scholarly journals The Influences of Disturbance Histories and Soil Properties on Aboveground Biomass through Plant Functional Traits in a Tropical Rainforest

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 774 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wensheng Bu ◽  
Cancan Zhang ◽  
Jihong Huang ◽  
Runguo Zang ◽  
Yi Ding ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Aboveground Biomass ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Plant Functional Traits ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Adult Trees ◽  
Adult Tree

Research Highlights: We try to evaluate the relative contribution of environmental factors and functional traits on aboveground biomass in a species rich tropical forest ecosystem after a 40-years natural recovery. Background and Objectives: Functional traits have a potential to incorporate community dynamics into the impacts of disturbance histories or environmental conditions on ecosystem functioning, but few studies have been conducted to understand these processes. Materials and Methods: We measured plant functional traits and soil properties in the tropical montane rainforests on Hainan Island, China, which had experienced different disturbance histories (clear cutting, selective logging, and old-growth) 40 years ago. A structural equation model was used to elucidate how disturbance histories and soil factors influence aboveground biomass (AGB) across different size classes (saplings, treelets, and adult trees) through plant functional traits. Results: The results demonstrated logging stimulated seedling establishment but decreased AGB of adult trees and wood density at community-level (CWM_WD) of sapling and adult tree. Generally, CWM_WD of sapling, treelet, and adult tree decreased linearly with the increasing of specific leaf area at community-level (CWM_SLA) in old-growth forest and these two disturbed forests. Moreover, CWM_SLA explained more variation of CWM_WD with increasing intensity of logging within sapling, treelet, and adult tree. CWM_SLA and CWM_WD not only responded to environmental conditions and disturbance intensity but also affected AGB in all size classes; meanwhile, CWM_SLA was a major driver of AGB. CWM_SLA had a stronger effect on AGB in sapling and treelet classes than on the adult tree class. Conclusions: Our results suggested that disturbance history and environmental factors could directly or indirectly affect ecosystem functioning through plant functional traits. Functional traits always had a stronger effect on AGB than environmental conditions. Moreover, CWM_SLA is a key trait that can be used to link the relationship between environmental conditions and AGB.

scholarly journals Plant functional traits are correlated with species persistence in the herb layer of old-growth beech forests

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giandiego Campetella ◽  
Stefano Chelli ◽  
Enrico Simonetti ◽  
Claudia Damiani ◽  
Sandor Bartha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Traits ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Seed Mass ◽  
Plant Functional Traits ◽  
Summer Drought ◽  
Fine Scale ◽  
Herb Layer ◽  
Beech Forests ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Species Persistence

Abstract This paper explores which traits are correlated with fine-scale (0.25 m2) species persistence patterns in the herb layer of old-growth forests. Four old-growth beech forests representing different climatic contexts (presence or absence of summer drought period) were selected along a north–south gradient in Italy. Eight surveys were conducted in each of the sites during the period spanning 1999–2011. We found that fine-scale species persistence was correlated with different sets of plant functional traits, depending on local ecological context. Seed mass was found to be as important for the fine-scale species persistence in the northern sites, while clonal and bud-bank traits were markedly correlated with the southern sites characterised by summer drought. Leaf traits appeared to correlate with species persistence in the drier and wetter sites. However, we found that different attributes, i.e. helomorphic vs scleromorphic leaves, were correlated to species persistence in the northernmost and southernmost sites, respectively. These differences appear to be dependent on local trait adaptation rather than plant phylogenetic history. Our findings suggest that the persistent species in the old-growth forests might adopt an acquisitive resource-use strategy (i.e. helomorphic leaves with high SLA) with higher seed mass in sites without summer drought, while under water-stressed conditions persistent species have a conservative resource-use strategy (i.e. scleromorphic leaves with low SLA) with an increased importance of clonal and resprouting ability.

Summary of changes in plant functional traits and environmental factors in different successional stages of island plants

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
张增可 ZHANG Zengke ◽  
郑心炫 ZHENG Xinxuan ◽  
林华贞 LIN Huazhen ◽  
林欣 LIN Xin ◽  
黄柳菁 HUANG Liujing
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Plant Functional Traits ◽  
Successional Stages

Plant functional traits explain species abundance patterns and strategies shifts among saplings and adult trees in Araucaria forests

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joice Klipel ◽  
Rodrigo Scarton Bergamin ◽  
Guilherme Dubal Dos Santos Seger ◽  
Marcos Bergmann Carlucci ◽  
Sandra Cristina Müller
Keyword(s):  
Functional Traits ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Plant Functional Traits ◽  
Abundance Patterns ◽  
Adult Trees

scholarly journals Precipitation Variability Affects Aboveground Biomass Directly and Indirectly via Plant Functional Traits in the Desert Steppe of Inner Mongolia, Northern China

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huan Cheng ◽  
Yuanbo Gong ◽  
Xiaoan Zuo
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Area ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Aboveground Biomass ◽  
Inner Mongolia ◽  
Structural Equation Models ◽  
Plant Functional Traits ◽  
Leaf Nitrogen Content ◽  
Dry Matter Content ◽  
Desert Steppe ◽  
Precipitation Changes

Clarifying the response of community and dominance species to climate change is crucial for disentangling the mechanism of the ecosystem evolution and predicting the prospective dynamics of communities under the global climate scenario. We examined how precipitation changes affect community structure and aboveground biomass (AGB) according to manipulated precipitation experiments in the desert steppe of Inner Mongolia, China. Bayesian model and structural equation models (SEM) were used to test variation and causal relationship among precipitation, plant diversity, functional attributes, and AGB. The results showed that the responses of species richness, evenness, and plant community weighted means traits to precipitation changes in amount and year were significant. The SEM demonstrated that precipitation change in amount and year has a direct effect on richness, evenness, and community-weighted mean (CWM) for height, leaf area (LA), specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf nitrogen content (LNC), and leaf carbon content (LCC) and AGB; there into CWM for height and LDMC had a direct positive effect on AGB; LA had a direct negative effect on AGB. Three dominant species showed diverse adaptation and resource utilization strategies in response to precipitation changes. A. polyrhizum showed an increase in height under the precipitation treatments that promoted AGB, whereas the AGB of P. harmala and S. glareosa was boosted through alterations in height and LA. Our results highlight the asynchronism of variation in community composition and structure, leaf functional traits in precipitation-AGB relationship. We proposed that altered AGB resulted from the direct and indirect effects of plant functional traits (plant height, LA, LDMC) rather than species diversity, plant functional traits are likely candidate traits, given that they are mechanistically linked to precipitation changes and affected aboveground biomass in a desert steppe.

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