 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16574] [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] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Accepted: 12/13/2022] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Accurate estimation and forecasts of net biome CO2 exchange (NBE) are vital for understanding the role of terrestrial ecosystems in a changing climate. Prior efforts to improve NBE predictions have predominantly focused on increasing models' structural realism (and thus complexity), but parametric error and uncertainty are also key determinants of model skill. Here, we investigate how different parameterization assumptions propagate into NBE prediction errors across the globe, pitting the traditional plant functional type (PFT)-based approach against a novel top-down, machine learning-based "environmental filtering" (EF) approach. To do so, we simulate these contrasting methods for parameter assignment within a flexible model-data fusion framework of the terrestrial carbon cycle (CARDAMOM) at a global scale. In the PFT-based approach, model parameters from a small number of select locations are applied uniformly within regions sharing similar land cover characteristics. In the EF-based approach, a pixel's parameters are predicted based on underlying relationships with climate, soil, and canopy properties. To isolate the role of parametric from structural uncertainty in our analysis, we benchmark the resulting PFT-based and EF-based NBE predictions with estimates from CARDAMOM's Bayesian optimization approach (whereby "true" parameters consistent with a suite of data constraints are retrieved on a pixel-by-pixel basis). When considering the mean absolute error of NBE predictions across time, we find that the EF-based approach matches or outperforms the PFT-based approach at 55% of pixels-a narrow majority. However, NBE estimates from the EF-based approach are susceptible to compensation between errors in component flux predictions and predicted parameters can align poorly with the assumed "true" values. Overall, though, the EF-based approach is comparable to conventional approaches and merits further investigation to better understand and resolve these limitations. This work provides insight into the relationship between terrestrial biosphere model performance and parametric uncertainty, informing efforts to improve model parameterization via PFT-free and trait-based approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Matthew Worden
- Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Gregory R Quetin
- Department of Geography, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA
| | - T Luke Smallman
- School of GeoSciences and National Centre for Earth Observation, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Uma Dayal
- Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - A Anthony Bloom
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
| | - Mathew Williams
- School of GeoSciences and National Centre for Earth Observation, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Alexandra G Konings
- Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
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30
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Xu H, Wei X, Cheng X. Fungal diversity dominates the response of multifunctionality to the conversion of pure plantations into two-aged mixed plantations. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 866:161384. [PMID: 36621475 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.161384] [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: 09/20/2022] [Revised: 12/31/2022] [Accepted: 12/31/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Plantation forests are essential in driving global biogeochemical cycling and mitigating climate change. Biodiversity and environmental factors can shape multiple forest ecosystem functions simultaneously (i.e., multifunctionality). However, their effect on multifunctionality when pure plantations are converted into two-aged plantations remains underexplored. Therefore, we assessed above- and below-ground biodiversity and environmental factors and 11 ecosystem functions in different plantation types in subtropical China. The two-aged mixed plantations exhibited higher multifunctionality than did a pure plantation, primarily due to soil fungal diversity and secondarily due to tree diversity, based on the coefficient of variation for tree diameter at breast height (CVD) and community-weighted specific leaf area (CWMSLA). Further analysis revealed saprotrophy as the key soil fungal trophic mode in maintaining multifunctionality. Moreover, structural equation modeling confirmed that soil environmental factors, namely the soil water content and pH, had no direct association with multifunctionality, but were indirectly related to multifunctionality via elevated CVD and CWMSLA, respectively. Our results indicate that the tree and soil fungal diversity, as well as soil environmental factors, resulting from the conversion of pure plantations to two-aged mixed plantations, can enhance multifunctionality, and provide a better comprehensive understanding of the driving mechanisms of multifunctionality, leading to the sustainable management of subtropical plantation forest ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haidong Xu
- East China Coastal Forest Ecosystem Research Station, Institute of Subtropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311400, China; Shandong Key Laboratory of Eco-Environmental Science for the Yellow River Delta, Binzhou University, Binzhou, Shandong 256603, China
| | - Xiaomeng Wei
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, College of Resource and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China
| | - Xiangrong Cheng
- East China Coastal Forest Ecosystem Research Station, Institute of Subtropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311400, China.
