Does the Type of Disturbance Matter When Restoring Disturbance‐Dependent Grasslands?

The reintroduction of burning is usually viewed as critical for grassland restoration; but its ecological necessity is often untested. On the one hand, fire may be irreplaceable because it suppresses dominant competitors, eliminates litter, and modifies resource availability. On the other hand, its impacts could be mimicked by other disturbances such as mowing or weeding that suppress dominants but without the risks sometimes associated with burning. Using a 5‐year field experiment in a degraded oak savanna, we tested the impacts of fire, cutting and raking, and weeding on two factors critical for restoration: controlling dominant invasive grasses and increasing subordinate native flora. We manipulated the season of treatment application and used sites with different soil depths because both factors influence fire behavior. We found no significant difference among the treatments—all were similarly effective at suppressing exotics and increasing native plant growth. This occurred because light is the primary limiting resource for many native species and each treatment increased its availability. The effectiveness of disturbance for restoration depended more on the timing of application and site factors than on the type of treatment used. Summer disturbances occurred near their reproductive peak of the exotics, so their mortality approached 100%. Positive responses by native species were significantly greater on shallow soils because these areas had higher native diversity prior to treatment. Although likely not applicable to all disturbance‐dependent ecosystems, these results emphasize the importance of testing the effectiveness of alternative restoration treatments prior to their application.     

Plant DNA barcodes and the influence of gene flow

Success of species assignment using DNA barcodes has been shown to vary among plant lineages because of a wide range of different factors. In this study, we confirm the theoretical prediction that gene flow influences species assignment with simulations and a literature survey. We show that the genome experiencing the highest gene flow is, in the majority of the cases, the best suited for species delimitation. Our results clearly suggest that, for most angiosperm groups, plastid markers will not be the most appropriate for use as DNA barcodes. We therefore advocate shifting the focus from plastid to nuclear markers to achieve an overall higher success using DNA barcodes.     

Genetic architecture of life history traits and environment-specific trade-offs

Life history theory predicts the evolution of trait combinations that enhance fitness, and the occurrence of trade-offs depends in part on the magnitude of variation in growth rate or acquisition. Using recombinant inbred lines, we examined the genetic architecture of age and size at reproduction across abiotic conditions encountered by cultivars and naturalized populations of Brassica rapa. We found that genotypes are plastic to seasonal setting, such that reproduction was accelerated under conditions encountered by summer annual populations and genetic variances for age at reproduction varied across simulated seasonal settings. Using an acquisition-allocation model, we predicted the likelihood of trade-offs. Consistent with predicted relationships, we observed a trade-off where early maturity is associated with small size at maturity under simulated summer and fall annual conditions but not under winter annual conditions. The trade-off in the summer annual setting was observed despite significant genotypic variation in growth rate, which is often expected to decouple age and size at reproduction because rapidly growing genotypes could mature early and attain a larger size relative to slowly growing genotypes that mature later. The absence of a trade-off in the winter setting is presumably attributable to the absence of genotypic differences in age at reproduction. We observed QTL for age at reproduction that jointly regulated size at reproduction in both the summer and fall annual settings, but these QTL were environment-specific (i.e. different QTL contributed to the trade-off in the fall vs. summer annual settings). Thus, at least some of the genetic mechanisms underlying observed trade-offs differed across environments.     

退化喀斯特森林自然恢复中不同生活史阶段木本植物物种多样性与群落构建

正确认识自然恢复过程中的生物多样性格局及群落构建变化规律是区域生态恢复及生物多样性保育的前提和基础。目前, 关于生物多样性格局及群落构建机制的研究多基于地带性植被类型开展, 而针对喀斯特森林这类特殊植被的研究涉及很少, 这极大地限制了区域生态恢复及森林经营。本文以茂兰国家级自然保护区的退化喀斯特森林为研究对象, 通过建立不同自然恢复阶段固定样地, 对比分析不同自然恢复阶段幼苗、幼树和成树的物种多样性和物种组成差异, 探索退化喀斯特森林自然恢复中物种多样性变化趋势与群落构建机制。结果表明, 退化喀斯特森林自然恢复过程中, 物种多样性呈现先上升后稳定的趋势; 幼苗的物种丰富度逐渐降低, 而成树的物种丰富度逐渐增加; 自然恢复早期的幼苗、幼树和成树物种组成逐渐趋同于老龄林成树, 表明该区域退化森林的自然恢复具有一定方向性。本研究结果表明喀斯特森林自然恢复过程中的物种组成变化一定程度上受确定性过程影响, 为人工促进森林恢复提供一定理论参考, 同时对喀斯特森林经营与管理具有重要意义。     

Reintroduction of a Rare Plant (Gladiolus imbricatus) Population to a River Floodplain—How Important is Meadow Management?

In seminatural grasslands, the success of reintroduction of locally extinct rare plant species may depend on the ambient management regime. We aimed to study to what extent the success of the restoration of a rare species (Gladiolus imbricatus) depends on management conditions. A management experiment with traditional cutting by scythe and hay removal, mowing (machine cutting and hay removal), mulching (machine cutting without hay removal), spring burning, and unmanaged control, combined with reintroduction of seeds of Gladiolus, was conducted in an Estonian flooded meadow in which the species had become extinct. Seeds were reintroduced in 2003 in all management treatments and populations monitored until 2006. Mulching, mowing, and traditional management resulted in the greatest establishment, whereas the subsequent mortality was not influenced greatly by management regime. The population started to increase in mulching treatment in the third season due to vegetative growth. The results indicate that the establishment of G. imbricatus is primarily seed limited under current conditions, whereas favorable management significantly enhances establishment in a river floodplain meadow. Successful restoration depends on seed addition and proper grassland management—mowing to a height of approximately 15 cm and mulching.