CLO-PLA: a database of clonal and bud-bank traits of the Central European flora.
TL;DR: This dataset provides a unique, and largely unexplored, set of traits of clonal growth that can be used in studies on comparative plant ecology, plant evolution, community assembly, and ecosystem functioning across the large flora of Central Europe.
Abstract: This dataset presents comprehensive and easy-to-use information on 29 functional traits of clonal growth, bud banks, and lifespan of members of the Central European flora. The source data were compiled from a number of published sources (see the reference file) and the authors' own observations or studies. In total, 2,909 species are included (2,745 herbs and 164 woody species), out of which 1,532 (i.e., 52.7% of total) are classified as possessing clonal growth organs (1,480, i.e., 53.9%, if woody plants are excluded). This provides a unique, and largely unexplored, set of traits of clonal growth that can be used in studies on comparative plant ecology, plant evolution, community assembly, and ecosystem functioning across the large flora of Central Europe. It can be directly imported into a number of programs and packages that perform trait-based and phylogenetic analyses aimed to answer a variety of open and pressing ecological questions.
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Centre national de la recherche scientifique1, Oak Ridge National Laboratory2, Agricultural Research Service3, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna4, Polish Academy of Sciences5, Macquarie University6, Forschungszentrum Jülich7, Pennsylvania State University8, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań9, University of Dundee10, James Hutton Institute11, VU University Amsterdam12, ETH Zurich13, University of Minnesota14, University of Hamburg15, Wageningen University and Research Centre16, University of Auvergne17, Laurentian University18, University of Freiburg19, Leiden University20, University of Montpellier21, Chinese Academy of Sciences22, Florida International University23, Leipzig University24, University of Georgia25, Institute of Ecosystem Studies26, University of Leeds27, Universidade Federal de Goiás28, University of Western Australia29, Clemson University30, Morton Arboretum31
TL;DR: A major aim of this guide is to help break down barriers between the many subdisciplines of root ecology and ecophysiology, broaden researchers’ views on the multiple aspects of root study and create favourable conditions for the inception of comprehensive experiments on the role of roots in plant and ecosystem functioning.
Abstract: In the context of a recent massive increase in research on plant root functions and their impact on the environment, root ecologists currently face many important challenges to keep on generating cutting-edge, meaningful and integrated knowledge. Consideration of the below-ground components in plant and ecosystem studies has been consistently called for in recent decades, but methodology is disparate and sometimes inappropriate. This handbook, based on the collective effort of a large team of experts, will improve trait comparisons across studies and integration of information across databases by providing standardised methods and controlled vocabularies. It is meant to be used not only as starting point by students and scientists who desire working on below-ground ecosystems, but also by experts for consolidating and broadening their views on multiple aspects of root ecology. Beyond the classical compilation of measurement protocols, we have synthesised recommendations from the literature to provide key background knowledge useful for: (1) defining below-ground plant entities and giving keys for their meaningful dissection, classification and naming beyond the classical fine-root vs coarse-root approach; (2) considering the specificity of root research to produce sound laboratory and field data; (3) describing typical, but overlooked steps for studying roots (e.g. root handling, cleaning and storage); and (4) gathering metadata necessary for the interpretation of results and their reuse. Most importantly, all root traits have been introduced with some degree of ecological context that will be a foundation for understanding their ecological meaning, their typical use and uncertainties, and some methodological and conceptual perspectives for future research. Considering all of this, we urge readers not to solely extract protocol recommendations for trait measurements from this work, but to take a moment to read and reflect on the extensive information contained in this broader guide to root ecology, including sections I-VII and the many introductions to each section and root trait description. Finally, it is critical to understand that a major aim of this guide is to help break down barriers between the many subdisciplines of root ecology and ecophysiology, broaden researchers' views on the multiple aspects of root study and create favourable conditions for the inception of comprehensive experiments on the role of roots in plant and ecosystem functioning.
156 citations
TL;DR: An existing community assembly framework is extended to conceptualize regeneration as a series of transitional processes whose outcomes are influenced by abiotic filters, biotic interactions and species traits, and key areas of progress needed to integrate regeneration traits into these efforts are summarized.
Abstract: Summary
Despite the disproportionate influence that propagule production, dispersal, seed-to-seedling recruitment and vegetative reproduction can have on plant population and community dynamics, progress has been slow in the directed collection of regeneration traits to inform community assembly outcomes.
While seed mass is globally available and linked to growth and reproductive output, there are limits to its explanatory ability. In this essay, we call for expanded efforts to integrate a more diverse set of regeneration traits into community assembly models.
First, we extend an existing community assembly framework to conceptualize regeneration as a series of transitional processes whose outcomes are influenced by abiotic filters, biotic interactions and species traits. We then briefly review the literature, highlighting filters and traits of demonstrated or theorized importance for each transition. Finally, we place regeneration in the context of existing and emerging modelling approaches in trait-based community assembly, summarizing key areas of progress needed to integrate regeneration traits into these efforts.
