scholarly journals AusTraits, a curated plant trait database for the Australian flora

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Falster ◽  
Rachael Gallagher ◽  
Elizabeth H. Wenk ◽  
Ian J. Wright ◽  
Dony Indiarto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Traits ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Seed Mass ◽  
Physiological Measures ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Photosynthetic Gas Exchange ◽  
Morphological Attributes ◽  
Plant Trait ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Australian Flora

AbstractWe introduce the AusTraits database - a compilation of values of plant traits for taxa in the Australian flora (hereafter AusTraits). AusTraits synthesises data on 448 traits across 28,640 taxa from field campaigns, published literature, taxonomic monographs, and individual taxon descriptions. Traits vary in scope from physiological measures of performance (e.g. photosynthetic gas exchange, water-use efficiency) to morphological attributes (e.g. leaf area, seed mass, plant height) which link to aspects of ecological variation. AusTraits contains curated and harmonised individual- and species-level measurements coupled to, where available, contextual information on site properties and experimental conditions. This article provides information on version 3.0.2 of AusTraits which contains data for 997,808 trait-by-taxon combinations. We envision AusTraits as an ongoing collaborative initiative for easily archiving and sharing trait data, which also provides a template for other national or regional initiatives globally to fill persistent gaps in trait knowledge.

scholarly journals AusTraits: a curated plant trait database for the Australian flora

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel S. Falster ◽  
Rachael Gallagher ◽  
Elizabeth Wenk ◽  
Ian Wright ◽  
Dony Indiarto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Traits ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Seed Mass ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Physiological Measures ◽  
Photosynthetic Gas Exchange ◽  
Plant Trait ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Australian Flora ◽  
Measures Of Performance

We introduce the AusTraits database - a compilation of measurements of plant traits for taxa in the Australian flora (hereafter AusTraits). AusTraits synthesises data on 375 traits across 29230 taxa from field campaigns, published literature, taxonomic monographs, and individual taxa descriptions. Traits vary in scope from physiological measures of performance (e.g.~photosynthetic gas exchange, water-use efficiency) to morphological parameters (e.g.~leaf area, seed mass, plant height) which link to aspects of ecological variation. AusTraits contains curated and harmonised individual-, species- and genus-level observations coupled to, where available, contextual information on site properties. This data descriptor provides information on version 2.1.0 of AusTraits which contains data for 937243 trait-by-taxa combinations. We envision AusTraits as an ongoing collaborative initiative for easily archiving and sharing trait data to increase our collective understanding of the Australian flora.

Effects of Provocation on Emotions and Aggression: An Experimental Study with Aggressive Children

2006 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Stadler ◽  
Sonja Rohrmann ◽  
Sibylle Steuber ◽  
Fritz Poustka
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Physiological Measures ◽  
Competitive Reaction ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Conduct Disordered ◽  
Physiological Variables ◽  
Aggressive Children ◽  
Conductance Level

In this study, the effects of an experimental-induced provocation on emotions and aggression were examined in 34 aggressive conduct-disordered children using a competitive reaction time paradigm. Two experimental conditions were created, an increasing provocation and a low constant provocation condition. Self-rated anger was assessed directly after provocation on a 5-point-visual scale. In addition, negative and positive emotions as well as physiological measures (heart rate and skin conductance level) were measured at baseline and after provocation. Results revealed that participants’ aggressive behaviour and subjective emotions differed as a function of the opponent’s level of provocation. Concerning physiological parameters, no significant differences were found between the experimental conditions. These results suggest that affective, but not physiological variables characterize reactive aggression in conduct-disordered children.

The effect of hand immersion on body temperature when wearing impermeable clothing

1991 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-47
Author(s):  
A. J. Allsopp ◽  
Kerry A. Poole
Keyword(s):  
Body Temperature ◽  
Skin Temperature ◽  
Environmental Temperature ◽  
List Type ◽  
Physiological Measures ◽  
Total Work ◽  
Mean Skin Temperature ◽  
Work Time ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Rest Periods

AbstractThe effects of hand immersion on body temperature have been investigated in men wearing impermeable NBC clothing. Six men worked continuously at a rate of approximately 490 J.sec−1 in an environmental temperature of 30°C. Each subject was permitted to rest for a period of 20 minutes when their aural temperature reached 37.5°C, and again on reaching 38°C, and for a third time on reaching 38.5°C (three rest periods in total). Each subject completed three experimental conditions whereby, during the rest periods they either: a.Did not immerse their hands (control).b.Immersed both hands in a water bath set at 25°c.c.Immersed both hands in water at 10°C.Physiological measures of core temperature, skin temperature and heart rate were recorded at intervals throughout the experiment.Measures of mean aural temperature and mean skin temperature were significantly (P<0.05) reduced if hands were immersed during these rest periods, compared to non immersion. As a result, the total work time of subjects was extended when in the immersed conditions by some 10–20 minutes within the confines of the protocol.It is concluded that this technique of simple hand immersion may be effective in reducing heat stress where normal routes to heat loss are compromised.

scholarly journals Can we predict dispersal guilds based on the leaf-height-seed scheme in a disjunct cerrado woodland?

