Dispersal traits determine plant response to habitat connectivity in an urban landscape

Schleicher, Andrea; Biedermann, Robert; Kleyer, Michael

doi:10.1007/s10980-011-9579-1

Cited by 72 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Immigration or recolonization can reduce the risk of local extinctions (the rescue-effect; Brown and Kodric-Brown 1977), and modeling studies show that species with low reproductive rate require large amounts of habitat for persistence (Fahrig 2001) and that only species with a high fecundity and long-distance dispersal should be insensitive to habitat loss (Higgins et al 2003). Seed production has also been found to be an important predictor of vulnerability to fragmentation in urban ruderal habitats (Schleicher et al 2011) and forest understory herbs (Dupré and Ehrlén 2002). Our results suggest that the increased rates of local extinction (vulnerability of short-lived species) and reduced rates of local recolonization (vulnerability of species with low reproductive output) in combination affects the species richness of habitat specialists, and that mitigation of local, area-dependent extinctions through colonization is reduced in isolated patches.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Theoretical and empirical studies underline the importance of both mean dispersal range and the number of potential dispersers (Higgins et al 2003;Schleicher et al 2011). Terminal velocity is suggested as a relevant and easily measured trait for dispersal range (Schleicher et al 2011), but due to several missing values in our dataset we did not include terminal velocity in the analyses. Instead we included seed mass and dispersal mode (wind-versus not wind-dispersed), which might have been too crude measures of interspecific differences in mean dispersal range.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Plant species occurrence in a fragmented grassland landscape: the importance of species traits

et al. 2014

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Anthropogenic habitat modification and fragmentation is considered one of the most serious threats to biodiversity. To develop effective conservation strategies towards such pressures we need to improve our understanding of how species richness and community composition are shaped by species' responses to landscape patterns. In this study we tested relationships between patch size and isolation, species richness and species traits in a fragmented landscape of calcareous grasslands-a diversity hotspot in Southern Norway. We recorded a total of 381 vascular plant species, of which 50 are considered habitat specialists, distributed among 86 habitat patches (50-9,475 m 2 ) in 22 of 50 randomly sampled 500 9 500 m-plots. We found that large habitat patches held more species of both generalists and specialists than small habitat patches and that well-connected patches held more specialist species than isolated patches. About 1/3 of the habitat specialists in this study system showed vulnerability to isolation, i.e. lower probability of occurrence in isolated patches. Traits related both to persistence (short lifespan) and colonization ability (low seed production per plant) were predictors of vulnerability to isolation. Our results indicate that both colonization and extinction processes affect species composition and richness, and that the rescue-effect-mitigation of local, area-dependent extinctions through colonization-is reduced in isolated patches. These findings suggest that conservation strategies should place greater emphasis on the spatial configuration of the habitat network, and on the preservation of colonization processes to ensure regional persistence of species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant species occurrence in a fragmented grassland landscape: the importance of species traits

et al. 2014

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“…Diaspore mass (mass of an individual seed or spore plus any additional structures that assist dispersal and do not easily detach; SM) indexes species along a dimension describing the trade-off between seedling competitiveness and survival on the one hand, and dispersal and colonization ability on the other 16, [66][67][68] . As a broad generalization small seeds can be produced in larger numbers with the same reproductive effort and, at a given plant height, be dispersed further away from the parent plant and form persistent seed banks, whereas large seeds facilitate survival through the early stages of recruitment, and higher establishment in the In this global analysis, each species, identified subspecies or local variety is represented by a single value for each trait.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The global spectrum of plant form and function

