Evidence for a 'plant community economics spectrum' driven by nutrient and water limitations in a Mediterranean rangeland of southern France

Journal of Ecology

Volumn 100, Issue 6, 2012, Pages 1315-1327

  Pérez Ramos, Ignacio M ^a   Roumet, Catherine ^a   Cruz, Pablo ^b   Blanchard, Alain ^a   Autran, Paul ^c   Garnier, Eric ^a  

^a CENTRE D ECOLOGIE FONCTIONNELLE ET EVOLUTIVE   (France)

^b UNIVERSITÉ DE TOULOUSE   (France)

^c INRA Domaine de La Fage   (France)

Author keywords

Acquisition conservation trade off; Environmental gradients; Functional strategies; Intraspecific variability; Leaf traits; Plant soil (below ground) interactions; Root traits; Species turnover

Indexed keywords

ABOVEGROUND BIOMASS; BELOWGROUND BIOMASS; COMMUNITY STRUCTURE; ENVIRONMENTAL FACTOR; ENVIRONMENTAL GRADIENT; INTRASPECIFIC VARIATION; LEAF; MEDITERRANEAN ENVIRONMENT; NITROGEN; NUTRIENT LIMITATION; PLANT COMMUNITY; RANGELAND; ROOT; SOIL DEPTH; SOIL WATER; SOIL-VEGETATION INTERACTION; WATER UPTAKE;

FRANCE;

EID: 84867792376     PISSN: 00220477     EISSN: 13652745     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.12000     Document Type: Article

References (81)

