Plant species traits across a riparian-zone/forest ecotone

Lamb, Eric G.; Azim, U. Mallik

doi:10.1658/1100-9233(2003)014[0853:pstaar]2.0.co;2

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Both traits reflect processes operating at the regeneration life stage, with small wind‐ and water‐dispersed seeds enabling plants to quickly colonise newly disturbed sites (Streng, Glitzenstein & Harcombe, ). Similar shifts from small to large seed size (Kyle & Leishman, ; Wilfahrt, Collins & White, ) and from wind‐ to animal‐dispersed strategies (Drezner, Fall & Stromberg, ; Lamb & Mallik, ) have been reported along disturbance or successional gradients in other riparian (and upland) ecosystems.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 58%

“…Abundance of plants with edible seeds or fruits is important in sustaining particular guilds of mammals and birds (Koniak, Noy‐Meir & Perevolotsky, ). To address concerns regarding declines in pollinators and crop‐pollinating ecosystem services, future assessments could include morphological adaptations for pollen vectors (Sacchi & Price, ; Lamb & Mallik, ; Pakeman & Eastwood, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Riparian plant guilds of ephemeral, intermittent and perennial rivers

2015

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1. Plant functional types (or guilds) increasingly are being used to predict vegetation response to global changes. Continued human population growth coupled with projected warmer and drier climate will alter the hydrologic regimes of many arid-zone rivers, including intermittent rivers. We aimed to identify (i) woody plant guilds associated with distinct stream types of an arid region and (ii) plant traits indicating adaptation to the selective pressures of water availability and fluvial disturbance. 2. We used hierarchical clustering to identify 11 plant guilds from floodplains, terraces and uplands of eight Arizona rivers that vary in surface flow permanence, depth to ground water and intensity of fluvial disturbance. 3. Six guilds were riparian pioneers with small, wind-dispersed seeds, three guilds were late-seral, shade-tolerant riparian taxa with large animal-dispersed seeds, and two guilds were composed of desert xerophytes. Within the riparian pioneer and seral groups, guilds varied in water acquisition and productivity traits including wood density and rooting depth. 4. The community-weighted traits varied or covaried with water availability and fluvial disturbance. Root: shoot ratio, canopy height and leaf area were influenced strongly by water availability, with the latter two showing a nonlinear response to changes in water table depth. Leaf length increased, and wood density decreased, as sites become wetter and more fluvially disturbed. Communityweighted seed mass, seed dispersal and spinesence varied most strongly with elevation above thalweg (an indicator of decreasing fluvial disturbance). 5. These analyses will enable prediction of changes in the relative abundance of plant types and plant traits in response to changes in stream flow regimes, such as shifts towards greater intermittency. The distribution patterns of guilds among riparian habitat types emphasise the importance of focusing conservation efforts not only on the limited number of perennial rivers remaining in arid regions, but also on intermittent and ephemeral rivers with shallow water tables.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 58%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Riparian plant guilds of ephemeral, intermittent and perennial rivers

2015

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“…2007). Seed traits of extant vegetation also vary along such gradients (Parolin 2000; Lamb & Mallik 2003). Variation of seed bank seed traits along such gradients, however, has received less attention; its occurrence in this dryland riparian ecotone appears to be a product of sharply divergent physical environments that select for different life‐history traits.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Seed mass and shape are key factors that influence whether a species forms persistent seed banks, with smaller and more regularly shaped seeds more likely to be buried in sediment and larger seeds more likely to be consumed by herbivores (Thompson, Band & Hodgson 1993; Thompson et al 1998). Seed traits are subject to many evolutionary pressures, and may, like other life‐history traits, vary along riparian hydrogradients (Lamb & Mallik 2003). Seed mass, for example, can be greater in drier habitats (Baker 1972), and morphological adaptations for zoochory can prevail in later, drier seres (Drezner, Fall & Stromberg 2001); thus, there may be linked patterns of seed morphology and seed bank usage along riparian hydrogradients.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in seed mass between hydric and xeric plants influence seed bank dynamics in a dryland riparian ecosystem