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31
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Blonder BW, Gaüzère P, Iversen LL, Ke P, Petry WK, Ray CA, Salguero‐Gómez R, Sharpless W, Violle C. Predicting and controlling ecological communities via trait and environment mediated parameterizations of dynamical models. OIKOS 2023. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.09415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/17/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Wong Blonder
- Dept of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, Univ. of California Berkeley CA USA
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State Univ. Tempe AZ USA
| | - Pierre Gaüzère
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State Univ. Tempe AZ USA
| | | | - Po‐Ju Ke
- Dept of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton Univ. Princeton NJ USA
- Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, National Taiwan Univ. Taipei Taiwan
| | - William K. Petry
- Dept of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton Univ. Princeton NJ USA
- Dept of Plant & Microbial Biology, North Carolina State Univ. Raleigh NC USA
| | - Courtenay A. Ray
- Dept of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, Univ. of California Berkeley CA USA
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State Univ. Tempe AZ USA
| | - Roberto Salguero‐Gómez
- Dept of Zoology, Univ. of Oxford Oxford UK
- Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research Rostock Germany
- Center of Excellence in Environmental Decisions, Univ. of Queensland Brisbane Australia
| | - William Sharpless
- Dept of Bioengineering, Univ. of California Berkeley Berkeley CA USA
| | - Cyrille Violle
- CEFE ‐ Univ Montpellier ‐ CNRS – EPHE – IRD Montpellier France
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32
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Qin-Yuan Z, Quan-Min D, Fang-Cao W, Yu-Zhen L, Bin F, Xiao-Xia Y, Yang Y, Chun-Ping Z, Quan C, Wen-ting L. Cascading effects of seed-stem-individual spatial patterns along a grazing gradient. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1137726. [PMID: 37008474 PMCID: PMC10050678 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1137726] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 03/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Studying the seed trait-stem trait-individual spatial pattern system is helpful for understanding the developmental direction of plant dynamics and populations under grazing disturbance as well as the antagonistic relationship between animals and plants, but few systematic analyses of this spatial pattern system have been carried out. Kobresia humilis is the dominant species in alpine grasslands. We studied K. humilis seed traits and their relationship with K. humilis reproductive individuals, the relationship between reproductive and vegetative stems, and the weights and spatial patterns of reproductive and nonreproductive individuals under four grazing treatments: no grazing (control), light grazing, moderate grazing and heavy grazing. We explored the relationship among seed size and seed number with reproductive stems and vegetative stems along the grazing gradient and assessed the spatial pattern changes between reproductive and nonreproductive individuals. The results showed the following: (1) Seed size increased with increasing grazing intensity, and the coefficient of variation for seed size and seed number in the heavy grazing treatment was greater than 0.6. (2) The structural equation model showed that grazing treatment had a positive effect on seed number, seed size and reproductive stem number and a negative effect on reproductive stem weight. (3) Grazing treatment did not affect the resource allocation to reproductive stems and vegetative stems per unit length of reproductive K. humilis individuals. (4) Compared with the number of reproductive individuals in the no grazing treatment, the number in the heavy grazing treatment decreased significantly, and the negative correlation between reproductive individuals and nonreproductive individuals changed from a full-scale negative correlation to a small-scale negative correlation and a large-scale positive correlation. Our study showed that grazing could activate and change the resource allocation pattern of dominant species in a grassland and have significant positive effects on reproductive stem number, reproductive stem weight, seed number and seed size. Along a grazing intensity gradient, with the increase in distance between reproductive and nonreproductive individuals, the transformation of intraspecific relationships from a negative correlation to a positive correlation is an ecological strategy conducive to population survival.
