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Zdravko Baruch

Bio: Zdravko Baruch is an academic researcher from University of Adelaide. The author has contributed to research in topics: Hyparrhenia rufa & Species richness. The author has an hindex of 25, co-authored 45 publications receiving 8251 citations. Previous affiliations of Zdravko Baruch include Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation & Simón Bolívar University.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
22 Apr 2004-Nature
TL;DR: Reliable quantification of the leaf economics spectrum and its interaction with climate will prove valuable for modelling nutrient fluxes and vegetation boundaries under changing land-use and climate.
Abstract: Bringing together leaf trait data spanning 2,548 species and 175 sites we describe, for the first time at global scale, a universal spectrum of leaf economics consisting of key chemical, structural and physiological properties. The spectrum runs from quick to slow return on investments of nutrients and dry mass in leaves, and operates largely independently of growth form, plant functional type or biome. Categories along the spectrum would, in general, describe leaf economic variation at the global scale better than plant functional types, because functional types overlap substantially in their leaf traits. Overall, modulation of leaf traits and trait relationships by climate is surprisingly modest, although some striking and significant patterns can be seen. Reliable quantification of the leaf economics spectrum and its interaction with climate will prove valuable for modelling nutrient fluxes and vegetation boundaries under changing land-use and climate.

6,360 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Jens Kattge1, Gerhard Bönisch2, Sandra Díaz3, Sandra Lavorel  +751 moreInstitutions (314)
TL;DR: The extent of the trait data compiled in TRY is evaluated and emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness are analyzed to conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements.
Abstract: Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.

882 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Exotic invasives do not have fundamentally different carbon capture strategies from natives but are positioned further along the leaf economics spectrum towards faster growth strategies, which will be successful invaders when introduced to novel environments where resources are not limited.
Abstract: Summary • Leaf carbon capture strategies of native and exotic invasive plants were compared by examining leaf traits and their scaling relationships at community and global scales • Community-level leaf trait data were obtained for 55 vascular plant species from nutrient-enriched and undisturbed bushland in Sydney, Australia. Global-scale leaf trait data were compiled from the literature for 75 native and 90 exotic invasive coexisting species. • At the community level, specific leaf area (SLA), foliar nitrogen and phosphorus (Nmass and Pmass) and N:P ratio were significantly higher for exotics at disturbed sites compared with natives at undisturbed sites, with natives at disturbed sites being intermediate. SLA, Nmass and Pmass were positively correlated, with significant shifts in group means along a common standardized major axis (SMA) slope. At the global scale, invasives had significantly higher Nmass, Pmass, assimilation rate (Amass and Aarea) and leaf area ratio (LAR) than natives. All traits showed positive correlations, with significant shifts in group means along a common slope. For a given SLA, invasives had higher Amass (7.7%) and Nmass (28%). • Thus, exotic invasives do not have fundamentally different carbon capture strategies from natives but are positioned further along the leaf economics spectrum towards faster growth strategies. Species with leaf traits enabling rapid growth will be successful invaders when introduced to novel environments where resources are not limited.

393 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Comparisons of specific leaf area, leaf tissue construction cost, leaf nutrient concentration, and net CO2 assimilation on Mauna Loa volcano in the island of Hawaii suggest that invasive species may not only use resources more efficiently than native species, but may potentially demonstrate higher growth rates, consistent with their rapid spread in isolated oceanic islands.
Abstract: The effects of biological invasions are most evident in isolated oceanic islands such as the Hawaiian Archipelago, where invasive plant species are rapidly changing the composition and function of plant communities. In this study, we compared the specific leaf area (SLA), leaf tissue construction cost (CC), leaf nutrient concentration, and net CO2 assimilation (A) of 83 populations of 34 native and 30 invasive species spanning elevation and substrate age gradients on Mauna Loa volcano in the island of Hawaii. In this complex environmental matrix, where annual precipitation is higher than 1500 mm, we predicted that invasive species, as a group, will have leaf traits, such as higher SLA and A and lower leaf CC, which may result in more efficient capture of limiting resources (use more resources at a lower carbon cost) than native species. Overall, invasive species had higher SLA and A, and lower CC than native species, consistent with our prediction. SLA and foliar N and P were 22.5%, 30.5%, and 37.5% higher, respectively, in invasive species compared to native ones. Light-saturated photosynthesis was higher for invasive species (9.59 μmol m−2 s−1) than for native species (7.31 μmol m−2 s−1), and the difference was larger when A was expressed on a mass basis. Leaf construction costs, on the other hand, were lower for the invasive species (1.33 equivalents of glucose g−1) than for native species (1.37). This difference was larger when CC was expressed on an area basis. The trends in the above traits were maintained when groups of ecologically equivalent native and invasive species (i.e., sharing similar life history traits and growing in the same habitat) were compared. Foliar N and P were significantly higher in invasive species across all growth forms. Higher N may partially explain the higher A of invasive species. Despite relatively high N, the photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency of invasive species was 15% higher than that of native species. These results suggest that invasive species may not only use resources more efficiently than native species, but may potentially demonstrate higher growth rates, consistent with their rapid spread in isolated oceanic islands.

