Do subordinate species punch above their weight? Evidence from above‐ and below‐ground

Mariotte, Pierre

doi:10.1111/nph.12789

Cited by 81 publications

(123 citation statements)

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“…Such shift in 372 belowground traits for both Festuca and Potentilla likely resulted from greater resource 373 competition when they are subdominant than dominant. Such belowground strategy differs from 374 other studies that have found subdominant species to generally have root traits associated with 375 resource conservation rather than rapid acquisition (Mariotte 2013a(Mariotte , 2014. Perhaps montane 376 plant communities with narrower growing season windows relative to other systems, foster 377 greater plasticity in belowground traits that promote persistence of subdominant species.…”

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confidence: 48%

“…Moreover, dominant species have larger leaf areas that allow better light capture, which in 95 turn leads to a larger production of biomass. Although subordinate species do not exhibit high 96 aboveground biomass production, they allocate resources towards a higher nutrient retention 97 below ground (Lavorel et al 2011;Mariotte et al 2013bMariotte et al , 2014. Through this we can see that PeerJ Preprints | https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.26640v1 | CC BY 4.0 Open Access | rec: 7…”

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Dominance across montane meadows: Patterns and processes structuring plant communities

LaPlante

Souza

2018

Preprint

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33 Background. Understanding the underlying factors that determine the relative abundance of 34 plant species is critical to predict both biodiversity and ecosystem function. Biotic and abiotic 35 factors can shape the distribution and the relative abundance of species across natural 36 communities, greatly influencing local biodiversity. 37 Methods. Using a combination of an observational study and a five-year plant removal 38 experiment we: (1) documented how plant diversity and composition of montane meadow 39 assemblages vary along a plant dominance gradient using an observational study; (2) tracked 40 above-and belowground functional traits of co-dominant plant species Potentilla and Festuca 41 along a plant dominance gradient in an observational study; (3) determined whether plant species 42 diversity and composition was directly influenced by commonly occurring species Potentilla and 43 Festuca with the use of a randomized plot design, 5-year plant removal experiment (no removal 44 control, Potentilla removed, Festuca removed, n=10) . 45 Results. We found that subordinate species diversity and compositional dissimilarity were 46 greatest in Potentilla and Festuca co-dominated sites, where neither Potentilla nor Festuca 47 dominated, rather than at sites where either species became dominant. Further, while above-and 48 belowground plant functional traits varied along a dominance gradient, they did so in a way that 49 inconsistently predicted plant species relative abundance. Also, neither variation in plant 50 functional traits of Festuca and Potentilla nor variation in resources and conditions (such as soil 51 nitrogen and temperature) explained our subordinate diversity patterns. Finally, neither Potentilla 52 nor Festuca influenced subordinate diversity or composition when we directly tested for their 53 impacts in a plant removal experiment. 54 Discussion. Taken together, patterns of subordinate diversity and composition were likely driven 55 by abiotic factors rather than biotic interactions. As a result, the role of abiotic factors 56 influencing local-level species interactions can be just as important as biotic interactions 57 themselves in structuring plant communities. 58 Introduction 59 Linkages between species' relative abundance and ecosystem function are important to predict 60 ecosystem resistance and resilience to global change pressures. Dominant species, with high 61 relative abundance (i.e., primary production), have been shown to strongly impact community 62 dynamics and ecosystem function (Whitaker 1972; Wardle et al. 1999;Grime 1977Grime 2001Grime 2006 63 Hooper et al. 2005). In fact, according to Grime's (1998) "mass ratio hypothesis" species with 64 greater primary production exert the main controls for the functioning of ecosystems. Based on 65 this hypothesis, dominant species are considered more important in an ecosystem because of the 66 greater aboveground abundance of biomass or leaf area (e.g., foliar cover) that promotes resource 67 uptake. However, an increasing a...

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confidence: 89%

Dominance across montane meadows: Patterns and processes structuring plant communities

LaPlante

Souza

2018

Preprint

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contrasting

confidence: 45%

Dominance across montane meadows: Patterns and processes structuring plant communities

