scholarly journals Grassland cutting regimes affect soil properties, and consequently vegetation composition and belowground plant traits

2012 ◽  
Vol 366 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 401-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maarten J. J. Schrama ◽  
Verena Cordlandwehr ◽  
Eric J. W. Visser ◽  
Theo M. Elzenga ◽  
Yzaak de Vries ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Properties ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Vegetation Composition ◽  
Cutting Regimes

scholarly journals Increased signal to noise ratios within experimental field trials by regressing spatially distributed soil properties as principal components.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey C Berry ◽  
Mingsheng Qi ◽  
Balasaheb V Sonawane ◽  
Amy Sheflin ◽  
Asaph Cousins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Properties ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Experimental System ◽  
Environmental Variation ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Spatially Distributed ◽  
Sorghum Genotypes

Environmental variability poses a major challenge to any field study. Researchers attempt to mitigate this challenge through replication. Thus, the ability to detect experimental signals is determined by the degree of replication and the amount of environmental variation, noise, within the experimental system. A major source of noise in field studies comes from the natural heterogeneity of soil properties which create micro-treatments throughout the field. To make matters worse, the variation within different soil properties is often non-randomly distributed across a field. We explore this challenge through a sorghum field trial dataset with accompanying plant, microbiome and soil property data. Diverse sorghum genotypes and two watering regimes were applied in a split-plot design. We describe a process of identifying, estimating, and controlling for the effects of spatially distributed soil properties on plant traits and microbial communities using minimal degrees of freedom. Importantly, this process provides a tool with which sources of environmental variation in field data can be identified and removed, improving our ability to resolve effects of interest and to quantify subtle phenotypes.

scholarly journals A positive correlation between plant diversity and productivity is indirectly caused by environmental factors driving spatial pattern of vegetation composition in semiarid sandy grassland

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 11795-11825
Author(s):  
X. A. Zuo ◽  
J. M. H. Knops ◽  
X. Y. Zhao ◽  
H. L. Zhao ◽  
Y. Q. Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Spatial Pattern ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Vegetation Composition ◽  
Wet Meadow ◽  
Positive Correlation ◽  
Environment Gradients

Abstract. Although patterns between plant diversity and ecosystem productivity have been much studied, a consistent relationship has not yet emerged. Several different patterns have been observed both naturally and experimentally, likely caused by spatial variability of environmental factors and vegetation composition. In this study, we measured the vegetation cover, plant diversity, productivity, soil properties and site characteristics along an environment gradient of natural sandy grasslands (mobile dune, semi-fixed dune, fixed dune, dry meadow, wet meadow and flood plain grassland) in a semiarid area of Northern China. We used multivariate analysis to examine the relationships between environment factors, vegetation composition, plant diversity and productivity. We found a positive correlation between plant diversity and productivity. Vegetation composition had also a significantly positive correlation with plant diversity and productivity. Environment gradients in relation to soil properties and topography features affected the distribution patterns of species diversity, vegetation composition and productivity. However, environment gradients are a better determiner for vegetation composition and productivity than for species diversity. The analysis from optimization model of structural equation suggests that environmental factors determine vegetation composition, which in turn drives independently both plant diversity and productivity. Thus the positive correlation between plant diversity and productivity is not direct, but indirectly driven by the spatial pattern of vegetation composition determined by environment gradients in soil and topography.

scholarly journals The effect of abandonment on vegetation composition and soil properties in Molinion meadows (SW Poland)

PLoS ONE ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. e0197363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Swacha ◽  
Zoltán Botta-Dukát ◽  
Zygmunt Kącki ◽  
Daniel Pruchniewicz ◽  
Ludwik Żołnierz
Keyword(s):  
Soil Properties ◽  
Vegetation Composition ◽  
Sw Poland

scholarly journals Linkages of plant traits to soil properties and the functioning of temperate grassland

2010 ◽  
Vol 98 (5) ◽  
pp. 1074-1083 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate H. Orwin ◽  
Sarah M. Buckland ◽  
David Johnson ◽  
Benjamin L. Turner ◽  
Simon Smart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Properties ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Temperate Grassland

scholarly journals Vegetation composition, structure and soil properties across coastal forest–barren ecotones

Plant Ecology ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 211 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott T. Burley ◽  
Karen A. Harper ◽  
Jeremy T. Lundholm
Keyword(s):  
Soil Properties ◽  
Coastal Forest ◽  
Vegetation Composition ◽  
Composition Structure

Contrasting responses of native and alien plant species to soil properties shed new light on the invasion of dune systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 667-675
Author(s):  
Stefano Vitti ◽  
Elisa Pellegrini ◽  
Valentino Casolo ◽  
Giacomo Trotta ◽  
Francesco Boscutti
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Soil Salinity ◽  
Plant Invasion ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Alien Plant ◽  
Dune Systems

Abstract Aims Among terrestrial ecosystems, coastal sandy dunes are particularly prone to alien plant invasion. Many studies related the invasion of dune habitats to anthropic causes, but less is known about the role of soil properties and plant traits in plant invasion. In this study, we tested the relationships between soil features and alien plant invasion in dune systems, focusing on the interplay between soil nutrients, soil salinity and plant functional traits. Methods Study sites were sandy barrier islands of the Marano and Grado lagoon (northern Adriatic Sea). One hundred plots (4 m × 4 m) were selected within 10 areas according to the main habitats occurring along the ecological gradient of dune system (foredune, backdune and saltmarsh). In each plot, we recorded all plant species occurrence and abundance and we collected a soil core. For each soil sample, soil texture, conductivity (as proxy of soil salinity), organic carbon and nitrogen content were analyzed and related to the species number and cover of native and alien plants. Variation of main reproductive and vegetative functional traits among habitats was also analyzed for both alien and native species. Important Findings Soil properties were strongly related to overall plant diversity, by differently affecting alien and native species pools. In backdune, the most invaded habitat, a high soil conductivity limited the number of alien species, whereas the content of soil organic carbon increased along with alien plant abundance, suggesting also the occurrence of potential feedback processes between plant invasion and soil. We found a significant convergence between native and alien plant functional trait spectra only in backdune habitat, where environmental conditions ameliorate and plant competition increases. Our findings suggest that in harsh conditions only native specialized plants can thrive while at intermediate conditions, soil properties gradient acts in synergy with plant traits to curb/facilitate alien plant richness.

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