379 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The extent of pasture creation with African grasses and their invasive spread in the New World is described and a number of comparative ecophysiological studies within the context of mechanisms responsible for invasion by African Grasses and resulting ecosystem change are highlighted.
Abstract: Clearing of natural vegetation for pastures and the deliberate introduction of African grasses constitute significant threats to the biological diversity of the tropics, subtropics, and warm temperate regions of the Americas. African grasses have escaped from cultivated pastures and revegetated rangeland sites and invaded natural areas at alarming rates. Invaded ecosystems tend to be biotically impoverished and differ markedly from adjacent non-invaded areas in structure and function. Effects of pasture creation and invasion by African grasses on ecosystem processes (transformation and flux of energy and matter) are primarily related to loss of woody species and changes in the fire regime. However, the ecophysiological attributes of the African grasses (e.g. high biomass allocation to leaves, high growth rate, and high leaf-level gas exchange rates) also have important consequences. Here we describe the extent of pasture creation with African grasses and their invasive spread in the New World and review ecological effects of these land-cover changes. We highlight a number of comparative ecophysiological studies within the context of mechanisms responsible for invasion by African grasses and resulting ecosystem change.

314 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is asserted that community ecology should return to an emphasis on four themes that are tied together by a two-step process: how the fundamental niche is governed by functional traits within the context of abiotic environmental gradients; and how the interaction between traits and fundamental niches maps onto the realized niche in the context a biotic interaction milieu.
Abstract: There is considerable debate about whether community ecology will ever produce general principles. We suggest here that this can be achieved but that community ecology has lost its way by focusing on pairwise species interactions independent of the environment. We assert that community ecology should return to an emphasis on four themes that are tied together by a two-step process: how the fundamental niche is governed by functional traits within the context of abiotic environmental gradients; and how the interaction between traits and fundamental niches maps onto the realized niche in the context of a biotic interaction milieu. We suggest this approach can create a more quantitative and predictive science that can more readily address issues of global change.

3,715 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 May 2007-Oikos
TL;DR: An unambiguous definition of plant trait is given, with a particular emphasis on functional trait, and it is argued that this can be achieved by developing "integration functions" which can be grouped into functional response (community level) and effect (ecosystem level) algorithms.
Abstract: In its simplest definition, a trait is a surrogate of organismal performance, and this meaning of the term has been used by evolutionists for a long time. Over the last three decades, developments in community and ecosystem ecology have forced the concept of trait beyond these original boundaries, and trait-based approaches are now widely used in studies ranging from the level of organisms to that of ecosystems. Despite some attempts to fix the terminology, especially in plant ecology, there is currently a high degree of confusion in the use, not only of the term "trait" itself, but also in the underlying concepts it refers to. We therefore give an unambiguous definition of plant trait, with a particular emphasis on functional trait. A hierarchical perspective is proposed, extending the "performance paradigm" to plant ecology. "Functional traits" are defined as morpho-physiophenological traits which impact fitness indirectly via their effects on growth, reproduction and survival, the three components of individual performance. We finally present an integrative framework explaining how changes in trait values due to environmental variations are translated into organismal performance, and how these changes may influence processes at higher organizational levels. We argue that this can be achieved by developing "integration functions" which can be grouped into functional response (community level) and effect (ecosystem level) algorithms.

3,262 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Biological invasions into wholly new regions are a consequence of a far reaching but underappreciated component of global environmental change, the human-caused breakdown of biogeographic barriers to species dispersal.
Abstract: Biological invasions into wholly new regions are a consequence of a far reaching but underappreciated component of global environmental change, the human-caused breakdown of biogeographic barriers to species dispersal . Human activity moves species from place to place both accidentally and deliberately-and it does so at rates that are without precedent in the last tens of millions of years. As a result , taxa that evolved in isolation from each other are being forced into contact in an instant of evolutionary time. This human-caused breakdown of barriers to dispersal sets in motion changes that may seem less important than the changing composition of the atmosphere , climate change , or tropical deforestation-but they are significant for several reasons. First , to date , biological invasions have caused more species extinctions than have resulted from human-caused climatic change or the changing composition of the atmosphere . Only land use change probably has caused more extinction, and (as we later discuss) land use change interacts strongly with biological invasions. Second, the effects of human-caused biological invasions are long-term: changes in climate, the atmosphere, and land use may be reversible in hundreds to thousands of years, but the breakdown of biogeographic barriers has resulted in self-maintaining and evolving

