Influence of tree plantations on the phylogenetic structure of understorey plant communities

Piwczyński, Marcin; Puchałka, Radosław; Ulrich, Werner

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2016.06.011

Cited by 32 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 68 publications

(77 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Accordingly, effects of H. rhamnoides on co‐occurring species seem to be more pronounced in an oceanic climate in coastal dune ecosystems (Isermann et al., ) than in Transylvania's more continental climate. Although we cannot fully exclude the competitive effects of the non‐native H. rhamnoides on plant community and seed bank composition, our findings outline the higher relative importance of the general encroachment of woody species on the composition of plant community and seed bank compared to specific effects of the non‐native H. rhamnoides (see also Piwczyński, Puchałka, & Ulrich, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

Effects of woody species encroachment and fire on vegetation and the soil seed bank in dry grasslands of Transylvania

Görzen

Borisova

Fenesi

et al. 2019

Applied Vegetation Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Questions: (a) In which ways do woody species encroachment and fire affect vegetation and seed bank composition, structure and diversity in Transylvanian dry grassland; (b) do native and non-native woody species differ with respect to their impact on grassland community composition and structure; (c) is burning useful to control woody species encroachment; and (d) can soil seed banks contribute to the restoration of grasslands in Transylvania? Location: Transylvania, Romania. Methods: We collected data on vegetation and seed bank composition in 4 m 2 plots in 16 shrub-encroached grasslands and adjacent open grassland. Data were analyzed with regard to the impact of woody species encroachment (native vs non-native) and fire on grassland vegetation and the seed bank using NMDS and LME models combined with ANOVA and Tukey contrast tests.Results: Encroachment was accompanied by a decrease in plant species diversity and altered microclimatic conditions. There was a lack of sufficient evidence for a difference in effect size between native and non-native woody species on tested vegetation or seed bank parameters. While the effects of fire on vegetation were weak compared to encroachment, burning failed to reduce the cover of woody species sustainably. Grassland vegetation and the seed bank differed significantly in species composition and diversity, indicating a limited potential for restoration from the seed bank alone. Conclusions:To halt secondary succession in Transylvanian grassland sustainably, we suggest the establishment of a post-fire management regime including the cutting of woody species and/or re-introduction of grazing and mowing. Grassland restoration from the seed bank may be supported by the introduction of species from surrounding intact grassland. K E Y W O R D S dry grassland, fire, Hippophae rhamnoides, invasive shrub, native and non-native woody species, plant species composition, plant species diversity, restoration and management, seed bank, Transylvania, vegetation, woody species encroachment 410 | Applied Vegetation Science GÖRZEN Et al.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

Effects of woody species encroachment and fire on vegetation and the soil seed bank in dry grasslands of Transylvania

Görzen

Borisova

Fenesi

et al. 2019

Applied Vegetation Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The results of these previous studies have been far from universal and unified. In addition, a previous study demonstrated that plantation changed the community structures of understory compared with natural forests (Piwczyński, Puchałka & Ulrich, 2016). However, it remains unclear how thinning practices actually affect understory community structures and distribution patterns in plantation forest ecosystems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-term effects of thinning on the development and communities of understory vegetation of Chinese fir plantations in Southeastern China

Wang

Yang

et al. 2020

PeerJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background High-density conditions are global issues that threaten the sustainable management of plantations throughout the world. Monocultures and untimely management practices have identically resulted in the simplex of community structures, decreases in biodiversity, and long-term productivity losses in plantations China. The most popular measure which is commonly used to address these issues is thinning, which potentially results in increases in the development of understory plants in plantations. However, there is limited information currently available regarding the community composition of understory vegetation and the associated environmental factors, which has limited the sustainable management of China’s fir plantation ecosystems. Method In the present study, a thinning experiment was implemented which included a control check (CK: no thinning), as well as low intensity thinning (LIT: 20%), moderate intensity thinning (MIT: 33%), and high intensity thinning (HIT: 50%) in Chinese fir plantations located in the Southeastern China. During the investigation process, the understory vegetation examined three years after thinning measures were completed, in order to analyze the impacts of different thinning intensities on the growth and community composition of the understory plants. At the same time, the associated environmental factors in the fir plantations were also investigated. Results The species richness, total coverage, and biomass of the understory vegetation were observed to be apparently increased with increasing thinning intensity. In addition, it was found that the thinning measures had prominently influenced the soil nutrients. The community compositions of the understory vegetation were significantly different among the four thinning intensity levels, especially between the CK and the HIT. Furthermore, the development of the understory vegetation was found to be significantly correlated with the soil nutrient contents, and the community compositions of the understory vegetation were prominently driven by the tree densities, slope positions, and soil nutrient contents.