Dı́az

Kattge

Cornelissen

et al. 2015

Nature

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Vascular plants are the main entry point for energy and matter into the Earth's terrestrial ecosystems. Their Darwinian struggle for growth, survival and reproduction in very different arenas has resulted in an extremely wide variety of form and function, both across and within habitats. Yet it has long been thought 1-8 that there is a pattern to be found in this remarkable evolutionary radiation-that some trait constellations are viable and successful whereas others are not.Empirical support for a strongly limited set of viable trait combinations has accumulated for traits associated with single plant organs, such as leaves 7,9-12 , stems 13,14 and seeds [15][16][17] . Evidence across plant organs has been rarer, restricted geographically or taxonomically, and often contradictory [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] . How tightly whole-plant form and function are restricted at the global scale remains unresolved.Here we present the first global quantitative picture of essential functional diversity of extant vascular plants. We quantify the volume, shape and boundaries of this functional space via joint consideration of six traits that together capture the essence of plant form and function: adult plant height, stem specific density, leaf size expressed as leaf area, leaf mass per area, leaf nitrogen content per unit mass, and diaspore mass. Our dataset, based on a recently updated communal plant trait database 30 , covers 46,085 vascular plant species from 423 families and to our knowledge spans the widest range of growth-forms and geographical locations to date in published trait analyses, including some of the most extreme plant trait values ever measured in the field (Table 1, Extended Data Fig. 1). On this basis we reveal that the trait space actually occupied is strongly restricted as compared to four alternative null hypotheses. We demonstrate that plant species largely occupy a plane in the six-dimensional trait space. Two key trait dimensions within this plane are the size of whole plants and organs on the one hand, and the construction costs for photosynthetic leaf area, on the other. We subsequently show which sections of the plane are occupied, and how densely, by different growth-forms and major taxonomic groups. The design opportunities and limits indicated by today's global spectrum of plant form and function provide a foundation to achieve a better understanding of the evolutionary trajectory of vascular plants and help frame and test hypotheses as to where and Earth is home to a remarkable diversity of plant forms and life histories, yet comparatively few essential trait combinations have proved evolutionarily viable in today's terrestrial biosphere. By analysing worldwide variation in six major traits critical to growth, survival and reproduction within the largest sample of vascular plant species ever compiled, we found that occupancy of six-dimensional trait space is strongly concentrated, indicating coordination and trade-offs. Threequarters of trait variation is captured in a t...

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“…Based on studies of animals and plants in urban ecosystems, we expected that species richness would be lower in street medians than in city parks. Additionally, we expected the composition of microbial communities to be distinct in the two habitat types because previous studies have shown that persisting in high-stress habitats and/or maintaining viable populations in small habitat patches can be strongly influenced by speciesspecific traits (Schleicher et al, 2011;Slade et al, 2013;Concepción et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban stress is associated with variation in microbial species composition—but not richness—in Manhattan

et al. 2015

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The biological diversity and composition of microorganisms influences both human health outcomes and ecological processes; therefore, understanding the factors that influence microbial biodiversity is key to creating healthy, functional landscapes in which to live. In general, biological diversity is predicted to be limited by habitat size, which for green areas is often reduced in cities, and by chronic disturbance (stress). These hypotheses have not previously been tested in microbial systems in direct comparison to macroorganisms. Here we analyzed bacterial, fungal and ant communities in small road medians (average area 0.0008 km 2 ) and larger parks (average area 0.64 km 2 ) across Manhattan (NYC). Bacterial species richness was not significantly different between medians and parks, but community composition was significantly distinct. In contrast, ant communities differed both in composition and richness with fewer ant species in medians than parks. Fungi showed no significant variation in composition or richness but had few shared taxa between habitats or sites. The diversity and composition of microbes appears less sensitive to habitat patchiness or urban stress than those of macroorganisms. Microbes and their associated ecosystem services and functions may be more resilient to the negative effects of urbanization than has been previously appreciated.

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Dispersal traits determine plant response to habitat connectivity in an urban landscape

Cited by 72 publications

References 56 publications

Plant species occurrence in a fragmented grassland landscape: the importance of species traits

Plant species occurrence in a fragmented grassland landscape: the importance of species traits

The global spectrum of plant form and function

Urban stress is associated with variation in microbial species composition—but not richness—in Manhattan

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