Journal of Vegetation Science最新文献

Novel Fires Shift Biological Legacies Away From Natural Regeneration in Caribbean Tropical Dry Forest 加勒比热带干燥森林的新型火灾使生物遗产远离自然再生

IF 2.2 3区环境科学与生态学 Q2 ECOLOGY

Journal of Vegetation Science

Pub Date : 2025-04-17 DOI: 10.1111/jvs.70030

Tristan A. P. Allerton, Skip J. Van Bloem, Raphaël J. Manlay

Aims

Understanding ecosystem resilience to environmental change requires evaluating how novel disturbances affect biological legacies that influence regeneration. Legacies that help maintain conditions for recovery may be lost if disturbance regimes change and species lack the necessary adaptive responses. This study assesses the short- and longer-term impacts of fire in Caribbean tropical dry forests with limited burn history to determine their resilience and identify functional traits predicting postfire resprouting strategies.

Location

The study was conducted in tropical dry forests of SW Puerto Rico along a 29-year postfire chronosequence.

Methods

We examined community-level measures of structure, composition, diversity, and resprouting of woody plants in sites ranging from 2 months to 29 years postfire, comparing them to mature forests. Additionally, we tested whether functional traits—relative bark thickness, specific leaf area, and tree size—could predict postfire resprouting strategies.

Results

Tropical dry forest sites with limited burn history exhibited little structural resistance to fire, though significant basal resprouting was observed among tree communities. Over the long term, the chronosequence did not show recovery trends in structural, compositional, or diversity metrics toward mature forest conditions. Fire negatively impacted biological legacies important to forest regeneration, including reducing canopy density, enhancing abiotic stressors, and creating conditions conducive to exotic grass invasion and recurring fire. Functional traits such as relative bark thickness, specific leaf area, and stem number were key predictors of resprouting strategies, highlighting diverse regeneration responses among Caribbean tropical dry forest species.

Conclusions

Puerto Rican tropical dry forest is not resilient to fire, as it disrupts biological legacies critical for regeneration and promotes transitions to degraded states that are difficult to restore. While resprouting remains a postfire legacy, fire alters ecosystem dynamics in ways that challenge long-term recovery. A conceptual model is proposed to illustrate how fire disrupts regeneration processes in Caribbean tropical dry forest.

了解生态系统对环境变化的恢复能力需要评估新的干扰如何影响影响再生的生物遗产。如果干扰制度发生变化，物种缺乏必要的适应性反应，有助于维持恢复条件的遗产可能会丢失。本研究评估了火灾对加勒比海热带干燥森林的短期和长期影响，以确定其恢复力，并确定预测火灾后再生策略的功能特征。该研究是在波多黎各西南部的热带干燥森林中进行的，沿着火灾后29年的时间顺序进行。方法在火灾发生后2个月至29年的不同地点，对木本植物的群落结构、组成、多样性和再生能力进行了研究，并与成熟森林进行了比较。此外，我们测试了功能性状——相对树皮厚度、比叶面积和树的大小——是否可以预测火灾后的再生策略。结果燃烧历史有限的热带干旱林样地对火的结构抗性较弱，但在树木群落中观察到显著的基部再生。从长期来看，时间序列在结构、成分或多样性指标上没有向成熟森林条件恢复的趋势。火灾对森林再生的重要生物遗产产生了负面影响，包括降低林冠密度，增强非生物压力源，创造有利于外来草入侵和反复发生火灾的条件。相对树皮厚度、比叶面积和茎数等功能性状是再生策略的关键预测因子，突出了加勒比热带干旱林物种再生响应的多样性。波多黎各热带干林对火灾没有弹性，因为它破坏了对再生至关重要的生物遗产，并促进了向难以恢复的退化状态的过渡。虽然再生仍然是火灾后的遗产，但火灾以挑战长期恢复的方式改变了生态系统动态。提出了一个概念模型来说明火灾如何破坏加勒比热带干燥森林的再生过程。

