Trait-related flowering patterns in submediterranean mountain meadows

Catorci, Andrea; Cesaretti, Sabrina; Gatti, R; Tardella, Federico Maria

doi:10.1007/s11258-012-0090-9

Cited by 27 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…The trends refer to the growing season 2009, before hay cutting and the water scarcity period. Data are partly drawn from Catorci et al (2011aCatorci et al ( , 2012b) (black and white symbols indicate mown and abandoned meadows, respectively; triangles, circles, squares and the grey line indicate soil temperature, soil moisture, aboveground phytomass and mean daily air temperature, respectively).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In each plot, we counted the number of flowering shoots per species at each time (we considered shoots with more than 70% of flowers in full blooming). On the basis of previous studies (Catorci et al 2012a(Catorci et al , 2012b, we assumed that the time interval between two consecutive observations was wide enough to record the flowering time for all the species and to avoid to count flowering shoots twice during the subsequent times of sampling.…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Grime (2001) stated that dominant species tend to bloom in the central phases of the growing season, when no stress acts in the system, day-length and light intensity allow a high rate of photosynthesis, and a long time is available for seed maturation. These species do not need functional strategies allowing fast pre-emption of the canopy or tolerance to stresses (Catorci et al 2012b). Instead, subordinate and accidental species (sensu Grime 2001) have functional strategies that allow them to flower before or after the dominant ones or to share the same period through a different type of space occupation (Catorci et al 2012a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Instead, subordinate and accidental species (sensu Grime 2001) have functional strategies that allow them to flower before or after the dominant ones or to share the same period through a different type of space occupation (Catorci et al 2012a). Catorci et al (2012b) stated that the functional set underlying the flowering pattern of subordinate and accidental species has a dual ecological meaning. It limits competition with dominant species and enables tolerance to environmental stresses, which change throughout the growing season (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Effect of tall-grass invasion on the flowering-related functional pattern of submediterranean hay-meadows

Catorci¹,

Cesaretti²,

Tardella³

2014

Plant Biosystems - An International Journal Dealing with all As

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Several studies demonstrated that abandonment changes the functional composition of grasslands; nevertheless, little is known about the effects of grassland abandonment on the flowering-related functional pattern. We hypothesized that invasion by tall grasses affects this pattern. We counted the number of flowering shoots per species at five times during the growing season, in 80 plots placed in mown and in abandoned grasslands (central Apennines), and assessed the differences in the trait composition of flowering species between the two treatments. The selected traits were linked to resource acquisition and stress tolerance strategies. Our results indicated that abiotic environmental control is prevalent in determining the phenological pattern in both conditions and in accordance with the phenological "mid-domain hypothesis". We demonstrated that when the dominant species is a tall grass with competitive behaviour, the magnitude of this phenomenon is amplified due to the abiotic changes yielded by the tall grass invasion. Indeed, in the central and late phases of the growing season (when invasive tall grasses are growing and blooming), abandoned grasslands were marked by a set of traits devoted to stress tolerance or underlying a long reproductive cycle or linked to competition for light

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of tall-grass invasion on the flowering-related functional pattern of submediterranean hay-meadows

Catorci¹,

Cesaretti²,

Tardella³

2014

Plant Biosystems - An International Journal Dealing with all As

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“…On the other hand, mowing allows the establishment of plants with leaves concentrated at the ground level (prostrate, rosulate), or just above it (hemirosulate), and of geophytes and therophytes, which benefit from canopy removal, thus avoiding competitive exclusion due to light depletion (Catorci et al, 2011b). Moreover, the vegetative reproduction types fostered by mowing (root, tuber and bulb splitters) allow a fast canopy pre-emption and the coexistence with competitive grasses by spatial and temporal niche differentiation in highly productive grassland communities (Catorci et al, 2012a). The observed small difference in nitrogen soil content does not seem to have significant implications from a floristic point of view.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Red Deer Grazing on Alpine Hay Meadows: Biodiversity and Management Implications

Catorci¹

2016

Appl Ecol Env Res

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Abstract. Large mammalian herbivores are keystone species affecting the biodiversity and functioning of ecosystems, since herbivory directly influences plant species competitive ability. Thus, when managing habitats for conservation it is crucial to understand the selection patterns of large herbivores and their effect on plant diversity and assemblage. With this aim, we studied a pastoral system placed in centraleastern Alps, comparing late mowing with grazing by red deer. We found that, with high stocking rates, red deer significantly affects the species and functional composition of alpine productive pastures, mostly by competitive exclusion of subordinate species due to the spread of poorly palatable, competitive, stress-tolerant tall grasses with strong avoidance strategies. We argued that grazing by red deer with high stocking rates is harmful when acts on formerly managed meadows, while it has a positive impact on plant diversity of long-term abandoned grasslands. Our results indicated that grazing by red deer with high stoking rates hinders the spread of successional/ruderal species, but allows the establishment of competitive dominant tall grasses. Our findings also confirmed the hypothesis that the impact of red deer on grassland biodiversity follows the intermediate disturbance hypothesis.

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Land use alters relationships of grassland productivity with plant and arthropod diversity in Inner Mongolian grassland

Wang

Tang

et al. 2019

Ecological Applications

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The threats of land‐use intensification to biodiversity have motivated considerable research directed toward understanding the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (BEF). Functional diversity is deemed a better indicator than species diversity to clarify the BEF relationships. However, most tests of the BEF relationship have been conducted in highly controlled plant communities, with terrestrial animal communities largely unexplored. Additionally, most BEF studies examined the effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functions, with the effects of ecosystem functioning strength on biodiversity hardly considered. Based on a 6‐yr grassland experiment in the typical steppe region of Inner Mongolia, we examined the variation of taxonomic diversity (TD) and functional diversity (FD) of both plant and arthropod communities, and their relations with grassland productivity, across three land management types (moderate grazing, mowing, and enclosure). We aimed to clarify the interrelations among plant FD, arthropod FD, grassland productivity, and soil factors. We found the following: (1) Grassland under mowing performed best in terms of sustaining a high TD and FD of plants and arthropods compared to that under grazing and enclosure. (2) The relationships between plant and arthropod diversity and productivity varied with management types. Plant TD and FD were negatively related, whereas arthropod FD was positively related with productivity under enclosure; plant FD, but not arthropod FD, was positively related with productivity under grazing; arthropod FD, but not plant FD, was negatively related with productivity under mowing. (3) Grassland productivity was positively interrelated with plant FD, but not plant TD; and was negatively interrelated with arthropod TD, but not arthropod FD across different management types. The respective positive vs. negative bidirectional relationships of productivity with plant diversity vs. arthropod diversity, were majorly a consequence of divergent grazing/mowing effects on plant vs. arthropod diversity. The results indicate that grazing increases plant diversity, but decreases arthropod diversity, whereas fall mowing provides a management strategy for conservation of both trophic levels. These results also provide new insights into the effects of land‐use changes on biodiversity and ecosystem processes, and indicate the importance of incorporating the functional interrelations among different trophic groups in sustainable grassland management.

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Trait-related flowering patterns in submediterranean mountain meadows

Cited by 27 publications

References 47 publications

Effect of tall-grass invasion on the flowering-related functional pattern of submediterranean hay-meadows

Effect of tall-grass invasion on the flowering-related functional pattern of submediterranean hay-meadows

Effect of Red Deer Grazing on Alpine Hay Meadows: Biodiversity and Management Implications

Land use alters relationships of grassland productivity with plant and arthropod diversity in Inner Mongolian grassland

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