Trait coordination and environmental filters shape functional trait distributions of forest understory herbs

1. Understanding the drivers of trait selection is critical for resolving community assembly processes. Here, we test the importance of environmental filtering and trait covariance for structuring the functional traits of understory herbaceous communities distributed along a natural environmental resource gradient that varied in soil moisture, temperature, and nitrogen availability, produced by different topographic positions in the southern Appalachian Mountains.
2. To uncover potential differences in community‐level trait responses to the resource gradient, we quantified the averages and variances of both abundance‐weighted and unweighted values for six functional traits (vegetative height, leaf area, specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, leaf nitrogen, and leaf δ¹³C) using 15 individuals of each of the 108 species of understory herbs found at two sites in the southern Appalachians of western North Carolina, USA.
3. Environmental variables were better predictors of weighted than unweighted community‐level average trait values for all but height and leaf N, indicating strong environmental filtering of plant abundance. Community‐level variance patterns also showed increased convergence of abundance‐weighted traits as resource limitation became more severe.
4. Functional trait covariance patterns based on weighted averages were uniform across the gradient, whereas coordination based on unweighted averages was inconsistent and varied with environmental context. In line with these results, structural equation modeling revealed that unweighted community‐average traits responded directly to local environmental variation, whereas weighted community‐average traits responded indirectly to local environmental variation through trait coordination.
5. Our finding that trait coordination is more important for explaining the distribution of weighted than unweighted average trait values along the gradient indicates that environmental filtering acts on multiple traits simultaneously, with abundant species possessing more favorable combinations of traits for maximizing fitness in a given environment.

     

Contributions to the sociology and chorology of contrasting plant communities in the southern part of the ‘Wienerwald’ (Austria)

Five plant communities contrasting in successional status and human impact from the southern part of the ‘Wienerwald’ (Austria) are analyzed using vegetation relevés, spectra of area types and a newly proposed disjunction quotient. A climax community (Asperulo-Fagetum), a subclimax community (Querco-Carpinetum s.l.), an anthropogenous substitute community (Mesobromion) and two natural, non-climax permanent communities (Euphorbio saxatilis-Pinetum nigrae and Fumano-Stipetum eriocaulis) are recognized. The disjunction quotient is defined as the number of partial (discontinous) areas divided by the size of the total area of distribution of a species. In particular, the average disjunction quotients of the species in the first two communities reflect relatively table environments only slightly influenced by man, with many ancient, stable taxa. These communities are characterized by species with well-delimited, stable distribution areas. The species in the Mesobromion community have very low average disjunction quotients as its component species are widely and continuously distributed and are often promoted by man. In contrast to these communities, the species linked to the natural permanent, non-climax communities of extreme habitats, have high distribution quotients i.e. small, disconinuous areas; this illustrates the relic character of these plant communities and of the eastern edge of the Alps is a whole. Using the highly variable disjunction quotient of all species and communities examined, the concepts of climax and permanent communities (of different origin) are discussed with regard to European conditions.     

Typologie des rivières oligotrophes du massif Ardennais (Belgique) par l'analyse multivariée de relevés de diatomées benthiques

Typology of oligotrophic streams of the Ardenne (Belgium) by multivariate analysis of benthic diatoms records.During three years, samples of water and algae has been taken in 72 stations distributed on the river system of the northern part of the Ardennes. 357 taxa of diatoms have been identified. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis, applied to diatoms counts, allowed to classify the records in a table comparable to phytosociological tables. A continuum in the data is an indication of the progressive modification of the communities according to the physico-chemical characteristics of the water. Ten diatoms assemblages have been described and this typology has been compared to some algal associations defined in the literature. In natural environments, these 10 assemblages are strictly correlated with the nature of the geological substrate and the physico-chemical characteristics of the water. The sensibility of the oligotrophic streams is revealed by the speedy changes in the communities after following a small modification of the environmental factors (seasonal variations or light eutrophication).