2008 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 553-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
AVF. Jardim ◽  
MA. Batalha
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Area ◽  
Specific Leaf Area ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Seed Mass ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Canopy Height ◽  
Southeastern Brazil ◽  
Plant Canopy ◽  
Frugivorous Birds

Although there have been advances in methods for extracting information about dispersal processes, it is still very difficult to measure them. Predicting dispersal groups using single readily-measured traits would facilitate the emergence of instructive comparisons among ecological strategies of plants and offer a path towards improved synthesis across field experiments. The leaf-height-seed scheme consists of three functional traits: specific leaf area, plant canopy height, and seed mass. We tested, applying logistic regression analysis, whether these traits are potential predictors of dispersal guilds in a disjoint cerrado woodland site in southeastern Brazil. According to our results, none of the plant traits studied could predict dispersal guild; this means that abiotically and biotically dispersed species showed similar values of specific leaf area, height, and seed mass. The species of both guilds exhibited sclerophylly, probably a result of the typical soil nutrient deficiency of cerrado, which also may have placed constraints upon plant canopy height regardless of the dispersal mode. In the cerrado, some abiotically dispersed trees might present higher than expected seed mass as support to the investment in high root-to-shoot ratio at the seedling stage. Seeds of bird-dispersed species are limited in size and mass because of the small size of most frugivorous birds. Since soil nutrient quality might contribute to the similarity between the dispersal guilds regarding the three traits of the scheme, other plant traits (e.g., root depth distribution and nutrient uptake strategy) that detail the former should be considered in future predictive studies.

scholarly journals Disentangling the Effects of Disturbance from Those of Dominant Tall Grass Features in Driving the Functional Variation of Restored Grassland in a Sub-Mediterranean Context

Diversity ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Bricca ◽  
Federico Maria Tardella ◽  
Fabio Tolu ◽  
Irina Goia ◽  
Arianna Ferrara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Traits ◽  
Seed Mass ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Functional Variation ◽  
Tall Grass ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Main Driver ◽  
Coexisting Species ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Space Occupation

Land abandonment in sub-Mediterranean grasslands causes the spread of tall-grasses, affecting biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Mowing allows the recovery of the coenological composition after invasion, but the mechanisms acting at the fine-scale are poorly investigated. Since 2010 in the Central Apennines, we fenced a grassland invaded by Brachypodium rupestre, divided it into two areas, half of each was mowed biyearly and half remained unmown. In 2017 we selected ten 20 × 20 cm experimental units per half-area, collecting data on species occurrences, plant traits, B. rupestre height and phytomass. We used generalized linear mixed-effect modelling to disentangle the role of mowing from the impact of B. rupestre features in driving the community functional variations. Mowing was the main driver in the recovery process, acting as an abiotic filter (enhancement of tolerance-avoidance strategies). Furthermore, the reduction of weaker competitor exclusion processes fostered the increase of functional variation between coexisting species. Both drivers acted on different plant traits (e.g., mowing on life span, vegetative propagation types and plant height, mowing and B. rupestre features on space occupation types, seed mass and leaf anatomy), generally enhancing the extent of functional strategies related to resource acquisition and storage, reproduction, space occupation and temporal niche exploitation.

Effects of biochar application on crop water use efficiency depend on experimental conditions: A meta-analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 249 ◽  
pp. 107763 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Gao ◽  
Guangcheng Shao ◽  
Jia Lu ◽  
Kun Zhang ◽  
Shiqing Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Crop Water ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Crop Water Use ◽  
Use Efficiency

scholarly journals Heavy and wet: The consequences of violating assumptions of measuring soil microbial growth efficiency using the 18O water method

Elem Sci Anth ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace Pold ◽  
Luiz A. Domeignoz-Horta ◽  
Kristen M. DeAngelis
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Community ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Microbial Growth ◽  
Microbial Community Composition ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
Growth Efficiency ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Microbial Growth Efficiency

Soils store more carbon than the biosphere and atmosphere combined, and the efficiency to which soil microorganisms allocate carbon to growth rather than respiration is increasingly considered a proxy for the soil capacity to store carbon. This carbon use efficiency (CUE) is measured via different methods, and more recently, the 18O-H2O method has been embraced as a significant improvement for measuring CUE of soil microbial communities. Based on extrapolating 18O incorporation into DNA to new biomass, this measurement makes various implicit assumptions about the microbial community at hand. Here we conducted a literature review to evaluate how viable these assumptions are and then developed a mathematical model to test how violating them affects estimates of the growth component of CUE in soil. We applied this model to previously collected data from two kinds of soil microbial communities. By changing one parameter at a time, we confirmed our previous observation that CUE was reduced by fungal removal. Our results also show that depending on the microbial community composition, there can be substantial discrepancies between estimated and true microbial growth. Of the numerous implicit assumptions that might be violated, not accounting for the contribution of sources of oxygen other than extracellular water to DNA leads to a consistent underestimation of CUE. We present a framework that allows researchers to evaluate how their experimental conditions may influence their 18O-H2O-based CUE measurements and suggest the parameters that need further constraining to more accurately quantify growth and CUE.

