Global Patterns of Plant Diversity: Alwyn H. Gentry’s Forest Transect Data Set

In phytogeographic data sets, the number of assemblages or floras from each interval may provide a test of the influence of sampling intensity on land-plant diversity. Using a data set of Silurian and Devonian compression-impression plant genera from Laurussia and the Acadian terrain, regression of five measures of land-plant diversity (total diversity, mean genus richness of floras, median assemblage diversity, most diverse assemblage, and standing diversity at interval boundaries) against the number assemblages or floras from thirteen intervals suggests that sampling bias influences all of the diversity measures to some extent, including within-habitat measures. The standing diversity of land plants at interval boundaries, the measure least influenced by sampling (r = 0.65, p = 0.05), increased steadily from the Middle Silurian to the late Givetian/early–middle Frasnian boundary, fell sharply in the early–middle Frasnian and remained low throughout the late Frasnian–middle Famennian. Standing diversity rose dramatically in the late Famennian and Strunian (latest Devonian): the Frasnian–Famennian extinction event may have affected land plants. The standing diversity of Silurian and Devonian microspore genera at interval boundaries mirrors that of compression-impression genera: neither record supports a land-plant diversity equilibrium during the Devonian.

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Global patterns and drivers of ecosystem functioning in rivers and riparian zones

Science Advances ◽

10.1126/sciadv.aav0486 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. eaav0486 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

Scott D. Tiegs ◽

David M. Costello ◽

Mark W. Isken ◽

Guy Woodward ◽

Peter B. McIntyre ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Nutrient Loading ◽

Global Scale ◽

Research Network ◽

Environmental Drivers ◽

Riparian Zones ◽

Data Set ◽

Scale Field ◽

The Mean ◽

Global Patterns ◽

Carbon Processing

River ecosystems receive and process vast quantities of terrestrial organic carbon, the fate of which depends strongly on microbial activity. Variation in and controls of processing rates, however, are poorly characterized at the global scale. In response, we used a peer-sourced research network and a highly standardized carbon processing assay to conduct a global-scale field experiment in greater than 1000 river and riparian sites. We found that Earth’s biomes have distinct carbon processing signatures. Slow processing is evident across latitudes, whereas rapid rates are restricted to lower latitudes. Both the mean rate and variability decline with latitude, suggesting temperature constraints toward the poles and greater roles for other environmental drivers (e.g., nutrient loading) toward the equator. These results and data set the stage for unprecedented “next-generation biomonitoring” by establishing baselines to help quantify environmental impacts to the functioning of ecosystems at a global scale.

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Factorial Designs

10.1093/oso/9780198798170.003.0012 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 139-160

Author(s):

Andy Hector

Keyword(s):

Linear Model ◽

Plant Diversity ◽

Fertilizer Treatment ◽

Factorial Designs ◽

Data Set ◽

Simple Linear Model ◽

Main Effects

This chapter moves on from simple ‘one-way’ designs to more complex factorial designs. It extends the simple linear model to include interactions as well as average main effects. Interactions are assessed relative to a null additive expectation where the treatments have no effect on each other. Interactions can be positive, when effects are more than additive, or negative, when they are less than expected. The chapter considers in detail the analysis of an example data set concerning the mechanisms of loss of plant diversity following fertilizer treatment.

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Global patterns of plant diversity

Evolutionary Ecology ◽

10.1007/bf01238186 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 331-347 ◽

Cited By ~ 54

Author(s):

Samuel M. Scheiner ◽

Jose M. Rey-Benayas

Keyword(s):

Plant Diversity ◽

Global Patterns

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Global patterns of plant diversity and floristic knowledge

Journal of Biogeography ◽

10.1111/j.1365-2699.2005.01272.x ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 32 (7) ◽

pp. 1107-1116 ◽

Cited By ~ 304

Author(s):

Gerold Kier ◽

Jens Mutke ◽

Eric Dinerstein ◽

Taylor H. Ricketts ◽

Wolfgang Küper ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Plant Diversity ◽

Global Patterns

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Geographic mosaics of interactions via heterospecific pollen transfer may contribute to shape local and global patterns of plant diversity

10.22541/au.160993355.58264886/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Gerardo Arceo-Gomez

Keyword(s):