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Lyu S, Alexander JM. Compensatory responses of vital rates attenuate impacts of competition on population growth and promote coexistence. Ecol Lett 2023; 26:437-447. [PMID: 36708049 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2022] [Revised: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Competition is among the most important factors regulating plant population and community dynamics, but we know little about how different vital rates respond to competition and jointly determine population growth and species coexistence. We conducted a field experiment and parameterised integral projection models to model the population growth of 14 herbaceous plant species in the absence and presence of neighbours across an elevation gradient (284 interspecific pairs). We found that suppressed individual growth and seedling establishment contributed the most to competition-induced declines in population growth, although vital rate contributions varied greatly between species and with elevation. In contrast, size-specific survival and flowering probability and seed production were frequently enhanced under competition. These compensatory vital rate responses were nearly ubiquitous (occurred in 92% of species pairs) and significantly reduced niche overlap and stabilised coexistence. Our study highlights the importance of demographic processes for regulating population and community dynamics, which has often been neglected by classic coexistence theories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shengman Lyu
- Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Jake M Alexander
- Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
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Girard-Tercieux C, Maréchaux I, Clark AT, Clark JS, Courbaud B, Fortunel C, Guillemot J, Künstler G, le Maire G, Pélissier R, Rüger N, Vieilledent G. Rethinking the nature of intraspecific variability and its consequences on species coexistence. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e9860. [PMID: 36911314 PMCID: PMC9992775 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2022] [Revised: 01/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2023] [Indexed: 03/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Intraspecific variability (IV) has been proposed to explain species coexistence in diverse communities. Assuming, sometimes implicitly, that conspecific individuals can perform differently in the same environment and that IV increases niche overlap, previous studies have found contrasting results regarding the effect of IV on species coexistence. We aim at showing that the large IV observed in data does not mean that conspecific individuals are necessarily different in their response to the environment and that the role of high-dimensional environmental variation in determining IV has largely remained unexplored in forest plant communities. We first used a simulation experiment where an individual attribute is derived from a high-dimensional model, representing "perfect knowledge" of individual response to the environment, to illustrate how large observed IV can result from "imperfect knowledge" of the environment. Second, using growth data from clonal Eucalyptus plantations in Brazil, we estimated a major contribution of the environment in determining individual growth. Third, using tree growth data from long-term tropical forest inventories in French Guiana, Panama and India, we showed that tree growth in tropical forests is structured spatially and that despite a large observed IV at the population level, conspecific individuals perform more similarly locally than compared with heterospecific individuals. As the number of environmental dimensions that are well quantified at fine scale is generally lower than the actual number of dimensions influencing individual attributes, a great part of observed IV might be represented as random variation across individuals when in fact it is environmentally driven. This mis-representation has important consequences for inference about community dynamics. We emphasize that observed IV does not necessarily impact species coexistence per se but can reveal species response to high-dimensional environment, which is consistent with niche theory and the observation of the many differences between species in nature.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Adam T Clark
- Institute of Biology Karl-Franzens University of Graz Graz Austria
| | - James S Clark
- Nicholas School of the Environment Duke University Durham North Carolina USA.,Univ. Grenoble Alpes, INRAE, LESSEM St-Martin-d'Hères France
| | - Benoît Courbaud
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, INRAE, LESSEM St-Martin-d'Hères France
| | - Claire Fortunel
- AMAP, Univ. Montpellier, CIRAD, CNRS, INRAE, IRD Montpellier France
| | - Joannès Guillemot
- Eco&Sols, Univ. Montpellier, CIRAD, INRAE, IRD, Institut Agro Montpellier France
| | | | - Guerric le Maire
- Eco&Sols, Univ. Montpellier, CIRAD, INRAE, IRD, Institut Agro Montpellier France
| | - Raphaël Pélissier
- AMAP, Univ. Montpellier, CIRAD, CNRS, INRAE, IRD Montpellier France.,Department of Ecology French Institute of Pondicherry Puducherry India
| | - Nadja Rüger
- Department of Economics University of Leipzig Leipzig Germany.,German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig Leipzig Germany.,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Balboa Panama
