BUSCADOR RECOLECTA

The efficient conservation of vulnerable ecosystems in the face of global change requires a complete understanding of how plant communities respond to various environmental factors. We aim to demonstrate that a combined use of different approaches, traits, and indices representing each of the taxonomic and functional characteristics of plant communities will give complementary information on the factors driving vegetation assembly patterns. We analyzed variation across an environmental gradient in taxonomic and functional composition, richness, and diversity of the herb-layer of a temperate beech-oak forest that was located in northern Spain. We measured species cover and four functional traits: leaf dry matter content (LDMC), specific leaf area (SLA), leaf size, and plant height. We found that light is the most limiting resource influencing herb-layer vegetation. Taxonomic changes in richness are followed by equivalent functional changes in the diversity of leaf size but by opposite responses in the richness of SLA. Each functional index is related to different environmental factors even within a single trait (particularly for LDMC and leaf size). To conclude, each characteristic of a plant community is influenced by different and even contrasting factors or processes. Combining different approaches, traits, and indices simultaneously will help us understand how plant communities work., Fundación Caja Navarra 10833 (Program “Tú Eliges, Tú Decides”). Universidad de Navarra, project “Biodiversity Data Analytics and Environmental Quality”. Universidad de Navarra, project “Red de Observatorios de la Biodiversidad de Navarra (ROBIN)”. Departamento de Educación, Gobierno de Navarra, Ayudas predoctorales para la realización de programas de doctorado de interés para Navarra; Plan de Formación y de I + D 2018
Ministerio Español de Ciencia e Innovación. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, PIE-20223AT003.
EU “NextGenerationEU/PRTR”., Peer reviewed

The efficient conservation of vulnerable ecosystems in the face of global change requires a complete understanding of how plant communities respond to various environmental factors. We aim to demonstrate that a combined use of different approaches, traits, and indices representing each of the taxonomic and functional characteristics of plant communities will give complementary information on the factors driving vegetation assembly patterns. We analyzed variation across an environmental gradient in taxonomic and functional composition, richness, and diversity of the herb-layer of a temperate beech-oak forest that was located in northern Spain. We measured species cover and four functional traits: leaf dry matter content (LDMC), specific leaf area (SLA), leaf size, and plant height. We found that light is the most limiting resource influencing herb-layer vegetation. Taxonomic changes in richness are followed by equivalent functional changes in the diversity of leaf size but by opposite responses in the richness of SLA. Each functional index is related to different environmental factors even within a single trait (particularly for LDMC and leaf size). To conclude, each characteristic of a plant community is influenced by different and even contrasting factors or processes. Combining different approaches, traits, and indices simultaneously will help us understand how plant communities work., This research was funded by FUNDACIÓN CAJA NAVARRA, grant number 10833 (Program “Tú Eliges, Tú Decides”) and UNIVERSIDAD DE NAVARRA (projects “Biodiversity Data Analytics and Environmental Quality” and “Red de Observatorios de la Biodiversidad de Navarra (ROBIN)”). M.V. was supported by DEPARTAMENTO DE EDUCACIÓN, GOBIERNO DE NAVARRA (Ayudas predoctorales para la realización de programas de doctorado de interés para Navarra; Plan de Formación y de I + D 2018). A.G. was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, grant number RyC2020-030647-I, and by CSIC, grant number PIE-20223AT003. J.P. was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and EU “NextGenerationEU/PRTR”, grant number FJC2020-042954-I., Peer reviewed

The efficient conservation of vulnerable ecosystems in the face of global change requires a complete understanding of how plant communities respond to various environmental factors. We aim to demonstrate that a combined use of different approaches, traits, and indices representing each of the taxonomic and functional characteristics of plant communities will give complementary information on the factors driving vegetation assembly patterns. We analyzed variation across an environmental gradient in taxonomic and functional composition, richness, and diversity of the herb-layer of a temperate beech-oak forest that was located in northern Spain. We measured species cover and four functional traits: leaf dry matter content (LDMC), specific leaf area (SLA), leaf size, and plant height. We found that light is the most limiting resource influencing herb-layer vegetation. Taxonomic changes in richness are followed by equivalent functional changes in the diversity of leaf size but by opposite responses in the richness of SLA. Each functional index is related to different environmental factors even within a single trait (particularly for LDMC and leaf size). To conclude, each characteristic of a plant community is influenced by different and even contrasting factors or processes. Combining different approaches, traits, and indices simultaneously will help us understand how plant communities work., Funding provided by: Fundación Caja Navarra, Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100006671, Award Number: 10833 (Program "Tú Eliges, Tú Decides").

