ǂA ǂlink between species abundance and plant strategies for semi-natural dry grasslands

Sonja Škornik (Avtor), Nataša Pipenbaher (Avtor)

Povzetek

Due of the potential of species to determine ecosystem properties, it is important to understand how species abundance influences community assembly. Using vegetation surveys on 35 dry grasslands in north-east Slovenia, we defined dominant (8) and subordinate (61) plant species. They were compared on 14 traits to test for differences in community-weighted mean (CWM) and functional diversity (FD). We found that dominants and subordinates differed strongly in their functional traits. Dominants showed higher leaf dry matter content and a more pronounced stress tolerance strategy and were all clonal with a large proportion of species with rhizomes and a rich bud bank, while other species showed a higher specific leaf area, a longer flowering period and more ruderals. For most traits, FD was higher in subordinates. Our results suggest that dominants drive community structure by limited susceptibility to non-competitive processes. Dominants may have positive effects on subordinates by mitigating environmental stressors. Subordinates are able to assemble together by being dissimilar and use different fine-scale niches that are engineered and homogenised by dominants. Our results show that there are fundamental differences in the relative importance of ecological processes between dominant and subordinate plants in species-rich grasslands, which is also important for their conservational management.

Ključne besede

sobivanje vrst;biotska raznovrstnost;podrejene vrste;funkcionalne lastnosti rastline;species coexistence;biodiversity;community assembly;species dominance;subordinate species;Festuco-Brometea;plant functional traits;community structure;

Podatki

Jezik:	Angleški jezik
Leto izida:	2024
Tipologija:	1.01 - Izvirni znanstveni članek
Organizacija:	UM FNM - Fakulteta za naravoslovje in matematiko
UDK:	581.5(497.411)
COBISS:	205162243
ISSN:	2223-7747
Št. ogledov:	0
Št. prenosov:	0
Ocena:	0 (0 glasov)
Metapodatki:

Ostali podatki

Sekundarni jezik:	Slovenski jezik
Sekundarne ključne besede:	Goričko (Slovenija);
Vrsta dela (COBISS):	Znanstveno delo
Strani:	17 str.
Letnik:	ǂVol. ǂ13
Zvezek:	ǂiss. ǂ16, [article no.] 2260
Čas izdaje:	Aug. 2024
DOI:	10.3390/plants13162260
ID:	25974220