Short gradient, but distinct plant strategies: The CSR scheme applied to subtropical forests

Abstract

Questions Plant communities in transitional zones between ecosystem types have potentially a large range of ecological strategies, even along short gradients. Exploring these regional differences and the drivers of variation is important to understand plant adaptations and changes in ecological processes between distinct ecosystems. Here, we ask whether distinct forest types in the subtropical region present plant communities with distinct ecological strategies and, if so, if these differences are driven by climatic variables. Location Subtropical forests in southern Brazil. Methods We compiled species lists from 112 sites distributed across rainforests, seasonal forests, Araucaria forests and Pampean forests. We used Grime's CSR scheme and calculated, for each species, CSR values based on information of three leaf traits: leaf area, specific leaf area and leaf dry matter content. Species CSR values were used to calculate the mean value for each community. We selected four climatic variables related to temperate and precipitation and analyzed their influence on plant strategies by linear mixed models. Results Our results showed a strong CS component for all subtropical forests studied, with a small contribution from component R. We found clear differences in ecological strategies between forest types: rainforest showed the highest values of component C, and Araucaria and Pampean forests presented the highest values of component S. We found a strong influence of temperature variables on ecological strategies. Conclusions Even along a short latitudinal gradient, we found differences in ecological strategies across forest types. Araucaria and Pampean forests were strongly associated with the stress‐tolerant strategy, as they face lower minimum temperatures and/or a larger temperature range, whereas rainforests, which face warmer temperatures and a lower range of variation, presented a strategy where competition is of higher importance. This highlights that regional environmental conditions in this transitional zone influence ecological strategies of tree communities.

Shifts in ecological strategy spectra of typical forest vegetation types across four climatic zones

“…“StrateFy”) makes it possible to investigate primary ecological strategies across a wide range of species and habitats. C-S-R theory has previously been applied to explore the difference in ecological strategies between forest types, with findings that forests under severe conditions were strongly associated with the S strategy, in contrast to forests under favorable conditions presenting a C strategy, while R strategy was under-represented amongst plant species 22 , 36 . These results suggest that C-S-R theory can bridge the gap between plant traits and ecosystem processes, providing a powerful tool for studying the interactions of ecological strategies and environmental conditions.…”

Joint control of plant ecological strategy by climate, regeneration mode, and ontogeny in Northeastern Chinese forests

“…As a result, the CSR strategies of individual plant species and the vegetation tend to shift dramatically (May et al, 2017;Pierce et al, 2017;Vasseur et al, 2018). Even along short latitudinal gradients, different forest types may show differences in ecological strategy (Rosenfield et al, 2019). In this study, the two research sites had a mean annual temperature difference of 0.675°C, with LS being warmer than FL.…”

“…Plant ecological strategy theory has been around for decades (Grime, 1974(Grime, , 2001Grime & Pierce, 2012;Pierce et al, 2017) and is widely applied to topics such as vegetation succession, the biodiversity-productivity relationship, plant distributions, ecological restoration, and species invasions (Aarssen, 2001;Dalle Fratte et al, 2019;Ikauniece et al, 2013;Jenkins & Pierce, 2017;Kienast et al, 1999;Rosenfield et al, 2019;Scolastri et al, 2017), although it has often been criticized (Tomáš et al, 2018;Wilson & Lee, 2000).…”

“…The early quantitative classification methods are complex and only applicable to native British herbs (Grime et al, 1997;Hodgson et al, 1999). More recently, functional traits have been used to classify plant species as competitive (C), stress-tolerant (S), or ruderal (R), and this CSR classification method has been applied to over a thousand European species, including woody plants (Cerabolini et al, 2010;Mahmut et al, 2010;Pierce et al, 2017;Rosenfield et al, 2019). Pierce et al (2017) created a globally calibrated CSR calculator using data on leaf area (LA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), and specific leaf area (SLA) for 3,068 tracheophytes; this calculator renders CSR classification simpler and more effective.…”

“…For example, Arabidopsis thaliana shows a latitudinal gradient in ecological strategy as a result of within-species adaptation to climate (Vasseur et al, 2018); stress-tolerant strategies predominated at high latitudes in cold climates. Even along short temperature gradients, distinct forest types show clear differences in ecological strategy; at lower minimum temperatures, forests score more highly for stress tolerance, while warmer temperatures lead to greater competitiveness (Rosenfield et al, 2019). Similarly, alpine situations have experienced substantial periods of low temperature, in which competitors are lacking (Caccianiga et al, 2006), more species were stress tolerance (Cerabolini et al, 2016, Pierce et al, 2007.…”