Different plant traits affect two pathways of riparian nitrogen removal in a restored freshwater wetland

Sutton‐Grier, Ariana E.; Wright, Justin P.; Richardson, Curtis J.

doi:10.1007/s11104-011-1113-3

Cited by 31 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 89 publications

(121 reference statements)

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“…However, the effects of the plant community on biogeochemical cycles will likely require more than singular LES traits. For example, Sutton-Grier, Wright & Richardson (2012) determined that different plant traits had strong effects on plant biomass N (water-use efficiency) versus denitrification (e.g. belowground biomass, root porosity), and the traits that maximized one N removal pathway were largely orthogonal to traits that maximized the other.…”

Section: (B) Effect Traitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, in a restored riparian wetland, Sutton-Grier et al (2012) determined that environmental factors including soil organic matter and soil N had approximately the same amount of explanatory power as plant traits. Variation in external factors such as precipitation, grazing, or land use can also exert strong indirect influences on ecosystem function by driving shifts in plant community composition and community-weighted trait means which result in indirect effects on decomposition (Santiago, Schuur & Silvera, 2005;Garibaldi, Semmartin & Chaneton, 2007;Bakker et al, 2011).…”

Section: (B) Effect Traitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Revisiting the Holy Grail: using plant functional traits to understand ecological processes

et al. 2016

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One of ecology's grand challenges is developing general rules to explain and predict highly complex systems. Understanding and predicting ecological processes from species' traits has been considered a 'Holy Grail' in ecology. Plant functional traits are increasingly being used to develop mechanistic models that can predict how ecological communities will respond to abiotic and biotic perturbations and how species will affect ecosystem function and services in a rapidly changing world; however, significant challenges remain. In this review, we highlight recent work and outstanding questions in three areas: (i) selecting relevant traits; (ii) describing intraspecific trait variation and incorporating this variation into models; and (iii) scaling trait data to community- and ecosystem-level processes. Over the past decade, there have been significant advances in the characterization of plant strategies based on traits and trait relationships, and the integration of traits into multivariate indices and models of community and ecosystem function. However, the utility of trait-based approaches in ecology will benefit from efforts that demonstrate how these traits and indices influence organismal, community, and ecosystem processes across vegetation types, which may be achieved through meta-analysis and enhancement of trait databases. Additionally, intraspecific trait variation and species interactions need to be incorporated into predictive models using tools such as Bayesian hierarchical modelling. Finally, existing models linking traits to community and ecosystem processes need to be empirically tested for their applicability to be realized.

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Section: (B) Effect Traitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: (B) Effect Traitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting the Holy Grail: using plant functional traits to understand ecological processes

et al. 2016

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“…C input quantity can be estimated by above‐ground and below‐ground plant biomass, and C input quality is inversely related to C : N ratios of shoots and roots (McGill, Sutton‐Grier & Wright ; Sutton‐Grier et al . ; Sutton‐Grier, Wright & Richardson ) and hence the resource economics spectrum. Root exudates also contribute high quality C to microbial metabolism and thereby fuel denitrification (Zhai et al .…”

Section: Plant Trait Effects On Ecosystem Service Potentialmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…McGill, Sutton‐Grier & Wright ; Sutton‐Grier et al . ; Sutton‐Grier, Wright & Richardson ). Bryophyte functional ecology is well under way (Cornelissen et al .…”

Section: Concluding Remarks: Towards a Trait‐based Ecology For Wetlandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a trait‐based ecology of wetland vegetation

et al. 2017

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Summary Functional traits mechanistically capture plant responses to environmental gradients as well as plant effects on ecosystem functioning. Yet most trait‐based theory stems from terrestrial systems and extension to other habitats can provide new insights. Wetlands differ from terrestrial systems in conditions (e.g. soil water saturation, anoxia, pH extremes), plant adaptations (e.g. aerenchyma, clonality, ubiquity of bryophytes) and important processes (e.g. denitrification, peat accumulation, methane emission). Wetland plant adaptations and trait (co‐)variation can be situated along major plant trait trade‐off axes (e.g. the resource economics spectrum), but soil saturation represents a complex stress gradient beyond a simple extension of commonly studied water availability gradients. Traits that affect ecosystem functioning overlap with patterns in terrestrial systems. But wetland‐specific traits that mediate plant effects on soil redox conditions, microbial communities and on water flow, as well as trait spectra of mosses, vary among wetland types. Synthesis. With increasing availability of quantitative plant traits a trait‐based ecology of wetlands is emerging, with the potential to advance process‐based understanding and prediction. We provide an interactive cause‐and‐effect framework that may guide research efforts to disentangle the multiple interacting processes involved in scaling from environmental conditions to ecosystem functioning via plant communities.

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“…However, given the unique adaptive traits in wetland ecosystems, these need to be additionally considered to fully understand trait‐based impacts on wetland ecosystem functioning. For instance, two important biogeochemical processes in wetlands, denitrification and methane production, depend on soil organic matter content—which are strongly influenced by community mean leaf nitrogen and carbon concentrations (LES/PES traits) (Koschorreck & Darwich, )—and suitable aerobic/anaerobic conditions, which relate to ROL and root porosity (adaptive traits) (Alldred & Baines, ; Engelhardt, ; Sutton‐Grier, Wright, & Richardson, ).…”

Section: Scaling From Wetland Plant Traits To Ecosystem Functioningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are ecophysiological adaptive traits decoupled from leaf economics traits in wetlands?

2019

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Wetland plants have developed a suite of traits, such as aerenchyma, radial oxygen loss and leaf gas films, to adapt to the wetland environment characterised by, for example, a low redox potential and a lack of electron acceptors. These ecophysiological traits are critical for the survival and physiological functioning of wetland plants. Most studies on these traits typically focus on a single trait and a single or few species at the time. Next to these traits, traits of the leaf economics spectrum (LES) that reflect resource acquisition and allocation in plant species have also been frequently measured in wetlands. However, the performance of the LES has rarely been examined among wetland plants. Both suites of traits are critical for—but affect different aspects of—wetland plant functioning and survival. The interactions between them, potentially causing synergies or trade‐offs, reflect wetland plant strategies to simultaneously deal with stress tolerance and resource utilization, and have ramifications for the functioning of wetland ecosystems. Based on a literature review and quantitative analysis of available data, we provide evidence suggesting that LES and ecophysiological traits may be decoupled (e.g., for root porosity and radial oxygen loss vs. leaf nitrogen) or coupled (e.g., for iron tolerance vs. specific leaf area) in wetlands, depending on the trait combination concerned. This rather complex relationship between wetland adaptive traits and LES traits indicates that there can be multiple mechanisms behind the strategies of wetland plants. We further illustrate how adaptive and LES traits together contribute to wetland ecosystem functions, such as denitrification and methane emission. We highlight that both suites of traits should be considered simultaneously when applying trait‐based methods to wetland ecology.

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Different plant traits affect two pathways of riparian nitrogen removal in a restored freshwater wetland

Cited by 31 publications

References 89 publications

Revisiting the Holy Grail: using plant functional traits to understand ecological processes

Revisiting the Holy Grail: using plant functional traits to understand ecological processes

Towards a trait‐based ecology of wetland vegetation

Are ecophysiological adaptive traits decoupled from leaf economics traits in wetlands?

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