Question: Based on the spontaneous vegetation development of old-fields in the Ny ırs eg and Kiskuns ag sand regions (Hungary), we aimed to answer the following questions using the chronosequence method: (1) how do the proportions of different functional groups change during succession;(2) which target species establish successfully in the old-fields during the course of succession; and (3) how successful is spontaneous succession in the recovery of target grasslands?Location: Two sand regions of the Great Hungarian Plain: (1) the Ny ırs eg sand region (East Hungary, acidic sand, moderately continental climate) and the Kiskuns ag (Central Hungary, calcareous sand, continental climate). Methods:Altogether 24 old-fields were classified into young (<10-yr-old), middle-aged (10-20-yr-old) and late-succession (20-40-yr-old) old-fields; four fields in each age category. For baseline vegetation reference, three open and three closed sand grassland stands in both regions were sampled in the vicinity of the old-fields. The percentage cover of vascular plants was recorded in five 2 9 2-m plots in each field, in early May and late June 2012. We used life forms, clonal spreading traits and Ellenberg indicator values for nutrients in the analysis. Species of Festuco-Brometea class were considered as target species.Results: The cover of hemicryptophytes and geophytes increased, the cover of short-lived species decreased with time. Cover of species without clonal spreading ability decreased, while cover of species with clonal spreading ability increased with increasing field age. The cover of invasive species decreased with increasing field age. The majority of target species had established already in the young and middle-aged old-fields, although their cover was significantly higher in the two older age groups.Conclusion: Spontaneous succession can be a vital option in recovery of sand grassland vegetation in Central Europe; the majority of the species pool of sandy grasslands can be recovered in the first 10-20 yrs. However, the success of grassland recovery can be strongly influenced by the surrounding species pool and can be slow if seed dispersal is limited. Spontaneous succession is most promising when the target species of grasslands immigrate at the very beginning of the succession, within the first few years.

The functional structures of communities respond to environmental changes by both species replacement (turnover) and within-species variation (intraspecific trait variability; ITV). Evidence is lacking on the relative importance of these two components, particularly in response to both short- and long-term environmental disturbance. We hypothesized that such short- and long-term perturbations would induce changes in community functional structure primarily via ITV and turnover, respectively. To test this we applied an experimental design across long-term mown and abandoned meadows, with each plot containing a further level of short-term management treatments: mowing, grazing and abandonment. Within each plot, species composition and trait values [height, shoot biomass, and specific leaf area (SLA)] were recorded on up to five individuals per species. Positive covariations between the contribution of species turnover and ITV occurred for height and shoot biomass in response to both short- and long-term management, indicating that species turnover and intraspecific adjustments selected for similar trait values. Positive covariations also occurred for SLA, but only in response to long-term management. The contributions of turnover and ITV changed depending on both the trait and management trajectory. As expected, communities responded to short-term disturbances mostly through changes in intraspecific trait variability, particularly for height and biomass. Interestingly, for SLA they responded to long-term disturbances by both species turnover and intraspecific adjustments. These findings highlight the importance of both ITV and species turnover in adjusting grassland functional trait response to environmental perturbation, and show that the response is trait specific and affected by disturbance regime history.

Increased drought is predicted to have a major impact on plant performance under environmental change. Yet leaf hydraulic traits directly related to drought tolerance, such as leaf turgor loss point (πtlp), are under‐represented in trait‐based studies and have been largely overlooked within the main frameworks evaluating trait–trait coordination and trade‐offs—the leaf economics spectrum (LES) and the global spectrum of plant form and function. Using 122 herbaceous species from the Central European temperate grasslands, we investigated (a) the coordination between πtlp and traits often used as proxies for drought tolerance, namely SLA, leaf area (LA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf thickness (LT), plant height and intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE); (b) whether the strength of the trait–trait relationships differed across plant functional types (PFTs: graminoids and forbs) and depended on species phylogeny; and (c) whether single or multiple traits, combined with either PFTs or phylogenetic relatedness, provide a good prediction of πtlp. A more negative πtlp (higher leaf drought tolerance) was coordinated with higher LDMC and higher iWUE. This pattern was consistent among PFTs and also after accounting for phylogenetic relatedness. However, the coordination of πtlp with other traits was weak. For LT and height, it was driven by the differences between PFTs. For SLA and LA, it was only observed after accounting for phylogenetic relatedness. The most parsimonious model predicting πtlp as a function of other traits retained LDMC and LA (adj. R2 = 0.37). Since πtlp showed a strong phylogenetic signal, accounting for the influence of phylogenetic relatedness further improved πtlp prediction by 17%. In herbaceous temperate plants, there is relatively weak coordination between leaf drought tolerance (πtlp) and traits representing key dimensions of the LES and the global spectrum of plant form and function. None of the proxy traits considered here, alone or in combination, provided a strong prediction of πtlp across a large number of grassland plant species. Therefore, our work emphasizes the need for direct measurements of leaf hydraulics when estimating plant drought responses to better understand and predict species responses to environmental change. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

1. A Lycopodium clavatum L. előfordulása az Egri-Bükkalján2. Néhány adat Debrecen urbán-flórájához 3. Kiegészítések a Magyarország orchideáinak atlasza elterjedési adataihoz4. Sisyrinchium bermudiana L. új előfordulási adata a Kárpát-medencében5. A légyfogó (Myagrum perfoliatum L.) előfordulása Mezőberény mellett

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