TY - JOUR

T1 - Plant functional trait response to environmental drivers across European temperate forest understorey communities

AU - Maes, S. L.

AU - Perring, M. P.

AU - Depauw, L.

AU - Bernhardt-Römermann, M.

AU - Blondeel, H.

AU - Brūmelis, G.

AU - Brunet, J.

AU - Decocq, G.

AU - den Ouden, J.

AU - Govaert, S.

AU - Härdtle, Werner

AU - Hédl, R.

AU - Heinken, T.

AU - Heinrichs, S.

AU - Hertzog, L.

AU - Jaroszewicz, B.

AU - Kirby, K.

AU - Kopecký, M.

AU - Landuyt, D.

AU - Máliš, F.

AU - Vanneste, T.

AU - Wulf, Monika

AU - Verheyen, K.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2019 German Society for Plant Sciences and The Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands

PY - 2020/5/1

Y1 - 2020/5/1

N2 - Functional traits respond to environmental drivers, hence evaluating trait-environment relationships across spatial environmental gradients can help to understand how multiple drivers influence plant communities. Global-change drivers such as changes in atmospheric nitrogen deposition occur worldwide, but affect community trait distributions at the local scale, where resources (e.g. light availability) and conditions (e.g. soil pH) also influence plant communities. We investigate how multiple environmental drivers affect community trait responses related to resource acquisition (plant height, specific leaf area (SLA), woodiness, and mycorrhizal status) and regeneration (seed mass, lateral spread) of European temperate deciduous forest understoreys. We sampled understorey communities and derived trait responses across spatial gradients of global-change drivers (temperature, precipitation, nitrogen deposition, and past land use), while integrating in-situ plot measurements on resources and conditions (soil type, Olsen phosphorus (P), Ellenberg soil moisture, light, litter mass, and litter quality). Among the global-change drivers, mean annual temperature strongly influenced traits related to resource acquisition. Higher temperatures were associated with taller understoreys producing leaves with lower SLA, and a higher proportional cover of woody and obligate mycorrhizal (OM) species. Communities in plots with higher Ellenberg soil moisture content had smaller seeds and lower proportional cover of woody and OM species. Finally, plots with thicker litter layers hosted taller understoreys with larger seeds and a higher proportional cover of OM species. Our findings suggest potential community shifts in temperate forest understoreys with global warming, and highlight the importance of local resources and conditions as well as global-change drivers for community trait variation.

AB - Functional traits respond to environmental drivers, hence evaluating trait-environment relationships across spatial environmental gradients can help to understand how multiple drivers influence plant communities. Global-change drivers such as changes in atmospheric nitrogen deposition occur worldwide, but affect community trait distributions at the local scale, where resources (e.g. light availability) and conditions (e.g. soil pH) also influence plant communities. We investigate how multiple environmental drivers affect community trait responses related to resource acquisition (plant height, specific leaf area (SLA), woodiness, and mycorrhizal status) and regeneration (seed mass, lateral spread) of European temperate deciduous forest understoreys. We sampled understorey communities and derived trait responses across spatial gradients of global-change drivers (temperature, precipitation, nitrogen deposition, and past land use), while integrating in-situ plot measurements on resources and conditions (soil type, Olsen phosphorus (P), Ellenberg soil moisture, light, litter mass, and litter quality). Among the global-change drivers, mean annual temperature strongly influenced traits related to resource acquisition. Higher temperatures were associated with taller understoreys producing leaves with lower SLA, and a higher proportional cover of woody and obligate mycorrhizal (OM) species. Communities in plots with higher Ellenberg soil moisture content had smaller seeds and lower proportional cover of woody and OM species. Finally, plots with thicker litter layers hosted taller understoreys with larger seeds and a higher proportional cover of OM species. Our findings suggest potential community shifts in temperate forest understoreys with global warming, and highlight the importance of local resources and conditions as well as global-change drivers for community trait variation.

KW - Global environmental change

KW - ground vegetation

KW - herbaceous layer

KW - plant–soil relations

KW - regeneration

KW - resource acquisition

KW - Ecosystems Research

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85077859232&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/fc691eee-cecb-301c-a03a-b47605045e6f/

U2 - 10.1111/plb.13082

DO - 10.1111/plb.13082

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 31840363

AN - SCOPUS:85077859232

VL - 22

SP - 410

EP - 424

JO - Plant Biology

JF - Plant Biology

SN - 1435-8603

IS - 3

ER -