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Understorey Species (understorey + species)
Selected AbstractsPhytogeographical evidence for post-glacial dispersal limitation of European beech forest speciesECOGRAPHY, Issue 6 2009Wolfgang Willner The post-glacial migration of European beech Fagus sylvatica has been addressed by many studies using either genetic or fossil data or a combination of both. In contrast to this, only little is known about the migration history of beech forest understorey species. In a review of phytosociological literature, we identified 110 plant species which are closely associated with beech forest. We divided the distribution range of European beech forests into 40 geographical regions, and the presence or absence of each species was recorded for each region. We compared overall species numbers per region and numbers of narrow-range species (species present in <10 regions). A multiple regression model was used to test for the explanatory value of three potential diversity controls: range in elevation, soil type diversity, and distance to the nearest potential refuge area. A hierarchical cluster analysis of the narrow-range species was performed. The frequency of range sizes shows a U-shaped distribution, with 42 species occurring in <10 regions. The highest number of beech forest species is found in the southern Alps and adjacent regions, and species numbers decrease with increasing distance from these regions. With only narrow-range species taken into consideration, secondary maxima are found in Spain, the southern Apennines, the Carpathians, and Greece. Distance to the nearest potential refuge area is the strongest predictor of beech forest species richness, while altitudinal range and soil type diversity had little or no predictive value. The clusters of narrow-range species are in good concordance with the glacial refuge areas of beech and other temperate tree species as estimated in recent studies. These findings support the hypothesis that the distribution of many beech forest species is limited by post-glacial dispersal rather than by their environmental requirements. [source] The stratification theory for plant coexistence promoted by one-sided competitionJOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2009Takashi Kohyama Summary 1It is an essential feature of plants that leaves at higher levels have better access to light than those at lower levels. Thus, larger plants generally enjoy greater success in competing for light than smaller ones. We analyse the effect of such size-asymmetry, or one-sided competition, on the successful coexistence of plant species, using an analytically tractable model for stratified populations, in which a plant in the same layer exhibits the same crowding effect as any other, irrespective of species. 2A two-layer population that is reproductive in upper layer and juvenile in lower layer has a uniquely stable (plant-size-weighted) equilibrium density, as long as its fecundity is sufficient to compensate for its mortality rate. We also calculate a unique threshold lower-layer density of this layered population when there is no upper-layer plant. This threshold lower-layer density is larger than the weighted equilibrium density with upper layer, except for the case of perfect two-sided competition. 3A two-layer species can stably coexist with a one-layer, understorey species as a result of one-sided, but not two-sided competition. The coexistence condition is that the equilibrium density of the one-layer species lies between the threshold lower-layer density and the equilibrium density of the two-layer species. For an understorey species to coexist successfully with a two-layer species, any advantage in demographic performance, most prominently in a sufficiently high fecundity per plant must offset the disadvantage of living in dark conditions. 4Results from a model of multi-layer populations suggest that several species differing in terms of maximum layer and fecundity can coexist under conditions of one-sided competition. We demonstrate an example of the stable coexistence of eight species. The inter-specific trade-offs predicted by the model correspond to patterns observed in a rain forest. 5Synthesis. We propose a stratification theory that explains the generation and maintenance of the successful coexistence of plant species. Under the condition of one-sided competition, a canopy population that takes advantage of escaping from understorey competition shows an ability to invade an understorey with a density higher than its own equilibrium density, and which offers opportunities for an understorey population with high fecundity and/or shade tolerance to coexist. The predicted coexistence of species that share maximum canopy height is most pronounced for trees of tropical rain forests. [source] Effects of the past and the present on species distribution: land-use history and demography of wintergreenJOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 2 2000Kathleen Donohue Summary 1,Past land use can have long-term effects on plant species' distributional patterns if alterations in resources and environmental conditions have persistent effects on population demography (environmental change) and/or if plants are intrinsically limited in their colonization ability (historical factors). 2,We evaluated the role of environmental alteration vs. historical factors in controlling distributional patterns of Gaultheria procumbens, a woody, clonal understorey species with a pronounced restriction to areas that have never been ploughed, and near absence from adjoining areas that were ploughed in the 19th century. The demographic study was conducted in scrub oak and hardwood plant communities on an extensive sand plain, where it was possible to control for the effect of variation in environment prior to land use. 3,The observed demographic effects were contrary to the hypothesis that persistent environmental alteration depressed demographic performance and limited the distribution of G. procumbens. We observed no overall effect of land-use history on stem density, stem recruitment or flower production. In fact, some aspects of performance were enhanced in previously ploughed areas. Populations in previously ploughed areas exhibited less stem mortality in scrub oak transitions, an increase in germination, seedling longevity and proportion of potentially reproductive stems in both plant communities, a trend for slower observed rates of population decline in both plant communities, and a higher projected rate of population growth in the scrub oak transitions. Thus, particularly in scrub oak communities, the lower abundance of G. procumbens in formerly ploughed than in unploughed areas contrasted with its performance. 4,The limited occurrence of G. procumbens in formerly farmed areas was explained instead by its slow intrinsic growth rate, coupled with limited seedling establishment. Lateral population extension occurred exclusively through vegetative growth, allowing a maximum expansion of 43 cm year,1. 