Slate Mandy L, Hahn Phil G, Ortega Yvette K, Mancillas Marisa, Rosche Christoph, Pearson Dean E
Rocky Mountain Research Station USDA Forest Service Missoula Montana USA.
Entomology and Nematology Department University of Florida Gainesville Florida USA.
Ecol Evol. 2025 Sep 10;15(9):e72143. doi: 10.1002/ece3.72143. eCollection 2025 Sep.
Recruitment is the most sensitive plant life stage to environmental filters. Yet, most research linking functional traits to environmental filters has focused on adult plants with little known about early plant traits, their interactions with environmental filters, or their relation to species abundance. Likewise, how such relationships might vary between native and exotic species or influence plant invasion outcomes is unclear. We quantified regeneration traits for 12 native and 12 exotic (naturalized and invasive) forbs and evaluated trait relationships and their associations with species abundance across an environmental gradient in semi-arid grasslands. Species differentiated along two orthogonal trait axes suggestive of two distinct trait syndromes. The first trait syndrome, likely associated with competitive ability, was correlated with seed mass and growth-related seedling traits. Conversely, the second trait syndrome revealed a tradeoff between traits related to development and growth and traits related to resource management. This syndrome may reflect different approaches for seedling stress tolerance and avoidance. Neither trait syndromes nor mean trait values differed between native and exotic species, whether exotics were invasive or naturalized. Two traits and one trait syndrome were significantly associated with adult species abundance on the landscape. First, species with faster seedling maturation were generally more abundant. Naturalized exotic species with lower specific leaf area were also more abundant, suggesting a possible link between lower specific leaf area and greater drought survival. Abundance of native and invasive exotic species was greater for taxa with faster development and growth and thin, carbon-rich leaves, traits associated with stress avoidance. Importantly, the greater abundance of invasive exotics over other taxa was not accounted for by differences in regeneration traits. Evidence of regeneration trait syndromes and tradeoffs points to important selective forces shaping early plant life-history strategies. Linkages between some of these traits and adult plant abundance also suggest a significant role in recruitment success. Better elucidating these traits and their connections to species abundance-particularly across life stages-can help improve our understanding of plant community assembly.
招募阶段是植物生命周期中对环境筛选最为敏感的阶段。然而，大多数将功能性状与环境筛选联系起来的研究都集中在成年植物上，对于早期植物性状、它们与环境筛选的相互作用，或者它们与物种丰富度的关系却知之甚少。同样，这些关系在本地物种和外来物种之间可能如何变化，或者如何影响植物入侵结果也不清楚。我们对12种本地和12种外来（归化和入侵）草本植物的更新性状进行了量化，并在半干旱草原的环境梯度上评估了性状关系及其与物种丰富度的关联。物种沿着两个正交的性状轴分化，暗示着两种不同的性状综合征。第一个性状综合征可能与竞争能力相关，与种子质量和与生长相关的幼苗性状相关。相反，第二个性状综合征揭示了与发育和生长相关的性状与与资源管理相关的性状之间的权衡。这种综合征可能反映了幼苗应激耐受和回避的不同方式。无论是外来入侵物种还是归化物种，本地物种和外来物种之间的性状综合征和平均性状值均无差异。两个性状和一个性状综合征与景观上成年物种的丰富度显著相关。首先，幼苗成熟较快的物种通常更为丰富。比叶面积较低的归化外来物种也更为丰富，这表明较低的比叶面积与更高的干旱存活率之间可能存在联系。发育和生长较快且叶片薄、富含碳的分类群中，本地物种和入侵外来物种的丰富度更高，这些性状与应激回避有关。重要的是，入侵外来物种比其他分类群更丰富，并非由更新性状的差异所导致。更新性状综合征和权衡的证据表明，重要的选择力量塑造了早期植物的生活史策略。其中一些性状与成年植物丰富度之间的联系也表明在招募成功中起着重要作用。更好地阐明这些性状及其与物种丰富度的联系——尤其是跨越生命阶段的联系——有助于增进我们对植物群落组装的理解。
