Above-ground biomass and species richness in a Mediterranean salt marsh

Abstract Background: Studies on the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem productivity have suggested that species richness and functional diversity are the main drivers of ecosystem processes. There is no general pattern regarding the relationship found in various studies, and positive, unimodal, negative, and neutral relationships keep the issue controversial. In this study, taxonomic diversity vs functional diversity as drivers of above-ground biomass were compared, and the mechanisms that influence biomass production were investigated by testing the complementarity and the mass-ratio hypoteses.Methods: Using data from 414 permanent sampling plots, covering 23% of temperate forests in the Sierra Madre Occiental (Mexico), we estimated the above-ground biomass (AGB) for trees ≥7.5 cm d.b.h. in managed and unmanaged stands. We evaluated AGB-diversity relationships (species richness, Shannon-Wiener and Simpson indices), AGB-weighted mean community values (CWM) of tree species functional traits (maximum height, leaf size, and wood density) and five measures of functional diversity (functional dispersion, functional richness, functional uniformity, functional diversity, and RaoQ index).Results: We reveal a consistent hump-shaped relationship between aboveground biomass and species richness in managen and unmanaged forest. CWM_Hmax was the most important predictor of AGB in both managed and unmanaged stands, which suggests that the mechanism that explains the above-ground biomass in these ecosystems is dominated by certain highly productive species in accordance of the mass-ratio hypothesis. There were no significant relationships between taxonomic diversity metrics (Shannon-Wiener and Simpson indices) or measures of functional diversity with AGB. The results support the mass-ratio hypothesis to explain the AGB variations.Conclusions: We concluded that diversity does not influence biomass production in the temperate mixed-species and uneven-aged forests of northern Mexico. These forests showed the classic hump-shaped productivity-species richness relationship, with biomass accumulation increasing at low to intermediate levels of species plant diversity and decreasing at high species richness. Functional diversity explains better forest productivity than classical diversity metrics.

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Assessing above-ground biomass-functional diversity relationships in temperate forests in northern Mexico

10.21203/rs.3.rs-42734/v3 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Benedicto Vargas-Larreta ◽

Jorge Omar Lopez Martinez ◽

Edgar J. González ◽

Jose Javier Corral-Rivas ◽

Francisco Javier Hernández

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Functional Diversity ◽

Taxonomic Diversity ◽

Maximum Height ◽

Above Ground Biomass ◽

Northern Mexico ◽

Ground Biomass ◽

Sierra Madre ◽

Community Weighted Mean ◽

The Relationship

Abstract Background: Studies on the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem productivity have suggested that species richness and functional diversity are the main drivers of ecosystem processes. Several patterns on this relationship have been found, including positive, unimodal, negative, and neutral trends, keeping the issue controversial. In this study, taxonomic diversity and functional diversity as drivers of above-ground biomass (AGB) were comparated, and the mechanisms that influence biomass production were investigated by testing the complementarity and the mass-ratio hypotheses.Methods: Using data from 414 permanent sample plots, covering 23% of temperate forest in the Sierra Madre Oriental (México). We estimated the above-gound biomass (AGB), taxonomic and functional diversity indices, as well as community weighted mean values (CWM) for three functional trais (maximum height, leaf size and wood density) for trees ≥7.5 cm d.b.h., in managed and unmanaged stands. To compare taxonomic diversity differences between managed and unmanaged stands we carried out a rarefaction analysis. Furthermore, we evaluated the relationship between AGB and taxonomic and functional diversity metrics, as well as CWM traits throught spatial autoregressive models.Results: We found a hump-shaped relationship between AGB and species richness in managed and unmanaged forests. CMW of maximum height was the most important predictor of AGB in both stands, which suggested that the mechanism underlaying the AGB-diversity relationship is the dominance of some highly productive species, supporting the mass-ratio hypothesis. Above-ground biomass was significantly correlated with three of the five functional diversity metrics, CWM maximum height and species richness. Our results show the importance of take into account spatial autocorrelation in the construction of predictive models to avoid spurious patterns in the AGB-diversity relationship.Conclusion: Species richness, maximum height, functional richness, functional dispersion and RaoQ indices relate with above-ground biomass production in temperate mixed-species and uneven-aged forests of northern Mexico. These forests show a hump-shaped AGB-species richness relationship. Functional diversity explains better AGB production than classical taxonomic diversity. Community weighted mean traits provide key information to explain stand biomass in these forests, where maximum tree height seems to be a more suitable trait for understanding the biomass accumulation process in these ecosystems. Although the impact of forest management on biodiversity is still debated, it has not changed the AGB-diversity relationships in the forests of the Sierra Madre Occidental, Mexico.

