34715
2013
2013
eng
1130
1140
11
10
22
article
Wiley-Blackwell
Hoboken
1
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Ecological niche shifts of understorey plants along a latitudinal gradient of temperate forests in north-western Europe
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.
Global ecology and biogeography : a journal of macroecology
10.1111/geb.12073
1466-822X
wos:2011-2013
WOS:000323897400004
Decocq, G (reprint author), Jules Verne Univ Picardy, Plant Divers Lab, 1 Rue Louvels, F-80037 Amiens 1, France., guillaume.decocq@u-picardie.fr
Syrian Ministry of Higher Education; Regional Council of Picardy;
Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO); FWO
Safaa Wasof
Jonathan Lenoir
Emilie Gallet-Moron
Aurelien Jamoneau
Jörg Brunet
Sara A. O. Cousins
Pieter De Frenne
Martin Diekmann
Martin Hermy
Annette Kolb
Jaan Liira
Kris Verheyen
Monika Wulf
Guillaume Decocq
eng
uncontrolled
Beta diversity
eng
uncontrolled
climate change
eng
uncontrolled
detrended correspondence analyses
eng
uncontrolled
Ellenberg indicator values
eng
uncontrolled
forest understorey plant species
eng
uncontrolled
niche optimum
eng
uncontrolled
niche width
eng
uncontrolled
plant community
eng
uncontrolled
realized niche
Institut für Biochemie und Biologie
Referiert
37006
2011
2011
eng
600
609
10
2
99
article
Wiley-Blackwell
Malden
1
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Interregional variation in the floristic recovery of post-agricultural forests
1. Worldwide, the floristic composition of temperate forests bears the imprint of past land use for decades to centuries as forests regrow on agricultural land. Many species, however, display significant interregional variation in their ability to (re)colonize post-agricultural forests. This variation in colonization across regions and the underlying factors remain largely unexplored.
2. We compiled data on 90 species and 812 species x study combinations from 18 studies across Europe that determined species' distribution patterns in ancient (i.e. continuously forested since the first available land use maps) and post-agricultural forests. The recovery rate (RR) of species in each landscape was quantified as the log-response ratio of the percentage occurrence in post-agricultural over ancient forest and related to the species-specific life-history traits and local (soil characteristics and light availability) and regional factors (landscape properties as habitat availability, time available for colonization, and climate).
3. For the herb species, we demonstrate a strong (interactive) effect of species' life-history traits and forest habitat availability on the RR of post-agricultural forest. In graminoids, however, none of the investigated variables were significantly related to the RR.
4. The better colonizing species that mainly belonged to the short-lived herbs group showed the largest interregional variability. Their recovery significantly increased with the amount of forest habitat within the landscape, whereas, surprisingly, the time available for colonization, climate, soil characteristics and light availability had no effect.
5. Synthesis. By analysing 18 independent studies across Europe, we clearly showed for the first time on a continental scale that the recovery of short-lived forest herbs increased with the forest habitat availability in the landscape. Small perennial forest herbs, however, were generally unsuccessful in colonizing post-agricultural forest even in relatively densely forested landscapes. Hence, our results stress the need to avoid ancient forest clearance to preserve the typical woodland flora.
The journal of ecology
10.1111/j.1365-2745.2010.01768.x
0022-0477
wos:2011-2013
WOS:000287785300026
De Frenne, P (reprint author), Univ Ghent, Lab Forestry, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, BE-9090 Melle Gontrode, Belgium., pieter.defrenne@ugent.be
Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO); FWO; Institute for the Promotion
of Innovation through Science and Technology in Flanders
(IWT-Vlaanderen)
Pieter De Frenne
Lander Baeten
Bente J. Graae
Jorg Brunet
Monika Wulf
Anna Orczewska
Annette Kolb
Ivy Jansen
Aurelien Jamoneau
Hans Jacquemyn
Martin Hermy
Martin Diekmann
An De Schrijver
Michele De Sanctis
Guillaume Decocq
Sara A. O. Cousins
Kris Verheyen
eng
uncontrolled
ancient forest
eng
uncontrolled
colonization capacity
eng
uncontrolled
forest herbs
eng
uncontrolled
functional traits
eng
uncontrolled
habitat fragmentation
eng
uncontrolled
habitat loss
eng
uncontrolled
life-history traits
eng
uncontrolled
meta-analysis
eng
uncontrolled
plant population and community dynamics
eng
uncontrolled
secondary succession
Institut für Biochemie und Biologie
Referiert