Plant life history traits of rare versus frequent plant taxa of sandplains: Implications for research and management trials

Farnsworth, Elizabeth J.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2006.10.045

Cited by 42 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Dispersal syndromes and propagule attachments were also recorded for each species and from these data each species was scored for the capacity to be transported more than 100. This was done based on the criteria of Elizabeth [7] whereby large, gravity dispersed propagules were considered to be locally dispersed only and scored as "none." Ant-dispersed or medium sized propagules were scored as "limited" due to their likely medial dispersal distance.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ant-dispersed or medium sized propagules were scored as "limited" due to their likely medial dispersal distance. Propagules were scored as "strong" for long distance dispersal if they possessed structures that enable wind or animal dispersal [7]. Similarly the capacity for diaspore dormancy was also scored in the same fashion for each taxon (i.e., no dormancy, limited dormancy, and strong dormancy).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Monocarpy (semelparity) in herbaceous species is generally favored in situations where juvenile mortality is low and in situations of episodic and short-lived opportunities is created by disturbances [7,32,55,56]. Such taxa have small seeds and wider dispersal with larger geographic ranges [56,57].…”

Section: 4mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Comparisons of trait differences between community types can allow for a more nuanced understanding of how traits and taxa may redistribute under global climate change [6]. However, selection acts on individuals and not on individual traits themselves indicating that it is a suite of coordinated traits that influence persistence, regeneration, and dispersal [7][8][9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Species may persist in situ by increasing the longevity of above ground parts, by increasing the longevity of below ground parts or via dormancy mechanisms of diaspores [5,7]. Benwell [28] and Clarke [29] suggested that vegetative reproduction (resprouting and clonality) was a stress tolerant regeneration strategy compensating for high-risk recruitment and such strategies should be more common in drought affected environments and thus favored on inselbergs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Differences in Functional Trait Distribution between Inselberg and Adjacent Matrix Floras

Hunter

2016

International Journal of Ecology

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Inselbergs and the adjacent matrix represent extremes of different environmental conditions and should shed light on the changing allocation of plant resources across strong and abrupt resource gradients. Here I use collated life history trait data from 840 taxa found within typical insular inselberg and adjacent matrix floras from the New England Batholith region of eastern Australia. These species were sorted into guilds of specificity to the inselberg environment. Scored traits include life form, plant height, leaf area, fruit size, seed size, mono-or polycarpy, underground storage organs, regenerative/clonality, and flowering phenology. With reduced water and nutrient resources, typical of inselbergs, allocation of plant resources to vegetative reproduction and storage organs is a disadvantage. Plants restricted to inselbergs were shorter, usually polycarpic shrubs, with smaller leaves, fruits, and seeds. Flowering time was found to be earlier and reduced in length; diaspores often have dormancy and are dispersed locally in comparison to the matrix. The results show that with limited resources the creation of underground storage organs or vegetative reproduction becomes unviable on habitats characterised by shallow soil. Inselberg taxa of the study region are likely to be under greater threat than the matrix due to anthropogenic climate change.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: 4mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Differences in Functional Trait Distribution between Inselberg and Adjacent Matrix Floras

Hunter

2016

International Journal of Ecology

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Plant distribution, stature, rarity, and diversity in a patterned calcareous fen: tests of geochemical and leaf‐height models

Stockmeier

Givnish

2019

American J of Botany

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Premise In patterned fens, patches of short, sparse, species‐rich vegetation often occur on substrates rich in precipitated carbonates near calcareous springheads, with taller, denser vegetation farther away. Boyer and Wheeler (1989) hypothesized that phosphorus co‐precipitation near springheads limits plant productivity and coverage, and Givnish (1982) proposed that aggregations of rare, short‐statured plant species might reflect their competitive restriction to sparsely covered microsites. Methods We tested these hypotheses by quantifying species distributions, leaf heights, plant coverage, community composition, and substrate and leaf chemistry of Eupatorium perfoliatum along a gradient of hydrology and geochemistry in a wetland complex in southeastern Wisconsin, USA, ranging from marl flats and fens on peat mounds near springheads to surrounding sedge meadows. Results Community composition was strongly correlated with a one‐dimensional environmental gradient along which coverage and height increased moving downslope from marl flats, while soil carbonate, phosphorus immobilization capacity, and local species richness decreased, consistent with theory. Regionally rare species were short and restricted to sparsely covered microsites; within and among species, leaf height increased with local coverage. NPK tissue stoichiometry did not entirely support the Boyer‐Wheeler hypothesis, although nitrogen limitation appeared strongest in sedge meadows. Shifts in stature and tissue chemistry of E. perfoliatum along the marl flat–sedge meadow gradient suggested that zinc toxicity may help limit coverage near springheads despite no significant change in soil zinc content. Conclusions We propose a modified Boyer‐Wheeler hypothesis to account for cascading effects of phosphorus co‐precipitation near springheads on nitrogen fixation, nitrogen+phosphorus co‐limitation, and zinc mobility.

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Phenotypic plasticity and genetic diversity shed light on endemism of rare Boechera perstellata and its potential vulnerability to climate warming

Boyd,

Baskauf,

Lindsey

et al. 2023

Ecology and Evolution

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The rapid pace of contemporary environmental change puts many species at risk, especially rare species constrained by limited capacity to adapt or migrate due to low genetic diversity and/or fitness. But the ability to acclimate can provide another way to persist through change. We compared the capacity of rare Boechera perstellata (Braun's rockcress) and widespread B. laevigata to acclimate to change. We investigated the phenotypic plasticity of growth, biomass allocation, and leaf morphology of individuals of B. perstellata and B. laevigata propagated from seed collected from several populations throughout their ranges in a growth chamber experiment to assess their capacity to acclimate. Concurrently, we assessed the genetic diversity of sampled populations using 17 microsatellite loci to assess evolutionary potential. Plasticity was limited in both rare B. perstellata and widespread B. laevigata, but differences in the plasticity of root traits between species suggest that B. perstellata may have less capacity to acclimate to change. In contrast to its widespread congener, B. perstellata exhibited no plasticity in response to temperature and weaker plastic responses to water availability. As expected, B. perstellata also had lower levels of observed heterozygosity than B. laevigata at the species level, but population‐level trends in diversity measures were inconsistent due to high heterogeneity among B. laevigata populations. Overall, the ability of phenotypic plasticity to broadly explain the rarity of B. perstellata versus commonness of B. laevigata is limited. However, some contextual aspects of our plasticity findings compared with its relatively low genetic variability may shed light on the narrow range and habitat associations of B. perstellata and suggest its vulnerability to climate warming due to acclimatory and evolutionary constraints.

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Plant life history traits of rare versus frequent plant taxa of sandplains: Implications for research and management trials

Cited by 42 publications

References 44 publications

Differences in Functional Trait Distribution between Inselberg and Adjacent Matrix Floras

Differences in Functional Trait Distribution between Inselberg and Adjacent Matrix Floras

Plant distribution, stature, rarity, and diversity in a patterned calcareous fen: tests of geochemical and leaf‐height models

Phenotypic plasticity and genetic diversity shed light on endemism of rare Boechera perstellata and its potential vulnerability to climate warming

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