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引用次数: 0

Beta-Diversity of Herbaceous Versus Woody Plant Communities Across a Tropical Rainfall Gradient 热带降雨梯度下草本与木本植物群落的β多样性

IF 2.2 3区环境科学与生态学 Q2 ECOLOGY

Journal of Vegetation Science

Pub Date : 2025-04-12 DOI: 10.1111/jvs.70034

Harikrishnan Venugopalan Nair Radhamoni, Jason Vleminckx, María Natalia Umaña, Simon Queenborough, Liza Sheera Comita, Hebbalalu Satyanarayana Suresh, Handanakere Shivaramaiah Dattaraja, Subramanya Shravan Kumar, Raman Sukumar

Aim

Most of our current knowledge on tropical forest plant communities is based on trees, despite the substantial contribution of other lifeforms to plant diversity in these systems. In particular, there is a limited number of studies on understory herbaceous plants (herbs) in tropical forests. With their lower dispersal abilities, higher rates of evolution, and lower drought tolerance than trees, herbs are expected to exhibit different patterns of species composition across space. To compare the patterns and drivers of variation in species composition (β-diversity) between these two plant groups, we surveyed tree and herb communities in 13 one-ha plots along a rainfall gradient in a seasonally dry forest in India.

Location

Mudumalai National Park, India.

Methods

In each one-ha plot, we censused all trees ≥ 1 cm DBH in each one-ha plot, and herbs in 47–50 1 × 1 m subplots within each one-ha plot. In both groups, we estimated among-plot β-diversity, which we decomposed into two components: turnover and nestedness. Then we partitioned the relative influences of spatial and environmental predictors, including rainfall, temperature, soil, and fire frequency, on β-diversity.

Results

Contrary to our expectations, β-diversity was remarkably similar for herbs and trees, and both groups exhibited high turnover along the gradient. Rainfall and temperature explained most variation in composition within both groups, while fire and soil explained less variation, and their effects differed between groups.

Conclusions

While trees and herbs show contrasting patterns of α-diversity across the same rainfall gradient, our study suggests that both life forms are impacted strongly by environmental filtering, predominantly rainfall and temperature, resulting in similar patterns of β-diversity. The high turnover observed in tree and herb communities, and the influence of rainfall and temperature in structuring these communities, should be considered when designing conservation and restoration strategies in the face of ongoing global change and other anthropogenic pressures on tropical forests.

我们目前对热带森林植物群落的大部分知识都是基于树木的，尽管其他生命形式对这些系统中的植物多样性做出了重大贡献。特别是，对热带森林林下草本植物的研究数量有限。与乔木相比，草本植物具有较低的传播能力、较高的进化速率和较低的耐旱性，因此在不同的空间中，草本植物的物种组成将呈现出不同的格局。为了比较这两个植物类群之间物种组成（β-多样性）变化的模式和驱动因素，我们在印度一个季节性干旱森林沿着降雨梯度调查了13个1公顷样地的乔木和草本群落。地点：印度Mudumalai国家公园。方法在每1 ha样地，对每1 ha样地内所有≥1 cm DBH的树木和每1 ha样地内47 ~ 50个1 × 1 m亚样地的草本植物进行普查。在这两个组中，我们估计了小区间β-多样性，我们将其分解为两个组成部分：周转和筑巢。然后划分了降雨、温度、土壤和火灾频率等空间和环境预测因子对β-多样性的相对影响。结果与我们的预期相反，草本植物和乔木的β-多样性非常相似，并且两个类群都表现出沿梯度的高更替。降雨和温度解释了两组内的大部分成分变化，而火和土壤解释了较少的变化，并且它们的影响在两组之间有所不同。结论在相同的降雨梯度下，树木和草本植物的α-多样性呈现出截然不同的格局，但我们的研究表明，这两种生命形式都受到环境过滤的强烈影响，主要是降雨和温度，从而导致了相似的α-多样性格局。面对持续的全球变化和热带森林面临的其他人为压力，在设计保护和恢复战略时，应考虑到乔木和草本群落中观察到的高更替，以及降雨和温度对这些群落结构的影响。

