Effects of Extreme Weather Events on Plant Productivity and Tissue Die-Back are Modified by Community Composition |
| |
Authors: | Juergen Kreyling Mike Wenigmann Carl Beierkuhnlein Anke Jentsch |
| |
Institution: | (1) Disturbance Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany;(2) University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany;(3) Biogeography, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany |
| |
Abstract: | Extreme weather events are expected to increase in frequency and magnitude due to climate change. Their effects on vegetation
are widely unknown. Here, experimental grassland and heath communities in Central Europe were exposed either to a simulated
single drought or to a prolonged heavy rainfall event. The magnitude of manipulations imitated the local 100-year weather
extreme according to extreme value statistics. Overall productivity of both plant communities remained stable in the face
of drought and heavy rainfall, despite significant effects on tissue die-back. Grassland communities were more resistant against
the extreme weather events than heath communities. Furthermore, effects of extreme weather events on community tissue die-back
were modified by functional diversity, even though conclusiveness in this part is limited by the fact that only one species
composition was available per diversity level within this case study. More diverse grassland communities exhibited less tissue
die-back than less complex grassland communities. On the other side, more diverse heath communities were more vulnerable to
extreme weather events compared to less complex heath communities. Furthermore, legumes did not effectively contribute to
the buffering against extreme weather events in both vegetation types. Tissue die-back proved a strong stress response in
plant communities exposed to 100-year extreme weather events, even though one important ecosystem function, namely productivity,
remained surprisingly stable in this experiment. Theories and concepts on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (insurance
hypothesis, redundancy hypothesis) may have to be revisited when extreme weather conditions are considered. |
| |
Keywords: | climate change functional diversity Central Europe grassland heath EVENT-experiment plant functional types drought heavy rainfall |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|