Seeds and Fruits of Plants of Eastern Canada and Northeastern United States

Summary1 Classifying species by shared functional characteristics is important if common functional response groups are to be identified among different taxa. 2 We investigated plant traits that determine the response of forest plant species to land use changes using literature data. Sources from eight European countries and four North-eastern American states, comprising 20 field studies yielded information on 216 forest plant species. For these species, data on 13 life history traits were collected. 3 Trait correlation structure was similar in the European and American data-sets and corresponded well to those described in the literature. The European and American herbs and the European graminoids were clustered into distinct emergent groups based on their plant traits. The profiles of the European and American emergent groups were similar. 4 Herb species belonging to emergent groups characterized by low dispersability (i.e. large seeds, low fecundity, unassisted dispersal) were relatively slow colonizers. Dispersability (and not recruitment) seems to be a key factor limiting the colonization of some forest plant species. The relationship between dispersability and colonizing capacity was less clear for graminoids. 5 A life history trait-based approach offers good opportunities to gain insight into the mechanisms behind species response to land-use change.

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“…1997;Bouman et al . 2000) and American species (Montgomery 1977;Gleason & Cronquist 1991;Cullina 2000;Mabry et al . 2000;Kern unpubl.…”

Section:  mentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of forest plant species to land‐use change: a life‐history trait‐based approach

et al. 2003

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“…The retained residues were sorted in water using a binocular microscope. Plant macrofossils were identified using published references (Martin and Barkley 1961, Montgomery 1977, Lévesque et al 1988 along with a modern reference collection. Conifer needle counts include whole needles, needle epidermi (needles that have decomposed leaving only their epidermal sheath), and needle points or bases (whichever one possessed the greater count).…”

Section: Peatland Sampling and Laboratory Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

The Creation of Alternative Stable States in the Southern Boreal Forest, Québec, Canada

Jasinski

Payette

2005

Ecological Monographs

178

165

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The southernmost spruce–lichen woodlands in the Parc des Grands‐Jardins, Québec, Canada, are situated 500 km south of their usual range in the northern lichen woodland zone. Their co‐occurrence within a spruce–moss forest matrix suggests the existence of alternative stable states. We investigate the possibility of these spruce–lichen woodlands as an alternative stable state along with the factors contributing to their origin and spatiotemporal distribution. Analysis of plant macrofossils, charcoal, head capsules of defoliating insects, and pollen were used along with vegetation surveys to reconstruct the past and present disturbance dynamics along an east–west transect, corresponding to a precipitation and fire frequency gradient. At each site, spruce budworm head capsules were found preceding the charcoal layer delineating the shift to spruce–lichen woodland, demonstrating the compound disturbance (insect–fire) origin of the lichen woodlands. Moss forests previously occupied all lichen woodland sites, with the oldest record starting ca. 8300–9400 yr BP. A change to a higher fire frequency around 2500 yr BP was evident in the lichen woodland zone of the park. A lower fire frequency west of the lichen woodland zone likely is a result of orographic precipitation. While the spruce budworm affects the entire region, lichen woodlands are found exclusively within an increased fire frequency zone. Thus, it is the superimposition of these two disturbance factors that is responsible both for their creation and spatial distribution. Lichen woodland inception dates range between 580 and 1440 yr BP, demonstrating that these lichen woodlands have maintained their open structure with time and have not transformed into closed forests. Their persistence, along with their previous moss forest histories and current occurrence adjacent to closed moss forests, indicate that they are an alternative stable state to the spruce–moss forests and not a successional stage. In contrast to other examples of reported alternative stable states, this one is a result of natural disturbances inherent to the system and not anthropogenic impacts.

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“…Except for coarse spines, barbed awns or hairy pappi of Asteraceae, seeds are fairly smooth. The non-Asteraceae exhibit variable surface textures and shapes (Montgomery 1977).…”

Section: Seed Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological and evolutionary trends in wetlands: Evidence from seeds and seed banks in New South Wales, Australia and New Jersey, USA

Leck

Brock

2000

Plant Species Biology

103

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Aquatic plants include a variety of life forms and functional groups that are adapted to diverse wetland habitats. Both similarities and differences in seed and seed‐bank characteristics were discovered in comparisons of Australian (New South Wales) temporary upland wetlands with a North American (New Jersey) tidal freshwater marsh having both natural and constructed wetlands. In the former, flooding and drying are unpredictable and in the latter water levels vary diurnally and substrate is constantly moist. The hydrologic regimen provides the overriding selective force, with climate an important second factor. Other factors related to water level, such as oxygen availability, temperature and light, vary spatially and temporally, influencing germination processes, germination rates and seedling establishment. Seed and seed‐bank characteristics (size, desiccation and inundation tolerance, germination cues and seed‐bank longevity and depletion) differ, with the Australian temporary wetland being more similar to the small‐seeded persistent seed bank of the constructed wetland site than to the natural tidal freshwater site with its larger seeds, transient seed bank and seasonal spring germination. Some non‐spring germination can occur in the tidal constructed wetland if the soil is disturbed. In contrast, seeds in the temporary Australian wetlands germinated in response to wet/dry cycles rather than to season. Functional groups (e.g. submerged, amphibious) are more diverse in the Australian temporary wetlands, where all species tolerate drying. We suggest that the amphibious zone, with its hydrologic gradient, is the site of selection pressure determining establishment of wetland plants from seed. In this zone, multiple selective factors vary spatially and temporally.

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Seeds and Fruits of Plants of Eastern Canada and Northeastern United States

Cited by 140 publications

References 0 publications

Response of forest plant species to land‐use change: a life‐history trait‐based approach

Response of forest plant species to land‐use change: a life‐history trait‐based approach

The Creation of Alternative Stable States in the Southern Boreal Forest, Québec, Canada

Ecological and evolutionary trends in wetlands: Evidence from seeds and seed banks in New South Wales, Australia and New Jersey, USA

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