@article{WasofLenoirGalletMoronetal.2013, author = {Wasof, Safaa and Lenoir, Jonathan and Gallet-Moron, Emilie and Jamoneau, Aurelien and Brunet, J{\"o}rg and Cousins, Sara A. O. and De Frenne, Pieter and Diekmann, Martin and Hermy, Martin and Kolb, Annette and Liira, Jaan and Verheyen, Kris and Wulf, Monika and Decocq, Guillaume}, title = {Ecological niche shifts of understorey plants along a latitudinal gradient of temperate forests in north-western Europe}, series = {Global ecology and biogeography : a journal of macroecology}, volume = {22}, journal = {Global ecology and biogeography : a journal of macroecology}, number = {10}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {1466-822X}, doi = {10.1111/geb.12073}, pages = {1130 -- 1140}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Aim In response to environmental changes and to avoid extinction, species may either track suitable environmental conditions or adapt to the modified environment. However, whether and how species adapt to environmental changes remains unclear. By focusing on the realized niche (i.e. the actual space that a species inhabits and the resources it can access as a result of limiting biotic factors present in its habitat), we here examine shifts in the realized-niche width (i.e. ecological amplitude) and position (i.e. ecological optimum) of 26 common and widespread forest understorey plants across their distributional ranges. Location Temperate forests along a ca. 1800-km-long latitudinal gradient from northern France to central Sweden and Estonia. Methods We derived species' realized-niche width from a -diversity metric, which increases if the focal species co-occurs with more species. Based on the concept that species' scores in a detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) represent the locations of their realized-niche positions, we developed a novel approach to run species-specific DCAs allowing the focal species to shift its realized-niche position along the studied latitudinal gradient while the realized-niche positions of other species were held constant. Results None of the 26 species maintained both their realized-niche width and position along the latitudinal gradient. Few species (9 of 26: 35\%) shifted their realized-niche width, but all shifted their realized-niche position. With increasing latitude, most species (22 of 26: 85\%) shifted their realized-niche position for soil nutrients and pH towards nutrient-poorer and more acidic soils. Main conclusions Forest understorey plants shifted their realized niche along the latitudinal gradient, suggesting local adaptation and/or plasticity. This macroecological pattern casts doubt on the idea that the realized niche is stable in space and time, which is a key assumption of species distribution models used to predict the future of biodiversity, hence raising concern about predicted extinction rates.}, language = {en} } @article{VerheyenBaetenDeFrenneetal.2012, author = {Verheyen, Kris and Baeten, Lander and De Frenne, Pieter and Bernhardt-R{\"o}mermann, Markus and Brunet, Jorg and Cornelis, Johnny and Decocq, Guillaume and Dierschke, Hartmut and Eriksson, Ove and Hedl, Radim and Heinken, Thilo and Hermy, Martin and Hommel, Patrick and Kirby, Keith J. and Naaf, Tobias and Peterken, George and Petrik, Petr and Pfadenhauer, Joerg and Van Calster, Hans and Walther, Gian-Reto and Wulf, Monika and Verstraeten, Gorik}, title = {Driving factors behind the eutrophication signal in understorey plant communities of deciduous temperate forests}, series = {The journal of ecology}, volume = {100}, journal = {The journal of ecology}, number = {2}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0022-0477}, doi = {10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01928.x}, pages = {352 -- 365}, year = {2012}, abstract = {1. Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition is expected to change forest understorey plant community composition and diversity, but results of experimental addition studies and observational studies are not yet conclusive. A shortcoming of observational studies, which are generally based on resurveys or sampling along large deposition gradients, is the occurrence of temporal or spatial confounding factors. 2. We were able to assess the contribution of N deposition versus other ecological drivers on forest understorey plant communities by combining a temporal and spatial approach. Data from 1205 (semi-)permanent vegetation plots taken from 23 rigorously selected understorey resurvey studies along a large deposition gradient across deciduous temperate forest in Europe were compiled and related to various local and regional driving factors, including the rate of atmospheric N deposition, the change in large herbivore densities and the change in canopy cover and composition. 