Evolutionary Position and Leaf Toughness Control Chemical Transformation of Litter, and Drought Reinforces This Control: Evidence from a Common Garden Experiment across 48 Species

Pan, Xu; Song, Yue; Jiang, Can; Liu, Guofang; Ye, Xuehua; Xie, Xiufang; Hu, Yukun; Zhao, Weiwei; Cornelissen, Johannes H. C.; Dong, Ming; Prinzing, Andreas

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0143140

Cited by 6 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Mass loss did not show stronger phylogenetic signal than our selection of traits, as might be predicted if plant traits of closely related species had similar influences on ecosystem functioning (Srivastava et al ). Also previously reported Bloomberg's K‐values for nitrogen concentration and mass loss were lower than reported in other studies for temperate woody plants (Pan et al ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 53%

“…We therefore did not find evidence for translation of phylogenetic signals in plant traits to mass loss. However mass loss is a complex outcome of leaching, fragmentation and mineralization, and individual chemical traits might be more conservative (Pan et al ). Mass loss did not show stronger phylogenetic signal than our selection of traits, as might be predicted if plant traits of closely related species had similar influences on ecosystem functioning (Srivastava et al ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, understanding how key traits are phylogenetically distributed could allow us to predict trait values, and decomposition rates, for unstudied species and communities (de Bello et al ). Indeed, species’ phylogenetic relatedness and their traits are powerful predictors of ecological niches (Yang et al ) and chemical changes during decomposition (Pan et al ). However, to our knowledge, no previous study has combined trait data, phylogeny and successional status to study the trait– decomposition relationship.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Determinants of litter decomposition rates in a tropical forest: functional traits, phylogeny and ecological succession

Szefer

Carmona

Chmel

et al. 2017

Oikos

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Plant litter decomposition is one of the most important processes in terrestrial ecosystems, as it is a key factor in nutrient cycling. Decomposition rates depend on environmental factors, but also plant traits, as these determine the character of detritus. We measured litter decomposition rate for 57 common tree species displaying a variety of functional traits within four sites in primary and four sites in secondary tropical forest in Madang Province, Papua New Guinea. The phylogenetic relationships between these trees were also estimated using molecular data. The leaves collected from different tree species were dried for two days, placed into detritus bags and exposed to ambient conditions for two months. Nitrogen, carbon and ash content were assessed as quantitative traits and used together with a phylogenetic variance– covariance matrix as predictors of decomposition rate. The analysis of the tree species composition from 96 quadrats located along a successional gradient of swidden agriculture enabled us to determine successional preferences for individual species. Nitrogen content was the only functional trait measured to be significantly positively correlated with decomposition rate. Controlling for plant phylogeny did not influence our conclusions, but including phylogeny demonstrated that the mainly early successional family Euphorbiaceae is characterized by a particularly high decomposition rate. The acquisitive traits (high nitrogen content and low wood density) correlated with rapid decomposition were characteristic for early successional species. Decomposition rate thus decreased from early successional to primary forest species. However, the decomposition of leaves from the same species was significantly faster in primary than in secondary forest stands, very probably because the high humidity of primary forest environments keeps the decomposing material wetter.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 53%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Determinants of litter decomposition rates in a tropical forest: functional traits, phylogeny and ecological succession

Szefer

Carmona

Chmel

et al. 2017

Oikos

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“…Wetland plant species may differ significantly in plant functional traits, which might have different consequences for ecosystem functioning [ 17 , 26 , 30 – 32 ]. The litter decomposition of floating plants might be faster than that of emergent plants, as they have softer and more decomposable materials [ 33 ]. The floating plant litter used in this study had lower C/N ratios (F vs. E: 11.55 vs. 30.70) and higher TN concentration (F vs. E: 3.66% vs. 1.88%) than emergent plant litter, leading to faster decomposition and nutrient release into the water.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Meanwhile, the emergent plant litter with higher C/N ratio may promote the denitrification process, as the previously study suggested that the denitrification rate might depend on the C/N ratio of the water and the carbon sources during incubation [ 10 ]. Moreover, other leaf or litter traits, such as leaf area and litter toughness [ 26 , 27 , 33 ], might also contribute to the observed differences between different plant life forms by affecting interactions among the litter surface, microbes and the water. However, this speculation needs to be tested in future.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant Litter Submergence Affects the Water Quality of a Constructed Wetland