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引用次数: 0

Propagule Pressure and Soil Disturbance Diminish Plant Community Resistance to Invasion Across Habitat Types

IF 2.2 3区环境科学与生态学 Q2 ECOLOGY

Journal of Vegetation Science

Pub Date : 2025-04-07 DOI: 10.1111/jvs.70033

Raytha de Assis Murillo, Viktoria Wagner

Questions

Community resistance to non-native plant invasions results from intrinsic habitat characteristics, propagule pressure, and the presence of disturbance. Species identity further complicates this relationship due to pre-existing adaptations. Despite these mechanisms being understood in isolation, their interplay is rarely explored in natural field communities. Furthermore, while survey studies have reported levels of invasion across habitat types, few have quantified differences in intrinsic invasibility experimentally.

Location

Roy Berg Kinsella Research Ranch, Alberta, Canada.

Methods

We manipulated soil disturbance and propagule pressure in three habitat types (aspen forest, shrub vegetation, and prairie grassland) and examined their impact on the germination success of three pairs of phylogenetically similar native and non-native plant species (Bromus ciliatus/B. inermis, Elymus trachycaulus/Agropyron cristatum, Poa secunda/P. pratensis) for 3 months after seed addition.

Results

Habitats played a crucial role in determining resistance to invasion, with aspen forest exhibiting the highest germination rates and invasibility and prairie grassland the lowest. High propagule pressure significantly increased invasibility across all habitat types and genera, and its impact was most pronounced when combined with soil disturbance, though this was contingent on genus. Invasive Bromus had higher germination compared to its native congener, even in the absence of disturbance. However, native Elymus and Poa species had equal or greater germination compared to their non-native counterparts.

Conclusions

Our results underline that propagule pressure, disturbance, and species identity interact as drivers of plant community invasibility. Furthermore, our study demonstrated that habitat types differ in their intrinsic resistance to invasions. While aspen forests have greater invasibility, grasslands are more invaded than their resistance suggests. Thus, invasibility contrasts with levels of invasion reported in field surveys, supporting previous suggestions that these attributes do not always align.

群落对外来植物入侵的抵抗来自于固有的生境特征、繁殖体压力和干扰的存在。由于预先存在的适应性，物种身份进一步使这种关系复杂化。尽管这些机制被孤立地理解，但它们的相互作用很少在自然野外群落中被探索。此外，虽然调查研究报告了不同栖息地类型的入侵水平，但很少有实验量化内在入侵性的差异。地点罗伊伯格金塞拉研究牧场，阿尔伯塔省，加拿大。方法在3种生境类型（白杨林、灌丛植被和草原草地）中设置土壤扰动和繁殖体压力，研究土壤扰动和繁殖体压力对3对系统发育相似的本地和非本地植物（毛毛帚/毛毛帚）发芽成功率的影响。草草/冰草，草草/草草。添加种子后3个月。结果生境对植物抗入侵能力有重要影响，白杨林萌发率和入侵率最高，草原草地最低。高繁殖体压力显著增加了所有生境类型和属的入侵性，其影响在与土壤扰动结合时最为明显，尽管这取决于属。即使在没有干扰的情况下，入侵雀稗的萌发率也比本土雀稗高。然而，与非本地物种相比，本地的羊草和Poa物种的萌发率相等或更高。结论繁殖体压力、干扰和物种身份是植物群落入侵性的驱动因素。此外，我们的研究还表明，不同的生境类型对入侵的内在抵抗力不同。虽然白杨林具有更大的入侵性，但草原的入侵程度比它们的抵抗力所显示的要严重。因此，入侵性与实地调查中报告的入侵水平形成对比，支持了先前的建议，即这些属性并不总是一致的。

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引用次数: 0

Correction to “Response of Subalpine Plant Vegetation to Snow Cover Duration Quantified by In Situ Repeat Photography”

IF 2.2 3区环境科学与生态学 Q2 ECOLOGY

Journal of Vegetation Science

Pub Date : 2025-03-25 DOI: 10.1111/jvs.70031

Zeidler M., Šipoš J., Banaš M., Václavík T. (2025): Response of Subalpine Plant Vegetation to Snow Cover Duration Quantified by In Situ Repeat Photography. Journal of Vegetation Science, 36:e70016. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.70016

The title “Response of subalpine plant vegetation to snow cover duration quantified by in situ repeat photography” includes a redundancy (“plant vegetation”).