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Typologie des rivières oligotrophes du massif Ardennais (Belgique) par l'analyse multivariée de relevés de diatomées benthiques

     

Effects of additional illumination and fertilization on seasonal changes in fine-scale grassland community structure

Abstract. Fine-scale structure of a species-rich grassland was examined for seasonal changes caused by manipulated changes in the availability of above and below-ground resources (additional illumination with the help of mirrors and fertilization) in a field experiment. If changes induced by fertilization — which are expected to lead to a reduction in small-scale diversity —are due to intensified light competition, they should be compensated for by additional light input. Permanent plots of 40 cm × 40 cm were sampled by the point quadrat method at three angles (60°, 90° and 120° from the horizontal North-South direction), using a laser beam to position the quadrats, in early July and early September. The applied treatments did not cause apparent changes in plant leaf orientation. The degree of spatial aggregation of biomass increased seasonally in fertilized, non-illuminated plots: greater productivity at a constant light supply led to a faster growth rate of potentially dominant species, as compared to the subordinate ones. Additional illumination mitigated this effect of fertilization, indicating that the observed changes in biomass aggregation were due to increased light competition. There was a considerable seasonal decrease of variance ratio (ratio of observed variance of richness at a point and variance expected at random) in fertilized only and in illuminated only plots. In fertilized plots this was due to the positive relationship between biomass aggregation and expected variance of richness. Biomass constancy occurs to be inversely related to deficit in variance of richness. In illuminated plots, in contrast, only the observed variance of richness decreased seasonally, indicating a more uniform use of space by different species. Evidently, a deficit in variance of richness can be caused by drastically different processes, showing that the variance ratio statistic may not have a significant explanatory value in fine-scale community studies.     

Effects of peach branches returning on autotoxins and microbes in soil and tree growth of peaches

Aims This study aimed to investigate the effects of branch returning on the growth of peach (Amygdalus persica "Chunmei/Maotao") saplings, soil enzyme activity, and soil contents of phenolic acids and amygdalin, thereby providing scientific evidence against the application of branch returning for peach trees. Methods One-year-old potted peach tree (Amygdalus persica "Chunmei/Maotao") was used in this study with four agricultural treatments applied, including soil coverage by fragmented peach tree branches (fragment treatment;1.5 and 22.5 g·kg^-1) and applying leachate solutions of peach tree branches to soil (leachate treatment; 1.5 and 22.5 g·kg^-1). No branch addition was used as control (CK). Solid phase extraction, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), biological high-throughput sequencing was used to determine the content of autotoxic substances, and microbial community structure in soil. Soil coverage and leachate solution treatments of 30 g and 450 g branches applied to the peach trees were described as 1.5 and 22.5 g·kg^-1, respectively in this paper.Important findings Compared with CK, the phenolic acid and amygdalin contents significantly increased after both fragment and leachate treatments in high quantities (22.5 g·kg^-1). Soil microbial community structure altered in both treatments, with the proportion of fungi (particularly Agaricomycetes, Tubeufia and Cystofilobasidiaceae) increased significantly and bacteria decreased accordingly. Invertase activity in both high-quantity treatments exceeded that in the CK significantly. The activity of catalase and urease was higher at first and then decreased relative to CK under high-quantity fragment and leachate treatments. Specifically, the effect of leachate treatment on enzyme activity was higher than the fragment treatment in the short term. Chlorophyll content, ground diameter (diameter of 5 cm from the ground) growth and net photosynthesis rate of plants were lower in high-quantity fragment and leachate treatments than those in CK, with earlier retardation of new shoot growth. We observed an increase in soil phenolic acids and enzymes in treatments in normal pruning quantity, while no inhibition effect was found on the tree growth. In conclusion, autotoxins (such as phenolic acid and amygdalin) inhibited the growth of peach trees both directly and indirectly through changing soil enzyme activity and microbial community.