1. Aerts, R. (1995) The advantages of being evergreen. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 10, 402-407.
2. Aerts, R. & Chapin, F.S. (2000) The mineral nutrition of wild plants revisited: a re-evaluation of processes and patterns. Advances in Ecological Research, 30, 1-67.
3. Afnor (1994). Qualité des Sols, vol. 1, Afnor, Recueil de normes Paris.
4. Albert, C.H., Thuiller, W., Yoccoz, N.G., Soudant, A., Boucher, F., Saccone, P. & Lavorel, S. (2010a) Intraspecific functional variability: extent, structure and sources of variation. Journal of Ecology, 98, 604-613.
5. Albert, C.H., Thuiller, W., Yoccoz, N.G., Douzet, R., Aubert, S. & Lavorel, S. (2010b) A multi-trait approach reveals the structure and the relative importance of intra- vs interspecific variability in plant traits. Functional Ecology, 24, 1192-1201.
6. Birouste, M., Kazakou, E., Blanchard, A. & Roumet, C. (2012) Plant traits and decomposition: are the relationships for roots comparable to those for leaves? Annals of Botany, 109, 463-472.
7. Booth, R.E. & Grime, J.P. (2003) Effects of genetic impoverishment on plant community diversity. Journal of Ecology, 91, 721-730.
8. Burnham, K.P. & Anderson, D.R.. (2002) Model Selection and Multimodel Inference: A Practical Information-Theoretic Approach, 2nd edn. Springer, Berlin, Germany.
9. Byars, S.G., Papst, W. & Hoffmann, A.A. (2007) Local adaptation and cogradient selection in the alpine plant, Poa hiemata, along a narrow altitudinal gradient. Evolution, 61, 2925-2941.
10. Chapin, F.S., Autumn, K. & Pugnaire, F. (1993) Evolution of suites of traits in response to environmental stress. American Naturalist, 142, S78-S92.
11. Comas, L.H. & Eissenstat, D.M. (2004) Linking fine root traits to maximum potential growth rate among 11 mature temperate tree species. Functional Ecology, 18, 388-397.
12. Cornelissen, J.H.C., Lavorel, S., Garnier, E., Diaz, S., Buchmann, N., Gurvich, D.E., Reich, P.B., Steege, H., Morgan, H.D., Van der Heijden, M.G.A., Pausas, J.G. & Poorter, H. (2003) A handbook of protocols for standardised and easy measurement of plant functional traits worldwide. Australian Journal of Botany, 51, 335-380.
13. Craine, J.M., Froehle, J., Tilman, D.G., Wedin, D.A. & Chapin III, F.S. (2001) The relationships among root and leaf traits of 76 grassland species and relative abundance along fertility and disturbance gradients. Oikos, 93, 274-285.
14. Craine, J.M., Lee, W.G., Bond, W.J., Williams, R.J. & Johnson, L.C. (2005) Environmental constraints on a global relationship among leaf and root traits of grasses. Ecology, 86, 12-19.
15. Crutsinger, G.M., Collins, M.D., Fordyce, J.A., Gompert, Z., Nice, C.C. & Sanders, N.J. (2006) Plant genotypic diversity predicts community structure and governs an ecosystem process. Science, 313, 966-968.
16. Cunningham, S.A., Summerhayes, B. & Westoby, M. (1999) Evolutionary divergences in leaf structure and chemistry, comparing rainfall and soil nutrient gradients. Ecological Monographs, 69, 569-588.
17. De Bello, F., Buchmann, N., Casals, P., Leps, J. & Sebastià, M.T. (2009) Relating plant species and functional diversity to community delta C-13 in NE Spain pastures. Agricultural Ecosystems & Environment, 131, 303-307.
18. Díaz, S. & Cabido, M. (2001) Vive la différence: plant functional diversity matters to ecosystem processes. Trenes in Ecology and Evolution, 16, 646-655.
19. Díaz, S., Cabido, M. & Casanoves, F. (1999) Functional implications of trait-environment linkages in plant communities. Ecological Assembly Rules - Perspectivas, Advances, Retraits (eds E. Weiher & P. Keddy), pp. 338-362. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
20. Duru, M. & Ducrocq, H. (1997) A nitrogen and phosphorus herbage nutrient index as a tool for assessing the effect of N and P supply on the dry matter yield for permanent pastures. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 47, 59-69.
21. Duru, M., Lemaire, G. & Cruz, P. (1997) Grasslands. Diagnosis of Nitrogen Status in Crops (ed. G. Lemaire), pp. 59-72. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany.