Please, correct the title to “Response of subalpine vegetation to snow cover duration quantified by in situ repeat photography.”

We apologize for this error.

Zeidler M., Šipoš J., Banaš M., Václavík T.

引用次数: 0

Successful Alien Plant Species Exhibit Functional Dissimilarity From Natives Under Varied Climatic Conditions but Not Under Increased Nutrient Availability

IF 2.2 3区环境科学与生态学 Q2 ECOLOGY

Journal of Vegetation Science

Pub Date : 2025-03-25 DOI: 10.1111/jvs.70032

Marija Milanović, Jonathan D. Bakker, Lori Biederman, Elizabeth T. Borer, Jane A. Catford, Elsa Cleland, Nicole Hagenah, Sylvia Haider, W. Stanley Harpole, Kimberly Komatsu, Andrew S. MacDougall, Christine Römermann, Eric W. Seabloom, Sonja Knapp, Ingolf Kühn

Aims

The community composition of native and alien plant species is influenced by the environment (e.g., nutrient addition and changes in temperature or precipitation). A key objective of our study is to understand how differences in the traits of alien and native species vary across diverse environmental conditions. For example, the study examines how changes in nutrient availability affect community composition and functional traits, such as specific leaf area and plant height. Additionally, it seeks to assess the vulnerability of high-nutrient environments, such as grasslands, to alien species colonization and the potential for alien species to surpass natives in abundance. Finally, the study explores how climatic factors, including temperature and precipitation, modulate the relationship between traits and environmental conditions, shaping species success.

Location

In our study, we used data from a globally distributed experiment manipulating nutrient supplies in grasslands worldwide (NutNet).

Methods

We investigate how temporal shifts in the abundance of native and alien species are influenced by species-specific functional traits, including specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf nutrient concentrations, as well as by environmental conditions such as climate and nutrient treatments, across 17 study sites. Mixed-effects models were used to assess these relationships.

Results

Alien and native species increasing in their abundance did not differ in their leaf traits. We found significantly lower specific leaf area (SLA) with an increase in mean annual temperature and lower leaf Potassium with mean annual precipitation. For trait–environment relationships, when compared to native species, successful aliens exhibited an increase in leaf Phosphorus and a decrease in leaf Potassium with an increase in mean annual precipitation. Finally, aliens' SLA decreased in plots with higher mean annual temperatures.

Conclusions

Therefore, studying the relationship between environment and functional traits may portray grasslands' dynamics better than focusing exclusively on traits of successful species, per se.

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引用次数: 0

Measuring Them all: Individual-Based Functional Spatial Patterns in Mountain Grasslands

IF 2.2 3区环境科学与生态学 Q2 ECOLOGY

Journal of Vegetation Science

Pub Date : 2025-03-22 DOI: 10.1111/jvs.70029

Luciano Ludovico Maria De Benedictis, Stefano Chelli, Roberto Canullo, Giandiego Campetella

Questions

Spatial patterns of plant traits have rarely been studied at distances below 10 cm. Is it possible to detect nonrandom functional patterns at a very fine scale in mountain secondary grasslands? An analysis in terms of trait similarity, magnitude and density correlation can highlight the importance of different biotic and abiotic processes at these scales. We expect species identity to be of secondary importance if all individuals are identified by their measured traits, resulting in consistent patterns whether it is considered or not, especially if ITV (intraspecific trait variability) and functional overlap are high.