3. Although no directional change in species richness occurred, there was considerable floristic turnover in the understorey plant community and a shift in species composition towards more shade-tolerant and nutrient-demanding species. However, atmospheric N deposition was not important in explaining the observed eutrophication signal. This signal seemed mainly related to a shift towards a denser canopy cover and a changed canopy species composition with a higher share of species with more easily decomposed litter. 4. Synthesis. Our multi-site approach clearly demonstrates that one should be cautious when drawing conclusions about the impact of atmospheric N deposition based on the interpretation of plant community shifts in single sites or regions due to other, concurrent, ecological changes. Even though the effects of chronically increased N deposition on the forest plant communities are apparently obscured by the effects of canopy changes, the accumulated N might still have a significant impact. However, more research is needed to assess whether this N time bomb will indeed explode when canopies will open up again.}, language = {en} } @article{VannesteValdesVerheyenetal.2018, author = {Vanneste, Thomas and Valdes, Alicia and Verheyen, Kris and Perring, Michael P. and Bernhardt-Roemermann, Markus and Andrieu, Emilie and Brunet, Jorg and Cousins, Sara A. O. and Deconchat, Marc and De Smedt, Pallieter and Diekmann, Martin and Ehrmann, Steffen and Heinken, Thilo and Hermy, Martin and Kolb, Annette and Lenoir, Jonathan and Liira, Jaan and Naaf, Tobias and Paal, Taavi and Wulf, Monika and Decocq, Guillaume and De Frenne, Pieter}, title = {Functional trait variation of forest understorey plant communities across Europe}, series = {Basic and applied ecology : Journal of the Gesellschaft f{\"u}r {\"O}kologie}, volume = {34}, journal = {Basic and applied ecology : Journal of the Gesellschaft f{\"u}r {\"O}kologie}, publisher = {Elsevier GmbH}, address = {M{\"u}nchen}, issn = {1439-1791}, doi = {10.1016/j.baae.2018.09.004}, pages = {1 -- 14}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Global environmental changes are expected to alter the functional characteristics of understorey herb-layer communities, potentially affecting forest ecosystem functioning. However, little is known about what drives the variability of functional traits in forest understories. Here, we assessed the role of different environmental drivers in shaping the functional trait distribution of understorey herbs in fragmented forests across three spatial scales. We focused on 708 small, deciduous forest patches located in 16 agricultural landscape windows, spanning a 2500-km macroclimatic gradient across the temperate forest biome in Europe. We estimated the relative effect of patch-scale, landscape-scale and macroclimatic variables on the community mean and variation of plant height, specific leaf area and seed mass. Macroclimatic variables (monthly temperature and precipitation extremes) explained the largest proportion of variation in community trait means (on average 77\% of the explained variation). In contrast, patch-scale factors dominated in explaining community trait variation (on average 68\% of the explained variation). Notably, patch age, size and internal heterogeneity had a positive effect on the community-level variability. Landscape-scale variables explained only a minor part of the variation in both trait distribution properties. The variation explained by shared combinations of the variable groups was generally negligible. These findings highlight the importance of considering multiple spatial scales in predictions of environmental-change effects on the functionality of forest understories. We propose that forest management sustainability could benefit from conserving larger, historically continuous and internally heterogeneous forest patches to maximise ecosystem service diversity in rural landscapes. (C) 2018 Gesellschaft fur Okologie. Published by Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.}, language = {en} } @article{PlueDeFrenneAcharyaetal.2013, author = {Plue, Jan and De Frenne, Pieter and Acharya, Kamal P. and Brunet, Jorg and Chabrerie, Olivier and Decocq, Guillaume and Diekmann, Martin and Graae, Bente J. and Heinken, Thilo and Hermy, Martin and Kolb, Annette and Lemke, Isgard and Liira, Jaan and Naaf, Tobias and Shevtsova, Anna and Verheyen, Kris and Wulf, Monika and Cousins, Sara A. O.