2008

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Summary 1.Dryland riparian zones have steep spatial gradients of soil moisture and flood disturbance, and the component hydrogeomorphic surfaces support hydric to xeric plant species. These systems undergo extremes of flood and drought, a dynamic that may select for persistent soil seed banks. We asked if reliance on this strategy differed among plants in three moisture groups (hydric, mesic and xeric), and if patterns were related to diaspore traits. 2.We assessed the composition of soil and litter seed banks (emergence method) and extant vegetation along a riparian hydrogradient, and measured seed persistence (using an indirect method) and diaspore mass and shape variance of the component species. 3. Hydroriparian species had smaller diaspores than xeroriparian species, corresponding to differences in selective pressures on seedlings in their respective habitats, but the two groups formed persistent seed banks at approximately equal percentages. Persistent seeds were smaller than transient seeds, but within the persistent seed group there was separation between the smaller-diaspored hydrophytes and larger-diaspored xerophytes. 4. Distribution patterns of extant vegetation, in concert with diaspore trait differences among moisture-affinity groups, gave rise to divergent spatial patterns of diaspores within the soil: hydroriparian diaspores were abundant not only along wet channel bars but also in deep soils under floodplain forests and shrublands, presumably owing to dispersal by flood waters. Xeroriparian diaspores were largely restricted to the litter and upper soil layers of their drier, higher, floodplain habitats. With increasing depth in the soil of floodplain forests and shrublands, viable diaspores became smaller and rounder, and plant composition shifted from xeroriparian to hydroriparian species. 5. The wide distribution of hydroriparian diaspores in floodplain soils influences disturbance dynamics, increasing the probability that ephemeral wetland communities will develop wherever suitable conditions are stochastically created by floods. Persistent seed banks also allow many xeric annuals to be maintained in dryland riparian zones throughout extended drought, similar to processes that occur in desert uplands.

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“…At local scales, spatial patterns in pollinator and pollination type distribution have likewise been observed (Goverde et al. ; Lamb & Mallik ; Kohler et al. ; Grundel et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Mapping pollination types with remote sensing

Feilhauer

Doktor

Schmidtlein

et al. 2016

J Vegetation Science

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Questions: Pollination is an ecosystem function that varies at local spatial scales. Remote sensing may help to quantify and map the resulting patterns for a better understanding of ecosystem functioning. This task is challenging because the signal measured by sensors is dominated by leaf and canopy optical traits that determine the vegetation spectrum. No direct influence of pollination types (i.e. wind, insect and self-pollination) can be expected. We thus ask: (1) how strongly are pollination types at the community level linked with optical traits; and (2) do these links allow us to map spatial patterns of pollination types with remote sensing data?Location: Mires and Molinia grasslands in Bavaria, southern Germany. Methods:We sampled vascular plant species composition, as well as traits related to optical spectral signals, for 100 plots. Information on pollination types and additional optical traits were compiled from established plant trait databases. Simultaneously with the field sampling, image data of the study site were acquired using the airborne sensor AISA Dual. We tested for correlations between pollination types and optical traits. Based on these results, we regressed the plot-based information on pollination types against the corresponding spectral signal extracted from the image data. We inverted the models using the image in order to obtain maps of the pollination type distribution across the study site.Results: In our study site, pollination types and optical traits were significantly correlated, up to R = À0.813 in the case of wind pollination and leaf dry matter content. These relations are, however, not necessarily transferable to other ecosystems, phenological stages and spatial scales, and their physical interpretation requires careful consideration. We were able to statistically model the spatial distribution of pollination types with a RMSE < 10.5%. The resulting maps provide detailed insights into the spatial distribution of pollination types at the community level. Conclusions:The results show that pollination types are indeed related to canopy reflectance in a way that allows their mapping using remote sensing. More research is needed in order to improve our knowledge about transferable relations between pollination types and plant traits in other ecosystems and at different phenological stages.

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Plant species traits across a riparian-zone/forest ecotone

Cited by 8 publications

References 24 publications

Riparian plant guilds of ephemeral, intermittent and perennial rivers

Riparian plant guilds of ephemeral, intermittent and perennial rivers

Differences in seed mass between hydric and xeric plants influence seed bank dynamics in a dryland riparian ecosystem

Mapping pollination types with remote sensing

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