陆地生态系统植物功能群研究进展

从植物功能群角度探讨陆地生态系统功能与稳定性维持机理、植物对环境变化的适应与响应以及水分、养分利用效率等成为当前生态系统生态学研究的主要技术路线.植物功能群的提出和研究,为研究复杂的生态系统提供了一个良好的方法和途径.综述了陆地生态系统功能群方面的最新研究进展,介绍了植物功能群定义的发展历程,详细比较了植物功能群划分的依据及方法,对于植物功能群与群落稳定性之间的关系、植物功能群对群落生产力的影响以及植物功能群与环境因子的动态关系等进行了深入讨论.这些研究资料表明,植物功能群整合了功能及对环境响应相似的一类植物,但植物功能特征不是绝对的、单一的,所以对植物功能群就会有不同的理解,会有不同的定义及划分方法.许多研究者从不同的角度、尺度来对植物功能群进行研究,这些研究结果有不同的针对方向和目的,使人们可以从不同的角度更全面的理解复杂的陆地生态系统.学者们在研究生态系统时,或多或少地总要与植物功能群相联系,这大大拓宽了植物功能群的应用范围.所有前人的研究使植物功能群的概念、划分、方向、应用等诸方面越来越清晰.这要求应有一个规范、统一、明确的植物功能群研究方案,这样能使对植物功能群的研究更加深入,能整合全球所有植物功能群的相关研究.

Progress in researches on plant functional groups of terrestrial ecosystems

Discussing the functioning and stability-maintaining mechanisms of terrestrial ecosystems, the adaptations and responses of plants to environmental changes, as well as water and nutrient use efficiency from the plant functional group perspective has become a major research approach in ecosystem ecology. The creation and subsequent studies of the plant functional group concept have provided an excellent research framework for investigating complex ecosystems. This paper summarizes the latest progress in researches on Plant functional groups (PFGs) of terrestrial ecosystems, introduces the evolution of the PFG concept, compares and appraises established definitions and classification methods of Plant functional groups. The relationship between PFGs and community stability, the influence of PFGs on community productivity, and the PFG-environment dynamics are discussed in depth. The research materials reviewed in this paper shows that PFG concept groups plant species into distinct clusters according to similarities in their functions and responses to environmental conditions. However, Plant functional characteristics are far from absolute and simple; therefore different definitions and classification methods of PFGs exist. Many researchers have studied Plant functional types from different perspectives and on varying scales. Focused on differing topics, these studies are designed to answer a wide range of scientific questions in relation with PFGs. Having conducted numerous studies on PFGs and thus accumulated large amounts of relevant data, researchers working on plant functional groups and related topics all over the world now need a universal, standardized, and unequivocal research protocol. Such a protocol will allow a comprehensive integration of research projects on PFGs globally, and can provide a significant boost to future researches on PFGs and deepen our understanding of plant functional groups.