Synthesis. By incorporating influential regeneration traits into empirical studies and global data bases, we can begin to disentangle regenerative mechanisms underlying community assembly outcomes and enhance rapidly developing models of species’ abundances, distributions and responses to environmental change.
133 citations
TL;DR: The findings indicated that the selection of the livestock type is the most crucial in conservation; however, for proper ecosystem functioning and high trait variability, the suitable grazing intensity should also be carefully adjusted.
Abstract: In biodiversity conservation of agriculture-driven landscapes, grasslands have an outstanding importance; their conservation became a top priority both in research and practice. In many regions, sheep or cattle grazing are the best options for biodiversity conservation. In our study, we compared the effects of cattle and sheep grazing on short-grass steppe vegetation under various grazing intensities. We tested the following study hypotheses: (i) sheep grazing maintains a lower taxonomic and functional diversity, lower amount of forbs compared with cattle grazing; and (ii) the effects of grazing are highly intensity dependent: the differences detected between cattle and sheep grazing are more pronounced at low grazing intensities than at high ones, because the selectivity of grazing decreases at higher intensities. We found lower taxonomic and functional diversity, and lower cover of forbs in sheep-grazed steppes compared with cattle-grazed ones. Grazing intensity had a significant effect only on species richness, while on Shannon diversity and evenness, only livestock type had a significant effect. While most single trait indices were affected by the type of the grazer, significant effect of intensity was detected only in few cases. These findings indicated that the selection of the livestock type is the most crucial in conservation; however, for proper ecosystem functioning and high trait variability, the suitable grazing intensity should also be carefully adjusted. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
118 citations
TL;DR: This review presents an overview of the role of bud banks in plant population renewal, examines bud bank life history, summarizes bud bank traits and their potential ecological implications, synthesizes the response of bud Banks to disturbance, and highlights gaps to guide future research.
116 citations
Cites background from "CLO-PLA: a database of clonal and b..."
...The largest bud bank dataset is focused on the flora of Central Europe and is deposited in the CLO-PLA database (Klimešová and Klimeš, 2008; Klimešová et al., 2017a)....
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...On the other hand, roots that are able to create buds after fragmentation and regenerate when soil is disturbed by ploughing (Klimešová et al., 2017b) can be found in both regions....
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...These perennials are characterized by lateral clonal spread and often have the capacity to sprout from adventitious buds on roots (Klimešová et al., 2017b; Herben et al., 2018)....
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82 citations
References
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TL;DR: This paper provides an international methodological protocol aimed at standardising this research effort, based on consensus among a broad group of scientists in this field, and features a practical handbook with step-by-step recipes, for 28 functional traits recognised as critical for tackling large-scale ecological questions.
Abstract: There is growing recognition that classifying terrestrial plant species on the basis of their function (into 'functional types') rather than their higher taxonomic identity, is a promising way forward for tackling important ecological questions at the scale of ecosystems, landscapes or biomes. These questions include those on vegetation responses to and vegetation effects on, environmental changes (e.g. changes in climate, atmospheric chemistry, land use or other disturbances). There is also growing consensus about a shortlist of plant traits that should underlie such functional plant classifications, because they have strong predictive power of important ecosystem responses to environmental change and/or they themselves have strong impacts on ecosystem processes. The most favoured traits are those that are also relatively easy and inexpensive to measure for large numbers of plant species. Large international research efforts, promoted by the IGBP–GCTE Programme, are underway to screen predominant plant species in various ecosystems and biomes worldwide for such traits. This paper provides an international methodological protocol aimed at standardising this research effort, based on consensus among a broad group of scientists in this field. It features a practical handbook with step-by-step recipes, with relatively brief information about the ecological context, for 28 functional traits recognised as critical for tackling large-scale ecological questions.
3,288 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1934
TL;DR: The publication of a collected edition in English of the works of Professor Raunkiaer is a considerable event in the history of the science of vegetation; and Englishspeaking students of the subject all over the world have reason to be grateful to the Danish committee which conceived the plan and helped to finance the undertaking as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: " The publication of a collected edition in English of the works of Professor Raunkiaer is a considerable event in the history of the science of vegetation; and Englishspeaking students of the subject all over the world have reason to be grateful to the Danish committee which conceived the plan and helped to finance the undertaking, as well Other CABI sites
2,321 citations
"CLO-PLA: a database of clonal and b..." refers background in this paper
...Here, the vertical distribution of buds is important, as pointed out by Raunkiaer (1934)....
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TL;DR: A leaf-height-seed (LHS) plant ecology strategy scheme is proposed in this paper, which allows any vascular land plant species to be positioned within the scheme, without timeconsuming measurement of metabolic rates or of field performance relative to other species.