}, title = {Climatic control of forest herb seed banks along a latitudinal gradient}, series = {Global ecology and biogeography : a journal of macroecology}, volume = {22}, journal = {Global ecology and biogeography : a journal of macroecology}, number = {10}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {1466-822X}, doi = {10.1111/geb.12068}, pages = {1106 -- 1117}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Aim Seed banks are central to the regeneration strategy of many plant species. Any factor altering seed bank density thus affects plant regeneration and population dynamics. Although seed banks are dynamic entities controlled by multiple environmental drivers, climatic factors are the most comprehensive, but still poorly understood. This study investigates how climatic variation structures seed production and resulting seed bank patterns. Location Temperate forests along a 1900km latitudinal gradient in north-western (NW) Europe. Methods Seed production and seed bank density were quantified in 153 plots along the gradient for four forest herbs with different seed longevity: Geum urbanum, Milium effusum, Poa nemoralis and Stachys sylvatica. We tested the importance of climatic and local environmental factors in shaping seed production and seed bank density. Results Seed production was determined by population size, and not by climatic factors. G.urbanum and M.effusum seed bank density declined with decreasing temperature (growing degree days) and/or increasing temperature range (maximum-minimum temperature). P.nemoralis and S.sylvatica seed bank density were limited by population size and not by climatic variables. Seed bank density was also influenced by other, local environmental factors such as soil pH or light availability. Different seed bank patterns emerged due to differential seed longevities. Species with long-lived seeds maintained constant seed bank densities by counteracting the reduced chance of regular years with high seed production at colder northern latitudes. Main conclusions Seed bank patterns show clear interspecific variation in response to climate across the distribution range. Not all seed banking species may be as well equipped to buffer climate change via their seed bank, notably in short-term persistent species. Since the buffering capacity of seed banks is key to species persistence, these results provide crucial information to advance climatic change predictions on range shifts, community and biodiversity responses.}, language = {en} } @article{PlueDeFrenneAcharyaetal.2017, author = {Plue, Jan and De Frenne, Pieter and Acharya, Kamal and Brunet, J{\"o}rg and Chabrerie, Olivier and Decocq, Guillaume and Diekmann, Martin and Graae, Bente J. and Heinken, Thilo and Hermy, Martin and Kolb, Annette and Lemke, Isgard and Liira, Jaan and Naaf, Tobias and Verheyen, Kris and Wulf, Monika and Cousins, Sara A. O.}, title = {Where does the community start, and where does it end?}, series = {Journal of vegetation science}, volume = {28}, journal = {Journal of vegetation science}, number = {2}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {1100-9233}, doi = {10.1111/jvs.12493}, pages = {424 -- 435}, year = {2017}, abstract = {QuestionBelow-ground processes are key determinants of above-ground plant population and community dynamics. Still, our understanding of how environmental drivers shape plant communities is mostly based on above-ground diversity patterns, bypassing below-ground plant diversity stored in seed banks. As seed banks may shape above-ground plant communities, we question whether concurrently analysing the above- and below-ground species assemblages may potentially enhance our understanding of community responses to environmental variation. LocationTemperate deciduous forests along a 2000km latitudinal gradient in NW Europe. MethodsHerb layer, seed bank and local environmental data including soil pH, canopy cover, forest cover continuity and time since last canopy disturbance were collected in 129 temperate deciduous forest plots. We quantified herb layer and seed bank diversity per plot and evaluated how environmental variation structured community diversity in the herb layer, seed bank and the combined herb layer-seed bank community. ResultsSeed banks consistently held more plant species than the herb layer. How local plot diversity was partitioned across the herb layer and seed bank was mediated by environmental variation in drivers serving as proxies of light availability. The herb layer and seed bank contained an ever smaller and ever larger share of local diversity, respectively, as both canopy cover and time since last canopy disturbance decreased. Species richness and -diversity of the combined herb layer-seed bank community responded distinctly differently compared to the separate assemblages in response to environmental variation in, e.g. forest cover continuity and canopy cover. ConclusionsThe seed bank is a below-ground diversity reservoir of the herbaceous forest community, which interacts with the herb layer, although constrained by environmental variation in e.g. light availability. The herb layer and seed bank co-exist as a single community by means of the so-called storage effect, resulting in distinct responses to environmental variation not necessarily recorded in the individual herb layer or seed bank assemblages. Thus, concurrently analysing above- and below-ground diversity will improve our ecological understanding of how understorey plant communities respond to environmental variation.