Location

Natural reserve “Montagna di Torricchio,” a strict reserve in the Marche region, central Apennines, Italy.

Methods

Plant height, leaf area, and specific leaf area have been measured for each individual (1094 ramets) in 10 quadrats, divided into two grasslands differing in canopy cover. Functional redundancy and ITV were evaluated with overlap measures and variance partitioning. Marked point pattern statistics have been used to test for non-randomness of trait patterns either by considering all individuals at once or by excluding conspecific pairs.

Results

At distances below 8 cm, we found evidence of trait convergence, pairs smaller than expected and negative density correlation. Above 8 cm, we found trait divergence and larger than expected pairs. We suggest biotic and abiotic causes for this, linked to physical packing or similarity in soil depth, respectively. The results differed between traits and between grasslands. The results were consistent whether conspecific pairs were excluded or not. There is a high functional overlap among species, and ITV has a large contribution to variability.

Conclusions

We found nonrandom functional patterns in grasslands below 10 cm, an almost unexplored scale range in any vegetation. The approach used showed that taxonomic identity is less important than the functional setting of individuals at this scale.

问题植物性状的空间模式很少在 10 厘米以下的距离进行研究。是否有可能在非常精细的尺度上发现山地次生草地的非随机功能模式？从性状相似性、大小和密度相关性方面进行分析，可以突出不同生物和非生物过程在这些尺度上的重要性。我们预计，如果所有个体都能通过所测量的性状进行识别，那么物种特征就会变得次要，无论考虑与否，都会产生一致的模式，尤其是当 ITV（种内性状变异性）和功能重叠度较高时。地点 "Montagna di Torricchio "自然保护区，意大利亚平宁半岛中部马尔凯大区的一个严格保护区。方法在 10 个方格中测量每个个体（1094 个柱头）的植株高度、叶面积和比叶面积。通过重叠测量和方差分区评估了功能冗余和 ITV。通过同时考虑所有个体或排除同种配对个体，使用标记点模式统计来检验性状模式的非随机性。结果在 8 厘米以下的距离上，我们发现了性状趋同的证据、小于预期的配对和负的密度相关性。在 8 厘米以上的距离，我们发现了性状分化和比预期大的配对。我们认为这是生物和非生物原因造成的，分别与物理包装或土壤深度的相似性有关。不同性状和不同草地的结果各不相同。无论是否排除同种配对，结果都是一致的。物种间的功能重叠率很高，而 ITV 对变异性的贡献很大。结论我们在 10 厘米以下的草地中发现了非随机的功能模式，这在任何植被中都是一个几乎未经探索的尺度范围。所使用的方法表明，在这一尺度范围内，分类学特征不如个体的功能环境重要。

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引用次数: 0

Plant Community Responses to Climate Change: The Importance of Ecological Context Dependencies

IF 2.2 3区环境科学与生态学 Q2 ECOLOGY

Journal of Vegetation Science

Pub Date : 2025-03-21 DOI: 10.1111/jvs.70028

Richard Michalet, Jiri Dolezal, Jonathan Lenoir, Peter le Roux, Sabine Rumpf, Sonja Wipf