Abstract: A leaf-height-seed (LHS) plant ecology strategy scheme is proposed. The axes would be specific leaf area SLA (light-capturing area deployed per dry mass allocated), height of the plant's canopy at maturity, and seed mass. All axes would be log-scaled. The strategy of a species would be described by its position in the volume formed by the three axes. The advantages of the LHS scheme can be understood by comparing it to Grime's CSR scheme, which has Competitors, Stress-tolerators and Ruderals at the corners of a triangle. The CSR triangle is widely cited as expressing important strategic variation between species. The C–S axis reflects variation in responsiveness to opportunities for rapid growth; in the LHS scheme, SLA reflects the same type of variation. The R axis reflects coping with disturbance; in the LHS scheme, height and seed mass reflect separate aspects of coping with disturbance. A plant ecology strategy scheme that permitted any species worldwide to be readily positioned within the scheme could bring substantial benefits for improved meta-analysis of experimental results, for placing detailed ecophysiology in context, and for coping with questions posed by global change. In the CSR triangle the axes are defined by reference to concepts, there is no simple protocol for positioning species beyond the reference datasets within the scheme, and consequently benefits of worldwide comparison have not materialized. LHS does permit any vascular land plant species to be positioned within the scheme, without time-consuming measurement of metabolic rates or of field performance relative to other species. The merits of the LHS scheme reside (it is argued) in this potential for worldwide comparison, more than in superior explanatory power within any particular vegetation region. The LHS scheme avoids also two other difficulties with the CSR scheme: (a) It does not prejudge that there are no viable strategies under high stress and high disturbance (the missing quadrant in the CSR triangle compared to a two-axis rectangle); (b) It separates out two distinct aspects of the response to disturbance, height at maturity expressing the amount of growth attempted between disturbances, and seed mass (inverse of seed output per unit reproductive effort) expressing the capacity to colonize growth opportunities at a distance. The advantage of LHS axes defined through a single readily-measured variable needs to be weighed against the disadvantage that single plant traits may not capture as much strategy variation as CSR's multi-trait axes. It is argued that the benefits of potential worldwide comparison do actually outweigh any decrease in the proportion of meaningful variation between species that is captured. Further, the LHS scheme opens the path to quantifying what proportion of variation in any other ecologically-relevant trait is correlated with the LHS axes. This quantification could help us to move forward from unprofitable debates of the past 30 years, where CSR opponents have emphasized patterns that were not accommodated within the scheme, while CSR proponents have emphasized patterns that the scheme did account for.
1,605 citations
"CLO-PLA: a database of clonal and b..." refers background in this paper
...Several attempts have been made to delimit a set of important traits that cover all main plant functions (Westoby 1998; Weiher et al. 1999; Cornelissen et al. 2003)....
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TL;DR: The common core list is suggested as a common starting point for studies of functional ecology, which includes: seed mass, seed shape, dispersal mode, clonality, specific leaf area, leaf water content, height, above-ground biomass, life history, onset of flowering, stem density, and resprouting ability.
Abstract: . Ecologists need a common language of plant traits in order to make comparisons across regions and scales, pool data, and maximize the utility of the data. To develop such a set of traits we began with the primary challenges faced by plants: dispersal, establishment, and persistence in order to identify fundamental traits. Most of these traits are hard to measure, but advances in comparative ecology have suggested a number of easy to measure analogs. Unfortunately, some of the fundamental traits have no simple analog. The common core list includes: seed mass, seed shape, dispersal mode, clonality, specific leaf area, leaf water content, height, above-ground biomass, life history, onset of flowering, stem density, and resprouting ability. Most of the traits can be measured quantitatively, but several traits on the list must still be measured qualitatively due to logistical problems or lack of an easy analog. Key problem areas include: dispersal ability, capacity for vegetative spread, germination, palatability, plasticity, and all the various below-ground traits. Comparative studies need to address these problem areas. The common core list is suggested as a common starting point for studies of functional ecology. The idiosyncrasies of regional floras and specific research agendas will dictate which traits can be ignored and those that need to be added.
970 citations
"CLO-PLA: a database of clonal and b..." refers background in this paper
...Several attempts have been made to delimit a set of important traits that cover all main plant functions (Westoby 1998; Weiher et al. 1999; Cornelissen et al. 2003)....
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...…in the first Biological flora of Central Europe by Kirchner et al. 1908–1942 with more recent approaches) can partly be explained by the diversity of belowground traits and the lack of easy-to-measure characteristics that are relevant to clonality and vegetative regeneration (Weiher et al. 1999)....
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...1908–1942 with more recent approaches) can partly be explained by the diversity of belowground traits and the lack of easy-to-measure characteristics that are relevant to clonality and vegetative regeneration (Weiher et al. 1999)....
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TL;DR: It is proposed that a temporal framework is crucial to the authors' understanding of the nature and ecological significance of relationships between aboveground and belowground communities.
Abstract: Ecologists are becoming increasingly aware of the role of aboveground–belowground relationships in controlling ecosystem processes and properties. Here, we review recent studies that show that relationships between aboveground and belowground communities operate over a hierarchy of temporal scales, ranging from days to seasons, to millennia, with differing consequences for ecosystem structure and function. We propose that a temporal framework is crucial to our understanding of the nature and ecological significance of relationships between aboveground and belowground communities.
802 citations