Species richness and canopy productivity of Australian plant communities

1993 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Specht ◽  
Raymond L. Specht
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Australian Plant

Species Richness of Overstorey Strata in Australian Plant Communities ̵2 the Influence of Overstorey Growth Rates

1989 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 321 ◽  
Author(s):  
RL Specht ◽  
A Specht
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Sampling Site ◽  
Growth Increment ◽  
Australian Plant ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Tall Shrub ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Species Being ◽  
Annual Growth Increment

The species richness (number of tree and tall shrub species per hectare) of overstorey strata is examined in tropical, subtropical and temperate climax plant communities of Australia. Species richness (N) is shown to increase as the evaporative coefficient (k) of the sampling site increases from semiarid climates (k = 0.035-0.045) to perhumid climates (k = 0.075-0.100): Tropical: log N = 17.38k + 0.40. Subtropical: log N = 25.40k - 0.60. Temperate: log N = 8.90k + 0.09. Species richness of overstorey strata is highest in the tropics (N = 138 when k = 0. 100), followed by the subtropics (N = 73 when k = 0. 100), with only a small number of overstorey species being associ- ated with temperate communities (N = 8-10 when k = 0.100). Species richness of the overstorey is positively related to the annual shoot growth (vertical com- ponent) of the foliage canopy as it regenerates after disturbance. The tendency to dominance of only a few overstorey species in temperate communities may be enhanced by rapid stem growth (current annual growth increment) of the plant community due to lower cellular metabolism and respiration in stems and roots in cooler climates compared with those in the tropics. Trees and tall shrubs appear to be excluded as overstorey components when the respiratory coefficient (c) approaches 0.030 and the mean annual temperatures (of snow-free localities) are less than 13°C.

scholarly journals Disentangling the Ecological Determinants of Species and Functional Trait Diversity in Herb-Layer Plant Communities in European Temperate Forests

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 552
Author(s):  
Janez Kermavnar ◽  
Lado Kutnar ◽  
Aleksander Marinšek
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Functional Trait ◽  
Forest Stand ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Herb Layer ◽  
Bud Bank ◽  
Tree Species Composition ◽  
Stand Characteristics

Forest herb-layer vegetation responds sensitively to environmental conditions. This paper compares drivers of both taxonomic, i.e., species richness, cover and evenness, and functional herb-layer diversity, i.e., the diversity of clonal, bud bank and leaf-height-seed plant traits. We investigated the dependence of herb-layer diversity on ecological determinants related to soil properties, climatic parameters, forest stand characteristics, and topographic and abiotic and biotic factors associated with forest floor structure. The study was conducted in different forest types in Slovenia, using vegetation and environmental data from 50 monitoring plots (400 m2 each) belonging to the ICP Forests Level I and II network. The main objective was to first identify significant ecological predictors and then quantify their relative importance. Species richness was strongly determined by forest stand characteristics, such as richness of the shrub layer, tree layer shade-casting ability as a proxy for light availability and tree species composition. It showed a clear positive relation to soil pH. Variation in herb-layer cover was also best explained by forest stand characteristics and, to a lesser extent, by structural factors such as moss cover. Species evenness was associated with tree species composition, shrub layer cover and soil pH. Various ecological determinants were decisive for the diversity of below-ground traits, i.e., clonal and bud bank traits. For these two trait groups we observed a substantial climatic signal that was completely absent for taxonomy-based measures of diversity. In contrast, above-ground leaf-height-seed (LHS) traits were driven exclusively by soil reaction and nitrogen availability. In synthesis, local stand characteristics and soil properties acted as the main controlling factors for both species and trait diversity in herb-layer communities across Slovenia, confirming many previous studies. Our findings suggest that the taxonomic and functional facets of herb-layer vegetation are mainly influenced by a similar set of ecological determinants. However, their relative importance varies among individual taxonomy- and functional trait-based diversity measures. Integrating multi-faceted approaches can provide complementary information on patterns of herb-layer diversity in European forest plant communities.

scholarly journals Environmental associations of abundance-weighted functional traits in Australian plant communities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Greg R. Guerin ◽  
Rachael V. Gallagher ◽  
Ian J. Wright ◽  
Samuel C. Andrew ◽  
Daniel S. Falster ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Traits ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Australian Plant

Species Richness Interacts with Drought to Affect Litter Decomposition via its Effect on Litter Nitrogen Concentration

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiang Wang ◽  
Yuan Ge ◽  
J. Hans C. Cornelissen ◽  
Xiaoyan Wang ◽  
Song Gao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Global Change ◽  
Climatic Change ◽  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Nitrogen Concentration ◽  
Plant Invasions ◽  
Exotic Plant ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Litter Nitrogen

Abstract Biodiversity loss, exotic plant invasions and climatic change are currently the three major challenges to our globe and can each affect various ecological processes, including litter composition. To gain a better understanding of global change impacts on ecological processes, these three global change components need to be considered simultaneously. Here we assembled experimental plant communities with species richness levels (1, 2, 4, 8 or 16) and subjected them to drought (no, moderate or intensive drought) and invasion (invasion by the exotic annual plant Symphyotrichum subulatum or not). We collected litter of the native plant communities and let it decompose for nine months within the communities. Drought decreased litter decomposition, while the exotic plant invasion had no impact. Increasing species richness decreased litter decomposition under the mesic condition (no drought), but had little impact under moderate and intensive drought. A structural equation model showed that drought and species richness affected litter decomposition mainly via influencing litter nitrogen concentration, but not via altering the quantity and diversity of soil meso-fauna or soil physio-chemical properties. The negative impact of species diversity on litter decomposition under the mesic condition was mainly ascribed to a sampling effect, i.e. via particularly low litter nitrogen concentrations in the two dominant species. Our results indicate that species richness can interact with drought to affect litter decomposition via effect on litter nitrogen. We conclude that nitrogen-dependent litter decomposition should be a mechanism to predict integrated effects of plant diversity loss, exotic plant invasions and climatic change on litter decomposition.

scholarly journals Effect of Urbanization on Vegetation in Riparian Area: Plant Communities in Artificial and Semi-Natural Habitats

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Cao ◽  
Yosihiro Natuhara
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Impervious Surface ◽  
Riparian Areas ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Artificial Habitats ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Impact Of Urbanization ◽  
The Impact

Riparian areas are local hot spots of biodiversity that are vulnerable and easily degraded. Comparing plant communities in habitats with different degrees of urbanization may provide valuable information for the management and restoration of these vulnerable habitats. In this study, we explored the impact of urbanization on vegetation communities between artificial and semi-natural habitats within two rivers with different levels of development. We compared species richness, types of vegetation, and composition patterns of the plants in our study. In artificial habitats, the sites with relatively high levels of urbanization had the highest species richness, while in semi-natural habitats, the highest species richness was recorded in the less urbanized sites. Furthermore, every component of urbanization that contributed to the variation of species richness was examined in the current study. In artificial habitats, the proportion of impervious surface was the strongest predictor of the variation in species richness and was associated with the richness of alien, native, and riparian species. In semi-natural habitats, most of the richness of alien and native species were associated with the distance to the city center, and the number of riparian and ruderal species was significantly related to the proportion of impervious surface. Moreover, we found that a high level of urbanization was always associated with a large abundance of alien and ruderal species in both artificial and in semi-natural habitats. We recommend the methods of pair comparison of multiple rivers to analyze the impact of urbanization on plant species in riparian areas and have suggested various management actions for maintaining biodiversity and sustainability in riparian ecosystems.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document