<p>Climate change is considered one of the most important threats to biodiversity (IPBES <span>2019</span>; Montràs-Janer et al. <span>2024</span>). It was a topic in 22% of scientific articles focusing on biodiversity (Clarivate, Web of Science) and the focus of several special issues in ecological journals during the last 5 years (e.g. Mahli et al. <span>2020</span>; Kéfi et al. <span>2024</span>).</p><p>This Special Issue « Plant Community Responses to Climate Change » focuses on community, rather than species-specific, responses and the importance of ecological context dependencies. Most ecological studies assessing the effect of climate change on biodiversity have focused on individual species responses, such as changes in geographical distributions with consequences for biodiversity at the regional scale (e.g., Thuiller et al. <span>2005</span>; Parmesan <span>2006</span>; Lenoir et al. <span>2020</span>; Lynn et al. <span>2021</span>). Beyond the question of scale in ecology, this might be due to the traditional view in the scientific literature that species are independent of each other (Whittaker <span>1956</span>) and, thus, that we should expect species-specific (or functional group-specific) responses to climate change (Chapin and Shaver <span>1985</span>). However, differing species-specific ecological requirements and niche positions in the ecological space do not preclude species interdependencies in plant communities (Callaway <span>1997</span>). Species interdependencies and ecosystem-engineering effects by foundation species (Wilson and Agnew <span>1992</span>) may contribute to explaining lag dynamics in species responses to climate change (Bertrand et al. <span>2011</span>; Dullinger et al. <span>2012</span>; Alexander et al. <span>2018</span>; Rumpf et al. <span>2019</span>). For example, Lenoir et al. (<span>2017</span>) have stressed that the microclimatic buffering effect of canopy trees in forest ecosystems contributes to explaining why most plant species have shown limited migration towards colder latitudes or elevations. This is due to the pronounced difference in temperature and relative humidity between the near-ground surface of open habitats and the understory of mature forests from wet and warm climates (De Frenne et al. <span>2019</span>). Therefore, there is an urgent need to integrate plant–plant interactions and a community-scale perspective into climate change studies to increase the accuracy of our predictions (Sanczuk et al. <span>2024</span>) and the efficiency of mitigation strategies (e.g., assisted migration; Michalet, Carcaillet, et al. <span>2024</span>).</p><p>Ecological context dependencies at the level of individual species and communities can strongly affect biotic responses to climate change (Lenoir <span>2020</span>), a phenomenon prevalent at different spatial extents and resolutions. At the regional level, for example, changes in alpine plant community composition depend not only on the regiona

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引用次数: 0

Exploring Priority and Year Effects on Plant Diversity, Productivity and Vertical Root Distribution: First Insights From a Grassland Field Experiment

IF 2.2 3区环境科学与生态学 Q2 ECOLOGY

Journal of Vegetation Science

Pub Date : 2025-03-20 DOI: 10.1111/jvs.70026

Inés M. Alonso-Crespo, Vicky M. Temperton, Andreas Fichtner, Thomas Niemeyer, Michael Schloter, Benjamin M. Delory

Question

The order of arrival of plant species during community assembly can affect how species interact with each other. These so-called priority effects can have strong implications for the structure and functioning of plant communities. However, the extent to which the strength, direction, and persistence of priority effects are modulated by weather conditions during plant establishment (“year effects”) is not well known.

Location

Niederhaverbeck, Bispingen, Germany.

Methods

We present the first results from a field experiment initiated in 2020 in Northern Germany to test how plant functional group (PFG) order of arrival and the year of initiation of an experiment interactively affect the structure and functioning of nutrient-poor dry acidic grasslands, both above and below ground. To do this, we established the same experiment, manipulating the order of arrival of forbs, grasses, and legumes on the same site, but in different years representing different weather conditions.

Results

We found that time since establishment was a stronger driver of plant community composition than PFG order of arrival and year of initiation. PFG order of arrival effects on plant diversity evolved over time and depended on the year of initiation of an experiment. Year of initiation, not PFG order of arrival, was the strongest driver of aboveground community productivity. Although we did not find an effect of PFG order of arrival on root productivity, it had a strong impact on the vertical distribution of roots. Communities where grasses were sown first rooted more shallowly than communities in which forbs or legumes were sown first.

Conclusions

In experimental dry acidic grassland communities, community composition and productivity are shaped by time since establishment and initial weather conditions, rather than PFG order of arrival (6-week sowing interval). Importantly, our results demonstrate that manipulating PFG order of arrival is possibly an effective restoration measure to alter vertical root distribution towards more deep-rooting communities when sowing forbs or legumes first. This in turn could benefit dry grasslands on sandy soils during periods of water deficit.