}, language = {en} } @article{PerringBernhardtRoemermannBaetenetal.2018, author = {Perring, Michael P. and Bernhardt-Roemermann, Markus and Baeten, Lander and Midolo, Gabriele and Blondeel, Haben and Depauw, Leen and Landuyt, Dries and Maes, Sybryn L. and De Lombaerde, Emiel and Caron, Maria Mercedes and Vellend, Mark and Brunet, Joerg and Chudomelova, Marketa and Decocq, Guillaume and Diekmann, Martin and Dirnboeck, Thomas and Doerfler, Inken and Durak, Tomasz and De Frenne, Pieter and Gilliam, Frank S. and Hedl, Radim and Heinken, Thilo and Hommel, Patrick and Jaroszewicz, Bogdan and Kirby, Keith J. and Kopecky, Martin and Lenoir, Jonathan and Li, Daijiang and Malis, Frantisek and Mitchell, Fraser J. G. and Naaf, Tobias and Newman, Miles and Petrik, Petr and Reczynska, Kamila and Schmidt, Wolfgang and Standovar, Tibor and Swierkosz, Krzysztof and Van Calster, Hans and Vild, Ondrej and Wagner, Eva Rosa and Wulf, Monika and Verheyen, Kris}, title = {Global environmental change effects on plant community composition trajectories depend upon management legacies}, series = {Global change biology}, volume = {24}, journal = {Global change biology}, number = {4}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {1354-1013}, doi = {10.1111/gcb.14030}, pages = {1722 -- 1740}, year = {2018}, abstract = {The contemporary state of functional traits and species richness in plant communities depends on legacy effects of past disturbances. Whether temporal responses of community properties to current environmental changes are altered by such legacies is, however, unknown. We expect global environmental changes to interact with land-use legacies given different community trajectories initiated by prior management, and subsequent responses to altered resources and conditions. We tested this expectation for species richness and functional traits using 1814 survey-resurvey plot pairs of understorey communities from 40 European temperate forest datasets, syntheses of management transitions since the year 1800, and a trait database. We also examined how plant community indicators of resources and conditions changed in response to management legacies and environmental change. Community trajectories were clearly influenced by interactions between management legacies from over 200 years ago and environmental change. Importantly, higher rates of nitrogen deposition led to increased species richness and plant height in forests managed less intensively in 1800 (i.e., high forests), and to decreases in forests with a more intensive historical management in 1800 (i.e., coppiced forests). There was evidence that these declines in community variables in formerly coppiced forests were ameliorated by increased rates of temperature change between surveys. Responses were generally apparent regardless of sites' contemporary management classifications, although sometimes the management transition itself, rather than historic or contemporary management types, better explained understorey responses. Main effects of environmental change were rare, although higher rates of precipitation change increased plant height, accompanied by increases in fertility indicator values. Analysis of indicator values suggested the importance of directly characterising resources and conditions to better understand legacy and environmental change effects. Accounting for legacies of past disturbance can reconcile contradictory literature results and appears crucial to anticipating future responses to global environmental change.}, language = {en} } @article{MaesPerringVanhellemontetal.2018, author = {Maes, Sybryn L. and Perring, Michael P. and Vanhellemont, Margot and Depauw, Leen and Van den Bulcke, Jan and Brumelis, Guntis and Brunet, Jorg and Decocq, Guillaume and den Ouden, Jan and H{\"a}rdtle, Werner and Hedl, Radim and Heinken, Thilo and Heinrichs, Steffi and Jaroszewicz, Bogdan and Kopeck{\´y}, Martin and Malis, Frantisek and Wulf, Monika and Verheyen, Kris}, title = {Environmental drivers interactively affect individual tree growth across temperate European forests}, series = {Global change biology}, volume = {25}, journal = {Global change biology}, number = {1}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {1354-1013}, doi = {10.1111/gcb.14493}, pages = {201 -- 217}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Forecasting the growth of tree species to future environmental changes requires abetter understanding of its determinants. Tree growth is known to respond to global-change drivers such as climate change or atmospheric deposition, as well as to localland-use drivers such as forest