Funding provided by: Universidad de Navarra, Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004435, Award Number: project "Biodiversity Data Analytics and Environmental Quality".

Funding provided by: Universidad de Navarra, Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004435, Award Number: project "Red de Observatorios de la Biodiversidad de Navarra (ROBIN)".

Funding provided by: Departamento de Educación, Gobierno de Navarra, Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003425, Award Number: Ayudas predoctorales para la realización de programas de doctorado de interés para Navarra; Plan de Formación y de I + D 2018.

Funding provided by: Ministerio Español de Ciencia e Innovación, Crossref Funder Registry ID: Award Number: RyC2020-030647-I.

Funding provided by: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003339, Award Number: PIE-20223AT003.

Funding provided by: Ministerio Español de Ciencia e Innovación, Crossref Funder Registry ID:
Award Number: FJC2020-042954-I.

Funding provided by: EU "NextGenerationEU/PRTR", Crossref Funder Registry ID:
Award Number: FJC2020-042954-I., Peer reviewed

[Background] Climate and land-use changes, which include the application of various types of organic and inorganic fertilisers, have been reducing the species diversity of Mediterranean grasslands and threatening their conservation. Annual plants are one of the most diverse functional groups of species in these grasslands, despite suffering competitive pressure from perennial herbaceous and woody species, and they are essential for ecosystem functioning and stability., [Aims] To quantify how fertilisation modulates the impact of plant-to-plant interactions and climate fluctuations on the dynamics of annuals in Mediterranean grasslands. We hypothesised that the application of sewage sludge would increase competition between functional groups, reducing the abundance of annuals in the long-term, but would buffer the negative impacts of drought on the year-to-year fluctuation of the diversity of annuals., [Methods] In a semi-natural species-rich Mediterranean grassland in northern Spain, we analysed the changes in the taxonomical and functional composition and diversity of annuals over 14 years in response to variations in the abundance of perennial herbaceous and woody species, climate fluctuations, and fertilisation with sewage sludge. We quantified separately the patterns of year-to-year fluctuations and long-term trends., [Results] The frequency and diversity of annuals decreased with a higher abundance of perennial herbaceous species, drought in June, and cold winters. The addition of sewage sludge decreased the abundance of annuals in the long-term, seemed to promote competition between annuals and other functional groups at an interannual scale, and mitigated the negative effects of drought and cold., [Conclusions] Fertilisation influences differently the temporal response of annuals to climate fluctuations and plant-to-plant interactions., Fundación Caja Navarra, Award: ref. 10833 (Programa Tú Eliges, Tú Decides). Universidad de Navarra, Award: Project Biodiversity Data Analytics and Environmental Quality. Universidad de Navarra, Award: ROBIN (Red de Observatorios de la Biodiversidad de Navarra). Asociación de Amigos de la Universidad de Navarra, Award: Convocatoria de Ayudas para la Formación del Personal Investigador. Departamento de Educación, Gobierno de Navarra, Award: Ayudas predoctorales para la realización de programas de doctorado de interés para Navarra. Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Award: RyC2020-030647-I. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Award: PIE-20223AT003., Peer reviewed

[Background] Climate and land-use changes, which include the application of various types of organic and inorganic fertilisers, have been reducing the species diversity of Mediterranean grasslands and threatening their conservation. Annual plants are one of the most diverse functional groups of species in these grasslands, despite suffering competitive pressure from perennial herbaceous and woody species, and they are essential for ecosystem functioning and stability., [Aims] To quantify how fertilisation modulates the impact of plant-to-plant interactions and climate fluctuations on the dynamics of annuals in Mediterranean grasslands. We hypothesised that the application of sewage sludge would increase competition between functional groups, reducing the abundance of annuals in the long-term, but would buffer the negative impacts of drought on the year-to-year fluctuation of the diversity of annuals., [Methods] In a semi-natural species-rich Mediterranean grassland in northern Spain, we analysed the changes in the taxonomical and functional composition and diversity of annuals over 14 years in response to variations in the abundance of perennial herbaceous and woody species, climate fluctuations, and fertilisation with sewage sludge. We quantified separately the patterns of year-to-year fluctuations and long-term trends., [Results] The frequency and diversity of annuals decreased with a higher abundance of perennial herbaceous species, drought in June, and cold winters. The addition of sewage sludge decreased the abundance of annuals in the long-term, seemed to promote competition between annuals and other functional groups at an interannual scale, and mitigated the negative effects of drought and cold., [Conclusions] Fertilisation influences differently the temporal response of annuals to climate fluctuations and plant-to-plant interactions., Funding provided by: Fundación Caja Navarra, Award Number: ref. 10833 (Programa Tú Eliges, Tú Decides).
Funding provided by: Universidad de Navarra, Award Number: Project Biodiversity Data Analytics and Environmental Quality. Funding provided by: Universidad de Navarra, Award Number: ROBIN (Red de Observatorios de la Biodiversidad de Navarra). Funding provided by: Asociación de Amigos de la Universidad de Navarra, Award Number: Convocatoria de Ayudas para la Formación del Personal Investigador. Funding provided by: Departamento de Educación, Gobierno de Navarra. Award Number: Ayudas predoctorales para la realización de programas de doctorado de interés para Navarra. Funding provided by: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Award Number: RyC2020-030647-I. Funding provided by: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Award Number: PIE-20223AT003., Peer reviewed

