Disentangling biotic and abiotic drivers of intraspecific trait variation in woody plant seedlings at forest edges

Zheng, Shilu; Webber, Bruce L.; Didham, Raphaël K.; Chen, Chun; Yu, Mingjian

doi:10.1002/ece3.7799

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Also, consideration of environmental factors is of great importance in understanding the state, stability, and ecological role of forest stands [56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63]. It is especially important for protection and restoration of forest ecosystems [64][65][66] as well as in their management [67][68][69]. Accounting for the data obtained on the bioecological features of forest stands and environmental conditions are of paramount importance in managing the resource qualities of forest ecosystems, their stability and protection in forest-steppe and other landscapes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Biological and Environmental Factors Influence on Fire Hazard in Pine Forests: A Case Study in Central Forest-Steppe of the East European Plain

Slavskiy

Litovchenko

Матвеев

et al. 2022

Land

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Vast forest areas are spreaded in Russia and perform environment-forming, nature-protective and climate-regulating functions, including carbon sequestration. At the same time, increasing of destructive forest fires scale in recent decades has led to depletion of forest resources. To combat forest fires, it is necessary to develop preventive measures to reduce the number and severity of forest fires and establish reliable evaluation criteria for fire hazard assessment in forestry. However, indices of fire hazard assessment that exist in Russia are not always allowed to determine the degree of fire hazard reliably. The studies were performed in pine forests on the territory of the Central Forest-Steppe. The key forestry factors influencing the fire hazard situation in pine stands are identified: the presence and amount of combustible materials, the state of the stand, as well as the age structure of tree stand. According to burning indices, the highest fire hazard was common for young and middle-aged pine stands, while for ripening, mature and old-growth forests, fire hazard increasing was not observed. A set of parameters that characterize soil moisture and ground cover peculiarities have also a significant impact. Forest growth conditions were shown to be an important indicator for assessment of fire hazard class. Identified factors that have a key impact on the fire hazard in forests will make it possible to improve methodological approach for monitoring and preservation of forests.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Biological and Environmental Factors Influence on Fire Hazard in Pine Forests: A Case Study in Central Forest-Steppe of the East European Plain

Slavskiy

Litovchenko

Матвеев

et al. 2022

Land

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“…The final path model was refitted with z‐transformed variables in order to obtain the relative strength of each path (i.e., standardized regression coefficients). All data associated with this study can be found in Zheng et al (2023).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intraspecific leaf trait variation mediates edge effects on litter decomposition rate in fragmented forests

Zheng,

Yu,

Webber

et al. 2024

Ecology

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There is strong trait dependence in species‐level responses to environmental change and their cascading effects on ecosystem functioning. However, there is little understanding of whether intraspecific trait variation (ITV) can also be an important mechanism mediating environmental effects on ecosystem functioning. This is surprising, given that global change processes such as habitat fragmentation and the creation of forest edges drive strong trait shifts within species. On 20 islands in the Thousand Island Lake, China, we quantified intraspecific leaf trait shifts of a widely distributed shrub species, Vaccinium carlesii, in response to habitat fragmentation. Using a reciprocal transplant decomposition experiment between forest edge and interior on 11 islands with varying areas, we disentangled the relative effects of intraspecific leaf trait variation versus altered environmental conditions on leaf decomposition rates in forest fragments. We found strong intraspecific variation in leaf traits in response to edge effects, with a shift toward recalcitrant leaves with low specific leaf area and high leaf dry matter content from forest interior to the edge. Using structural equation modeling, we showed that such intraspecific leaf trait response to habitat fragmentation had translated into significant plant afterlife effects on leaf decomposition, leading to decreased leaf decomposition rates from the forest interior to the edge. Importantly, the effects of intraspecific leaf trait variation were additive to and stronger than the effects from local environmental changes due to edge effects and habitat loss. Our experiment provides the first quantitative study showing that intraspecific leaf trait response to edge effects is an important driver of the decrease in leaf decomposition rate in fragmented forests. By extending the trait‐based response–effect framework toward the individual level, intraspecific variation in leaf economics traits can provide the missing functional link between environmental change and ecological processes. These findings suggest an important area for future research on incorporating ITV to understand and predict changes in ecosystem functioning in the context of global change.

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Environmental and spatial contributions to tree community assembly across life stages and scales in evergreen-deciduous broadleaf karst forests, southwest China

Liang

Zeng

et al. 2022

J. For. Res.

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Disentangling biotic and abiotic drivers of intraspecific trait variation in woody plant seedlings at forest edges

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cited by 6 publications

References 65 publications

Assessment of Biological and Environmental Factors Influence on Fire Hazard in Pine Forests: A Case Study in Central Forest-Steppe of the East European Plain

Assessment of Biological and Environmental Factors Influence on Fire Hazard in Pine Forests: A Case Study in Central Forest-Steppe of the East European Plain

Intraspecific leaf trait variation mediates edge effects on litter decomposition rate in fragmented forests

Environmental and spatial contributions to tree community assembly across life stages and scales in evergreen-deciduous broadleaf karst forests, southwest China

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