22. Edwards, A.W.F. (1992) Likelihood, Expanded edition. Johns Hopkins University Press.
23. Eissenstat, D.M., Wells, C.E., Yanai, R.D. & Whitbeck, J.L. (2000) Building roots in a changing environment: implications for root longevity. New Phytologist, 147, 33-42.
24. Farquhar, G.D., O'Leary, M.H. & Berry, J.A. (1982) On the relationship between carbon isotope discrimination and the intercellular carbon dioxide concentration in leaves. Austral Journal of Plant Physiology, 9, 121-137.
25. Fonseca, C.R., McOverton, J., Collins, B. & Westoby, M. (2000) Shifts in trait-combinations along rainfall and phosphorus gradients. Journal of Ecology, 88, 964-977.
26. Freschet, G.T., Cornelissen, J.H.C., Van Logtestijn, R.S.P. & Aerts, R. (2010) Evidence of the ′plant economics spectrum′ in a subartic flora. Journal of Ecology, 98, 362-373.
27. Garcia, L.V. (2004) Escaping the Bonferroni iron claw in ecological studies. Oikos, 105, 657-663.
28. García, L.V., Maltez-Mouro, S., Pérez-Ramos, I.M., Freitas, H. & Marañón, T. (2006) Counteracting gradients of light and soil nutrients in the understorey of Mediterranean oak forests. Web Ecology, 6, 67-74.
29. Garnier, E., Laurent, G., Bellmann, A., Debain, S., Berthelier, P., Ducout, B., Roumet, C. & Navas, M.L. (2001) Consistency of species ranking based on functional leaf traits. New Phytologist, 152, 69-83.
30. Garnier, E., Cortez, J., Billès, G., Navas, M.L., Roumet, C., Debussche, M., Laurent, G., Blanchard, A., Aubry, D., Bellmann, A., Neill, C. & Toussaint, J.P. (2004) Plant functional markers capture ecosystem properties during secondary succession. Ecology, 85, 2630-2637.
31. Garnier, E., Lavorel, S., Ansquer, P., Castro, H., Cruz, P., Dolezal, J. et al. (2007) Assessing the effects of land-use change on plant traits, communities and ecosystem functioning in grasslands: a standard methodology and lessons from an application to 11 european sites. Annals of Botany, 99, 967-985.
32. Gómez, J.M. (2004) Importance of burial and microhabitat on Quercus ilex early recruitment: non-additive effects on multiple demographic processes. Plant Ecology, 172, 287-297.
33. Gómez-Aparicio, L., Pérez-Ramos, I.M., Mendoza, I., Matías, L., Quero, J.L., Castro, J., Zamora, R. & Marañón, T. (2008) Oak seedling survival and growth along resource gradients in Mediterranean forests: implications for regeneration in current and future environmental scenarios. Oikos, 117, 1683-1699.
34. Grime, J.P. (2001) Plant Strategies, Vegetation Processes, and Ecosystem Properties. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester.
35. Grime, J.P., Thompson, K., Hunt, R., Hodgson, J.G., Cornelissen, J.H.C., Rorison, I.H. et al. (1997) Integrated screening validates primary axes of specialisation in plants. Oikos, 79, 259-281.
36. Gross, N., Robson, T.M., Lavorel, S., Albert, C., Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Y. & Guillemin, R. (2008) Plant response traits mediate the effects of subalpine grasslands on soil moisture. New Phytologist, 180, 652-662.
37. Heal, O.W., Anderson, J.M. & Swift, M.J. (1997) Plant litter quality and decomposition: an historical overview. Driven by Nature (eds G. Cadisch & K.E. Giller), pp. 3-30. CAB International, Wallingford, UK.
38. Hobbie, S.E. (1992) Effects of plant species on nutrient cycling. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 7, 336-339.
39. Holdaway, R.J., Richardson, S.J., Dickie, I.A., Peltzer, D.A. & Coomes, D.A. (2011) Species- and community-level patterns in fine root traits along a 120 000-year soil chronosequence in temperate rain forest. Journal of Ecology, 99, 954-963.
40. Hummel, I., Vile, D., Violle, C., Devaux, J., Ricci, B., Blanchard, A., Garnier, E. & Roumet, C. (2007) Relating root structure and anatomy to whole-plant functioning in 14 herbaceous Mediterranean species. New Phytologist, 173, 313-321.
41. Ibañez, I. & Schupp, E.W. (2001) Positive and negative interactions between environmental conditions affecting Cercocarpus ledifolius seedling survival. Oecologia, 129, 543-550.
