Plant functional types: a promising tool for management and restoration of degraded lands

Gondard, Hélène; Jauffret, Sandrine; Aronson, James; Lavorel, Sandra

doi:10.1658/1402-2001(2003)006[0223:pftapt]2.0.co;2

Cited by 50 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Invasive species sometimes have niches formerly occupied by native species that had been extirpated (conserved or convergent niches), and depending on the degree of similarity, this may or may not inhibit reestablishment of lost native taxa. Efforts to restore native plant communities are increasingly adopting trait-based approaches to deal with the challenge of forecasting responses to reintroduction practices (Gondard et al 2003;Pywell et al 2003;Laughlin 2014b). Could these efforts be enhanced by niche schemes that organise traits according to a hierarchy of niche dimensions, some more relevant to dispersal, others to defence and still others to resource acquisition?…”

Section: Applications For Niche Classification Schemesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional traits, convergent evolution, and periodic tables of niches

et al. 2015

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Ecology is often said to lack general theories sufficiently predictive for applications. Here, we examine the concept of a periodic table of niches and feasibility of niche classification schemes from functional trait and performance data. Niche differences and their influence on ecological patterns and processes could be revealed effectively by first performing data reduction/ordination analyses separately on matrices of trait and performance data compiled according to logical associations with five basic niche ‘dimensions’, or aspects: habitat, life history, trophic, defence and metabolic. Resultant patterns then are integrated to produce interpretable niche gradients, ordinations and classifications. Degree of scheme periodicity would depend on degrees of niche conservatism and convergence causing species clustering across multiple niche dimensions. We analysed a sample data set containing trait and performance data to contrast two approaches for producing niche schemes: species ordination within niche gradient space, and niche categorisation according to trait‐value thresholds. Creation of niche schemes useful for advancing ecological knowledge and its applications will depend on research that produces functional trait and performance datasets directly related to niche dimensions along with criteria for data standardisation and quality. As larger databases are compiled, opportunities will emerge to explore new methods for data reduction, ordination and classification.

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Section: Applications For Niche Classification Schemesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional traits, convergent evolution, and periodic tables of niches

et al. 2015

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“…Changes in species composition within sites across time, or temporal b-diversity (Magurran 2008), can reflect important shifts in the state of the ecosystem, which may or may not be reversible (Pineda et al 1987;Dornelas et al 2012). For example, Mediterranean shrublands can alternate between two states at local spatial scales: open patches dominated by herbaceous communities, and woody patches dominated by shrubs and trees, with multiple intermediate states that are transient in nature (Gondard et al 2003). A full conversion from open to closed patches may lead to a stable state that is characterized by very low herbaceous species diversity, as long as no disturbance occurs (Bar Massada et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grazing and temporal turnover in herbaceous communities in a Mediterranean landscape

Bar‐Massada

Hadar

2016

J Vegetation Science

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Question What are the direct and indirect effects of cattle grazing on temporal turnover in Mediterranean herbaceous communities, and are there differences between species (taxonomic) and functional turnover rates? Are turnover rates related to changes in precipitation patterns? Location The long term ecological research (LTER) station, Ramat Hanadiv Nature Park, Israel. Methods We used data from a Mediterranean LTER site to analyse temporal turnover in herbaceous communities under cattle grazing and control conditions, while accounting for the potential effects of precipitation and woody cover. We analysed two types of temporal turnover: taxonomic turnover (changes in species composition) and turnover in functional traits (changes in the relative abundance of species with different functional traits). Results We found that communities exhibited rapid taxonomic turnover between sampling years, which was mostly explained by changes in precipitation patterns. Furthermore, there was a strong and consistent directional trend in taxonomic turnover (21% per decade) throughout the study period, which was correlated with a long‐term trend of decreasing precipitation. This trend, however, was not significantly explained by grazing, woody cover change or their interaction. Grazing did have a significant effect on short‐term turnover rates, but its effects varied in both direction and magnitude among sites located in different habitats. Temporal turnover in functional traits was much slower than taxonomic turnover, and was also inconsistent among traits and sites. Grazing reduced the bi‐annual turnover rates in the composition of different life forms, and reduced the decadal turnover rate in the composition of different height groups in the community. Conclusions The results of this analysis suggest that the effect of cattle grazing on the temporal dynamics of herbaceous communities in Mediterranean ecosystems is habitat‐ and trait‐specific, and unrelated to changes in woody cover. In contrast, inter‐annual changes in precipitation patterns have a much stronger effect on turnover rates. The relationship between temporal species turnover and precipitation in these communities is therefore in line with modern co‐existence theory, by which fluctuating environmental conditions facilitate long‐term species co‐existence.

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“…Traditionally, they have focused on descriptions of communities based on dominant species and/or life forms (e.g., Bork et al 1997, Yates and Hobbs 1997, Allen-Diaz and Bartolome 1998, Jackson and Bartolome 2002, Jasinski and Payette 2005. More recent formulations have proposed to generalize their applicability by focusing on plant functional traits and plant functional groups rather than on taxonomy (Gondard et al 2003, Jauffret and. S and T models can also incorporate ecosystem properties as illustrated in the northern Chihuahuan desert by Herrick et al (2002) for properties relating to rangeland health (Pyke et al 2002) and ecosystem stability .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant Traits in a State and Transition Framework as Markers of Ecosystem Response to Land-Use Change

Quétier

Thébault

Lavorel

2007

Ecological Monographs

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232

287

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Understanding and forecasting changes in plant communities, ecosystem properties, and their associated services requires a mechanistic link between community shifts and modifications in ecosystem properties. In this study, we test the hypothesis that plant traits can provide such a link. Using subalpine grasslands in the central French Alps as a case study, we investigate the response of plant traits to changes in soil resource availability and disturbance regimes associated with changing grassland management as well as the effects of changes in plant traits on measured ecosystem properties. We found that fertilization leads to greater specific leaf area and leaf nitrogen content which leads to greater productivity and faster litter decomposition, and that grazing leads to higher leaf toughness and leaf dry matter content which leads to lower productivity and slower decomposition compared to mowing. A state and transition model was used as a flexible conceptual tool for integrating data on community composition, plant traits, and ecosystem properties in the context of management‐mediated successional dynamics in subalpine grasslands. Focusing on the biology driving the transition between grassland states, we incorporated plant traits into the formulation of a state and transition model and demonstrated how they could be used to provide a mechanistic link between community shifts and ecosystem properties under complex management regimes with strong land‐use legacies.

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Plant functional types: a promising tool for management and restoration of degraded lands

Cited by 50 publications

References 61 publications

Functional traits, convergent evolution, and periodic tables of niches

Functional traits, convergent evolution, and periodic tables of niches

Grazing and temporal turnover in herbaceous communities in a Mediterranean landscape

Plant Traits in a State and Transition Framework as Markers of Ecosystem Response to Land-Use Change

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