scholarly journals Intraspecific variability of some functional traits of Trigonocaryum involucratum (Steven) Medw., a caucasus endemic plant

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-136
Author(s):  
Ramazan Murtazaliev ◽  
Dzhalaludin Anatov ◽  
Jana Ekhvaia ◽  
Ziyarat Guseinova ◽  
Ketevan Batsatsashvili
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Area ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Elevation Gradient ◽  
Seed Mass ◽  
Intraspecific Variability ◽  
Population Variation ◽  
Endemic Plant ◽  
High Solar Radiation ◽  
Shoot Number

Plant traits have been used to predict species and community responses to environmental gradients. We studied variation of leaf area (LA), specific leaf area (SLA), flowering shoot number and seed mass along an elevation gradient in the case of Trigonocaryum involucratum, a scree-growing plant endemic to the Caucasus ecoregion. The study had two major aims: (1) to compare the role of intra-population and inter-population variation of functional trait values; and (2) to ascertain dependence between elevation and trait values and their variation. We collected trait data in several populations in Dagestan (Russian Federation), where the species has about a 1000-m amplitude of elevational distribution. The intraspecific variability of trait values was assessed via standard statistical tools (one-way ANOVA and linear regression analysis). The trait values mostly have high inter-population variation (more than 90% for each of the trait values compared to intra-population variation of each trait), indicating adaptation of populations to site conditions. Much higher intra- vs. inter-population variation in SLA at subnival elevations indicates local micro-site diversity and may serve as a buffer against future stress related to climate change. All the trait values negatively but significantly correlate (weakly or moderately) with elevation. Negative correlation presumably shows a certain increase in the limiting effect of the elevation gradient associated with changes in temperature, soil nutrient availability and soil water content, as well as with high solar radiation. More evidence from a broader study of the species throughout its distribution range is needed for firmer conclusions about the intraspecific variability of T. involucratum.

scholarly journals Plant trait response of tundra shrubs to permafrost thaw and nutrient addition

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (20) ◽  
pp. 4981-4998
Author(s):  
Maitane Iturrate-Garcia ◽  
Monique M. P. D. Heijmans ◽  
J. Hans C. Cornelissen ◽  
Fritz H. Schweingruber ◽  
Pascal A. Niklaus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Traits ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Nutrient Addition ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Individual Plant ◽  
Growth Strategies ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Permafrost Thaw ◽  
Plant Trait ◽  
Thaw Depth

Abstract. Plant traits reflect growth strategies and trade-offs in response to environmental conditions. Because of climate warming, plant traits might change, altering ecosystem functions and vegetation–climate interactions. Despite important feedbacks of plant trait changes in tundra ecosystems with regional climate, with a key role for shrubs, information on responses of shrub functional traits is limited. Here, we investigate the effects of experimentally increased permafrost thaw depth and (possibly thaw-associated) soil nutrient availability on plant functional traits and strategies of Arctic shrubs in northeastern Siberia. We hypothesize that shrubs will generally shift their strategy from efficient conservation to faster acquisition of resources through adaptation of leaf and stem traits in a coordinated whole-plant fashion. To test this hypothesis, we ran a 4 year permafrost thaw and nutrient fertilization experiment with a fully factorial block design and six treatment combinations – permafrost thaw (control, unheated cable, heated cable) × fertilization (no nutrient addition, nutrient addition). We measured 10 leaf and stem traits related to growth, defence and the resource economics spectrum in four shrub species (Betula nana, Salix pulchra, Ledum palustre and Vaccinium vitis-idaea), which were sampled in the experimental plots. The plant trait data were statistically analysed using linear mixed-effect models and principal component analysis (PCA). The response to increased permafrost thaw was not significant for most shrub traits. However, all shrubs responded to the fertilization treatment, despite decreased thaw depth and soil temperature in fertilized plots. Shrubs tended to grow taller but did not increase their stem density or bark thickness. We found a similar coordinated trait response for all four species at leaf and plant level; i.e. they shifted from a conservative towards a more acquisitive resource economy strategy upon fertilization. In accordance, results point towards a lower investment into defence mechanisms, and hence increased shrub vulnerability to herbivory and climate extremes. Compared to biomass and height only, detailed data involving individual plant organ traits such as leaf area and nutrient contents or stem water content can contribute to a better mechanistic understanding of feedbacks between shrub growth strategies, permafrost thaw and carbon and energy fluxes. In combination with observational data, these experimental tundra trait data allow for a more realistic representation of tundra shrubs in dynamic vegetation models and robust prediction of ecosystem functions and related climate–vegetation–permafrost feedbacks.

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