Trait plasticity, not values, best corresponds with woodland plant success in novel and manipulated habitats

Warren, Robert J.; Lake, Jeffrey K.

doi:10.1093/jpe/rts035

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Baseline values of leaf traits under present-day climatic conditions did not predict how species performed under particular scenarios of climate change. However, we found that plasticity in leaf traits due to climate manipulations, or in some cases the lack of plasticity, was associated with changes in performance in response to our climate manipulations (see also Warren & Lake, 2012). Thus, our results provide strong experimental support for recent conjectures about trait plasticity having an important role in explaining performance under climate change (Nicotra et al, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Leaf‐trait plasticity and species vulnerability to climate change in a Mongolian steppe

Liancourt

Boldgiv

Song

et al. 2015

Global Change Biology

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Climate change is expected to modify plant assemblages in ways that will have major consequences for ecosystem functions. How climate change will affect community composition will depend on how individual species respond, which is likely related to interspecific differences in functional traits. The extraordinary plasticity of some plant traits is typically neglected in assessing how climate change will affect different species. In the Mongolian steppe, we examined whether leaf functional traits under ambient conditions and whether plasticity in these traits under altered climate could explain climate-induced biomass responses in 12 co-occurring plant species. We experimentally created three probable climate change scenarios and used a model selection procedure to determine the set of baseline traits or plasticity values that best explained biomass response. Under all climate change scenarios, plasticity for at least one leaf trait correlated with change in species performance, while functional leaf-trait values in ambient conditions did not. We demonstrate that trait plasticity could play a critical role in vulnerability of species to a rapidly changing environment. Plasticity should be considered when examining how climate change will affect plant performance, species' niche spaces, and ecological processes that depend on plant community composition.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Leaf‐trait plasticity and species vulnerability to climate change in a Mongolian steppe

Liancourt

Boldgiv

Song

et al. 2015

Global Change Biology

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“…Relative distance plasticity indices (RDPIs) were comparable to those calculated for higher plant traits, also compared over a small number (2-3) of populations (e.g. Warren & Lake, 2013). The RDPIs differed between males and females in their allocation of energy to reproductive tissues, but not when considered relative to their respective dry-weights (relative reproductive investments, RRIs).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Sex-specific reproductive trade-offs in the gregarious fucoid macroalga Ascophyllum nodosum

Kurr

Davies

2017

European Journal of Phycology

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The existence of sex-specific reproductive trade-offs is well established in plants. They usually occur because females invest more resources into reproduction than males, and have to compensate by sacrificing growth or defence. Investigations into by-sex differences in resource allocation by seaweeds are comparatively scarce. A small number of authors report differences between the sexes in some red algae, but known by-sex differences in brown algae are largely confined to the reproductive structures. In this study, sex-specific reproductive trade-offs are investigated in the common temperate brown alga Ascophyllum nodosum from three distinct populations. Quantified investments into growth, defence, and reproduction of a large number of individuals (n = 720) selected across a full annual cycle are presented in parallel with feeding trials using a common gastropod herbivore and a comprehensive assessment of the biotic and abiotic stressors impacting on A. nodosum at three sites. These reveal that sex-specific reproductive trade-offs occur in two of the three populations, as females invest more into reproduction than males and are subsequently less chemically defended for the months post gamete release. Feeding trials confirm that this leaves females more vulnerable to grazing pressure during these months, although mortality and competitive ability appear unaffected in the field. Possible causes of the trade-offs made by females are discussed, and new avenues of investigation are identified which could reveal interesting parallels between seaweeds and higher plants.

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“…Both species likely contracted into patchy, isolated patches during the height of cotton farming in the southeastern USA (1920s), but whereas A. arifolium has recolonized recovering secondary forests, A. americana remains isolated. Habitat limitation does not seem to explain the patchiness because A. americana exhibits greater phenotypic flexibility and survival than A. arifolium when transplanted into novel local and regional habitats (Warren, , ; Warren & Bradford, ; Warren & Lake, ). Whereas dispersal generally is associated with long‐distance colonization, the simple act of dispersing seeds away from parents is a critical demographic stage integral for population survival and so might explain A. americana's continuing patchy distribution (Kalisz et al ., ; Chlumsky et al ., ; Jones et al ., ; Montesinos et al ., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mutualism fails when climate response differs between interacting species

Warren

Bradford

2013

Global Change Biology

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Successful species interactions require that both partners share a similar cue. For many species, spring warming acts as a shared signal to synchronize mutualist behaviors. Spring flowering plants and the ants that disperse their seeds respond to warming temperatures so that ants forage when plants drop seeds. However, where warm-adapted ants replace cold-adapted ants, changes in this timing might leave early seeds stranded without a disperser. We investigate plant seed dispersal south and north of a distinct boundary between warm- and cold-adapted ants to determine if changes in the ant species influence local plant dispersal. The warm-adapted ants forage much later than the cold-adapted ants, and so we first assess natural populations of early and late blooming plants. We then transplant these plants south and north of the ant boundary to test whether distinct ant climate requirements disrupt the ant-plant mutualism. Whereas the early blooming plant's inability to synchronize with the warm-adapted ant leaves its populations clumped and patchy and its seedlings clustered around the parents in natural populations, when transplanted into the range of the cold-adapted ant, effective seed dispersal recovers. In contrast, the mutualism persists for the later blooming plant regardless of location because it sets seed later in spring when both warm- and cold-adapted ant species forage, resulting in effective seed dispersal. These results indicate that the climate response of species interactions, not just the species themselves, is integral in understanding ecological responses to a changing climate. Data linking phenological synchrony and dispersal are rare, and these results suggest a viable mechanism by which a species' range is limited more by biotic than abiotic interactions - despite the general assumption that biotic influences are buried within larger climate drivers. These results show that biotic partner can be as fundamental a niche requirement as abiotic resources.

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Trait plasticity, not values, best corresponds with woodland plant success in novel and manipulated habitats

Cited by 9 publications

References 57 publications

Leaf‐trait plasticity and species vulnerability to climate change in a Mongolian steppe

Leaf‐trait plasticity and species vulnerability to climate change in a Mongolian steppe

Sex-specific reproductive trade-offs in the gregarious fucoid macroalga Ascophyllum nodosum

Mutualism fails when climate response differs between interacting species

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