Plant traits predict impact of invading species: an analysis of herbaceous vegetation in the subtropics

2005 ◽  
Vol 53 (8) ◽  
pp. 757 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. McIntyre ◽  
T. G. Martin ◽  
K. M. Heard ◽  
J. Kinloch
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Weed Management ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
High Impact ◽  
Habitat Characteristics ◽  
Lateral Spread ◽  
Large Animal ◽  
Herbaceous Plant ◽  
Plant Component

The need to predict potential invasion impact of plant species is important for setting weed-management priorities and determining quarantine restrictions for newly imported plant material. We analysed the naturalised plant component of a herbaceous plant community in sub-tropical eucalypt woodlands subjected to various disturbances associated with agricultural activities. The native and naturalised plant species did not differ in the proportions of different life forms, although life-history differed, with the naturalised group having more annual and biennial, and relatively fewer perennial species. We classified the naturalised assemblage into high- and low-impact species and compared the plant-trait and habitat characteristics of the two groups. Low-impact species covered a range of levels of habitat specialisation whereas high-impact species tended to have moderate to low levels of specialisation and to be less tolerant of grazing. Seven traits were found to be significantly associated with impact. Stepwise regression indicated a high level of redundancy in the data, owing to attributes being correlated. For all species, four attributes were significant in determining impact: very wide lateral spread, C4 photosynthesis, tall height and large leaves. For forbs, only two attributes (large seeds, adhesion/ingestion mode of seed dispersal) were significant in the overall model. We identified the following eight functional types amongst the naturalised species: (i) high-impact C4 lawn grasses, (ii) high-impact C4 bulky tussock grasses, (iii) moderate-impact annual grasses, (iv) moderate-impact tall annual forbs, (v) moderate-impact spreading forbs, (vi) moderate-impact woody forbs, (vii) low-impact legumes and (viii) low-impact small ruderals. In the subtropical woodland environment perennial C4 grasses appear to present the greatest invasive threat to herbaceous native communities, whereas forbs of wide lateral spread, with large animal-dispersed seeds are also problematic. The results support a case for limiting further importation of horticultural and forage material into Australia.

scholarly journals The phenobs initiative – A standardised protocol for monitoring phenological responses to climate change using herbaceous plant species in botanical gardens

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Birgit Nordt ◽  
Isabell Hensen ◽  
Solveig Franziska Bucher ◽  
Martin Freiberg ◽  
Richard B. Primack ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Herbaceous Plant ◽  
Botanical Gardens

scholarly journals Phytoremediation Potential of Native Herbaceous Plant Species Growing on a Paradigmatic Brownfield Site

2021 ◽  
Vol 232 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Matanzas ◽  
E. Afif ◽  
T. E. Díaz ◽  
J. R. Gallego
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Contaminated Soils ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Plantago Lanceolata ◽  
Herbaceous Plant ◽  
Plant Interactions ◽  
Aerial Parts ◽  
Medicago Lupulina ◽  
Icp Ms

AbstractPhytomanagement techniques using native species allow the recovery of contaminated soils at low cost and circumvent the ecological risks associated with the use of non-native species. In this context, a paradigmatic brownfield megasite highly contaminated by As and Pb was sampled in order to analyze soil–plant interactions and identify plant species with phytoremediation potential. A survey was first carried out in a 20-ha area to obtain an inventory of species growing spontaneously throughout the site. We then performed another survey in the most polluted sub-area (1 ha) within the site. Pseudototal concentrations of contaminants in the soil, aerial parts of the plants, and roots were measured by ICP-MS. A detailed habitat classification was done, and a specific index of coverage was applied by means of a 1-year quadrat study in various sampling stations. Results converged in the selection of six herbaceous species (Dysphania botrys, Lotus corniculatus, Lotus hispidus, Plantago lanceolata, Trifolium repens, Medicago lupulina). All of these plants are fast-growing, thereby making them suitable for use in phytostabilization strategies. Furthermore, they are all easy to grow and propagate and are generally self-sustaining. All six plants showed accumulation factors below 1, thus revealing them as pseudomethallophytes and excluders. However, L. hispidus and M. lupulina showed translocation capacity and are considered worthy of further study.

