History matters: tree establishment variability and species turnover in an African savanna

Staver, A. Carla; Bond, William J.; February, Edmund C.

doi:10.1890/es11-00029.1

“…Few empirical data have been available to verify this nonstationary concept of savanna dynamics, due to the paucity of long-term data. However, where data are available, they support the notion that history matters and that the current state of the system does not necessarily reflect recent events or current ecological processes (Staver et al 2011). These long stochastic return times make it difficult in practice to distinguish natural fluctuation from a regime shift, or a temporary upturn in woody plant abundance from directional, persistent woody encroachment.…”

Section: Climatementioning

confidence: 82%

Woody Plant Encroachment: Causes and Consequences

Archer

¹

,

Andersen

²

,

Predick

³

et al. 2017

Springer Series on Environmental Management

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Woody vegetation in grasslands and savannas has increased worldwide over the past 100-200 years. This phenomenon of "woody plant encroachment" (WPE) has been documented to occur at different times but at comparable rates in rangelands of the Americas, Australia, and southern Africa. The objectives of this chapter are to review (1) the process of WPE and its causes, (2) consequences for ecosystem function and the provision of services, and (3) the effectiveness of management interventions aimed at reducing woody cover. Explanations for WPE require consideration of multiple interacting drivers and constraints and their variation through time at a given site. Mean annual precipitation sets an upper limit to woody plant cover, but local patterns of disturbance (fire, browsing) and soil properties (texture, depth) prevent the realization of this potential. In the absence of these constraints, seasonality, interannual variation, and intensity of precipitation events determine the rate and extent of woody plant expansion. Although probably not a triggering factor, rising atmospheric CO 2 levels may have favored C 3 woody plant growth. WPE coincided with the global intensification of livestock grazing that by reducing fine fuels, hence fire frequency and intensity, facilitated WPE. From a conservation perspective, WPE threatens the maintenance of grassland and savanna

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“…The value of ADI can vary between zero (no branching) to >100 m -1 (extremely ramified). References on theory, significance and large datasets: Horn (1971); Pickett and Kempf (1980); Strauss and Agrawal (1999); Enquist (2002); Archibald and Bond (2003); Cooper et al (2003); Staver et al (2011).…”

Section: How To Measure?mentioning

confidence: 99%

New handbook for standardised measurement of plant functional traits worldwide

Pérez‐Harguindeguy

¹

,

Dı́az

²

,

Garnier

³

et al. 2013

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The authors regret that elements of Appendix 1 were incorrect in the original publication. The correct version of Appendix 1 is given below. Appendix 1. Summary of plant traits Summary of plant traits included in the handbookThe range of values corresponds to those generally reported for field-grown plants. Ranges of values are based on the literature and the authors' datasets and do not always necessarily correspond to the widest ranges that exist in nature or are theoretically possible. Recommended sample size indicates the minimum and preferred number of individuals to be sampled, so as to obtain an appropriate indication of the values for the trait of interest; when only one value is given, it corresponds to the number of individuals ( = replicates); when two values are given, the first one corresponds to the number of individuals and the second one to the number of organs to be measured per individual. Note that one replicate can be compounded from several individuals (for smaller species), whereas one individual cannot be used for different replicates. The expected coefficient of variation (CV) range gives the 20th and the 80th percentile of the CV ( = s.d. scaled to the mean) as observed in several datasets obtained for a range of field plants for different biomes. Numbering of plant traits corresponds with the numbering of the chapters in the handbook Abstract. Plant functional traits are the features (morphological, physiological, phenological) that represent ecological strategies and determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels and influence ecosystem properties. Variation in plant functional traits, and trait syndromes, has proven useful for tackling many important ecological questions at a range of scales, giving rise to a demand for standardised ways to measure ecologically meaningful plant traits. This line of research has been among the most fruitful avenues for understanding ecological and evolutionary patterns and processes. It also has the potential both to build a predictive set of local, regional and global relationships between plants and environment and to quantify a wide range of natural and human-driven processes, including changes in biodiversity, the impacts of species invasions, alterations in biogeochemical processes and vegetation-atmosphere interactions. The importance of these topics dictates the urgent need for more and better data, and increases the value of standardised protocols for quantifying trait variation of different species, in particular for traits with power to predict plant-and ecosystemlevel processes, and for traits that can be measured relatively easily. Updated and expanded from the widely used previous version, this handbook retains the focus on clearly presented, widely applicable, step-by-step recipes, with a minimum of text on theory, and not only includes updated methods for the traits previously covered, but also introduces many new protocols for further traits. This new handbook has a better balance between whole-plant ...

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“…References on theory, significance and large datasets: Horn (1971); Pickett and Kempf (1980); Strauss and Agrawal (1999); Enquist (2002); Archibald and Bond (2003); Cooper et al (2003); Staver et al (2011).…”

Section: How To Measure?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Corrigendum to: New handbook for standardised measurement of plant functional traits worldwide

Pérez‐Harguindeguy¹,

Díaz²,

Garnier³

et al. 2016

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The authors regret that elements of Appendix 1 were incorrect in the original publication. The correct version of Appendix 1 is given below. Appendix 1. Summary of plant traits Summary of plant traits included in the handbookThe range of values corresponds to those generally reported for field-grown plants. Ranges of values are based on the literature and the authors' datasets and do not always necessarily correspond to the widest ranges that exist in nature or are theoretically possible. Recommended sample size indicates the minimum and preferred number of individuals to be sampled, so as to obtain an appropriate indication of the values for the trait of interest; when only one value is given, it corresponds to the number of individuals ( = replicates); when two values are given, the first one corresponds to the number of individuals and the second one to the number of organs to be measured per individual. Note that one replicate can be compounded from several individuals (for smaller species), whereas one individual cannot be used for different replicates. The expected coefficient of variation (CV) range gives the 20th and the 80th percentile of the CV ( = s.d. scaled to the mean) as observed in several datasets obtained for a range of field plants for different biomes. Numbering of plant traits corresponds with the numbering of the chapters in the handbook Abstract. Plant functional traits are the features (morphological, physiological, phenological) that represent ecological strategies and determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels and influence ecosystem properties. Variation in plant functional traits, and trait syndromes, has proven useful for tackling many important ecological questions at a range of scales, giving rise to a demand for standardised ways to measure ecologically meaningful plant traits. This line of research has been among the most fruitful avenues for understanding ecological and evolutionary patterns and processes. It also has the potential both to build a predictive set of local, regional and global relationships between plants and environment and to quantify a wide range of natural and human-driven processes, including changes in biodiversity, the impacts of species invasions, alterations in biogeochemical processes and vegetation-atmosphere interactions. The importance of these topics dictates the urgent need for more and better data, and increases the value of standardised protocols for quantifying trait variation of different species, in particular for traits with power to predict plant-and ecosystemlevel processes, and for traits that can be measured relatively easily. Updated and expanded from the widely used previous version, this handbook retains the focus on clearly presented, widely applicable, step-by-step recipes, with a minimum of text on theory, and not only includes updated methods for the traits previously covered, but also introduces many new protocols for further traits. This new handbook has a better balance between whole-plant ...

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History matters: tree establishment variability and species turnover in an African savanna

Cited by 28 publications

References 53 publications

Woody Plant Encroachment: Causes and Consequences

Woody Plant Encroachment: Causes and Consequences

New handbook for standardised measurement of plant functional traits worldwide

Corrigendum to: New handbook for standardised measurement of plant functional traits worldwide

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