An intraspecific application of the leaf-height-seed ecology strategy scheme to forest herbs along a latitudinal gradient

Frenne, Pieter De; Graae, Bente Jessen; Kolb, Annette; Shevtsova, Anna; Baeten, Lander; Brunet, Jörg; Chabrerie, Olivier; Cousins, Sara A. O.; Decocq, Guillaume; D'hondt, Rob; Diekmann, Martin; Gruwez, Robert; Heinken, Thilo; Hermy, Martin; Öster, Mathias; Saguez, Robert; Stanton, Sharon; Tack, Wesley; Vanhellemont, Margot; Verheyen, Kris

doi:10.1111/j.1600-0587.2010.06399.x

Cited by 45 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Our data provide some support to the hypothesis that suites of traits are correlated within species because of shared responses to strong environmental gradients [33], [68] but see [69]. There were several instances where four of the six traits were significantly correlated with a single environmental factor within a species (e.g., elevation in N. solandri and N. menziesii ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

Intraspecific Relationships among Wood Density, Leaf Structural Traits and Environment in Four Co-Occurring Species of Nothofagus in New Zealand

et al. 2013

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Plant functional traits capture important variation in plant strategy and function. Recent literature has revealed that within-species variation in traits is greater than previously supposed. However, we still have a poor understanding of how intraspecific variation is coordinated among different traits, and how it is driven by environment. We quantified intraspecific variation in wood density and five leaf traits underpinning the leaf economics spectrum (leaf dry matter content, leaf mass per unit area, size, thickness and density) within and among four widespread Nothofagus tree species in southern New Zealand. We tested whether intraspecific relationships between wood density and leaf traits followed widely reported interspecific relationships, and whether variation in these traits was coordinated through shared responses to environmental factors. Sample sites varied widely in environmental variables, including soil fertility (25–900 mg kg–1 total P), precipitation (668–4875 mm yr–1), temperature (5.2–12.4 °C mean annual temperature) and latitude (41–46 °S). Leaf traits were strongly correlated with one another within species, but not with wood density. There was some evidence for a positive relationship between wood density and leaf tissue density and dry matter content, but no evidence that leaf mass or leaf size were correlated with wood density; this highlights that leaf mass per unit area cannot be used as a surrogate for component leaf traits such as tissue density. Trait variation was predicted by environmental factors, but not consistently among different traits; e.g., only leaf thickness and leaf density responded to the same environmental cues as wood density. We conclude that although intraspecific variation in wood density and leaf traits is strongly driven by environmental factors, these responses are not strongly coordinated among functional traits even across co-occurring, closely-related plant species.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

Intraspecific Relationships among Wood Density, Leaf Structural Traits and Environment in Four Co-Occurring Species of Nothofagus in New Zealand

et al. 2013

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“…Molina-Montenegro and Naya 2012), and in others among-population differences have no consistent relationship to the climatic gradient (e.g. De Frenne et al 2011;Cochrane et al 2014b). However, lack of geographic patterning may be due to factors other than temperature and moisture and may include genetic and historical constraints (i.e.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

The phenotypic response of co-occurring Banksia species to warming and drying

et al. 2014

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Projected warmer and drier climates are expected to impact heavily on plant diversity in Mediterranean-climate ecosystems, but experimental investigations of sensitivity and adaptive capacity are needed to better understand species responses. Here, we examine the effects of warming and drying on growth and allocation in seedlings from populations of two co-occurring Banksia shrub species from southwest Western Australia. We hypothesised that the species would show ecological divergence in functional traits reflecting niche differentiation. We expected to see tolerance to warming and drought correlated with position of the population on a climate gradient. We predicted that populations at the warmer/ drier end of the gradient would show greater homeostasis of growth and allocation patterns in response to experimental treatment. Seedlings of the two species differed in leaf and allocation traits and in responses to experimental warming and drying. B. coccinea had smaller leaves with higher specific leaf area, and accumulated less overall biomass compared to B. baxteri when grown under cooler conditions. Under warmer conditions, B. coccinea could maintain growth, whereas B. baxteri suffered significant decline in biomass accumulation. Under water deficit conditions, both species showed significant reductions in leaf mass and area. Under combined warmer/drier conditions B. baxteri forfeited height growth and biomass and increased leaf allocation. The results support our hypothesis that seedlings of B. baxteri and B. coccinea are divergent in key functional traits and their sensitivity to warming and drying. However, we found no evidence for inter-population variation in traits being associated with position on a climate gradient.

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“…; De Frenne et al. ). We expected canopy height to exhibit a positive relationship with ADM and a negative relationship with BDM (a nutrient conserving strategy reducing biomass allocation to above‐ground parts).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Ecosystem multifunctionality of coastal marshes is determined by key plant traits

Minden

Kleyer

2015

J Vegetation Science

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Questions As biodiversity losses increase due to global change and human‐induced habitat destruction, the relationships between plant traits and ecosystem properties can provide a new level of understanding ecosystem complexity. Using a functional response–effect approach, we show that multiple components of the carbon cycle are determined by a few plant traits, which in turn are strongly affected by environmental conditions. Location Salt marshes, northwest Germany. Methods We explored responses of morphological, chemical and biomass‐related plant traits to environmental drivers and examined their effects on carbon cycle properties, i.e. above‐ground biomass, above‐ground net primary productivity and decomposition. The combined analysis between environmental parameters, functional traits and ecosystem properties used structural equation modelling (SEM). Results Important response and effect traits were leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and below‐ground dry mass (BDM, responding to groundwater level and salinity) and leaf C:N ratio (responding to inundation frequency). Inundation and salinity led to increased allocation to below‐ground biomass and salt stress adaptation in leaves, which translated into increased decomposition rates. Release from these abiotic controls resulted in standing biomass accumulation, which was controlled by LDMC and canopy height as key traits. Conclusions These findings demonstrate the interacting effects of non‐consumable environmental factors and soil resources on morphological, chemical and biomass traits, which affected carbon cycle properties. Loss of species from the community has the potential to change the relationships between environment and vegetation‐based ecosystem properties and therefore elicit effects on the multifunctionality of the entire and adjacent ecosystems.

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An intraspecific application of the leaf-height-seed ecology strategy scheme to forest herbs along a latitudinal gradient

Cited by 45 publications

References 47 publications

Intraspecific Relationships among Wood Density, Leaf Structural Traits and Environment in Four Co-Occurring Species of Nothofagus in New Zealand

Intraspecific Relationships among Wood Density, Leaf Structural Traits and Environment in Four Co-Occurring Species of Nothofagus in New Zealand

The phenotypic response of co-occurring Banksia species to warming and drying

Ecosystem multifunctionality of coastal marshes is determined by key plant traits

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