Ethnobotanical study in the Madonie Regional Park (Central Sicily, Italy)—Medicinal use of wild shrub and herbaceous plant species

2013 ◽  
Vol 146 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio Leto ◽  
Teresa Tuttolomondo ◽  
Salvatore La Bella ◽  
Mario Licata
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Ethnobotanical Study ◽  
Herbaceous Plant ◽  
Medicinal Use

scholarly journals Plant traits are poor predictors of long-term ecosystem functioning

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fons van der Plas ◽  
Thomas Schröder-Georgi ◽  
Alexandra Weigelt ◽  
Kathryn Barry ◽  
Sebastian Meyer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Plant Performance ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Average Percentage ◽  
Functional Consequences ◽  
Small Set

ABSTRACTEarth is home to over 350,000 vascular plant species1 that differ in their traits in innumerable ways. Yet, a handful of functional traits can help explaining major differences among species in photosynthetic rate, growth rate, reproductive output and other aspects of plant performance2–6. A key challenge, coined “the Holy Grail” in ecology, is to upscale this understanding in order to predict how natural or anthropogenically driven changes in the identity and diversity of co-occurring plant species drive the functioning of ecosystems7, 8. Here, we analyze the extent to which 42 different ecosystem functions can be predicted by 41 plant traits in 78 experimentally manipulated grassland plots over 10 years. Despite the unprecedented number of traits analyzed, the average percentage of variation in ecosystem functioning that they jointly explained was only moderate (32.6%) within individual years, and even much lower (12.7%) across years. Most other studies linking ecosystem functioning to plant traits analyzed no more than six traits, and when including either only six random or the six most frequently studied traits in our analysis, the average percentage of explained variation in across-year ecosystem functioning dropped to 4.8%. Furthermore, different ecosystem functions were driven by different traits, with on average only 12.2% overlap in significant predictors. Thus, we did not find evidence for the existence of a small set of key traits able to explain variation in multiple ecosystem functions across years. Our results therefore suggest that there are strong limits in the extent to which we can predict the long-term functional consequences of the ongoing, rapid changes in the composition and diversity of plant communities that humanity is currently facing.

scholarly journals Herbaceous plant species diversity in communal agro-pastoral and conservation areas in western Serengeti, Tanzania

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 502-518
Author(s):  
Pius Yoram Kavana ◽  
Anthony Z. Sangeda ◽  
Ephraim J. Mtengeti ◽  
Christopher Mahonge ◽  
John Bukombe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Plant Species Diversity ◽  
Livestock Grazing ◽  
Herbaceous Plant ◽  
Herbaceous Species ◽  
Grazing Land ◽  
Grazing Lands

Agro-pastoralism involves the growing of crops and keeping of livestock as a livelihood strategy practiced by communities in rural areas in Africa and is highly dependent on environmental factors including rainfall, soil and vegetation. Agro-pastoral activities, e.g. livestock grazing and land clearing for crop cultivation, impact on environmental condition. This study evaluated the impacts of agro-pastoral activities on herbaceous plant species diversity and abundance in western Serengeti relative to conservation (protected) areas. A vegetation survey was conducted along the grazing gradients of ten 4 km transects from within village lands to protected areas. A total of 123 herbaceous species belonging to 20 families were identified. Higher herbaceous species diversity and richness were found in protected areas than in communal grazing lands. Similarly, the number of perennial herbaceous species was higher in the former than the latter, while occurrence of annuals was higher in the village areas. This observation indicates poor rangeland condition in village communal grazing lands as compared with protected areas. It is obvious that current agro-pastoral activities have contributed to a reduction in herbaceous species diversity in village lands in western Serengeti. However, the array of pasture species, especially desirable perennial species, still present in communal grazing areas, suggests that rejuvenation of these areas is possible. Resting of grazing land is recommended to reverse the trend towards diversity reduction and ensure future availability of feed resources for grazing animals in village lands.

Displacement of an herbaceous plant species community by mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal Gmelina arborea, an exotic tree, grown in a microcosm experiment

Mycorrhiza ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arsene Sanon ◽  
Pascal Martin ◽  
Jean Thioulouse ◽  
Christian Plenchette ◽  
Rodolphe Spichiger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Herbaceous Plant ◽  
Gmelina Arborea ◽  
Microcosm Experiment ◽  
Exotic Tree

Detection of tomato ringspot virus in white ash and adjacent vegetation in central New York

1988 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 815-819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha A. Ferris ◽  
John D. Castello
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Ringspot Virus ◽  
Herbaceous Plant ◽  
Tissue Samples ◽  
White Ash ◽  
Tomato Ringspot Virus ◽  
Central New York

Tissue samples from 15 woody and herbaceous plant species, including white ash (Fraxinusamericana L.), were collected monthly during the spring and summer of 1985 and indexed by ELISA for tomato ringspot virus. The virus was detected in 12 of 23 white ash indexed, most frequently in the roots. Of 88 white ash seedlings inoculated with purified tomato ringspot virus, the virus was detected by ELISA in 7 seedlings after two cycles of growth and dormancy, and in only 1 seedling after one cycle of growth and dormancy postinoculation. The virus was also detected in Fragariavirginiana Mill., Prunusvirginiana L., Rubusoccidentalis L., R. strigosus Michx., Solidagocanadensis L., Trifoliumpratense L., T. repens L., and Daucuscarota L. growing within 50 m of infected ash.

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