Understory plant diversity is related to higher variability of vegetative mobility of coexisting species |
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Authors: | Mari Moora Maarja Öpik Kristjan Zobel Martin Zobel |
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Institution: | (1) Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Lai 40, 51005 Tartu, Estonia |
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Abstract: | Theoretical studies claim that if co-occurring species have very different mobilities this will result in greater small-scale
species richness, but empirical evidence is still lacking. We measured horizontal vegetative mobility (VM) of 48 herbaceous
understory species and estimated small-scale species richness in early and late successional boreonemoral herb-rich coniferous
forests in central Estonia. VM of erosulate growth forms was significantly higher than that of hemi-rosette and rosette growth
forms. Erosulate species exhibited higher mobility in young stands, but their relative and total cover was considerably higher
in old stands. Local plant richness (in 1 × 1 m plots) correlated positively with the variability of VM of species in a plot—larger
differences in VM resulted in a higher number of coexisting species. Our results thus suggest that species differences in
VM can contribute to small-scale coexistence by providing different ways to colonise empty space.
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. |
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Keywords: | Diversity Forest field layer Plant coexistence Rhizome Vegetative growth |
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