Forests harbour large spatiotemporal heterogeneity in canopy structure. This variation drives the microclimate and light availability at the forest floor. So far, we do not know how light availability and sub-canopy temperature interactively mediate the impact of macroclimate warming on understorey communities.We therefore assessed the functional response of understorey plant communities to warming and light addition in a full factorial experiment installed in temperate deciduous forests across Europe along natural microclimate, light and macroclimate gradients. Furthermore, we related these functional responses to the species' life-history syndromes and thermal niches.We found no significant community responses to the warming treatment. The light treatment, however, had a stronger impact on communities, mainly due to responses by fastcolonizing generalists and not by slow-colonizing forest specialists. The forest structure strongly mediated the response to light addition and also had a clear impact on functional traits and total plant cover.The effects of short-term experimental warming were small and suggest a time-lag in the response of understorey species to climate change. Canopy disturbance, for instance due to drought, pests or logging, has a strong and immediate impact and particularly favours generalists in the understorey in structurally complex forests.
Seed bank responses to different microclimates were studied in temperate forests.• Thermophilous forests showed a compositionally different edge vs interior seed bank. • Forest edges shifted the seedling community to a more light-demanding composition.• Soil translocation from up to lowland favoured the emergence of generalist plants.• Forest fragmentation should be prevented to conserve seed banks' forest specialists.
Aim:The amount of forest edges is increasing globally due to forest fragmentation and land-use changes. However, edge effects on the soil seed bank of temperate forests are still poorly understood. Here, we assessed edge effects at contrasting spatial scales across Europe and quantified the extent to which edges can preserve the seeds of forest specialist plants.Location: Temperate European deciduous forests along a 2,300-km latitudinal gradient.
The impacts of microclimate on future plant population dynamics is poorly understood. The authors use large-scale transplant climate-change experiments to show the contribution of forest microclimates to population dynamics and project the distributions of twelve common understorey plants.
Quercus spp. are one of the most important tree genera in temperate deciduous forests in terms of biodiversity, economic and cultural perspectives. However, natural regeneration of oaks, depending on specific environmental conditions, is still not sufficiently understood. Oak regeneration dynamics are impacted by climate change, but these climate impacts will depend on local forest management and light and temperature conditions.• Here, we studied germination, survival and seedling performance (i.e. aboveground biomass, height, root collar diameter and specific leaf area) of four oak species (Q. cerris, Q. ilex, Q. robur and Q. petraea). Acorns were sown across a wide latitudinal gradient, from Italy to Sweden, and across several microclimatic gradients located within and beyond the species' natural ranges. Microclimatic gradients were applied in terms of forest structure, distance to the forest edge and experimental warming.• We found strong interactions between species and latitude, as well as between microclimate and latitude or species. The species thus reacted differently to local and regional changes in light and temperature ; in southern regions the temperate Q. robur and Q. petraea performed best in plots with a complex structure, whereas the Mediterranean Q. ilex and Q. cerris performed better in simply structured forests with a reduced microclimatic buffering capacity. The experimental warming treatment only enhanced height and aboveground biomass of Mediterranean species.• Our results show that local microclimatic gradients play a key role in the initial stages of oak regeneration; however, one needs to consider the species-specific responses to forest structure and the macroclimatic context.
Background and aims – Forests are among the most threatened ecosystems worldwide, and endemic plants are often a vulnerable component of the flora of a given territory. So far, however, understory forest endemics of southern Europe have received little attention and are poorly known for several aspects. Material and methods – We developed the first list of native vascular plants that are restricted to Italian forests. Available information on taxonomy, regional distribution, ecology, biology, functional traits, and conservation status was collected for each taxon, allowing to identify major knowledge gaps and calculate baseline statistics. Key results – The list includes 134 taxa, most of which are linked to closed-canopy forest habitats, while the others are also found in margins and gaps. The forest and non-forest Italian endemic flora differed in terms of taxonomic and life-form distribution. The rate and density of forest endemism increased with decreasing latitude and were highest in Sicily, Calabria, and Basilicata, where paleoendemic mono- or oligotypic genera also occur. Endemic phanerophytes were especially numerous on islands. Beech and deciduous oak forests were the most important habitats, but hygrophilous woodlands also host numerous endemics. Overall, the ecology, biology, and functional traits of the forest endemic taxa are still poorly known. The ratio diploids/polyploids was highest in the south and on the islands. Almost 24% of the taxa were assessed as “Critically Endangered”, “Endangered”, or “Vulnerable”, and 24% were categorized as “Data Deficient”, based on the IUCN system. Increasing frequency and intensity of fires was the most frequent threat. Conclusions – This work can contribute to implement the European forest plant species list and serve as a basis for further research on a unique biological heritage of the continent. However, more knowledge about these globally rare taxa is needed, to support their conservation in changing forest landscapes.
AimThe soil seed bank is a key component of the biodiversity of plant communities, but various aspects of its functioning in temperate forest ecosystems are still unknown. We here adopted a trait‐based approach to investigate the effects of macro‐ and microclimatic gradients on the juvenile plant communities from the realized seed bank of two types of European temperate forest.LocationOak‐dominated forests in Italy and Belgium.MethodsWe analysed the variation of key functional traits (plant height, leaf area, leaf dry weight, specific leaf area and leaf number) of juvenile plants from the realised soil seed bank in relation to elevation (from 0 to 800 m a.s.l.), forest type (thinned and unthinned forest) and distance to the forest edge. We translocated soil samples from the forest core to the edge (and vice versa) and from high‐ to low‐elevation forests to test the effects of edge and warming respectively.ResultsTaller communities developed at the forest edge due to higher light availability and warmer temperatures. The translocation from the core to the edge did not significantly modify mean trait values. Instead, the shadier and cooler microclimate of the forest core reduced the mean leaf area, mean dry weight, height and leaf number in the communities realised from the edge soil. The translocation from high‐ to lowland forests led to increased values for all traits (except specific leaf area). Edge vs core trait variation was more driven by intraspecific variability, whereas the translocation from high‐ to low‐elevation forests caused trait changes mostly due to species turnover.ConclusionsGlobal warming might result in a functional shift of the understorey due to both an early filtering effect on the seedlings from soil seed banks and their adaptive trait adjustments to temperature increase. Furthermore, our study underpins the importance of edge vs core microclimate in driving the functional composition of the realised soil seed bank.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.