Kaushik Krishan, Bricca Alessandro, Mugnai Michele, Viciani Daniele, Rudolf Kinga, Somfalvi-Tóth Katalin, Morschhauser Tamás
Institute of Biology, University of Pécs, Ifjúság str. 6, 7624 Pécs, Hungary.
School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, Via Pontoni 5, 62032 Camerino, Italy.
Plants (Basel). 2021 Oct 21;10(11):2252. doi: 10.3390/plants10112252.
The herb layer plays a significant role in maintaining forest functions, and its community composition is determined by various abiotic factors and biotic interactions. This study attempted to investigate the interspecific plant-plant biotic interactions using a functional traits approach. Specifically, the effects of a dominant species coverage on the functional diversity of coexisting species in the temperate forest understory were studied. Species coverage and soil moisture data were collected using a 1 m quadrat couplet (2 × 1 m) from six sites alongside a 20 m linear transect encompassing a cover gradient of in southwest Hungary. Major plant functional dimensions i.e., aboveground, and clonal functional traits were considered. Linear and nonlinear mixed models to quantify the effects of biotic interaction on the functional diversity of every single trait and multiple traits were employed. Both aboveground traits and clonal traits of persistent clonal growth organs responded positively to the L., cover gradient. The coexistence of understory species in the presence of a monodominant species seems to be mainly influenced by aboveground traits as compared to the clonal traits suggesting, a role of niche differentiation. The consistent impact of coverage on coexisting species dynamics highlights a need for similar in-depth studies in various forest settings.
草本层在维持森林功能方面发挥着重要作用，其群落组成由多种非生物因素和生物相互作用决定。本研究试图采用功能性状方法调查种间植物 - 植物生物相互作用。具体而言，研究了优势种覆盖度对温带森林林下共存物种功能多样性的影响。在匈牙利西南部，沿着一条20米长的线性样带，从六个地点使用1米×2米的样方对（2×1米）收集物种覆盖度和土壤湿度数据，该样带涵盖了[具体物种]的覆盖梯度。考虑了主要的植物功能维度，即地上和克隆功能性状。采用线性和非线性混合模型来量化生物相互作用对每个单一性状和多个性状功能多样性的影响。多年生克隆生长器官的地上性状和克隆性状均对[具体物种]的覆盖梯度产生了积极响应。与克隆性状相比，在单一优势种存在的情况下，林下物种的共存似乎主要受地上性状影响，这表明生态位分化起到了作用。[具体物种]覆盖度对共存物种动态的持续影响凸显了在各种森林环境中进行类似深入研究的必要性。
