Nikolic Nina, Böcker Reinhard, Kostic-Kravljanac Ljiljana, Nikolic Miroslav
Institute for Multidisciplinary Research, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
Landscape Ecology and Vegetation Science (320a), Hohenheim University, Stuttgart, Germany.
PLoS One. 2014 Dec 4;9(12):e114290. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0114290. eCollection 2014.
Effects of soil on vegetation patterns are commonly obscured by other environmental factors; clear and general relationships are difficult to find. How would community assembly processes be affected by a substantial change in soil characteristics when all other relevant factors are held constant? In particular, can we identify some functional adaptations which would underpin such soil-induced vegetation response?
Eastern Serbia: fields partially damaged by long-term and large-scale fluvial deposition of sulphidic waste from a Cu mine; subcontinental/submediterranean climate.
We analysed the multivariate response of cereal weed assemblages (including biomass and foliar analyses) to a strong man-made soil gradient (from highly calcareous to highly acidic, nutrient-poor soils) over short distances (field scale).
The soil gradient favoured a substitution of calcicoles by calcifuges, and an increase in abundance of pseudometallophytes, with preferences for Atlantic climate, broad geographical distribution, hemicryptophytic life form, adapted to low-nutrient and acidic soils, with lower concentrations of Ca, and very narrow range of Cu concentrations in leaves. The trends of abundance of the different ecological groups of indicator species along the soil gradient were systematically reflected in the maintenance of leaf P concentrations, and strong homeostasis in biomass N:P ratio.
Using annual weed vegetation at the field scale as a fairly simple model, we demonstrated links between gradients in soil properties (pH, nutrient availability) and floristic composition that are normally encountered over large geographic distances. We showed that leaf nutrient status, in particular the maintenance of leaf P concentrations and strong homeostasis of biomass N:P ratio, underpinned a clear functional response of vegetation to mineral stress. These findings can help to understand assembly processes leading to unusual, novel combinations of species which are typically observed as a consequence of strong environmental filtering, as for instance on sites affected by industrial activities.
土壤对植被格局的影响通常会被其他环境因素所掩盖；难以找到清晰且普遍适用的关系。当所有其他相关因素保持不变时，土壤特性的显著变化会如何影响群落构建过程？特别是，我们能否识别出一些功能适应性特征，这些特征可以支撑这种由土壤引发的植被响应？
塞尔维亚东部：一些田地因一座铜矿长期大规模硫化物废料的河流沉积而部分受损；属于次大陆/亚热带地中海气候。
我们在短距离（田间尺度）内分析了谷物杂草组合（包括生物量和叶片分析）对强烈的人为土壤梯度（从高钙质到高酸性、贫营养土壤）的多变量响应。
土壤梯度有利于喜钙植物被嫌钙植物取代，以及对大西洋气候、地理分布广泛、半隐生植物生活型、适应低营养和酸性土壤、叶片中钙浓度较低且铜浓度范围非常窄的假金属植物丰度增加。指示物种不同生态组的丰度沿土壤梯度的变化趋势在叶片磷浓度的维持以及生物量氮磷比的强稳态中得到了系统反映。
以田间尺度的一年生杂草植被作为一个相当简单的模型，我们展示了土壤性质（pH值、养分有效性）梯度与通常在大地理距离上遇到的植物区系组成之间的联系。我们表明，叶片养分状况，特别是叶片磷浓度的维持以及生物量氮磷比的强稳态，支撑了植被对矿物质胁迫的明确功能响应。这些发现有助于理解导致物种异常、新颖组合的群落构建过程，这些组合通常是由于强烈的环境筛选作用而观察到的，例如在受工业活动影响的场地。