5,We conclude that inherent limitations in the colonizing ability of some plant species may present a major obstacle in the restoration or recovery of plant communities on intensively disturbed sites, even in the absence of persistent environmental effects that depress population growth. [source] Patterns of species richness and turnover along the pH gradient in deciduous forests: testing the continuum hypothesisJOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE, Issue 6 2009Cord Peppler-Lisbach Abstract Question: (i) How do species richness and species turnover change along a pH gradient? (ii) What are possible driving factors behind these patterns? (iii) Can the observed patterns be explained by an individualistic continuum concept that postulates independence of species responses and constant turnover rates? Location: Semi-natural, deciduous hardwood forests in NW Germany (558 plots). Methods: The instantaneous rate of compositional turnover is measured by the sum of slope angles of modelled response curves (119 understorey species) at any point along the pH gradient. Total turnover rate, positive turnover rate (species increasing in probability of occurrence) and negative turnover rate (species decreasing in probability of occurrence) are calculated separately. Species richness is modelled using Poisson regression and by calculating the sum of predicted probabilities at any gradient point. Turnover rates are compared with those calculated from a null model based on a Gaussian community model. Soil chemical analyses of 49 plots are used to interpret biodiversity patterns. Results: Species richness shows a hump-shaped relation to pH(CaCl2) with a minor decline at approximately pH>5.0. The decline is possibly due to the confounding influence of water regime and local species pool effects. Increasing richness from pH 2.5 to 4.7 can be traced back to positive turnover exceeding negative turnover. Peaks in turnover rates, dominated by positive turnover, are located at pH 3.7 and 2.8, where turnover rates considerably exceed rates derived from the null model. The turnover pattern can be related to soil chemical conditions, e.g. decreasing base saturation, Al and H+ toxicity and the occurrence of mor. Conclusions: The high turnover rates and the massive imbalance in positive and negative turnover rates found in deciduous forests cannot be explained by the individualistic continuum concept. Physiological constraints at the gradient limits and species pool effects could be responsible for this. Their role should be considered more explicitly in vegetation concepts dealing with the continuum-discontinuum controversy. The presented approach can be regarded as a comprehensive analytical tool for a better understanding of biodiversity patterns along environmental gradients by linking species richness, turnover and response curve types. [source] Spatial patterns of association at local and regional scales in coastal sand dune communitiesJOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE, Issue 5 2009Estelle Forey Abstract Questions: Are positive understorey-dominant associations important in physically severe dune communities and does the strength of positive associations vary with disturbance at the local scale and with stress at the regional scale? Do associational patterns observed at the neighbourhood scale predict diversity at higher scales? Location: Coastal sand dunes, Aquitaine (France). Methods: Associational patterns with five dominant species were recorded along a local gradient of disturbance and a 240-km long regional gradient. Density, richness, cover and variance ratio of understorey species were recorded in quadrats located in dominant and in open areas. Spatial pattern of dominant plant species was recorded using a distance-based method. Results: Positive understorey-dominant associations were most frequent at both regional and local scale, although negative associations with understorey species were observed for one of the five dominants. At the regional scale, there was a shift in the magnitude of spatial associations, with higher positive associations in the most stressful sites, whereas spatial associations where not affected by the local disturbance gradient. Positive associations were not related to the size of the dominants but rather influenced by the identity of the dominant species. Conclusions: Our study highlights the potential crucial role of facilitation together with the importance of turnover of the dominants in explaining large-scale variation in diversity. However, because positive associations may also be attributed to environmental heterogeneity or co-occurrence of microhabitat preferences of species, experiments are needed to fully assess the relative importance of facilitation versus other drivers of community diversity. [source] Changes in plant interactions along a gradient of environmental stressOIKOS, Issue 1 2001Francisco I. Pugnaire A combination of competition and facilitation effects operating simultaneously among plant species appears to be the rule in nature, where these effects change along productivity gradients often in a non-proportional manner. We investigated changes in competition and facilitation between a leguminous shrub, Retama sphaerocarpa, and its associate understorey species along an environmental gradient in semi-arid southeast Spain. Our results show a change in the net balance of the interaction between the shrub and several of its associated species, from clearly positive in the water-stressed, infertile environment to neutral or even negative in the more fertile habitat. There was a weakening of facilitation along the fertility gradient as a consequence of improved abiotic conditions. Competition was the most intense for below-ground resources in the less fertile environment while total competition tended to increase towards the more productive end of the gradient. Changes in the balance of the interaction between and among different plant species along the gradient of stress were caused by a decline in facilitation rather than by a change in competition. As both competition intensity and facilitation change along gradients of resource availability, plant interactions are best viewed as dynamic relationships, the outcome of which depends on abiotic conditions. [source] Nitrogen balance in forest soils: nutritional limitation of plants under climate change stressesPLANT BIOLOGY, Issue 2009H. Rennenberg Abstract Forest ecosystems with low soil nitrogen (N) availability are characterized by direct competition for this growth-limiting resource between several players, i.e. various components of vegetation, such as old-growth trees, natural regeneration and understorey species, mycorrhizal fungi, free-living fungi and bacteria. With the increase in frequency and intensity of extreme climate events predicted in current climate change scenarios, also competition for N between plants and/or soil microorganisms will be affected. In this review, we summarize the present understanding of ecosystem N cycling in N-limited forests and its interaction with extreme climate events, such as heat, drought and flooding. More specifically, the impacts of environmental stresses on microbial release and consumption of bioavailable N, N uptake and competition between plants, as well as plant and microbial uptake are presented. Furthermore, the consequences of drying,wetting cycles on N cycling are discussed. Additionally, we highlight the current methodological difficulties that limit present understanding of N cycling in forest ecosystems and the need for interdisciplinary studies. [source] | ||||||||||