Plant Diversity ◽

Species Interactions ◽

Current Evidence ◽

Plant Interactions ◽

Pollen Transfer ◽

Future Directions ◽

Heterospecific Pollen ◽

Fitness Effects ◽

Global Patterns ◽

Evolutionary Consequences

Studies that aim to understand the processes that generate and organize plant diversity in nature have a long history in Ecology. Among these, pollinator-mediated plant-plant interactions that occur by altering pollinator floral preferences have been at the forefront in this field. Current evidence however indicates that plants can interact directly via heterospecific pollen (HP) transfer, that these interactions are ubiquitous, and can have strong fitness effects with implications for floral evolution, speciation and community assembly. Hence, interest in understanding their role in the diversification and organization of plant communities is rapidly rising. The existence of geographic mosaics of species interactions and their role in shaping patterns of diversity is also well recognized. However, after 40 years of research, the importance of geographic mosaics in HP intensity and effects remain poorly known, thus ignoring its potential in shaping patterns of diversity at local and global scales. Here, I develop a conceptual framework and summarize existing evidence for the ecological and evolutionary consequences of geographic mosaics in HP transfer interactions and outline future directions in this field.

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Sedimentary DNA analyses decipher past and present aquatic plant diversity in Siberian and Tibetan lakes

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-20209 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Kathleen R. Stoof-Leichsenring ◽

Sisi Liu ◽

Weihan Jia ◽

Laura S. Epp ◽

Kai Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Plant Diversity ◽

Aquatic Plants ◽

Aquatic Plant ◽

Plant Biomass ◽

Food Resource ◽

Ecological Status ◽

Genetic Data ◽

The Tibetan Plateau ◽

Data Set ◽

Dna Analyses

In recent decades Arctic and Alpine terrestrial ecosystems experienced an increase in aquatic plant biomass due to global warming, which motivates the investigation of aquatic plant diversity in High Arctic and Alpine regions, whereof so far only sparse data exist. Aquatic plants are important primary&#160;producers, food resource and supply habitat&#160;structure and thus have been widely used to infer the ecological status of modern lakes. Identification of past aquatic plants using macrofossil records only partly reflects the past community structure due to differences in spatial distribution, preservation and seed abundance of taxa. Thus, in our study we applied sedimentary DNA analyses to detect aquatic plant diversity in modern surface samples of over 200 lakes from various localities across Northern, Eastern and Central Siberia and the Tibetan plateau and selected lake core samples (covering Holocene timescales) from these regions. We applied metabarcoding of the trnL marker and used Illumina technology for NGS amplicon sequencing of PCR products and performed OBITools pipeline for bioinformatic analyses and taxonomic assignment. Firstly, our study aims to evaluate if the trnL marker typically used for detecting terrestrial plant diversity can deliver valuable information on the composition of aquatic plants. Secondly, we will use ordination analyses to test which environmental variables (e.g. lake water depth, pH and conductivity) shape the diversity of genetically detected aquatic plants. Thirdly, we will analyze past genetic aquatic plant diversity from Holocene lake cores and compare it with the modern genetic data set to reconstruct putative drivers of past diversity changes. So far, we identified free-floating (Nymphoides, Ceratophyllum), submerged (Potamogeton sp.), wetland taxa (Caltha, Carex, Juncus) and bryophytes (Sphagnum) in modern and past genetic data sets. Further statistical analyses are pending and will be finalized and presented at EGU.

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Global patterns and determinants of vascular plant diversity

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.0608361104 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 104 (14) ◽

pp. 5925-5930 ◽

Cited By ~ 637

Author(s):

H. Kreft ◽

W. Jetz

Keyword(s):

Plant Diversity ◽

Vascular Plant ◽

Vascular Plant Diversity ◽

Global Patterns

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Global patterns of potential future plant diversity hidden in soil seed banks

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-27379-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Xuejun Yang ◽

Carol C. Baskin ◽

Jerry M. Baskin ◽

Robin J. Pakeman ◽

Zhenying Huang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Plant Communities ◽

Plant Diversity ◽

Seed Bank ◽

Net Primary Productivity ◽

Seed Banks ◽

Global Changes ◽

Tropical Rain Forests ◽

Quantitative Evidence ◽

Soil Seed Banks ◽

Global Patterns

AbstractSoil seed banks represent a critical but hidden stock for potential future plant diversity on Earth. Here we compiled and analyzed a global dataset consisting of 15,698 records of species diversity and density for soil seed banks in natural plant communities worldwide to quantify their environmental determinants and global patterns. Random forest models showed that absolute latitude was an important predictor for diversity of soil seed banks. Further, climate and soil were the major determinants of seed bank diversity, while net primary productivity and soil characteristics were the main predictors of seed bank density. Moreover, global mapping revealed clear spatial patterns for soil seed banks worldwide; for instance, low densities may render currently species-rich low latitude biomes (such as tropical rain-forests) less resilient to major disturbances. Our assessment provides quantitative evidence of how environmental conditions shape the distribution of soil seed banks, which enables a more accurate prediction of the resilience and vulnerabilities of plant communities and biomes under global changes.

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