42. Jackson, R.B., Canadell, J., Ehleringer, J.R., Mooney, H.A., Sala, O.E. & Schulze, E.D. (1996) A global analysis of root distributions for terrestrial biomes. Oecologia, 108, 389-411.
43. Jobbágy, E.G. & Jackson, R.B. (2001) The distribution of soil nutrients with depth: global patterns and the imprint of plants. Biogeochemistry, 53, 51-77.
44. Joshi, J., Schmid, B., Caldeira, M.C., Dimitrakopoulos, P.G., Good, J. & Harris, R. (2001) Local adaptation enhances performance of common plant species. Ecology Letters, 4, 536-544.
45. Keddy, P.A. (1992) Assembly and response rules: two goals for predictive community ecology. Journal of Vegetation Science, 3, 157-164.
46. Laliberté, E., Shipley, B., Norton, D.A. & Scott, D. (2012) Which plant traits determine abundance under long-term shifts in soil resource availability and grazing intensity? Journal of Ecology, 100, 662-677.
47. Lambers, H. & Poorter, H. (1992) Inherent variation in growth rate between higher plants: a search for physiological causes and ecological consequences. Advances in Ecological Research, 23, 187-261.
48. Laughlin, D.C., Leppert, J.J., Moore, M.M. & Sieg, C.H. (2010) A multi-trait test of the leaf-height-seed plant strategy scheme with 133 species from a pine forest flora. Functional Ecology, 24, 493-501.
49. Lavorel, S. & Garnier, E. (2002) Predicting changes in community composition and ecosystem functioning from plant traits: revisiting the Holy Grail. Functional Ecology, 16, 545-556.
50. Lavorel, S., Grigulis, K., McIntyre, S., Williams, N.S.G., Garden, D., Dorrough, J., Berman, S., Quetier, F., Thebault, A. & Bonis, A. (2008) Assessing functional diversity in the field - methodology matters! Functional Ecology, 22, 134-147.
51. Lemaire, G. & Gastal, F. (1997) N uptake and distribution in plant canopies. Diagnosis on the Nitrogen Status in Crops (ed. G. Lemaire), pp. 3-43. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg.
52. Leps, J., De Bello, F., Smilauer, P. & Dolezal, J. (2011) Community trait response to environment: disentangling species turnover vs intraspecific trait variability effects. Ecography, 34, 856-863.
53. Liu, G., Freschet, G.T., Pan, X., Cornelissen, J.H.C., Li, Y. & Dong, M. (2010) Coordinated variation in leaf and root traits across multiple spatial scales in Chinese semi-arid and arid ecosystems. New Phytologist, 188, 543-553.
54. Messier, J., McGill, B.J. & Lechowicz, M.J. (2010) How do traits vary across ecological scales? A case for trait-based ecology Ecology Letters, 13, 838-848.
55. Molenat, G., Foulquie, D., Autran, P., Bouix, J., Hubert, D., Jacquin, M., Bocquier, F. & Bibe, B. (2005) Pour un élevage ovin allaitant performant et durable sur parcours: un système expérimental sur le Causse du Larzac. INRA Production Animal, 18, 323-338.
56. Ordoñez, J.C., Van Bodegom, P.M., Witte, J.P.M., Wright, I.J., Reich, P.B. & Aerts, R. (2009) A global study of relationships between leaf traits, climate and soil measures of nutrient fertility. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 18, 137-149.
57. Pacala, S.W., Canham, C.D., Silander, J.A. & Kobe, R.K. (1994) Sapling growth as a function of resources in a north temperate forest. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 24, 2172-2183.
58. Partel, M. & Wilson, S.D. (2001) Root and leaf production, mortality and longevity in response to soil heterogeneity. Functional Ecology, 15, 748-753.
59. Pérez-Ramos, I.M., Gómez-Aparicio, L., Villar, R., García, L.V. & Marañón, T. (2010) Seedling growth and morphology of three oak species along field resource gradients and seed mass variation: a seedling age-dependent response. Journal of Vegetation Science, 21, 419-437.
60. Poorter, H. & Garnier, E.. (2007) Ecological significance of inherent variation in relative growth rate and its components. Handbook of Functional Plant Ecology (eds F.I. Pugnaire & F. Valladares), pp. 81-120. Marcel Dekker, New York, USA.
61. Quétier, F., Thébault, A. & Lavorel, S. (2007) Plant traits in a state and transition framework as markers of ecosystem response to land-use change. Ecological Monographs, 77, 33-52.