LaPlante

Souza

2018

Preprint

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Background. Understanding the underlying factors that determine the relative abundance of plant species is critical to predict both biodiversity and ecosystem function. Biotic and abiotic factors can shape the distribution and the relative abundance of species across natural communities, greatly influencing local biodiversity. Methods. Using a combination of an observational study and a five-year plant removal experiment we: (1) documented how plant diversity and composition of montane meadow assemblages vary along a plant dominance gradient using an observational study; (2) tracked above- and belowground functional traits of co-dominant plant species Potentilla and Festuca along a plant dominance gradient in an observational study; (3) determined whether plant species diversity and composition was directly influenced by commonly occurring species Potentilla and Festuca with the use of a randomized plot design, 5-year plant removal experiment (no removal control, Potentilla removed, Festuca removed, n=10) . Results. We found that subordinate species diversity and compositional dissimilarity were greatest in Potentilla and Festuca co-dominated sites, where neither Potentilla nor Festuca dominated, rather than at sites where either species became dominant. Further, while above- and belowground plant functional traits varied along a dominance gradient, they did so in a way that inconsistently predicted plant species relative abundance. Also, neither variation in plant functional traits of Festuca and Potentilla nor variation in resources and conditions (such as soil nitrogen and temperature) explained our subordinate diversity patterns. Finally, neither Potentilla nor Festuca influenced subordinate diversity or composition when we directly tested for their impacts in a plant removal experiment. Discussion. Taken together, patterns of subordinate diversity and composition were likely driven by abiotic factors rather than biotic interactions. As a result, the role of abiotic factors influencing local-level species interactions can be just as important as biotic interactions themselves in structuring plant communities.

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“…Indeed, there is evidence that as subdominants play an increasingly large role in communities, stability can increase (47,53). Because subdominant community composition did not change under elevated CO 2 , species already present in the community were likely increasing their productivity.…”

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confidence: 99%

Long-term exposure to elevated CO ₂ enhances plant community stability by suppressing dominant plant species in a mixed-grass prairie

Zelikova

Blumenthal

Williams

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Climate controls vegetation distribution across the globe, and some vegetation types are more vulnerable to climate change, whereas others are more resistant. Because resistance and resilience can influence ecosystem stability and determine how communities and ecosystems respond to climate change, we need to evaluate the potential for resistance as we predict future ecosystem function. In a mixed-grass prairie in the northern Great Plains, we used a large field experiment to test the effects of elevated CO 2 , warming, and summer irrigation on plant community structure and productivity, linking changes in both to stability in plant community composition and biomass production. We show that the independent effects of CO 2 and warming on community composition and productivity depend on interannual variation in precipitation and that the effects of elevated CO 2 are not limited to water saving because they differ from those of irrigation. We also show that production in this mixed-grass prairie ecosystem is not only relatively resistant to interannual variation in precipitation, but also rendered more stable under elevated CO 2 conditions. This increase in production stability is the result of altered community dominance patterns: Community evenness increases as dominant species decrease in biomass under elevated CO 2 . In many grasslands that serve as rangelands, the economic value of the ecosystem is largely dependent on plant community composition and the relative abundance of key forage species. Thus, our results have implications for how we manage native grasslands in the face of changing climate.climate change | elevated carbon dioxide | grassland | community stability | warming E cologists have long recognized the importance of climate in shaping plant communities across spatial and temporal scales (1). Together, precipitation and temperature characterize the distribution of terrestrial biomes across the globe. As climate changes, some biomes will be more vulnerable to temperature increase (2) or altered precipitation (3), whereas others will be more resistant (4-6). Ecological stability, the maintenance of community structure and function despite climatic fluctuation or disturbance (7-9), includes two components: resistance [lack of change despite perturbation (9)] and resilience [return to a previous state following a perturbation (10-13)]. Diversity (14) and productivity (11, 15) can both influence community stability (16) and dampen responses to environmental perturbation (5,9,17,18). What remains unclear is how stability and resistance respond to predicted changes in climate.Multiple climate change factors simultaneously impact plant performance, community structure, and productivity (4,19,20). For example, elevated CO 2 can improve water use efficiency and increase plant productivity (21-23), but warming can reduce it, counteracting the positive water-saving effects of elevated CO 2 (24). In addition, plant species and functional groups that differ in photosynthetic pathway often have contrasting respo...

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Do subordinate species punch above their weight? Evidence from above‐ and below‐ground

Cited by 81 publications

References 76 publications

Dominance across montane meadows: Patterns and processes structuring plant communities

Dominance across montane meadows: Patterns and processes structuring plant communities

Dominance across montane meadows: Patterns and processes structuring plant communities

Long-term exposure to elevated CO ₂ enhances plant community stability by suppressing dominant plant species in a mixed-grass prairie

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Do subordinate species punch above their weight? Evidence from above‐ and below‐ground

Cited by 81 publications

References 76 publications

Dominance across montane meadows: Patterns and processes structuring plant communities

Dominance across montane meadows: Patterns and processes structuring plant communities

Dominance across montane meadows: Patterns and processes structuring plant communities

Long-term exposure to elevated CO 2 enhances plant community stability by suppressing dominant plant species in a mixed-grass prairie

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Long-term exposure to elevated CO ₂ enhances plant community stability by suppressing dominant plant species in a mixed-grass prairie