management. Yet, large geographical scale studiesexamining interactive growth responses to multiple global-change drivers are relativelyscarce and rarely consider management effects. Here, we assessed the interactiveeffects of three global-change drivers (temperature, precipitation and nitrogen deposi-tion) on individual tree growth of three study species (Quercus robur/petraea, Fagus syl-vatica and Fraxinus excelsior). We sampled trees along spatial environmental gradientsacross Europe and accounted for the effects of management for Quercus. We collectedincrement cores from 267 trees distributed over 151 plots in 19 forest regions andcharacterized their neighbouring environment to take into account potentially confounding factors such as tree size, competition, soil conditions and elevation. Wedemonstrate that growth responds interactively to global-change drivers, with species -specific sensitivities to the combined factors. Simultaneously high levels of precipita-tion and deposition benefited Fraxinus, but negatively affected Quercus' growth, high-lighting species-specific interactive tree growth responses to combined drivers. ForFagus, a stronger growth response to higher temperatures was found when precipita-tion was also higher, illustrating the potential negative effects of drought stress underwarming for this species. Furthermore, we show that past forest management canmodulate the effects of changing temperatures on Quercus' growth; individuals in plotswith a coppicing history showed stronger growth responses to higher temperatures.Overall, our findings highlight how tree growth can be interactively determined by glo-bal-change drivers, and how these growth responses might be modulated by past for-est management. By showing future growth changes for scenarios of environmentalchange, we stress the importance of considering multiple drivers, including past man-agement and their interactions, when predicting tree growth.}, language = {en} } @article{MaesBlondeelPerringetal.2019, author = {Maes, Sybryn L. and Blondeel, Haben and Perring, Michael P. and Depauw, Leen and Brumelis, Guntis and Brunet, J{\"o}rg and Decocq, Guillaume and den Ouden, Jan and Haerdtle, Werner and Hedl, Radim and Heinken, Thilo and Heinrichs, Steffi and Jaroszewicz, Bogdan and Kirby, Keith J. and Kopecky, Martin and Malis, Frantisek and Wulf, Monika and Verheyen, Kris}, title = {Litter quality, land-use history, and nitrogen deposition effects on topsoil conditions across European temperate deciduous forests}, series = {Forest ecology and management}, volume = {433}, journal = {Forest ecology and management}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0378-1127}, doi = {10.1016/j.foreco.2018.10.056}, pages = {405 -- 418}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Topsoil conditions in temperate forests are influenced by several soil-forming factors, such as canopy composition (e.g. through litter quality), land-use history, atmospheric deposition, and the parent material. Many studies have evaluated the effects of single factors on physicochemical topsoil conditions, but few have assessed the simultaneous effects of multiple drivers. Here, we evaluate the combined effects of litter quality, land-use history (past land cover as well as past forest management), and atmospheric deposition on several physicochemical topsoil conditions of European temperate deciduous forest soils: bulk density, proportion of exchangeable base cations, carbon/nitrogen-ratio (C/N), litter mass, bio-available and total phosphorus, pH(KCI)and soil organic matter. We collected mineral soil and litter layer samples, and measured site characteristics for 190 20 x 20 m European mixed forest plots across gradients of litter quality (derived from the canopy species composition) and atmospheric deposition, and for different categories of past land cover and past forest management. We accounted for the effects of parent material on topsoil conditions by clustering our plots into three soil type groups based on texture and carbonate concentration. We found that litter quality was a stronger driver of topsoil conditions compared to land-use history or atmospheric deposition, while the soil type also affected several topsoil conditions here. Plots with higher litter quality had soils with a higher proportion of exchangeable base cations, and total phosphorus, and lower C/N-ratios and litter mass. Furthermore, the observed litter quality effects on the topsoil were independent from the regional nitrogen deposition or the soil type, although the soil type likely (co)-determined canopy composition and thus litter quality to some extent in the investigated plots. Litter quality effects on topsoil phosphorus concentrations did interact with past land cover, highlighting the need to consider land-use history when evaluating canopy effects on soil conditions. We conclude that forest managers can use the canopy composition as an important tool for influencing topsoil conditions, although soil type remains an important factor to consider.