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Anderegg LDL. Why can't we predict traits from the environment? THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2023; 237:1998-2004. [PMID: 36308517 DOI: 10.1111/nph.18586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2022] [Accepted: 09/16/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Plant functional traits are powerful ecological tools, but the relationships between plant traits and climate (or environmental variables more broadly) are often remarkably weak. This presents a paradox: Plant traits govern plant interactions with their environment, but the environment does not strongly predict the traits of plants living there. Unpacking this paradox requires differentiating the mechanisms of trait variation and potential confounds of trait-environment relationships at different evolutionary and ecological scales ranging from within species to among communities. It also necessitates a more integrated understanding of physiological and evolutionary equifinality among many traits and plant strategies, and challenges us to understand how supposedly 'functional' traits integrate into a whole-organism phenotype in ways that may be largely orthogonal to environmental tolerances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leander D L Anderegg
- Department of Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93117, USA
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36
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Wang C, Duan F, Zhou C, Lu J. The altitudinal distribution characteristics of functional traits reflect the resource allocation strategy of Abies georgei var. smithii in southeast Tibet. Front Ecol Evol 2023. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2023.1055195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/03/2023] Open
Abstract
To explore the adaptation strategies of the aboveground and underground functional traits of alpine plants along an altitudinal gradient, a typical stand of primitive dark coniferous forests (Abies georgei var. smithii.) in southeastern Tibet was taken as the research object in the present study. PCA and correlation analyses were carried out for different organ functional traits (19 key indicators in total), then RDA analysis was done in conjunction with 12 environmental factors. The variation characteristics of the functional traits of leaves, current-year twigs, trunks and fine roots in 6 continuous altitude gradients and the relationships between functional traits and environmental factors were explored. The results showed that soil organic carbon (SOC) may exert a positive effect on the construction of plant defense tissue via changes in functional traits, altitude (Alt) represents the primary influencing factor of wood density (WD) variation, particulate organic carbon (POC) content mainly affected fine root dry matter (RDWC) content and specific root length (SRL), and total potassium (TK) content was the main factor that affected fine root tissue density (RTD). Leaves, current-year twigs, and fine roots exhibited high production or nutrient acquisition capacity at an altitude of 4,000m and showed strong defense and relatively stable water and nutrient transport capacity. In conclusion, the ecological strategy of Abies georgei var. smithii. in Sejila Mountain was more conservative, and the optimal survival area of Abies georgei var. smithii. was located at 4, 000m on the shady slope of Sejila Mountain. It is of paramount significance for exploring the essence of terrestrial ecosystems and their functional processes in extremely high-altitude environments.
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He P, Fontana S, Ma C, Liu H, Xu L, Wang R, Jiang Y, Li MH. Using leaf traits to explain species co-existence and its consequences for primary productivity across a forest-steppe ecotone. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 859:160139. [PMID: 36375552 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2022] [Revised: 10/31/2022] [Accepted: 11/08/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Trait-based approaches have been widely applied to uncover the mechanisms determining community assembly and biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships. However, they have rarely been used in forest-steppe ecotones. These ecosystems are extremely sensitive to disturbances due to their relatively complex ecosystem structures, functionings and processes. In this study, we selected seven sites along a transect from closed canopy forests (CF) to forest-steppe ecotones (FSE) and meadow steppes (MS) in northeast China. Six leaf functional traits (i.e. leaf nitrogen and phosphorus contents, leaf length and thickness, single leaf area and leaf mass per unit area, LMA) as well as the community composition and aboveground biomass at each site were measured. Both functional trait diversity indices (richness, evenness and divergence) and community-weighted mean trait values (CWMs) were calculated to quantify community trait distributions. We found that dominant species in the FSE communities showed acquisitive strategies with highest leaf nitrogen (Mean ± SE: 19.6 ± 0.5 mg g-1) and single leaf area (19.2 ± 1.3 cm2), but the lowest LMA (59.6 ± 1.3 g cm-2) values compared to adjacent CF and MS communities. The ecotone communities also exhibited the largest functional trait richness (TOP), evenness (TED) and divergence (FDis) values (0.46, 0.92 and 0.67, respectively). Overall, niche differentiation emerges as the main mechanism influencing the coexistence of plant species in ecotone ecosystems. In addition, CWMs of leaf traits were the most important predictors for estimating variations in aboveground productivity across the transect, suggesting a major influence of dominant species. Our findings suggest that vegetation management practices in forest-steppe ecotones should increasingly focus on community functional trait diversity, and support the establishment and regeneration of plant species with rapid resource acquisition strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng He
