Herbaceous monocot plant form and function along a tropical rain-forest light gradient: a reversal of dicot strategy

Swenson, Nathan G.

doi:10.1017/s0266467408005567

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…According to Hawthorne et al [17], plant species in Ghana can be classified as green, pink, red, scarlet, blue, and gold or black stars in increasing order of conservation priority. e presence of high rated star species in a forest, therefore, indicates the ecological value of the forest and the need for conservation [18]. e species identified on the two study sites were distributed among five different conservation star ratings, i.e., black, green, pink, red, and scarlets.…”

Section: Conservation Star Rating Of Naturally Regenerated Tree Species On Study Sites Conservation Star Rating Has Become An Important Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

Natural Regeneration of Indigenous Tree Species in Broussonetia papyrifera Invaded Sites in Pra -Anum Forest Reserve

Yalley

Adusu

Bunyamin

et al. 2020

International Journal of Forestry Research

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Broussonetia papyrifera invasion poses a serious threat to indigenous tree species in Ghana. Many conservation scientists therefore emphasize the need to control, manage, and possibly eradicate the species. However, attempts at control and management require adequate knowledge of its ecology and impact on invaded ecosystems. Employing a complete randomized design with twenty-four (24) 20 m × 20 m plots, 12 each on invaded and uninvaded sites, this study assesses the indigenous species regeneration potential under Broussonetia papyrifera-invaded sites in the Pra-Anum forest reserve. The study provides evidence of the negative impact of Broussonetia on the regenerative capacity of the reserve, as 335 seedlings per 4800 m2 distributed over 43 species were recorded on the uninvaded site compared to 156 seedlings per 4800 m2 distributed over 31 species on the invaded site. The study, however, observed some level of resilience of species belonging to the Ulmaceae and Lecythidaceae families, as they appeared fairly represented on the invaded site. Floristic diversity was also observed to be negatively impacted by Broussonetia invasion as mean Shannon and Simpson index values of 2.39 ± 0.71 and 0.89 ± 0.08 and 1.39 ± 0.24 and 0.64 ± 0.08 were recorded on the uninvaded and invaded sites, respectively. Furthermore, the Broussonetia invasion compromised the productivity of the forest ecosystem as 4.9 ± 1.61 mean economic tree species per 400 m2 plot were recorded on the invaded site compared to 13.8 ± 1.28 per 400 m2 plot on the uninvaded site. The study, therefore, concludes that Broussonetia invasion poses a serious threat to the integrity and productivity of the Pra-Anum forest reserve. Consequently, the study recommends the control of the spread of the species to protect the integrity of the Pra-Anum forest reserve. Also, restoration efforts in invaded areas of the reserve could consider the use of native species belonging to the Ulmaceae and Lecythidaceae families as they appear to be resilient to Broussonetia invasion.

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Section: Conservation Star Rating Of Naturally Regenerated Tree Species On Study Sites Conservation Star Rating Has Become An Important Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

Natural Regeneration of Indigenous Tree Species in Broussonetia papyrifera Invaded Sites in Pra -Anum Forest Reserve

Yalley

Adusu

Bunyamin

et al. 2020

International Journal of Forestry Research

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“…Functional traits are playing an increasingly important role in helping us to understand the mechanisms driving environment-assembly relationships (e.g., Chapin et al 1993, Cornelissen et al 2003, Ackerly 2004, CavenderBares et al 2004, Cornwell and Ackerly 2009, Swenson 2009, Hulshof and Swenson 2010. While traits are being used to characterize species and their ecological roles, we also understand that intraspecific variation in traits can contribute greatly to community function and assembly (e.g., Hughes and Stachowicz 2004, Cavender-Bares 2007, Fridley et al 2007, Lankau 2008, Lankau and Strauss 2008, Fridley and Grime 2010, Jung et al 2010, Webb et al 2010, and that this variation has both genetic and environmentally based components.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of competition on phylogenetic signal and phenotypic plasticity in plant functional traits