}, language = {en} } @article{LemkeKolbGraaeetal.2015, author = {Lemke, Isgard H. and Kolb, Annette and Graae, Bente J. and De Frenne, Pieter and Acharya, Kamal P. and Blandino, Cristina and Brunet, Jorg and Chabrerie, Olivier and Cousins, Sara A. O. and Decocq, Guillaume and Heinken, Thilo and Hermy, Martin and Liira, Jaan and Schmucki, Reto and Shevtsova, Anna and Verheyen, Kris and Diekmann, Martin}, title = {Patterns of phenotypic trait variation in two temperate forest herbs along a broad climatic gradient}, series = {Plant ecology : an international journal}, volume = {216}, journal = {Plant ecology : an international journal}, number = {11}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Dordrecht}, issn = {1385-0237}, doi = {10.1007/s11258-015-0534-0}, pages = {1523 -- 1536}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Phenotypic trait variation plays a major role in the response of plants to global environmental change, particularly in species with low migration capabilities and recruitment success. However, little is known about the variation of functional traits within populations and about differences in this variation on larger spatial scales. In a first approach, we therefore related trait expression to climate and local environmental conditions, studying two temperate forest herbs, Milium effusum and Stachys sylvatica, along a similar to 1800-2500 km latitudinal gradient. Within each of 9-10 regions in six European countries, we collected data from six populations of each species and recorded several variables in each region (temperature, precipitation) and population (light availability, soil parameters). For each plant, we measured height, leaf area, specific leaf area, seed mass and the number of seeds and examined environmental effects on within-population trait variation as well as on trait means. Most importantly, trait variation differed both between and within populations. Species, however, differed in their response. Intrapopulation variation in Milium was consistently positively affected by higher mean temperatures and precipitation as well as by more fertile local soil conditions, suggesting that more productive conditions may select for larger phenotypic variation. In Stachys, particularly light availability positively influenced trait variation, whereas local soil conditions had no consistent effects. Generally, our study emphasises that intra-population variation may differ considerably across larger scales-due to phenotypic plasticity and/or underlying genetic diversity-possibly affecting species response to global environmental change.}, language = {en} } @article{GraaeVerheyenKolbetal.2009, author = {Graae, Bente Jessen and Verheyen, Kris and Kolb, Annette and van der Veken, Sebastian and Heinken, Thilo and Chabrerie, Olivier and Diekmann, Martin and Valtinat, Karin and Zindel, Renate and Karlsson, Elisabeth and Str{\"o}m, Lotta and Decocq, Guillaume and Hermy, Martin and Baskin, Carol C.}, title = {Germination requirements and seed mass of slow- and fast-colonizing temperate forest herbs along a latitudinal gradient}, issn = {1195-6860}, doi = {10.2980/16-2-3234}, year = {2009}, abstract = {Predictions on displacement of suitable habitats due to climate change suggest that plant species with poor colonization ability may be unable to move fast enough to match forecasted climate-induced changes in habitat distribution. However, studies on early Holocene plant migration show fast migration of many plant species that are poor colonizers today. We hypothesize that warmer temperatures during the early Holocene yielded higher seed quality, contributing to explaining the fast migration. We studied how the 3 seed quality variables, seed mass, germinability, and requirements for break of seed dormancy, vary for seeds of 11 forest herb species with varying colonization capacity collected along a 1400-km latitudinal gradient. Within species, seed mass showed a positive correlation with latitude, whereas germinability was more positively correlated with temperature (growing degree hours obtained at time of seed collection). Only slow-colonizing species increased germinability with temperature, whereas only fast-colonizing species increased germinability with latitude. These interactions were only detectable when analyzing germinability of the seeds, even though this trait and seed mass were correlated. The requirement for dormancy break did not correlate with latitude or temperature. The results indicate that seed development of slow colonizers may be favoured by a warmer climate, which in turn may be important for their migration capacity.}, language = {en} }