show abstract

“…The presence of an important forest tree, Q. petraea, was instead found to increase the species-level evolutionary relatedness in the understorey, suggesting species identity to be more important than species richness. This is not in line with evidence from non-native tree plantations in central Europe, where species identity did not affect the understorey phylogenetic structure (Piwczyński et al 2016). Hence, further studies on wider geographic and environmental scales are needed to better understand the relationship between overstorey and understorey from an evolutionary standpoint.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

“…The Net Relatedness Index (NRI) and the Nearest Taxon Index (NTI) were used to quantify the degree of community weighted phylogenetic relatedness among species within each forest plot. Both indices are measures of phylogenetic divergence (Tucker et al 2016) successfully used for the assessment of sustainability and health of forest ecosystems (Potter and Koch 2014) or for the impact of forest plantations on understorey phylogenetic structure (Piwczyński et al 2016). NRI measures the standardized effect size of the mean phylogenetic distance (MPD), which estimates the average phylogenetic relatedness between all possible pairs of taxa in an assemblage; this index is dominated by the deep phylogenetic relationships between taxa since its calculation considers all pairwise distances within the community (Webb 2000;Stadler et al 2017).…”

Section: Indices Of Phylogenetic Diversity and Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

Understorey phylogenetic diversity in thermophilous deciduous forests: overstorey species identity can matter more than species richness

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Understorey vegetation is a key biodiversity component of forest ecosystems. Previous studies examined its relations with the overstorey mainly in terms of taxonomic diversity, composition or productivity. So far, none focused on the phylogenetic aspect, which represents the deepest component of diversity in a community. Here, we explored the relations between overstorey species richness and identity and the phylogenetic structure of the understorey vegetation. As a model system we used a network of 36 plots in thermophilous deciduous forests of central Italy that are part of a European project on forest biodiversity and functions. The plots, characterized by similar site conditions, represent a gradient of overstorey richness from 1 to 4-species mixtures, with variable composition. After surveying the understorey in each plot, measures of phylogenetic diversity and structure (Phylogenetic Diversity, PD; Net Relatedness Index, NRI; and Nearest Taxon Index, NTI) were calculated from a fully resolved seed-plant phylogeny obtained from a ITS-5.8S nrDNA dataset including original sequences from local plant material. Results: The resulting understorey phylogenetic tree allowed reliable estimation of PD, NRTI and NTI. Phylogenetic diversity was dependent on species richness and the strength of this relationship did not change along the gradient of overstorey tree species richness. Net Relatedness and Nearest Taxon indices were both mostly positive but nonsignificant, indicating random phylogenetic structure of the understorey. The presence of Quercus petraea, usually found in more favorable site conditions, was associated with a significant phylogenetic clustering at the species level. Conclusions: Overstorey species richness was not related to understorey phylogenetic structure, while species identity (Q. petraea) was associated with an increase in evolutionary relatedness in this forest layer, possibly due to competitive exclusion in favorable site conditions. Further studies should examine whether and how understory phylogenetic structure is affected by variables such as small scale variations in site conditions and presence of a shrub layer, both present but not accounted for in our model system. A better understanding of the role of these variables and their interaction may contribute to fill the current gap between the theoretical field of phylogenetic ecology and forest management.

show abstract

Influence of tree plantations on the phylogenetic structure of understorey plant communities

Cited by 32 publications

References 68 publications

Effects of woody species encroachment and fire on vegetation and the soil seed bank in dry grasslands of Transylvania

Effects of woody species encroachment and fire on vegetation and the soil seed bank in dry grasslands of Transylvania

Short-term effects of thinning on the development and communities of understory vegetation of Chinese fir plantations in Southeastern China

Understorey phylogenetic diversity in thermophilous deciduous forests: overstorey species identity can matter more than species richness

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About