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Animal and Plant Resistance, College of Life Sciences, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
| | - Simone Fontana
- Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, University of Freiburg, 79106 Freiburg, Germany; Abteilung Natur & Landschaft, Amt für Natur, Jagd und Fischerei, Kanton St. Gallen, 9001 St. Gallen, Switzerland
| | - Chengcang Ma
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Animal and Plant Resistance, College of Life Sciences, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
| | - Heyong Liu
- College of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, China.
| | - Li Xu
- Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China.
| | - Ruzhen Wang
- College of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, China.
| | - Yong Jiang
- College of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, China.
| | - Mai-He Li
- College of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, China; Forest dynamics, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland; Key Laboratory of Geographical Processes and Ecological Security in Changbai Mountains, Ministry of Education, School of Geographical Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China.
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Loewen CJG, Jackson DA, Gilbert B. Biodiversity patterns diverge along geographic temperature gradients. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2023; 29:603-617. [PMID: 36169599 PMCID: PMC10100522 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Accepted: 09/06/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Models applying space-for-time substitution, including those projecting ecological responses to climate change, generally assume an elevational and latitudinal equivalence that is rarely tested. However, a mismatch may lead to different capacities for providing climatic refuge to dispersing species. We compiled community data on zooplankton, ectothermic animals that form the consumer basis of most aquatic food webs, from over 1200 mountain lakes and ponds across western North America to assess biodiversity along geographic temperature gradients spanning nearly 3750 m elevation and 30° latitude. Species richness, phylogenetic relationships, and functional diversity all showed contrasting responses across gradients, with richness metrics plateauing at low elevations but exhibiting intermediate latitudinal maxima. The nonmonotonic/hump-shaped diversity trends with latitude emerged from geographic interactions, including weaker latitudinal relationships at higher elevations (i.e. in alpine lakes) linked to different underlying drivers. Here, divergent patterns of phylogenetic and functional trait dispersion indicate shifting roles of environmental filters and limiting similarity in the assembly of communities with increasing elevation and latitude. We further tested whether gradients showed common responses to warmer temperatures and found that mean annual (but not seasonal) temperatures predicted elevational richness patterns but failed to capture consistent trends with latitude, meaning that predictions of how climate change will influence diversity also differ between gradients. Contrasting responses to elevation- and latitude-driven warming suggest different limits on climatic refugia and likely greater barriers to northward range expansion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlie J. G. Loewen
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of TorontoTorontoOntarioCanada
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal BiologyIowa State UniversityAmesIowaUSA
| | - Donald A. Jackson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of TorontoTorontoOntarioCanada
| | - Benjamin Gilbert
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of TorontoTorontoOntarioCanada
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Brandl SJ, Lefcheck JS, Bates AE, Rasher DB, Norin T. Can metabolic traits explain animal community assembly and functioning? Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2023; 98:1-18. [PMID: 36054431 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12892] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2021] [Revised: 07/28/2022] [Accepted: 08/01/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