Recent drought-induced dieback alters forest dynamics, which are also shaped by past management. In western Pyrenean silver fir (Abies alba) stands, dieback concurs in space and time with the legacies of past management, but the impacts on forest growth, structure and composition are unknown. We aim to disentangle how dieback interacts with the legacies of past human use and modulates the recent dynamics of silver fir forests. To this end, we sampled eleven silver fir forests across wide climatic gradients and included declining and non-declining sites. We measured radial growth, structure, composition, understory cover and type and amount of deadwood. Silver fir growth declines in response to late-summer drought. In declining sites, most defoliated stands showed the lowest silver fir density and were those where growth depended more on water availability. Tree death enhanced the cover of dominant understory plants such as Buxus sempervirens. Past management activities leave an imprint in the growth of silver fir, such as releases due to past logging, but also affect the number of stumps and snags and the current tree density. A more extensive monitoring will be required to fully disentangle the multiple influences of past management legacies and current climate change on forest dynamics., AG is supported by the “Ramón y Cajal” Program of the Spanish MICINN under Grant RyC2020-030647-I and by CSIC under grant PIE-20223AT003. This research was funded by the Science and Innovation Ministry and the AEI, under projects PID2021-123675OB-C43 and TED2021-129770B-C21, and by the Aragón Government project “Diversidad funcional de suelos en ecosistemas forestales cambiantes”., Peer reviewed

© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync/4.0/)., Spatial and temporal variation in functional traits allows trees to adjust to shifting environmental conditions such as water stress. However, the change of traits, both mean and variances, along water availability gradients and across growing seasons, as well as their covariation with tree performance, have been rarely assessed. We examined intraspecific trait variation in coexisting evergreen (Quercus ilex ssp. ilex and Q. ilex ssp. ballota) and deciduous (Quercus faginea and Quercus humilis) Mediterranean oaks along a wide water availability gradient in northeastern Spain during six years. We measured leaf area (LA), shoot twig mass (Sm), leaf mass per area (LMA) and the ratio of shoot twig to leaf biomass (Sm:Lm). We characterized tree performance through basal area increment (BAI) and drought resilience indices. Higher variation was found within individuals than between individuals across populations and years. Within species, we found trait adjustments toward more conservative water-use (low LA and Sm and high LMA) with increasing drier conditions. Intraspecific trait variation was constrained by water availability, particularly on the deciduous species. In Q. ilex, trait variance of LMA positively covaried with annual BAI, whereas variance of LA, Sm and Sm:Lm was positively related to resistance and resilience against the severe 2012 drought in deciduous oaks. Our results support a tradeoff between the ability to tolerate drought and the capacity to cope with unpredictable changes in the environment through increased intraspecific trait variation, which may have implications on tree performance in the face of increased extreme events., EGA is supported by CSIC (PIE-20223AT003). XSM is supported by “Juan de la Cierva – Formación” fellowship from the Spanish MICINN (FJC2021-047175-I). AG was supported by the “Ramón y Cajal” Program of the Spanish MICINN (RyC2020- 030647-I) and by CSIC (PIE-20223AT003). BFM is supported by RYC2021-031321-I grant funded by MCIN/AEI /10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR. AA is a Serra Húnter fellow. JJC thanks the support of project “Factores climáticos y de crecimiento que determinan el secuestro de carbono en la carrasca (Quercus ilex subsp. ballota) y el quejigo (Quercus faginea) en condiciones mediterráneas” financed by INIA (2007–2010). This research was funded by the Science and Innovation Ministry and the AEI with projects PID2021-123675OB-C43 and TED2021-129770B-C21., Peer reviewed