Burns

Strauss

2012

Ecology

106

117

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Abstract. Recent studies of communities have examined phylogenetic signal in species' functional traits to infer drivers of community assembly. Phenotypic variation in traits, arising from ''constitutive'' genetically based variation and from environmental influences on gene expression, or phenotypic plasticity, could affect inferences about community assembly. We found significant trait plasticity in 12 focal species across four species-interaction treatments grown in four soil environments. Phylogenetic signal in traits was present, but was also dependent on species-interactor treatment, suggesting that phenotypic plasticity and plant neighborhood could affect the ability to detect and interpret community phylogenetic patterns of trait variation. Individuals competing with conspecifics expressed significant divergence in specific leaf area (SLA) relative to when they were grown alone. Combined with the observation that competition is stronger between close relatives than between distant relatives in some soils, these results suggest that trait plasticity may be an adaptive response to competition. To test this hypothesis, we examined total biomass in a pot, relative to the predicted biomass of two individuals grown alone, and related pot biomass to phylogenetic distance of the interactor treatment, as well as to divergence in SLA and root : shoot ratio. Within competition treatments, only plastic divergence in root : shoot ratio in one interactor treatment was correlated with increased productivity, and only in one soil type. We also tested whether, across all treatments, divergence in SLA or root : shoot ratio increased pot productivity. We found that ''community'' productivity was positively influenced both by phylogenetic distance to competitor, as well as by divergence in root : shoot ratio due to both plasticity and constitutive differences. Phenotypic plasticity resulting in trait divergence may increase the ability of plants to coexist and may also decrease phylogenetic signal in community assembly at small spatial scales.

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“…The proposed functional trait‐based community ecology has drawn considerable interest with an increasing number of trait‐based studies of plant species co‐existence appearing in the literature (Weiher, Clarke, & Keddy 1998; Ackerly & Cornwell 2007; Swenson & Enquist 2007; Swenson and Enquist in press; Swenson et al. 2007; Kraft, Valencia, & Ackerly 2008; Cornwell & Ackerly 2009; Swenson 2009). The power of this functional trait approach is twofold.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in leaf functional trait values within and across individuals and species: an example from a Costa Rican dry forest

2010

Self Cite

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Summary1. Patterns of species co-existence and species diversity in plant communities remain an important research area despite over a century of intensive scrutiny. To provide mechanistic insight into the rules governing plant species co-existence and diversity, plant community ecologists are increasingly quantifying functional trait values for the species found in a wide range of communities. 2. Despite the promise of a quantitative functional trait approach to plant community ecology, we suggest that, along with examining trait variation across species, an assessment of trait variation within species should also be a key component of a trait-based approach to community ecology. Variability within and between individuals and populations is likely widespread due to plastic responses to highly localized abiotic and biotic interactions. 3. In this study, we quantify leaf trait variation within and across ten co-existing tree species in a dry tropical forest in Costa Rica to ask: (i) whether the majority of trait variation is located between species, within species, within individuals or within the leaves themselves; (ii) whether trait values collected using standardized methods correlate with those collected using unstandardized methods; and (iii) to what extent can we differentiate plant species on the basis of their traits? 4. We find that the majority of variation in traits was often explained by between species differences; however, between leaflet trait variation was very high for compound-leaved species. We also show that many species are difficult to reliably differentiate on the basis of functional traits even when sampling many individuals. 5. We suggest an ideal sample size of at least 10, and ideally 20, individuals be used when calculating mean trait values for individual species for entire communities, though even at large sample sizes, it remains unclear if community level trait values will allow comparisons on a larger geographic scale or if species traits are generally similar across scales. It will thus be critical to account for intraspecific variation by comparing species mean trait values across space in multiple microclimatic environments within local communities and along environmental gradients. Further, quantifying trait variability due to plasticity and inheritance will provide a better understanding of the underlying patterns and drivers of trait variation as well as the application of functional traits in outlining mechanisms of species co-existence.

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Herbaceous monocot plant form and function along a tropical rain-forest light gradient: a reversal of dicot strategy

Cited by 8 publications

References 14 publications

Natural Regeneration of Indigenous Tree Species in Broussonetia papyrifera Invaded Sites in Pra -Anum Forest Reserve

Natural Regeneration of Indigenous Tree Species in Broussonetia papyrifera Invaded Sites in Pra -Anum Forest Reserve

Effects of competition on phylogenetic signal and phenotypic plasticity in plant functional traits

Variation in leaf functional trait values within and across individuals and species: an example from a Costa Rican dry forest

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