All animals on Earth compete for free energy, which is acquired, assimilated, and ultimately allocated to growth and reproduction. Competition is strongest within communities of sympatric, ecologically similar animals of roughly equal size (i.e. horizontal communities), which are often the focus of traditional community ecology. The replacement of taxonomic identities with functional traits has improved our ability to decipher the ecological dynamics that govern the assembly and functioning of animal communities. Yet, the use of low-resolution and taxonomically idiosyncratic traits in animals may have hampered progress to date. An animal's metabolic rate (MR) determines the costs of basic organismal processes and activities, thus linking major aspects of the multifaceted constructs of ecological niches (where, when, and how energy is obtained) and ecological fitness (how much energy is accumulated and passed on to future generations). We review evidence from organismal physiology to large-scale analyses across the tree of life to propose that MR gives rise to a group of meaningful functional traits - resting metabolic rate (RMR), maximum metabolic rate (MMR), and aerobic scope (AS) - that may permit an improved quantification of the energetic basis of species coexistence and, ultimately, the assembly and functioning of animal communities. Specifically, metabolic traits integrate across a variety of typical trait proxies for energy acquisition and allocation in animals (e.g. body size, diet, mobility, life history, habitat use), to yield a smaller suite of continuous quantities that: (1) can be precisely measured for individuals in a standardized fashion; and (2) apply to all animals regardless of their body plan, habitat, or taxonomic affiliation. While integrating metabolic traits into animal community ecology is neither a panacea to disentangling the nuanced effects of biological differences on animal community structure and functioning, nor without challenges, a small number of studies across different taxa suggest that MR may serve as a useful proxy for the energetic basis of competition in animals. Thus, the application of MR traits for animal communities can lead to a more general understanding of community assembly and functioning, enhance our ability to trace eco-evolutionary dynamics from genotypes to phenotypes (and vice versa), and help predict the responses of animal communities to environmental change. While trait-based ecology has improved our knowledge of animal communities to date, a more explicit energetic lens via the integration of metabolic traits may further strengthen the existing framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon J Brandl
- Department of Marine Science, The University of Texas at Austin, Marine Science Institute, Port Aransas, TX, 78373, USA
| | - Jonathan S Lefcheck
- Tennenbaum Marine Observatories Network and MarineGEO Program, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD, 21037, USA
| | - Amanda E Bates
- Biology Department, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, BC, V8P 5C2, Canada
| | - Douglas B Rasher
- Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, East Boothbay, ME, 04544, USA
| | - Tommy Norin
- DTU Aqua: National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, 2800, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
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Liu C, Groff T, Anderson E, Brown C, Cahill Jr JF, Paulow L, Bennett JA. Effects of the invasive leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.) on plant community structure are altered by management history. NEOBIOTA 2023. [DOI: 10.3897/neobiota.81.89450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Invasive species threaten biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, often causing changes in plant community composition and, thus, the functional traits of that community. Quantifying changes in traits can help us understand invasive species impacts on communities; however, both the invader and the plant community may be responding to the same environmental drivers. In North America, leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.) is a problematic invader that reduces plant diversity and forage production for livestock. Its documented effects on plant communities differ amongst studies, however, potentially due to differences in productivity or land management. To identify the potential effects of leafy spurge on plant communities, we quantified leafy spurge abundance, plant species richness, forage production, functional group composition and community weighted mean traits, intensively at a single site and extensively across ten sites differing in management. We then tested how leafy spurge abundance related to these variables as a function of site management activities. Leafy spurge abundance was consistently associated with fewer plant species, reduced forage production and more invasive grass. Community-weighted specific root length also consistently increased with leafy spurge abundance, suggesting that belowground competition may be important in determining co-existence with leafy spurge. Other changes were dependent on management. Native forbs were excluded as leafy spurge became more abundant, but only in grazed sites as these species were already absent from ungrazed sites. Taller plants better persisted in dense leafy spurge patches, but only in grazed sites, consistent with either facilitation of taller species via associational defences or competitive exclusion of shorter species in ungrazed sites and dense leafy spurge patches. These results show that, despite some emergent properties of invasion, management context can alter invasion impacts by causing changes in the plant community and its interactions with the invader.
