A null model test of Floristic Quality Assessment: Are plant species’ Coefficients of Conservatism valid?

Matthews, Jeffrey W.; Spyreas, Greg; Long, Christopher

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.11.017

Cited by 46 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Those taxa with values lower than 3 are species that inhabit areas that have experienced extreme degradation such as toxic pollution, vehicular traffic, or overgrazing (Freyman et al 2015). Floristic quality tends to increase in prairie restorations with age and proper management (Spyreas et al 2012) and is useful in evaluating restoration progress (Matthews et al 2015). Furthermore, a new website increases accessibility of floristic quality assessment worldwide (Freyman et al 2015; http://universalFQA.org).…”

Section: Field Study Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of hemiparasitic plants: influencing tallgrass prairie quality, diversity, and structure

DiGiovanni

Wysocki

Burke

et al. 2016

Restoration Ecology

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Wood betony, Orobanchaceae (Pedicularis canadensis) and bastard toadflax, Santalaceae (Comandra umbellata) are two root‐hemiparasitic plant species found in tallgrass prairie communities. Natural resource managers are interested in utilizing these species as “pseudograzers” in grasslands to reduce competitively dominant grasses and thereby increase ecological diversity and quality in prairie restorations and urban plantings. We performed an observational field study at 5 tallgrass prairie sites to investigate the association of hemiparasite abundance with metrics of phylogenetic and ecological diversity, as well as floristic quality. Although no reduction in C4 grasses was detected, there was a significant association between hemiparasite abundance and increased floristic quality at all 5 sites. Hemiparasite abundance and species richness were positively correlated at one restoration site. In a greenhouse mesocosm experiment, we investigated response to parasitism by P. canadensis in 6 species representing different plant functional groups of the tallgrass prairie. The annual legume partridge pea, Fabaceae (Chamaecrista fasciculata) had the greatest significant dry biomass reduction among 6 host species, but the C4 grass big bluestem, Poaceae (Andropogon gerardii) had significantly greater aboveground biomass when grown with the hemiparasite. Overall, host species biomass as a total community was significantly reduced in mesocosms, consistent with other investigations that demonstrate influence on community structure by hemiparasitic plant species. Although hemiparasites were not acting as pseudograzers, they have the potential to influence community structure in grassland restorations and remnants.

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Section: Field Study Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of hemiparasitic plants: influencing tallgrass prairie quality, diversity, and structure

DiGiovanni

Wysocki

Burke

et al. 2016

Restoration Ecology

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“…Change in percentage cover relative to preharvest conditions by growth form (graminoids, ferns and allies, native forbs, subshrubs, exotic species, moss species) as well as successional role was also analysed. Successional role was determined based on Coefficient of Conservatism values specific to the study region (c), resulting in 74 species, being characterized as early successional (c 1-4), 63 as mid successional (c 5-6) and 35 as later successional (c 7-10) (12 species c values were unknown) (Bernthal 2003;Milburn, Bourdaghs & Husveth 2007;Mortellaro et al 2012;Matthews, Spyreas & Long 2015). Area (block) was considered a random factor while shrub treatment, VRH treatment, year and their two-way and three-way interactions were considered fixed factors.…”

Section: A T a A N A L Y S I Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐term impacts of variable retention harvesting on ground‐layer plant communities in Pinus resinosa forests

