Plant traits and ecological dynamics

2020 ◽  
pp. 161-218
Author(s):  
John D. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Functional Traits ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Regeneration Niche ◽  
Summer Drought ◽  
Mosaic Landscape ◽  
Ecological Dynamics ◽  
Mediterranean Landscape ◽  
Dynamics Of Populations

This chapter examines the multiple facets of trait variation and ecological dynamics in the contemporary Mediterranean landscape. Climatic constraints and transitions are paramount here. Diverse functional traits and strategies have evolved to avoid or tolerate the summer drought and the irregularity of spring rainfall. Annual plants do their best to avoid such constraints, and the role of functional traits in the regeneration niche and life-history strategy is undeniable. Perennial plants face the challenge of surviving their first summer and from then on illustrate a demographic persistence strategy. Dispersal and establishment generate interactions among species across a mosaic landscape where transitions between positive and negative interactions characterize successional dynamics. The study of two main features of the Mediterranean flora, its response to fire, and the diversity of aromatic plants illustrate well the importance of plant traits in the ecological dynamics of populations and communities in the mosaic landscape.

Disentangling the role of competition, light interception, and functional traits in tree growth rate variation in South Asian tropical moist forests

2021 ◽  
Vol 483 ◽  
pp. 118908
Author(s):  
Mizanur Rahman ◽  
Masum Billah ◽  
Md Obydur Rahman ◽  
Debit Datta ◽  
Muhammad Ahsanuzzaman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Tree Growth ◽  
Light Interception ◽  
Rate Variation ◽  
Tree Growth Rate

Effects of grazing abandonment on soil multifunctionality: The role of plant functional traits

2017 ◽  
Vol 249 ◽  
pp. 215-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Peco ◽  
E. Navarro ◽  
C.P. Carmona ◽  
N.G. Medina ◽  
M.J. Marques
Keyword(s):  
Functional Traits ◽  
Plant Functional Traits ◽  
Grazing Abandonment

scholarly journals Non-structural carbohydrate concentrations in woody organs, but not leaves, of temperate and tropical tree angiosperms are independent of the ‘fast-slow’ plant economic spectrum

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.A. Ramirez ◽  
D. Craven ◽  
J.M. Posada ◽  
B. Reu ◽  
C.A. Sierra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Change ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Carbon Allocation ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Change Factors ◽  
Leaf Habit ◽  
As Species ◽  
Structural Carbohydrate ◽  
The Relationship

SummaryBackground and AimsCarbohydrate reserves play a vital role in plant survival during periods of negative carbon balance. Considering active storage of reserves, there is a trade-off between carbon allocation to growth and to reserves and defense. A resulting hypothesis is that allocation to reserves exhibits a coordinated variation with functional traits associated with the ‘fast-slow’ plant economics spectrum.MethodsWe tested the relationship between non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) of tree organs and functional traits using 61 angiosperm tree species from temperate and tropical forests with phylogenetic hierarchical Bayesian models.Key ResultsOur results provide evidence that NSC concentrations in woody organs and plant functional traits are largely decoupled, meaning that species’ resilience is unrelated to their position on the ‘fast-slow’ plant economics spectrum. In contrast, we found that variation between NSC concentrations in leaves and the fast-slow continuum was coordinated, as species with higher leaf NSC had traits values associated with resource conservative species such as lower SLA, lower Amax, and high wood density. We did not detect an influence of leaf habit on the variation of NSC concentrations in tree organs.ConclusionsEfforts to predict the response of ecosystems to global change will need to integrate a suite of plant traits, such as NSC concentrations in woody organs, that are independent of the ‘fast-slow’ spectrum and that capture how species respond to a broad range of global change factors.

scholarly journals Variability of functional traits and their syndromes in a freshwater fish species (Phoxinus phoxinus): The role of adaptive and nonadaptive processes

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 2833-2846 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allan Raffard ◽  
Julien Cucherousset ◽  
Jérôme G. Prunier ◽  
Géraldine Loot ◽  
Frédéric Santoul ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Freshwater Fish ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Phoxinus Phoxinus ◽  
Freshwater Fish Species

Plant Functional Traits in Tropical Dry Forests

2020 ◽  
pp. 66-88
Author(s):  
Shipra Singh ◽  
Abhishek K. Verma
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Cellular Level ◽  
Plant Functional Traits ◽  
Tropical Dry Forests ◽  
Dry Forests ◽  
Morphological Adaptations ◽  
Physiological Adaptations

Plants have certain characteristics which allow them to respond to various environmental conditions, like changes in climate, water scarcity in the soil, lack of minerals; among others. In some of these traits, the responses to climatic phenomena such as drought can be evidenced through morphological adaptations (spines, succulent tissues, trichomes) or physiological adaptations (regulation of water potential at the cellular level, the concentration of nutrients, etc.). A systematic literature review was performed to study plant functional traits (PFTs) in tropical dry forests (TDFs). The chapter suggests the role of functional traits in community dynamics and processes. The authors will also highlight the limitations of PFTs in TDFs and how they can be improved.

scholarly journals Come to the dark side! The role of functional traits in shaping dark diversity patterns of south‐eastern European hoverflies

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marija Miličić ◽  
Snežana Popov ◽  
Ante Vujić ◽  
Bojana Ivošević ◽  
Pedro Cardoso
Keyword(s):  
Functional Traits ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Diversity Patterns ◽  
South Eastern

scholarly journals Role of Plant Traits in Photosynthesis and Thermal Damage Avoidance under Warmer and Drier Climates in Boreal Forests

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guiomar Ruiz-Pérez ◽  
Samuli Launiainen ◽  
Giulia Vico
Keyword(s):  
Heat Stress ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Thermal Damage ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Mechanistic Model ◽  
Soil Water Depletion ◽  
Photosynthetic Rates ◽  
The Future ◽  
Growing Conditions

In the future, boreal forests will face warmer and in some cases drier conditions, potentially resulting in extreme leaf temperatures and reduced photosynthesis. One potential and still partially unexplored avenue to prepare boreal forest for future climates is the identification of plant traits that may support photosynthetic rates under a changing climate. However, the interplay among plant traits, soil water depletion and the occurrence of heat stress has been seldom explored in boreal forests. Here, a mechanistic model describing energy and mass exchanges among the soil, plant and atmosphere is employed to identify which combinations of growing conditions and plant traits allow trees to simultaneously keep high photosynthetic rates and prevent thermal damage under current and future growing conditions. Our results show that the simultaneous lack of precipitation and warm temperatures is the main trigger of thermal damage and reduction of photosynthesis. Traits that facilitate the coupling of leaves to the atmosphere are key to avoid thermal damage and guarantee the maintenance of assimilation rates in the future. Nevertheless, the same set of traits may not maximize forest productivity over current growing conditions. As such, an effective trait selection needs to explicitly consider the expected changes in the growing conditions, both in terms of averages and extremes.

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