Patterns of plant trait–environment relationships along a forest succession chronosequence

Campetella, Giandiego; Botta‐Dukát, Zoltán; Wellstein, Camilla; Canullo, Roberto; Gatto, Simone; Chelli, Stefano; Mucina, Ladislav; Bartha, Sándor

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2011.06.025

Cited by 81 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…(). Indeed, structure and land use were shown to significantly affect plant traits in local studies where climate and soil parameters were relatively homogeneous (Aubin et al., ; Campetella et al., ). However, land‐use parameters alone appeared to markedly influence only SLA, probably because they determine the light conditions of the ground layer.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These traits are specific leaf area (SLA), a proxy of plant growth and a good surrogate for ability to use light efficiently; plant height ( H ), related to competitive ability and access to the vertical light gradient; and seed mass (SM), having implications for the space/time dispersal ability and indicative of seedling establishment (Westoby, ). They have been found to be responsive to the above‐mentioned climatic, soil, vegetation structure and land‐use factors (Campetella et al., ; Le Bagousse‐Pinguet et al., ; Moles et al., , ; Pakeman et al., ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of climate, soil, forest structure and land use on the functional composition of the understorey in Italian forests

Chelli

Simonetti

Wellstein

et al. 2019

J Vegetation Science

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Question In functional biogeography studies, generalizable patterns in the relationship between plant traits and the environment have yet to emerge. Local drivers (i.e., soil, land use, vegetation structure) can increase our understanding of the trait–environment relationship. What is the role of climate and local drivers in shaping abundance‐weighted trait patterns of forest understories at biogeographic scales? Location Italian forests. Methods We selected 201 sites that are statistically representative for the heterogeneity of Italian forests across three biogeographic regions (alpine, continental, and mediterranean). Understorey vegetation was recorded for each site on an area of 400 m2, together with 25 environmental variables related to climate, soil, land use and forest structure. Specific leaf area (SLA), plant height (H) and seed mass (SM) were obtained from databases. Community‐weighted mean (CWM) values were calculated. Variance partitioning was used to identify the relative role of groups of environmental variables on the CWM of traits. Generalized Additive Models were used to assess the relationship between traits and single variables. Results Climate alone and climate–soil interactions explained the largest proportion of the variation of all the traits (13.7% to 22.8%). Temperature‐related factors as well as soil N and P availability were the climatic and edaphic explanatory variables most correlated to trait variation. Forest structure and land use accounted for a smaller percentage of the variation in traits. Land‐use factors alone were important in explaining only SLA variation. Conclusions While climate plays a major role in trait–environment relationships in forest understories, our results highlighted the need to integrate at least soil properties as local drivers of trait variation in broad scale functional biogeography studies of these systems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of climate, soil, forest structure and land use on the functional composition of the understorey in Italian forests

Chelli

Simonetti

Wellstein

et al. 2019

J Vegetation Science

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“…Other research suggests that interspecific differences in SLA are related to variation in abiotic conditions (Ackerly & Cornwell ; Campetella et al. ; Spasojevic & Suding ). Maximum species height, which has been associated with the ability to compete for light resources (Gaudet & Keddy ; Falster & Westoby ; but see Aarssen et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…; Campetella et al. ; Wilson & Stubbs ). Other research suggests that interspecific differences in SLA are related to variation in abiotic conditions (Ackerly & Cornwell ; Campetella et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community assembly in a tropical cloud forest related to specific leaf area and maximum species height

Long

Schamp

Zang

et al. 2014

J Vegetation Science

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Question We tested whether co‐existing tree species in tropical dwarf forests were deterministically assembled along gradients of air temperature, relative humidity and light availability, according to two important functional traits, specific leaf area (SLA) and maximum species height (Hmax). Location Tropical montane cloud forest, Bawangling Nature Reserve, Hainan Island, south China. Methods Null model analyses were used in conjunction with trait and species composition data collected to test our hypotheses at four plot sizes (25 m2, 100 m2, 400 m2 and 900 m2), addressing whether the consistent importance of variation in SLA and Hmax extends to these unique forests, as well as theoretical predictions concerning how patterns change with plot size. Results Low SLA species were significantly over‐represented within forest communities for the two largest plot sizes, and taller‐growing tree species were over‐represented across all four plot sizes. Plot‐level analyses indicated that low SLA species were associated with lower temperatures. Conclusions Our results show that tropical dwarf forests are deterministically assembled with respect to these two traits, and are consistent with other studies indicating that SLA responds to abiotic filters. Co‐existing tree species were not significantly divergent for these two traits, indicating that variation in these two traits among trees does not contribute to niche differences (i.e. limiting similarity) and therefore co‐existence within forest plots. Finally, our study demonstrates that patterns of community assembly change with plot size; however, trait convergence did not increase with plot size as previously predicted.

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“…All species recorded were later grouped for analyses by taxonomy (genus and family), life form (large trees >20 m, small-medium trees <20 m, shrubs <6 m, ferns, forbs and herbs, and grasses, vines and epiphytes), species origin (native or exotic to Australia; Bostock and Holland 2010) and dispersal mechanism (abiotic or biotic; Cagnolo et al 2006;Campetella et al 2011;Pekin et al 2012). To identify the contribution each group of species made to their respective functional grouping, each sample site was standardised by dividing the number of species in that grouping by the total species richness of the site (Figueroa et al 2011;Pekin et al 2012).…”

Section: Vegetation Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do habitat fragmentation and fire influence variation of plant species composition, structure and diversity within three regional ecosystems on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia?

Etherington

Shapcott

2014

Aust. J. Bot.

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Abstract.Habitat fragmentation is considered to be one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. Species richness is predicted to decrease with decreasing patch size and increasing isolation, and this has been shown in some ecosystems. However, few studies have specifically investigated the effects of fragmentation on specific vegetation types, or compared different vegetation types within the same region. In this study, we assessed the influence of habitat fragmentation and time since fire on the floristic composition, structure and diversity of three ecosystems with varying fire proneness within the Sunshine Coast region. This study found that the tall-open forest ecosystem (RE 12.9-10.14) had higher overall species richness within fixed sample areas used for this study than did either open forest (RE 12.5.3) or gallery rainforest (RE 12.3.1), because it was composed of species typical of each of these ecosystem types. Open forest species richness was found mostly in the lower stratum, whereas gallery rainforest diversity was found in the upper stratum. Species richness decreased with increasing isolation in the open forest ecosystem where seeds are mostly abiotically dispersed. However, this study did not find strong evidence for reduced species richness within smaller patches in any ecosystem type studied; instead, finding species richness decreased with increasing patch size in the open forest ecosystem. Overall, across ecosystems, time since fire affected vegetation structure, but in fire-prone ecosystems, time since fire was not a determinant of species richness within the sites studied.

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Patterns of plant trait–environment relationships along a forest succession chronosequence

Cited by 81 publications

References 60 publications

Effects of climate, soil, forest structure and land use on the functional composition of the understorey in Italian forests

Effects of climate, soil, forest structure and land use on the functional composition of the understorey in Italian forests

Community assembly in a tropical cloud forest related to specific leaf area and maximum species height

Do habitat fragmentation and fire influence variation of plant species composition, structure and diversity within three regional ecosystems on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia?

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