The effect of niche filtering on plant species abundance in temperate grassland communities

Abstract

1. Niche filtering predicts that abundant species in communities have similar traits that are suitable for the environment. However, niche filtering can operate on distinct axes of trait variation in response to different ecological conditions.Here, we use a trait-based approach to infer niche filtering processes and (a) test if abundant and rare species in grassland communities are differently positioned along distinct axes of trait variation, (b) determine if these trait variation axes, as well as phylogenetic and functional similarities, drive species relative abundance (above-ground cover) within communities, and (c) explore whether these relationships vary across grassland types and macro-climatic gradients.2. We analysed species abundance in vegetation plots from temperate grasslands in Central Europe as a function of species position along three axes of trait variation: the 'Plant Size Spectrum' (PSS), the 'Leaf Economics Spectrum' (LES) and the 'Life span/Clonality Spectrum' (LCS). We also used phylogenetic and functional similarities in the multi-dimensional trait space as predictors of species abundance. We compared our results among alpine, wet, mesic and dry grasslands and tested whether the effect of the predictors on species abundance was significant across macro-climatic gradients.3. Compared to abundant species, rare species in grassland communities were more commonly annual and non-clonal, had lower stature and smaller leaves and seeds, and relied on more acquisitive leaf economics. Our predictors significantly explained species abundance in approximately one-third of the plots.LES was the most important predictor across all plots, with the most prominent effect in alpine and dry grasslands and areas with more extreme temperatures.

Why are plant communities stable? Disentangling the role of dominance, asynchrony and averaging effect following realistic species loss scenario

“…Lepš (2004b) showed that Molinia caerulea alone was more stable than total community biomass. Similarly, Arnillas et al (2021) andPadullés Cubino et al (2022) showed that dominant versus nondominant species possessed different traits and their life strategies can strongly differ. Besides this biological effect, the higher stability of abundant species is also connected with a pure statistical effect where a high biomass is usually connected with increased number of independent units (ramets) resulting in the averaging of their…”

“…Via the dominance effect, diversity can be destabilizing at the population level (Gross et al, 2014), however, at the community level, the opposite pattern can be observed as other mechanisms can prevail. Higher stability in populations of more stable species is likely linked to their characteristics (Arnillas et al, 2021;Májeková et al, 2014) and, at the same time, these traits can be also responsible for higher abundance of those species (Lisner et al, 2021;Padullés Cubino et al, 2022).…”

Drought intensity alters productivity, carbon allocation and plant nitrogen uptake in fast versus slow grassland communities

“…Abrupt decreases in plant productivity during drought are likely to already occur under mild drought intensities for fast‐strategy plant communities as they prioritize growth over durability (Oliveira et al, 2021). Fast‐strategy plants are also generally established in environments that are less water and nutrient limited compared to their slow‐strategy counterparts (Padullés Cubino et al, 2022; Pérez‐Ramos et al, 2012).…”

Mecanismos de coexistência de três espécies congenéricas simpátricas em uma floresta tropical

“…, whose resulting spatial distribution patterns might be overridden by other ecological processes that act during the lifetime of individual trees(Levine & Murrell 2003). On the other hand, fruit and seed traits may show a long-lasting effect on the abundance of large trees, as shown for grass species(Padullés et al 2022). The larger seeds of M. racemosa might promote higher survival and establishment of young seedlings (Moles & Westoby 96 2004), and allow the observed highest species abundance in seasonally flooded patches in comparison to the other two Myrcia species.…”