62. Reich, P.B., Walters, M.B., Ellsworth, D.S., Vose, J.M., Volin, J.C., Gresham, C. & Bowman, W.D. (1998a) Relationships of leaf dark respiration to leaf nitrogen, specific leaf area and leaf life-span: a test across biomes and functional groups. Oecologia, 114, 471-482.
63. Reich, P.B., Tjoelker, M.G., Walters, M.B., Vanderklein, D.W. & Buschena, C. (1998b) Close association of RGR, leaf and root morphology, seed mass and shade tolerance in seedlings of nine boreal tree species grown in high and low light. Functional Ecology, 12, 327-338.
64. Reich, P.B., Ellsworth, D.S., Walters, M.B., Vose, J.M., Gresham, C., Vollin, J.C. & Bowman, W.D. (1999) Generality of leaf trait relationships: a test across six biomes. Ecology, 80, 1955-1969.
65. Roy, S. & Singh, J.S. (1994) Consequences of habitat heterogeneity for availability of nutrients in a dry tropical forest. Journal of Ecology, 82, 503-509.
66. Ruíz-Robleto, J. & Villar, R. (2005) Relative growth rate and biomass allocation in ten woody species with different leaf longevity using phylogenetic independent contrasts (PICs). Plant Biology, 7, 484-494.
67. Sandel, B., Goldstein, L.J., Kraft, N.J., Okie, J.G., Shuldman, M.I., Ackerly, D.D., Cleland, E.E. & Suding, K.N. (2010) Contrasting trait responses in plant communities to experimental and geographic variation in precipitation. New Phytologist, 188, 565-575.
68. Schenk, H.J. & Jackson, R.B. (2002) Rooting depths, lateral root spreads and below-ground/above-ground allometries of plants in water-limited ecosystems. Journal of Ecology, 90, 480-494.
69. Sonnier, G., Shipley, B. & Navas, M.L. (2010) Quantifying relationships between traits and explicitly measured gradients of stress and disturbance in early successional plant communities. Journal of Vegetation Science, 21, 1014-1024.
70. Suding, K.N., Lavorel, S., Chapin, F.S., Cornelissen, J.H.S., Diaz, S., Garnier, E., Goldberg, D., Hooper, D., Jackson, S. & Navas, M.L. (2008) Scaling environmental change through the community-level: a trait-based response-and-effect framework for plants. Global Change Biology, 14, 1125-1140.
71. Tjoelker, M.G., Craine, J.M., Wedin, D., Reich, P.B. & Tilman, D. (2005) Linking leaf and root trait syndromes among 39 grassland and savannah species. New Phytologist, 167, 493-508.
72. Tothill, J.C., Hargreaves, J.N.G., Jones, R.M. & McDonald, C.K. (1992) Botanal - a comprehensive sampling and computing procedure for estimating pasture yield and composition. 1. Field sampling. Tropical Agronomy Technical Memorandum, 78, 1-24.
73. Violle, C., Navas, M.L., Vile, D., Kazakou, E., Fortunel, C., Hummel, I. & Garnier, E. (2007) "Let the concept of trait be functional!". Oikos, 116, 882-892.
74. Vitousek, P.M. & Howarth, R.W. (1991) Nitrogen limitation on land and in the sea: how can it occur? Biogeochemistry, 13, 87-115.
75. Wahl, S. & Ryser, P. (2000) Root tissue structure is linked to ecological strategies of grasses. New Phytologist, 148, 459-471.
76. Westoby, M., Falster, D.S., Moles, A.T., Vesk, P.A. & Wright, I.J. (2002) Plant ecological strategies: some leading dimensions of variation between species. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 33, 125-159.
77. Withington, J.M., Reich, P.B., Oleksyn, J. & Eissenstat, D.M. (2006) Comparisons of structure and life span in roots and leaves among temperate trees. Ecological Monographs, 76, 381-397.
78. Woodward, F.I. & Diament, A.D. (1991) Functional approaches to predicting the ecological effects of global change. Functional Ecology, 5, 202-212.
79. Wright, I.J. & Westoby, M. (1999) Differences in seedling growth behavior among species: trait correlations across species, and trait shifts along nutrient compared to rainfall gradients. Journal of Ecology, 87, 85-97.
80. Wright, I.J. & Westoby, M. (2001) Understanding seedling growth relationships through specific leaf area and leaf nitrogen concentration: generalisations across growth forms and growth irradiance. Oecologia, 127, 21-29.
81. Wright, I.J., Reich, P.B., Westoby, M., Ackerly, D.D., Baruch, Z., Bongers, F. et al. (2004) The world-wide leaf economics spectrum. Nature, 428, 821-827.