3,195 citations

Book
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: In this article, a taxonomic index (genera) of alpine plants is presented, with a brief review of water relations and water relations of alpin plants in the alpine life zone.
Abstract: 1 Plant ecology at high elevations.- The concept of limitation.- A regional and historical account.- The challenge of alpine plant research.- 2 The alpine life zone.- Altitudinal boundaries.- Global alpine land area.- Alpine plant diversity.- Origin of alpine floras.- Alpine growth forms.- 3 Alpine climate.- Which alpine climate.- Common features of alpine climates.- Regional features of alpine climates.- 4 The climate plants experience.- Interactions of relief, wind and sun.- How alpine plants influence their climate.- The geographic variation of alpine climate.- 5 Life under snow: protection and limitation.- Temperatures under snow.- Solar radiation under snow.- Gas concentrations under snow.- Plant responses to snowpack.- 6 Alpine soils.- Physics of alpine soil formation.- The organic compound.- The interaction of organic and inorganic compounds.- 7 Alpine treelines.- About trees and lines.- Current altitudinal positions of climatic treelines.- Treeline-climate relationships.- Intrazonal variations and pantropical plateauing of alpine treelines.- Treelines in the past.- Attempts at a functional explanation of treelines.- A hypothesis for treeline formation.- Growth trends near treelines.- Evidence for sink limitation.- 8 Climatic stress.- Survival of low temperature extremes.- Avoidance and tolerance of low temperature extremes.- Heat stress in alpine plants.- Ultraviolet radiation - a stress factor.- 9 Water relations.- Ecosystem water balance.- Soil moisture at high altitudes.- Plant water relations - a brief review of principles.- Water relations of alpine plants.- Desiccation stress.- Water relations of special plant types.- 10 Mineral nutrition.- Soil nutrients.- The nutrient status of alpine plants.- Nutrient cycling and nutrient budgets.- Nitrogen fixation.- Mycorrhiza.- Responses of vegetation to variable nutrient supply.- 11 Uptake and loss of carbon.- Photosynthetic capacity of alpine plants.- Photosynthetic responses to the environment.- Daily carbon gain of leaves.- The seasonal carbon gain of leaves.- C4 and CAM photosynthesis at high altitudes.- Tissue respiration of alpine plants.- Ecosystem carbon balance.- 12 Carbon investments.- Non-structural carbohydrates.- Lipids and energy content.- Carbon costs of leaves and roots.- Whole plant carbon allocation.- 13 Growth dynamics and phenology.- Seasonal growth.- Diurnal leaf extension.- Rates of plant dry matter accumulation.- Functional duration of leaves and roots.- 14 Cell division and tissue formation.- Cell size and plant size.- Mitosis and the cell cycle.- From meristem activity to growth control.- 15 Plant biomass production.- The structure of alpine plant canopies.- Primary productivity of alpine vegetation.- Plant dry matter pools.- Biomass losses through herbivores.- 16 Plant reproduction.- Flowering and pollination.- Seed development and seed size.- Germination.- Alpine seed banks and natural recruitment.- Clonal propagation.- Alpine plant age.- Community processes.- 17 Global change at high elevation.- Alpine land use.- The impact of altered atmospheric chemistry.- Climatic change and alpine ecosystems.- References (with chapter annotation).- Taxonomic index (genera).- Geographical index.- Color plates.- Plant life forms.- The alpine life zone.- Environmental stress.- The human dimension.

2,971 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This new handbook has a better balance between whole-plant traits, leaf traits, root and stem traits and regenerative traits, and puts particular emphasis on traits important for predicting species’ effects on key ecosystem properties.
Abstract: Plant functional traits are the features (morphological, physiological, phenological) that represent ecological strategies and determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels and influence ecosystem properties. Variation in plant functional traits, and trait syndromes, has proven useful for tackling many important ecological questions at a range of scales, giving rise to a demand for standardised ways to measure ecologically meaningful plant traits. This line of research has been among the most fruitful avenues for understanding ecological and evolutionary patterns and processes. It also has the potential both to build a predictive set of local, regional and global relationships between plants and environment and to quantify a wide range of natural and human-driven processes, including changes in biodiversity, the impacts of species invasions, alterations in biogeochemical processes and vegetation–atmosphere interactions. The importance of these topics dictates the urgent need for more and better data, and increases the value of standardised protocols for quantifying trait variation of different species, in particular for traits with power to predict plant- and ecosystem-level processes, and for traits that can be measured relatively easily. Updated and expanded from the widely used previous version, this handbook retains the focus on clearly presented, widely applicable, step-by-step recipes, with a minimum of text on theory, and not only includes updated methods for the traits previously covered, but also introduces many new protocols for further traits. This new handbook has a better balance between whole-plant traits, leaf traits, root and stem traits and regenerative traits, and puts particular emphasis on traits important for predicting species’ effects on key ecosystem properties. We hope this new handbook becomes a standard companion in local and global efforts to learn about the responses and impacts of different plant species with respect to environmental changes in the present, past and future.

2,744 citations