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Title:Are ecological niche optimum and width of forest plant species related to their functional traits?
Authors:ID Kermavnar, Janez (Author)
ID Kutnar, Lado (Author)
ID Marinšek, Aleksander (Author)
ID Babij, Valerija (Author)
Files:URL URL - Source URL, visit https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0367253023000373?via%3Dihub
 
.pdf PDF - Presentation file, download (2,37 MB)
MD5: B8083FBBCEF61084D6BEFBCF0E5813B4
 
Language:English
Typology:1.01 - Original Scientific Article
Organization:Logo SciVie - Slovenian Forestry Institute
Abstract:The ecological niche is one of the central concepts in plant ecology. Understanding which biological traits influence plant niches remains limited, preventing large-scale generalizations. Using a representative pool of 94 herb-layer species frequently occurring in the Slovenian forest vegetation types and an extensive suite of 28 plant functional traits, we tested whether traits serve as predictors for the optimum and width of plant species ecological niche. Niche optimum (mean) and niche width (standard deviation) of each species were derived from community-level ecological indicator values for six environmental gradients, i.e., light, temperature, continentality, moisture, soil reaction and nutrients. We investigated relationships between niche parameters and functional traits through a random forest analysis to account for relatively high trait correlations. Our results suggest that niche optimum and width of forest plant species are related to their functional traits. The two niche parameters were best explained by similar set of traits; however, the relative importance of traits differed substantially. Traits associated with disturbances (frequency and severity), plant dispersal (seed mass, dispersal syndrome), leaf economics spectrum (specific leaf area) and life strategy (CSR scores) showed the highest overall significance in predicting niche optimum and width. Functional traits were, on average, better predictors for niche optimum (average variance explained across all six environmental factors: 20.2%) than for niche width (average variance explained: 7.7%). Intraspecific trait variability, not considered in this study, likely plays an important role in case of niche width. The analyses suggest that, while not all traits impact niche parameters to the same degree, it is crucial to consider traits representing different ecological dimensions and revealing leading patterns of trait coordination. We recommend that the relative importance of traits for species niche parameters should be tested on a larger spatial scale using broader pool of forest understory plants across Europe.
Keywords:ecological gradients, Ellenberg indicator values, Slovenian forest types, trait-environment relationship, understory plants
Publication status:Published
Publication date:01.01.2023
Year of publishing:2023
Number of pages:12 str.
Numbering:Vol. 301, [article no.] ǂ152247
PID:20.500.12556/DiRROS-16365 New window
UDC:630*18
ISSN on article:0367-2530
DOI:10.1016/j.flora.2023.152247 New window
COBISS.SI-ID:144571651 New window
Publication date in DiRROS:09.03.2023
Views:436
Downloads:243
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Record is a part of a journal

Title:Flora. Morphologie, Geobotanik, Ökologie
Publisher:Gustav Fischer Verlag
ISSN:0367-2530
COBISS.SI-ID:2849039 New window

Document is financed by a project

Funder:ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
Project number:P4-0107-2020
Name:Gozdna biologija, ekologija in tehnologija

Funder:ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
Project number:Z4-4543
Name:Spremembe gozdne vegetacije zaradi vplivov globalnih in lokalnih okoljskih sprememb v daljšem časovnem obdobju

Licences

License:CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Link:http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Description:This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

Language:Slovenian
Keywords:Ellenbergove vrednosti indikatorjev, Slovenski gozdni tipi, pritalne rastline, okolje


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