Busch Verena, Klaus Valentin H, Penone Caterina, Schäfer Deborah, Boch Steffen, Prati Daniel, Müller Jörg, Socher Stephanie A, Niinemets Ülo, Peñuelas Josep, Hölzel Norbert, Fischer Markus, Kleinebecker Till
Institute for Landscape Ecology Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster Muenster Germany.
Institute for Agricultural Sciences, Grassland Sciences ETZ Zürich Zürich Switzerland.
Ecol Evol. 2017 Dec 3;8(1):601-616. doi: 10.1002/ece3.3609. eCollection 2018 Jan.
Plant functional traits reflect individual and community ecological strategies. They allow the detection of directional changes in community dynamics and ecosystemic processes, being an additional tool to assess biodiversity than species richness. Analysis of functional patterns in plant communities provides mechanistic insight into biodiversity alterations due to anthropogenic activity. Although studies have consi-dered of either anthropogenic management or nutrient availability on functional traits in temperate grasslands, studies combining effects of both drivers are scarce. Here, we assessed the impacts of management intensity (fertilization, mowing, grazing), nutrient stoichiometry (C, N, P, K), and vegetation composition on community-weighted means (CWMs) and functional diversity (Rao's ) from seven plant traits in 150 grasslands in three regions in Germany, using data of 6 years. Land use and nutrient stoichiometry accounted for larger proportions of model variance of CWM and Rao's than species richness and productivity. Grazing affected all analyzed trait groups; fertilization and mowing only impacted generative traits. Grazing was clearly associated with nutrient retention strategies, that is, investing in durable structures and production of fewer, less variable seed. Phenological variability was increased. Fertilization and mowing decreased seed number/mass variability, indicating competition-related effects. Impacts of nutrient stoichiometry on trait syndromes varied. Nutrient limitation (large N:P, C:N ratios) promoted species with conservative strategies, that is, investment in durable plant structures rather than fast growth, fewer seed, and delayed flowering onset. In contrast to seed mass, leaf-economics variability was reduced under P shortage. Species diversity was positively associated with the variability of generative traits. . Here, land use, nutrient availability, species richness, and plant functional strategies have been shown to interact complexly, driving community composition, and vegetation responses to management intensity. We suggest that deeper understanding of underlying mechanisms shaping community assembly and biodiversity will require analyzing all these parameters.
植物功能性状反映了个体和群落的生态策略。它们能够检测群落动态和生态系统过程中的方向性变化，是一种用于评估生物多样性的补充工具，而非仅依靠物种丰富度。对植物群落功能模式的分析为深入了解人为活动导致的生物多样性变化提供了机制性见解。尽管已有研究分别考虑了人为管理或养分有效性对温带草原功能性状的影响，但将这两种驱动因素的影响结合起来的研究却很匮乏。在此，我们利用德国三个地区150个草原6年的数据，评估了管理强度（施肥、割草、放牧）、养分化学计量（碳、氮、磷、钾）和植被组成对群落加权均值（CWMs）和功能多样性（Rao's ）的影响，这些影响基于七种植物性状。土地利用和养分化学计量在CWM和Rao's 的模型方差中所占比例比物种丰富度和生产力更大。放牧影响了所有分析的性状组；施肥和割草仅影响生殖性状。放牧明显与养分保留策略相关，即投资于耐用结构并生产更少、变异性更小的种子。物候变异性增加。施肥和割草降低了种子数量/质量的变异性，表明存在与竞争相关的影响。养分化学计量对性状综合征的影响各不相同。养分限制（高氮磷比、高碳氮比）促进了具有保守策略的物种，即投资于耐用的植物结构而非快速生长、种子较少且开花起始延迟。与种子质量相反，在磷缺乏的情况下，叶经济变异性降低。物种多样性与生殖性状的变异性呈正相关。在此，已表明土地利用、养分有效性、物种丰富度和植物功能策略相互作用复杂，驱动着群落组成以及植被对管理强度的响应。我们建议，要更深入地理解塑造群落组装和生物多样性的潜在机制，需要分析所有这些参数。