Roberts

D’Amato

Kern

et al. 2016

Journal of Applied Ecology

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1. Concerns about loss of biodiversity and structural complexity in managed forests have recently increased and led to the development of new management strategies focused on restoring or maintaining ecosystem functions while also providing wood outputs. Variable retention harvest (VRH) systems, in which mature overstorey trees are retained in various spatial arrangements across harvested areas, represent one potential approach to this problem. However, long-term evaluations of the effectiveness of this strategy at sustaining plant community composition are needed as this strategy is increasingly applied in managed forest landscapes throughout the world. 2. The forest ground layer plays a central role in forest ecosystem functioning, and we evaluated the long-term (11+ year) dynamics in ground-layer plant communities in response to VRH study in Pinus resinosa Aiton. forests. This large-scale, manipulative study included four overstorey (control, small gap-aggregated, large gap-aggregated and dispersed) and two understorey (ambient and reduced shrubs) treatments replicated four times in 16-ha stands. 3. Changes in ground-layer community composition were apparent 11 years following harvest, regardless of live-tree retention pattern. Richness and diversity increased and were driven by introduction and colonization of ruderal species, while forest interior species continued to persist across treatments. All life-forms responded positively to harvest with the exception of moss and clubmoss species. 4. The lack of effect of spatial pattern of retention on ground-layer plant communities was likely related to the presence of a dense and persistent shrub layer, a result of decades of fire suppression. In particular, the greatest responses to overstorey retention pattern occurred in areas receiving shrub reduction treatments, indicating this recalcitrant layer likely filtered response to retention pattern. 5. Synthesis and applications. Overall, this work highlights flexibility in choosing a variable retention harvest approach when sustaining ground-layer plant community diversity and composition are goals, but altered disturbance regimes (e.g. fire suppression, timber harvesting) that have facilitated the presence or formation of recalcitrant understories, need to be considered. The legacy effects of historical land use and alterations to natural disturbance regimes on the understorey in northern temperate forests are of equal, if not greater, importance to overstorey retention patterns in eliciting desired responses to variable retention harvest and need to be more carefully considered in future applications of this method.

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“…The Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA) method incorporates a coefficient of conservatism assigned to each species based on its tolerance of anthropogenic disturbance, with these “ C ‐values” ranging from 0 (high tolerance) to 10 (low tolerance) (Freyman, Masters, & Packard, ). Although C ‐values are partially subjective, they have been shown to consistently track aspects of plant life history and community membership (Bauer, Koziol, & Bever, ; Matthews, Spyreas, & Long, ). C ‐values are assigned by expert botanists on a state or regional level, and those reported below are averages of at least three scores per taxon from McAvoy () (Delaware), Reznicek, Penskar, Walters, and Slaughter () (Michigan), Ladd and Thomas () (Missouri), Andreas, Mack, and McCormac () (Ohio), Gianopulos () (Southeastern US wetlands), or the Mid‐Atlantic Wetland Workgroup ().…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A rangewide herbarium‐derived dataset indicates high levels of gene flow in black cherry (Prunus serotina)

Konrade

Shaw

Beck

2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Isolation by Distance (IBD) is a genetic pattern in which populations geographically closer to one another are more genetically similar to each other than populations which are farther apart. Black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh.) (Rosaceae) is a forest tree species widespread in eastern North America, and found sporadically in the southwestern United States, Mexico, and Guatemala. IBD has been studied in relatively few North American plant taxa, and no study has rigorously sampled across the range of such a widespread species. In this study, IBD and overall genetic structure were assessed in eastern black cherry (P. serotina Ehrh. var. serotina), the widespread variety of eastern North America. Eastern North America. Prunus serotina Ehrh. var. serotina (Rosaceae). Dense sampling across the entire range of eastern black cherry was made possible by genotyping 15 microsatellite loci in 439 herbarium samples from all portions of the range. Mantel tests and STRUCTURE analyses were performed to evaluate the hypothesis of IBD and genetic structure. Mantel tests demonstrated significant but weak IBD, while STRUCTURE analyses revealed no clear geographic pattern of genetic groups. The modest geographic/genetic structure across the eastern black cherry range suggests widespread gene flow in this taxon. This is consistent with P. serotina's status as a disturbance‐associated species. Further studies should similarly evaluate IBD in species characteristic of low‐disturbance forests.

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A null model test of Floristic Quality Assessment: Are plant species’ Coefficients of Conservatism valid?

Cited by 46 publications

References 38 publications

The role of hemiparasitic plants: influencing tallgrass prairie quality, diversity, and structure

The role of hemiparasitic plants: influencing tallgrass prairie quality, diversity, and structure

Long‐term impacts of variable retention harvesting on ground‐layer plant communities in Pinus resinosa forests

A rangewide herbarium‐derived dataset indicates high levels of gene flow in black cherry (Prunus serotina)

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