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Klinerová T, Man M, Dostál P. Invasion tolerance varies along a topographic gradient irrespective of invader presence. OIKOS 2023. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.09430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Tereza Klinerová
- Inst. of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences Průhonice Czech Republic
| | - Matěj Man
- Inst. of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences Průhonice Czech Republic
| | - Petr Dostál
- Inst. of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences Průhonice Czech Republic
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Huang M, Huang G, Fan H, Wei F. Influence of Last Glacial Maximum legacies on functional diversity and community assembly of extant Chinese terrestrial vertebrates. Innovation (N Y) 2023; 4:100379. [PMID: 36747592 PMCID: PMC9898789 DOI: 10.1016/j.xinn.2023.100379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2022] [Accepted: 01/02/2023] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Contemporary biodiversity patterns are shaped by not only modern climate but also factors such as past climate fluctuations. Investigating the relative degree of paleoclimate legacy could help us understand the formation of current biodiversity patterns. However, an assessment of this issue in China is lacking. Here, we investigated the phylogenetic structure and functional diversity patterns of Chinese terrestrial vertebrates. We found that Southern China harbored higher functional richness, while Northern and Western China were more phylogenetically clustered with higher functional divergence and evenness, indicating environmental filtering effects. Moreover, we found that drastic Last Glacial Maximum climate changes were positively related to phylogenetic clustering, lower functional richness, and higher functional divergence and evenness, although this effect varied among different taxonomic groups. We further found that mammal communities experiencing more drastic Last Glacial Maximum temperature changes were characterized by "faster" life-history trait values. Our findings provide new evidence of the paleoclimate change legacies influencing contemporary biodiversity patterns that will help guide national-level conservation plans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingpan Huang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- Center for Evolution and Conservation Biology, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 511458, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Guangping Huang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Huizhong Fan
- CAS Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Fuwen Wei
- CAS Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- Center for Evolution and Conservation Biology, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 511458, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
- Corresponding author
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Godsoe W, Murray R, Iritani R. Species interactions and diversity: a unified framework using Hill numbers. OIKOS 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.09282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- William Godsoe
- Dept of Pest Managament and Conservation, Lincoln Univ. Lincoln New Zealand
| | - Rua Murray
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, Univ. of Canterbury Christchurch New Zealand
| | - Ryosuke Iritani
- RIKEN Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS) Wako Japan
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Spaak JW, Ke P, Letten AD, De Laender F. Different measures of niche and fitness differences tell different tales. OIKOS 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.09573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jurg W. Spaak
- Dept of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell Univ. Ithaca NY USA
| | - Po‐Ju Ke
- Inst. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, National Taiwan Univ. Taipei Taiwan
- Dept of Ecology&Evolutionary Biology, Princeton Univ. Princeton NJ USA
| | - Andrew D. Letten
- School of Biological Sciences, Univ. of Queensland Brisbane QLD Australia
| | - Frederik De Laender
- Univ. of Namur Namur Belgium
- Inst. of Life‐Earth‐Environment, Namur Center for Complex Systems Namur Belgium
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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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Zaiats A, Requena‐Mullor JM, Germino MJ, Forbey JS, Richardson BA, Caughlin TT. Spatial models can improve the experimental design of field‐based transplant gardens by preventing bias due to neighborhood crowding. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9630. [PMCID: PMC9750843 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2022] [Revised: 11/23/2022] [Accepted: 11/27/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Matthew J. Germino
- U.S. Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center Boise Idaho USA
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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 DOI: 10.5061/dryad.98sf7m0n3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2022] [Revised: 09/24/2022] [Accepted: 09/27/2022] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
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 Science, Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, Illinois, 60022, USA
- Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA
| | - Daijiang Li
- Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70808, USA
