Resource quantity, not resource heterogeneity, maintains plant diversity

Stevens, M. Henry H.; Carson, Walter P.

doi:10.1046/j.1461-0248.2002.00333.x

Cited by 133 publications

(142 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…The random-loss hypothesis predicts that rare species account for most of the decline in species diversity with fertilization due to random loss of individuals as plant size increases and density declines (11,12,33). Our data partially support this hypothesis.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 72%

Functional- and abundance-based mechanisms explain diversity loss due to N fertilization

Suding

Collins

Gough

et al. 2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

934

860

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Human activities have increased N availability dramatically in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Extensive research demonstrates that local plant species diversity generally declines in response to nutrient enrichment, yet the mechanisms for this decline remain unclear. Based on an analysis of >900 species responses from 34 N-fertilization experiments across nine terrestrial ecosystems in North America, we show that both trait-neutral and trait-based mechanisms operate simultaneously to influence diversity loss as production increases. Rare species were often lost because of soil fertilization, randomly with respect to traits. The risk of species loss due to fertilization ranged from >60% for the rarest species to 10% for the most abundant species. Perennials, species with N-fixing symbionts, and those of native origin also experienced increased risk of local extinction after fertilization, regardless of their initial abundance. Whereas abundance was consistently important across all systems, functional mechanisms were often system-dependent. As N availability continues to increase globally, management that focuses on locally susceptible functional groups and generally susceptible rare species will be essential to maintain biodiversity.functional traits ͉ metaanalysis ͉ productivity ͉ random loss ͉ rarity

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 72%

Functional- and abundance-based mechanisms explain diversity loss due to N fertilization

Suding

Collins

Gough

et al. 2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

934

860

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Variações geográficas em diferentes escalas podem corresponder a variações ambientais, influenciando nas distribuições diferenciais da abundância das espécies, com consequências para os padrões de diversidade (Stevens & Carson 2002). Contudo, é importante ressaltar que variações estocásticas podem preponderar sobre as ambientais na distribuição de espécies, porem estas tendem a ocorrer em uma escala local (diversidade alfa) e não em escalas maiores (diversidade beta e, ou gama) (Hubbell 2001).…”

Section: Discussionunclassified

Similaridade florística entre estratos da vegetação em quatro Florestas Estacionais Deciduais na bacia do Rio São Francisco

et al. 2013

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ResumoEste estudo descreveu e comparou a similaridade florística de três estratos de quatro fragmentos de Floresta Estacional Decidual. Os fragmentos estudados estão distribuídos na Bacia do São Francisco, três em Minas Gerais e um na Bahia. A amostragem da vegetação seguiu o protocolo da Rede de Parcelas Permanentes nos biomas Cerrado e Pantanal para os estratos arbóreo, de arvoretas e juvenil. Foram contabilizadas a riqueza de espécies e famílias em cada área e estrato. A similaridade entre os estratos de cada área foi obtida por diagramas de Venn e índices de Jaccard e Czekanowski, já para a análise da similaridade entre os fragmentos, em cada estrato, foram calculados apenas os dois índices. Os quatro fragmentos e os três estratos apresentaram baixa relação florística, ou seja, baixo compartilhamento de espécies. As diferenças entre os estratos podem ser reflexo de variações ambientais ao longo do tempo, assim como da capacidade de reprodução das espécies dos estratos superiores. Já as diferenças entre as áreas devem-se à distribuição geográfica, que gera variações ambientais, as quais podem estar favorecendo a ocorrência de espécies adaptadas às condições de cada fragmento, contribuindo para uma composição florística diferenciada. Além disso, os contatos vegetacionais (ecótonos) provavelmente também contribuíram para as diferenças florísticas observadas. Palavras-chave: padrões florísticos, heterogeneidade ambiental, variação entre estratos. AbstractThis study described and compared the floristic similarity in four Deciduous Seasonal Forest fragments, and assessed the floristic relations between the tree (adult), the treelet and the sapling stratum. The fragments studied are distributed in Minas Gerais State and in Bahia State, Brazil. The vegetation sampling method followed the protocol of the "Rede de Parcelas Permanentes nos biomas Cerrado e Pantanal" for the tree, treelet and sapling strata. The floristic similarity between the fragments was obtained based on Jaccard and Czekanowski indices. Besides the similarity indices, Venn diagrams were drawn for the strata within each area. The four fragments and the three strata of each fragment presented low degrees of species sharing. The floristic differences among the strata may be due to environmental variations throughout time as well as the reproductive capacity of the species differentiated among the years. Besides the geographic distance (neutral theory), the environmental variations between the areas and the vegetation contacts (ecotones) with other biomes may have favored the occurrence of species adapted to the conditions of each fragment, which contributed to the distinct floristic composition.

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“…Among the many factors hypothesized to affect plant diversity, in this work we investigate the roles of disturbance (fire; Grime 1973;Bongers et al 2009), resource availability (soil nutrients; Stevens and Carson 2002;Bartels and Chen 2010), and herbivory (Janzen 1970;Connell 1971;reviewed in Carson et al 2008). This is the first experiment that jointly analyzes all these factors to evaluate how human-created disturbance, an annual fire regime, interacts with nutrient availability and herbivory to affect the diversity and species composition of seedling regeneration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactions between repeated fire, nutrients, and insect herbivores affect the recovery of diversity in the southern Amazon

et al. 2012

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Surface fires burn extensive areas of tropical forests each year, altering resource availability, biotic interactions, and, ultimately, plant diversity. In transitional forest between the Brazilian cerrado (savanna) and high stature Amazon forest, we took advantage of a long-term fire experiment to establish a factorial study of the interactions between fire, nutrient availability, and herbivory on early plant regeneration. Overall, five annual burns reduced the number and diversity of regenerating stems. Community composition changed substantially after repeated fires, and species common in the cerrado became more abundant. The number of recruits and their diversity were reduced in the burned area, but burned plots closed to herbivores with nitrogen additions had a 14 % increase in recruitment. Diversity of recruits also increased up to 50 % in burned plots when nitrogen was added. Phosphorus additions were related to an increase in species evenness in burned plots open to herbivores. Herbivory reduced seedling survival overall and increased diversity in burned plots when nutrients were added. This last result supports our hypothesis that positive relationships between herbivore presence and diversity would be strongest in treatments that favor herbivory—in this case herbivory was higher in burned plots which were initially lower in diversity. Regenerating seedlings in less diverse plots were likely more apparent to herbivores, enabling increased herbivory and a stronger signal of negative density dependence

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Resource quantity, not resource heterogeneity, maintains plant diversity

Cited by 133 publications

References 63 publications

Functional- and abundance-based mechanisms explain diversity loss due to N fertilization

Functional- and abundance-based mechanisms explain diversity loss due to N fertilization

Similaridade florística entre estratos da vegetação em quatro Florestas Estacionais Deciduais na bacia do Rio São Francisco

Interactions between repeated fire, nutrients, and insect herbivores affect the recovery of diversity in the southern Amazon

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