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引用次数: 0

A-Islands: A Vascular Plant Dataset for Biodiversity Research and Species Monitoring on Australian Continental Islands

IF 2.2 3区环境科学与生态学 Q2 ECOLOGY

Journal of Vegetation Science

Pub Date : 2025-03-20 DOI: 10.1111/jvs.70019

Julian Schrader, David Coleman, Ian Abbott, Sally Bryant, Ralf Buckley, Darren M. Crayn, Rachael V. Gallagher, Stephen Harris, Harold Heatwole, Betsy Jackes, Holger Kreft, Kevin Mills, Jamie Kirkpatrick, Peter K. Latz, John Neldner, Cornelia Sattler, Micah Visoiu, Elizabeth H. Wenk, John C. Z. Woinarski, Stuart Worboys, Ian J. Wright, Isabel Zorn, Mark Westoby

Aims

Australia's coastline is fringed by more than 8000 continental islands. These islands feature a diverse array of landforms, rock and soil types and geological origins. Some of these islands are among the least invaded, most pristine habitats in Australia and support high plant diversity. Here, we present a new Australia-wide curated dataset for plant species occurrences on islands.

Results

Combining information from 1349 species lists and floras, A-Islands includes data on > 6500 plant species from 844 islands ranging in size from 18 m² to 4400 km², exhibiting different degrees of isolation from the mainland, and spanning all major Australian climate zones. Of these, 251 islands have been repeatedly sampled up to 11 times, making it possible to investigate temporal compositional change. A-Islands is open access and will be continuously updated. Its simple data structure, consisting of three comma-separated files allows easy integration with other Australian and global plant-occurrence databases and can serve as a repository for island research in Australia.

Conclusions

Knowing which species occur on Australia's islands will provide opportunities for future research, including studying changes in biodiversity and species turnover within and among archipelagos, tests of classical island biogeography theory, and as a baseline for ecological monitoring and conservation.

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引用次数: 0

A Virulent Soil Pathogen Alters Temperate Rain Forest Understorey Sapling Population Dynamics and Successional Trajectories

IF 2.2 3区环境科学与生态学 Q2 ECOLOGY

Journal of Vegetation Science

Pub Date : 2025-03-19 DOI: 10.1111/jvs.70014

Tobias A. W. Elliott, Peter J. Bellingham, George L. W. Perry, Bruce R. Burns

Aims

Understanding the impacts of forest tree pathogens on understorey sapling populations is critical for understanding their population-level effects and the likely successional trajectories of infected communities. We assessed the impacts of Phytophthora agathidicida, a soil-borne pathogen, on the sapling population dynamics of the disease-susceptible, locally dominant canopy tree, the conifer kauri (Agathis australis, Araucariaceae). We also examined the indirect effects of P. agathidicida on likely resistant allospecifics that span a range of shade-tolerances as saplings, to predict future successional trajectories.

Location

Waitākere Ranges, west of Auckland, Aotearoa-New Zealand.

Methods

We analysed data from four kauri-dominated permanent plots in Aotearoa-New Zealand warm temperate rain forests. Two plots were early-successional and two were late-successional, one in each pair had overstorey kauri showing intense visual P. agathidicida symptoms, and the other overstorey kauri showing few symptoms. We examined the association between kauri trees and saplings using point pattern analysis and the relationship between the level of crowding around saplings and their growth and survival rates. We compared the growth and survival rates of kauri and allospecifics, categorised by shade tolerance, among the plots.

Results

Kauri forms sapling banks under conspecific trees that were less dense in late-successional forests and in those where the overstorey kauri showed symptoms of P. agathidicida infection. Despite having lower densities, kauri sapling growth rates were higher in symptomatic plots. The growth rates of light-demanding allospecifics were also higher in these plots, with minor differences in mortality and growth rates for more shade-tolerant allospecifics. P. agathidicida may promote sapling growth and survival of kauri and some allospecifics in infected plots.

Conclusions

Sapling vital rates and population sizes differed between asymptomatic and symptomatic plots, particularly in early-successional settings, where P. agathidicida may reset succession in early-successional communities back to those dominated by species that first colonised after disturbance.

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