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Retrieval of Salt Marsh Above-Ground Biomass from High-Spatial Resolution Hyperspectral Imagery Using PROSAIL

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs11111385 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (11) ◽

pp. 1385 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Rehman S. Eon ◽

Sarah Goldsmith ◽

Charles M. Bachmann ◽

Anna Christina Tyler ◽

Christopher S. Lapszynski ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Salt Marsh ◽

Imaging System ◽

Hyperspectral Imagery ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Radiative Transfer Model ◽

Transfer Model ◽

Above Ground Biomass ◽

Ground Truth Data ◽

Ground Biomass

Salt marsh vegetation density varies considerably on short spatial scales, complicating attempts to evaluate plant characteristics using airborne remote sensing approaches. In this study, we used a mast-mounted hyperspectral imaging system to obtain cm-scale imagery of a salt marsh chronosequence on Hog Island, VA, where the morphology and biomass of the dominant plant species, Spartina alterniflora, varies widely. The high-resolution hyperspectral imagery allowed the detailed delineation of variations in above-ground biomass, which we retrieved from the imagery using the PROSAIL radiative transfer model. The retrieved biomass estimates correlated well with contemporaneously collected in situ biomass ground truth data ( R 2 = 0.73 ). In this study, we also rescaled our hyperspectral imagery and retrieved PROSAIL salt marsh biomass to determine the applicability of the method across spatial scales. Histograms of retrieved biomass changed considerably in characteristic marsh regions as the spatial scale of the imagery was progressively degraded. This rescaling revealed a loss of spatial detail and a shift in the mean retrieved biomass. This shift is indicative of the loss of accuracy that may occur when scaling up through a simple averaging approach that does not account for the detail found in the landscape at the natural scale of variation of the salt marsh system. This illustrated the importance of developing methodologies to appropriately scale results from very fine scale resolution up to the more coarse-scale resolutions commonly obtained in airborne and satellite remote sensing.

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Review for "Reducing dispersal limitation via seed addition increases species richness but not above‐ground biomass"

10.1111/ele.13566/v1/review2 ◽

2020 ◽

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Dispersal Limitation ◽

Above Ground Biomass ◽

Seed Addition ◽

Ground Biomass

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Biomass and above-ground productivity of salt-marsh plants in south-eastern Australia

Marine and Freshwater Research ◽

10.1071/mf9941521 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 45 (8) ◽

pp. 1521 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

PJ Clarke ◽

CA Jacoby

Keyword(s):

Salt Marsh ◽

Perennial Grass ◽

Temporal Trends ◽

Dry Weight ◽

Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽

Organic Carbon Content ◽

Above Ground Biomass ◽

Ground Biomass ◽

Sporobolus Virginicus ◽

Eastern Australia

The above-ground biomass of three dominant salt-marsh vascular plants (Juncus kraussii, Sarcocornia quinquejlora and Sporobolus virginicus) was measured to assess both spatial and temporal variation and to provide baseline data. Additionally, the culm dynamics of the rush J. kraussii were measured so that aboveground productivity could be estimated. No distinct seasonal patterns were detected in above-ground biomass in J. kraussii. Averaged over all sites and times, the above-ground biomass of J. kraussii was 1116 g dry weight m-2. Culms are replaced annually, hence standing crop approximated annual above-ground productivity. Much of the dead aboveground biomass appears to accumulate in the upper marsh, as evidenced by the elevated nutrient and organic carbon content of the soil there relative to the sediment in the mangrove zone. Above-ground biomass of the decumbent perennial grass Sporobolus virginicus and the procumbent perennial chenopod Sarcocornia quinqueflora showed no consistent spatial or temporal trends. The above-ground standing crops of these species were about one-third that of J. kraussii.

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Species Richness and Biomass Relationship in Burned Sites of Imperata-Saccharum Grassland in Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve, Nepal

Ecoprint An International Journal of Ecology ◽

10.3126/eco.v15i0.1938 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 15 ◽

pp. 23-27

Author(s):

Pitamber Pant ◽

Hari Datt Lekhak

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Generalized Linear Model ◽

Plant Community Composition ◽

Above Ground Biomass ◽

Ground Biomass ◽

Burned Site ◽

June July ◽

Wildlife Reserve ◽

The Relationship ◽

Shaped Pattern

Present study was conducted in the Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve, Kanchanpur district, far western Nepal during June-July, 2005. A total of 150 quadrats (1m x 1m) were sampled in three differentially treated sites (unburned, early burned and late burned). Plant community composition and above ground biomass at different sites were quantified. The relationship between species richness and biomass was detected in the Imperata-Saccharum grassland. Altogether 100 plant species were recorded in the grassland. The highest number of species (62) was recorded in early burned site, whereas lowest (54) species were recorded from unburned site. Among all species recorded, 23 were common to all sites. The highest species richness (13 species/m²) was recorded in the early burned plot. The above ground biomass was highest (583.93 g/m²) in unburned plot. Mean above ground biomass of all the three sites of the grassland was 249.72 g/m². These results indicate that the burning has significant impact on both species richness and biomass. Maximum species richness was found in the biomass interval between ca. 100-300 g/m² when all the sites were combined. A hump shaped pattern was observed in the grassland when all the data were combined. Key words: Species richness, biomass, generalized linear model, fire. doi: 10.3126/eco.v15i0.1938 ECOPRINT 15: 23-27, 2008

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