Phylogenetic and functional dissimilarity does not increase during temporal heathland succession

Letten, Andrew D.; Keith, David A.; Tozer, Mark G.

doi:10.1098/rspb.2014.2102

Cited by 41 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…Plaggen and fire result in the strongest disturbance of the management histories applied in heathlands. Although fire has been found to determine phylogenetic clustering of Australian heathlands (Letten et al 2014), we didn't find the same effect in the central European heathlands. In contrast to the Australian heathlands, where fire is a common environmental factor, in the Lüneburger Heide fire is human induced and only applied in small patches (50 m²) and not on a regular time scale (Keienburg and Prüter 2006).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 49%

“…Still, our study is only a "snapshot" of a non-equilibrium system that is continuously in a state of succession. Furthermore, it can be questioned whether fine-scaled studies, like ours, can reveal any strong phylogenetic pattern (Letten et al 2014). We thus have to be careful in the interpretation given the recent criticism.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dinnage (2009) showed that recently disturbed agricultural fields were phylogenetically clustered, while old abandoned agricultural fields were not. Constant phylogenetical clustering of vascular plants was observed by Letten et al (2014) for a 21 year time series in fire-prone heathlands in New South Wales, Australia. Egorov et al (2014) also found significant phylogenetic clustering in heathlands due to different land use intensities, including mowing and grazing.…”

Section: Phylogenetic Clustering Found In Lichen But Not In Plant Commentioning

confidence: 99%

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Phylogenetic clustering found in lichen but not in plant communities in European heathlands

Geedicke¹,

Schultz²,

Rudolph³

et al. 2016

Community Ecology

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Species richness is a widespread measure to evaluate the effect of different management histories on plant communities and their biodiversity. However, analysing the phylogenetic structure of plant communities could provide new insights into the effects of different management methods on community assemblages and provide further guidance for conservation decisions. Heathlands require permanent management to ensure the existence of such a cultural landscape. While traditional management with grazing is time consuming, mechanical methods are often applied but their consequences on the phylogenetic community assemblages are still unclear. We sampled 60 vegetation plots in dry sandy heathlands (EU habitat type 2310) in northern Germany stratified by five different heathland management histories: fire, plaggen (turf cutting), mowing, deforestation and intensive grazing. Due to the distant relationship of vascular plants and lichens, we assembled two phylogenetic trees, one for vascular plants and one for lichens. We then calculated phylogenetic diversity (PD) and measures of phylogenetic community structure for vascular plant and lichen communities. Deforested areas supported significantly higher PD values for vascular plant communities. We found that PD was strongly correlated with species richness (SR) but the calculation of rarefied PD was uncorrelated to SR leading to a different ranking of management histories. We observed phylogenetic clustering in the lichen communities but not for vascular plants. Thus, management by mowing and intensive grazing promotes habitat filtering of lichens, while management histories that cause greater disturbance such as fire and plaggen do not seem to affect phylogenetic community structure. The set of management strategies fulfilled the goals of the managers in maintaining a healthy heathland community structure. However, management strategies that cause less disturbance can offer an additional range of habitat for other taxonomic groups such as lichen communities.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 49%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Phylogenetic Clustering Found In Lichen But Not In Plant Commentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Phylogenetic clustering found in lichen but not in plant communities in European heathlands

Geedicke¹,

Schultz²,

Rudolph³

et al. 2016

Community Ecology

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“…The mechanisms underlying random immigration may be resulted from weak trait-environment relationship in GNNR3031. Letten et al 32. also found that phylogenetic and functional dissimilarity did not increase during the temporal succession in a fire-prone heathland in southeast Australia.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stochastic assembly in a subtropical forest chronosequence: evidence from contrasting changes of species, phylogenetic and functional dissimilarity over succession

Swenson

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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Deterministic and stochastic processes jointly determine the community dynamics of forest succession. However, it has been widely held in previous studies that deterministic processes dominate forest succession. Furthermore, inference of mechanisms for community assembly may be misleading if based on a single axis of diversity alone. In this study, we evaluated the relative roles of deterministic and stochastic processes along a disturbance gradient by integrating species, functional, and phylogenetic beta diversity in a subtropical forest chronosequence in Southeastern China. We found a general pattern of increasing species turnover, but little-to-no change in phylogenetic and functional turnover over succession at two spatial scales. Meanwhile, the phylogenetic and functional beta diversity were not significantly different from random expectation. This result suggested a dominance of stochastic assembly, contrary to the general expectation that deterministic processes dominate forest succession. On the other hand, we found significant interactions of environment and disturbance and limited evidence for significant deviations of phylogenetic or functional turnover from random expectations for different size classes. This result provided weak evidence of deterministic processes over succession. Stochastic assembly of forest succession suggests that post-disturbance restoration may be largely unpredictable and difficult to control in subtropical forests.

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“…Even fewer studies have assessed changes in functional diversity among communities (βFD) and how these have been affected by shifts in environmental conditions (Carmona et al, 2012). In addition, these studies have mostly investigated communities at just one time using space for time substitutions (a chronosequence) to infer likely patterns of change (Letten, Keith & Tozer, 2014). In addition, these studies have mostly investigated communities at just one time using space for time substitutions (a chronosequence) to infer likely patterns of change (Letten, Keith & Tozer, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire exclusion and climate change interact to affect long‐term changes in the functional composition of plant communities

Waller

2017

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim: Plant functional traits allow us to mechanistically link changes in species composition to changes in ecosystem functions. Understanding how and why changes occur in functional composition of plant communities can thus help us better conserve and restore biodiversity. We aim to examine long-term effects of fire exclusion and climate change on the functional composition of fire-maintained pine barrens in central Wisconsin.Location: Central Wisconsin, USA.Methods: Using a database that included vegetation data of surveys (1958) and resurveys (2012) of 30 sites, we quantified functional composition (α and β functional diversity, community-weighted means) of each site at both time periods. We then applied linear regression and linear mixed models to study effects of fire exclusion and climate change on changes in functional composition. Results:We observed shifts towards larger specific leaf area, greater seed mass and other traits related to shade tolerance. These communities thus appear to be undergoing ecological succession, favouring plant adaptions to better harvest light and carbon in darker, warmer and wetter habitats. Functional alpha diversity increased, while functional beta diversity decreased even after controlling for changes in taxonomic diversity. Fire exclusion and climate change both contributed to these increases in local functional diversity but neither is related to the functional homogenization observed. Fire exclusion and climate change also interacted negatively to affect local functional diversity, suggesting that future climate change and succession may soon reduce alpha functional diversity. Main conclusions:Our study provides a rare record of long-term functional dynamics and demonstrates that fire exclusion and climate change can interact to affect the functional composition of plant communities. Thus, we should consider changes in local ecological conditions as we seek to predict how climate change will affect the functional composition of plant communities. K E Y W O R D Sbeta diversity, climate change, fire suppression, functional diversity, functional traits, Hill numbers, long-term community assembly

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Phylogenetic and functional dissimilarity does not increase during temporal heathland succession

Cited by 41 publications

References 50 publications

Phylogenetic clustering found in lichen but not in plant communities in European heathlands

Phylogenetic clustering found in lichen but not in plant communities in European heathlands

Stochastic assembly in a subtropical forest chronosequence: evidence from contrasting changes of species, phylogenetic and functional dissimilarity over succession

Fire exclusion and climate change interact to affect long‐term changes in the functional composition of plant communities

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