Solid as a rock: The main drivers of changes in natural, rocky plant communities

IF 2.2 3区环境科学与生态学 Q2 ECOLOGY Journal of Vegetation Science Pub Date : 2024-05-15 DOI:10.1111/jvs.13263

Kamila Reczyńska, Krzysztof Świerkosz

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Abstract

Question

Changes caused by climate warming and nitrogen pollution are observed in forest, grassland and alpine ecosystems worldwide. However, still little is known about the impact of these globally influencing factors on natural rocky plant communities. Has species composition of natural rocky communities changed over time? What is the role of large-scale and fine-scale environmental factors in shaping the compositional, functional and habitat patterns in studied plant communities over time?

Location

Sudetes Mountains, southwestern Poland.

Methods

We used 214 pairs of replots (collected between 1989 and 2022) of rocky plant communities, with a mean timespan of 14.2 years. The changes in species composition, environmental conditions and functional traits were analysed using ordination techniques and generalised additive models (GAMs) and with reference to large-scale factors (mean maximum temperatures, actual evapotranspiration, N deposition) and fine-scale factors (light availability, bedrock type, initial site conditions) for each locality.

Results

Species composition of the studied communities has not changed significantly over time. Only for 11 out of 258 species, statistically significant increases (from 2% to 8%) in their proportion were recorded. The changes in environmental conditions were significantly influenced mainly by fine-scale factors such as changes in light availability and baseline site conditions. Plots that were initially less thermophilic or nitrophilic showed stronger signals of thermophilisation and eutrophication in the resurvey. The influence of large-scale factors was considerably less pronounced. Similarly, the key role in explaining changes in plant traits for the data set under study falls to local factors, particularly changes in light availability.

Conclusions

Our study confirms the validity of considering both large- and fine-scale factors as well as initial site conditions in research on long-term changes in plant communities. Rocky plant communities respond to global changes in a different way than other types of phytocoenose, showing high stability of species composition and functional traits over time.

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坚如磐石自然岩石植物群落变化的主要驱动力

问题世界各地的森林、草地和高山生态系统都出现了气候变暖和氮污染引起的变化。然而，人们对这些全球影响因素对天然岩石植物群落的影响仍然知之甚少。天然岩石群落的物种组成是否随着时间的推移而发生变化？随着时间的推移，大尺度和小尺度环境因素在塑造所研究植物群落的组成、功能和生境模式方面的作用是什么？地点波兰西南部苏台德山脉。方法我们使用了 214 对岩石植物群落的补点（1989 年至 2022 年间采集），平均时间跨度为 14.2 年。利用排序技术和广义加法模型（GAMs）分析了物种组成、环境条件和功能特征的变化，并参考了每个地点的大尺度因素（平均最高温度、实际蒸散量、氮沉积）和小尺度因素（光照可用性、基岩类型、初始地点条件）。结果所研究群落的物种组成随时间变化不大。在 258 个物种中，只有 11 个物种的比例出现了统计学意义上的显著增长（从 2% 到 8% 不等）。环境条件的变化主要受光照和基线地点条件等细微因素的影响。最初嗜热或嗜硝程度较低的地块在重新调查中显示出更强的嗜热和富营养化信号。大尺度因素的影响要小得多。同样，在所研究的数据集中，解释植物性状变化的关键因素是局部因素，尤其是光照的变化。结论我们的研究证实，在研究植物群落的长期变化时，同时考虑大尺度和小尺度因素以及初始地点条件是有效的。岩石植物群落对全球变化的反应与其他类型的植物群落不同，随着时间的推移，其物种组成和功能特征表现出高度的稳定性。

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来源期刊

Journal of Vegetation Science 环境科学-林学

CiteScore

6.00

自引率

3.60%

发文量

审稿时长

2 months

期刊介绍： The Journal of Vegetation Science publishes papers on all aspects of plant community ecology, with particular emphasis on papers that develop new concepts or methods, test theory, identify general patterns, or that are otherwise likely to interest a broad international readership. Papers may focus on any aspect of vegetation science, e.g. community structure (including community assembly and plant functional types), biodiversity (including species richness and composition), spatial patterns (including plant geography and landscape ecology), temporal changes (including demography, community dynamics and palaeoecology) and processes (including ecophysiology), provided the focus is on increasing our understanding of plant communities. The Journal publishes papers on the ecology of a single species only if it plays a key role in structuring plant communities. Papers that apply ecological concepts, theories and methods to the vegetation management, conservation and restoration, and papers on vegetation survey should be directed to our associate journal, Applied Vegetation Science journal.