Pan

Ping

et al. 2017

PLoS ONE

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Plant litter is an indispensable component of constructed wetlands, but how the submergence of plant litter affects their ecosystem functions and services, such as water purification, is still unclear. Moreover, it is also unclear whether the effects of plant litter submergence depend on other factors such as the duration of litter submergence, water source or litter species identity. Here we conducted a greenhouse experiment by submerging the litter of 7 wetland plant species into three types of water substrates and monitoring changes in water nutrient concentrations. Litter submergence affected water quality positively via decreasing the concentration of nitrate nitrogen and negatively via increasing the concentrations of total nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen and total phosphorus. The effects of litter submergence depended on the duration of litter submergence, the water source, the litter species identity, and the plant life form. Different plant species had different effects on the water nutrient concentrations during litter submergence, and the effects of floating plants might be more negative than that of emergent plants. These results are novel evidence of how the submergence of different plant (life form) litter may affect the purification function of constructed wetlands. For water at low eutrophication levels, submerging a relative small amount of plant litter might improve water quality, via benefiting the denitrification process in water. These findings emphasized the management of floating plant litter (a potential removal) during the maintenance of human-controlled wetland ecosystems and provided a potential tool to improve the water quality of constructed wetlands via submerging plant litter of different types.

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Why phylogenetic signal of traits is important in ecosystems: uniformity of a plant trait increases soil fauna, but only in a phylogenetically uniform vegetation

et al. 2023

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Phylogenetically closely related plant species often share similar trait states (phylogenetic signal), but local assembly may favor dissimilar relatives and thereby decouple the diversity of a trait from the diversity of phylogenetic lineages. Associated fauna might either benefit from plant trait diversity, because it provides them complementary resources, or suffer from it due to dilution of preferred resources. We hence hypothesize that decoupling of trait and phylogenetic diversity weakens the relationship between the plant-trait diversity and the abundance and diversity of associated fauna. Studying permanent meadows, we tested for combined effects of plant phylogenetic diversity and diversity of two functional traits (specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content) on major groups of soil fauna (earthworms, mites, springtails, nematodes). We found that only in phylogenetically uniform plant communities, was uniformity in the functional traits associated with (i) high abundance in springtails, and (ii) high abundance of the sub-group that feeds more directly on plant material (in springtails and mites) or those that are more prone to disturbance (in nematodes), and (iii) high diversity in all three groups tested (springtails, earthworms, nematodes). Our results suggest that soil fauna profits from the resource concentration in local plant communities that are uniform in both functional traits and phylogenetic lineages. Soil fauna would hence benefit from co-occurrence of closely related plants that have conserved the same trait values, rather than of distantly related plants that have converged in traits. This might result in faster decomposition and a positive feedback between trait conservatism and ecosystem functioning.

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Evolutionary Position and Leaf Toughness Control Chemical Transformation of Litter, and Drought Reinforces This Control: Evidence from a Common Garden Experiment across 48 Species

Cited by 6 publications

References 56 publications

Determinants of litter decomposition rates in a tropical forest: functional traits, phylogeny and ecological succession

Determinants of litter decomposition rates in a tropical forest: functional traits, phylogeny and ecological succession

Plant Litter Submergence Affects the Water Quality of a Constructed Wetland

Why phylogenetic signal of traits is important in ecosystems: uniformity of a plant trait increases soil fauna, but only in a phylogenetically uniform vegetation

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