- Center for Computation & Technology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70808, USA
| | - Sarah E Johnson
- Department of Biology, Northland College, Ashland, Wisconsin, 54806, USA
| | - David Rogers
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Kenosha, Wisconsin, 53144, USA
| | - Kenneth M Cameron
- Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA
| | - Kenneth J Sytsma
- Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA
| | - Thomas J Givnish
- Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA
| | - Donald M Waller
- Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA
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Van Dyke MN, Levine JM, Kraft NJB. Small rainfall changes drive substantial changes in plant coexistence. Nature 2022; 611:507-511. [DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05391-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2021] [Accepted: 09/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Gallego I, Narwani A. Ecology and evolution of competitive trait variation in natural phytoplankton communities under selection. Ecol Lett 2022; 25:2397-2409. [PMID: 36166001 PMCID: PMC9828480 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Revised: 07/28/2022] [Accepted: 08/09/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Competition for limited resources is a major force in structuring ecological communities. Species minimum resource requirements (R*s) can predict competitive outcomes and evolve under selection in simple communities under controlled conditions. However, whether R*s predict competitive outcomes or demonstrate adaptive evolution in naturally complex communities is unknown. We subjected natural phytoplankton communities to three types of resource limitation (nitrogen, phosphorus, light) in outdoor mesocosms over 10 weeks. We examined the community composition weekly and isolated 21 phytoplankton strains from seven species to quantify responses to the selection of R* for these resources. We investigated the evolutionary change in R*s in the dominant species, Desmodesmus armatus. R*s were good predictors of species changes in relative abundance, though this was largely driven by the success of D. armatus across several treatments. This species also demonstrated an evolutionary change in R*s under resource limitation, supporting the potential for adaptive trait change to modify competitive outcomes in natural communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Gallego
- Department of Aquatic EcologySwiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG)DübendorfSwitzerland
| | - Anita Narwani
- Department of Aquatic EcologySwiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG)DübendorfSwitzerland
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Christie K, Pierson NR, Lowry DB, Holeski LM. Local adaptation of seed and seedling traits along a natural aridity gradient may both predict and constrain adaptive responses to climate change. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2022; 109:1529-1544. [PMID: 36129014 PMCID: PMC9828382 DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.16070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2022] [Accepted: 08/23/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE Variation in seed and seedling traits underlies how plants interact with their environment during establishment, a crucial life history stage. We quantified genetic-based variation in seed and seedling traits in populations of the annual plant Plantago patagonica across a natural aridity gradient, leveraging natural intraspecific variation to predict how populations might evolve in response to increasing aridity associated with climate change in the Southwestern U.S. METHODS We quantified seed size, seed size variation, germination timing, and specific leaf area in a greenhouse common garden, and related these traits to the climates of source populations. We then conducted a terminal drought experiment to determine which traits were most predictive of survival under early-season drought. RESULTS All traits showed evidence of clinal variation-seed size decreased, germination timing accelerated, and specific leaf area increased with increasing aridity. Populations with more variable historical precipitation regimes showed greater variation in seed size, suggestive of past selection shaping a diversified bet-hedging strategy mediated by seed size. Seedling height, achieved via larger seeds or earlier germination, was a significant predictor of survival under drought. CONCLUSIONS We documented substantial interspecific trait variation as well as clinal variation in several important seed and seedling traits, yet these slopes were often opposite to predictions for how individual traits might confer drought tolerance. This work shows that plant populations may adapt to increasing aridity via correlated trait responses associated with alternative life history strategies, but that trade-offs might constrain adaptive responses in individual traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyle Christie
- Department of Biological SciencesNorthern Arizona UniversityFlagstaff, Arizona86011USA
- Department of Plant BiologyMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, Michigan48824USA
| | - Natalie R. Pierson
- Department of Biological SciencesNorthern Arizona UniversityFlagstaff, Arizona86011USA
| | - David B. Lowry
- Department of Plant BiologyMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, Michigan48824USA
| | - Liza M. Holeski
- Department of Biological SciencesNorthern Arizona UniversityFlagstaff, Arizona86011USA
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