Convergence in plant traits between species within grassland communities simplifies their monitoring

Ansquer, Pauline; Duru, Michel; Theau, Jean Pierre; Cruz, Pablo

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2008.12.002

Cited by 46 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…This is in line with positive selection of plants with higher LDMC within plots in both our grassland types, and corresponded to positive selection of grasses instead of dicotyledons (Fig. 2A) as grasses occurring within the grassland patch generally possess higher LDMC than their surrounding dicotyledonous neighbors [54].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Plant Trait Assembly Affects Superiority of Grazer's Foraging Strategies in Species-Rich Grasslands

et al. 2013

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BackgroundCurrent plant – herbivore interaction models and experiments with mammalian herbivores grazing plant monocultures show the superiority of a maximizing forage quality strategy (MFQ) over a maximizing intake strategy (MI). However, there is a lack of evidence whether grazers comply with the model predictions under field conditions.Methodology/FindingsWe assessed diet selection of sheep (Ovis aries) using plant functional traits in productive mesic vs. low-productivity dry species-rich grasslands dominated by resource-exploitative vs. resource-conservative species respectively. Each grassland type was studied in two replicates for two years. We investigated the first grazing cycle in a set of 288 plots with a diameter of 30 cm, i.e. the size of sheep feeding station. In mesic grasslands, high plot defoliation was associated with community weighted means of leaf traits referring to high forage quality, i.e. low leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and high specific leaf area (SLA), with a high proportion of legumes and the most with high community weighted mean of forage indicator value. In contrast in dry grasslands, high community weighted mean of canopy height, an estimate of forage quantity, was the best predictor of plot defoliation. Similar differences in selection on forage quality vs. quantity were detected within plots. Sheep selected plants with higher forage indicator values than the plot specific community weighted mean of forage indicator value in mesic grasslands whereas taller plants were selected in dry grasslands. However, at this scale sheep avoided legumes and plants with higher SLA, preferred plants with higher LDMC while grazing plants with higher forage indicator values in mesic grasslands.ConclusionsOur findings indicate that MFQ appears superior over MI only in habitats with a predominance of resource-exploitative species. Furthermore, plant functional traits (LDMC, SLA, nitrogen fixer) seem to be helpful correlates of forage quality only at the community level.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Plant Trait Assembly Affects Superiority of Grazer's Foraging Strategies in Species-Rich Grasslands

et al. 2013

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“…It is notable that L dmc (inverse of SLA), L wc and leaf angles, which emerged in our study as important parameters governing ρ λ , are also effective indicators of species resource-use strategies [31,34,71]. These parameters along with a few other crucial functional traits such as N l and N l :C l are useful for characterizing the functional dynamics of species [72,73].…”

Section: Functional Differences In So Ca and Ja And Optical Parametementioning

confidence: 94%

Characterization of a Highly Biodiverse Floodplain Meadow Using Hyperspectral Remote Sensing within a Plant Functional Trait Framework

Punalekar¹,

Verhoef²,

Tatarenko³

et al. 2016

Remote Sensing

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Abstract:We assessed the potential for using optical functional types as effective markers to monitor changes in vegetation in floodplain meadows associated with changes in their local environment. Floodplain meadows are challenging ecosystems for monitoring and conservation because of their highly biodiverse nature. Our aim was to understand and explain spectral differences among key members of floodplain meadows and also characterize differences with respect to functional traits. The study was conducted on a typical floodplain meadow in UK (MG4-type, mesotrophic grassland type 4, according to British National Vegetation Classification). We compared two approaches to characterize floodplain communities using field spectroscopy. The first approach was sub-community based, in which we collected spectral signatures for species groupings indicating two distinct eco-hydrological conditions (dry and wet soil indicator species). The other approach was "species-specific", in which we focused on the spectral reflectance of three key species found on the meadow. One herb species is a typical member of the MG4 floodplain meadow community, while the other two species, sedge and rush, represent wetland vegetation. We also monitored vegetation biophysical and functional properties as well as soil nutrients and ground water levels. We found that the vegetation classes representing meadow sub-communities could not be spectrally distinguished from each other, whereas the individual herb species was found to have a distinctly different spectral signature from the sedge and rush species. The spectral differences between these three species could be explained by their observed differences in plant biophysical parameters, as corroborated through radiative transfer model simulations. These parameters, such as leaf area index, leaf dry matter content, leaf water content, and specific leaf area, along with other functional parameters, such as maximum carboxylation capacity and leaf nitrogen content, also helped explain the species' differences in functional dynamics. Groundwater level and soil nitrogen availability, which are important factors governing plant nutrient status, were also found to be significantly different for the herb/wetland species' locations. The study concludes that spectrally distinguishable species, typical for a highly biodiverse site such as a floodplain meadow, could potentially be used as target species to monitor vegetation dynamics under changing environmental conditions.

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“…Some authors have shown relationships between the capacities of species to exploit resource-rich or resource-poor environments and key plant traits that drive these properties (Westoby 1998). Informative plant traits include specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf nitrogen content, and leaf C/N ratio (Ansquer et al 2009). For example, species adapted to poor resource availability (low-growing or conservative species) have low SLA and N content and high LDMC and leaf C/N ratio (Louault et al 2005).…”

Section: Inorganic Nutrient Fertilizationmentioning

confidence: 98%

Factors and processes affecting plant biodiversity in permanent grasslands. A review

Gaujour¹,

Amiaud²,

Mignolet³

et al. 2011

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

145

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Research has delivered convincing findings on the effect of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning and humankind. Indeed, ecosystems provide provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services. The global value of annual ecosystem services of grasslands and rangelands is about US$ 232 ha −1 year −1 . Nevertheless, the precise evaluation of biodiversity benefits remains challenging. This issue is due to valuation methods, subjective assumptions, and complexity of drivers of plant community dynamics. Here, we review the primary factors that influence plant diversity of permanent grasslands, and we describe underlying processes. These factors must indeed be identified to focus policies meant to preserve and restore plant diversity and to advise farmers about efficient decision rules. We show that plant dynamics of permanent grasslands cannot be explained simply by agricultural management rules, e.g., grazing, fertilization, and mowing, implemented at the field scale. The configuration of the surrounding landscape, e.g., landscape heterogeneity, habitat fragmentation, and connectivity, acts as a species filter that defines the regional species pool and controls seed flow. The regional species pool often contains higher species richness in a heterogeneous landscape, because of a higher diversity of suitable habitats. This regional pool could be a major species sources for permanent grasslands according to the seed flow. We discuss the need to consider all of these factors to understand plant species composition of permanent grasslands and the necessity to study plant communities using both taxonomic and functional approaches. In order to report this integrative approach, we propose a conceptual model based on three ecological challengesdispersal, establishment, and persistence-that are considered to act as filters on plant diversity, and a graphical representation of the complexity of such studies due to the interaction effects between plant dispersal abilities, forage productivity, disturbances induced by farming practices, and landscape heterogeneity on plant diversity. Last, we discuss the ability of farmers to manage each factor and the necessity of such study in the improvement of the current agro-environment schemes efficiency for farmland biodiversity restoration or preservation.

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Convergence in plant traits between species within grassland communities simplifies their monitoring

Cited by 46 publications

References 36 publications

Plant Trait Assembly Affects Superiority of Grazer's Foraging Strategies in Species-Rich Grasslands

Plant Trait Assembly Affects Superiority of Grazer's Foraging Strategies in Species-Rich Grasslands

Characterization of a Highly Biodiverse Floodplain Meadow Using Hyperspectral Remote Sensing within a Plant Functional Trait Framework

Factors and processes affecting plant biodiversity in permanent grasslands. A review

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