TY  - JOUR
A1  - Carus, Jana
A1  - Paul, Maike
A1  - Schroeder, Boris
T1  - Vegetation as self-adaptive coastal protection: Reduction of current velocity and morphologic plasticity of a brackish marsh pioneer
JF  - Ecology and evolution
N2  - By reducing current velocity, tidal marsh vegetation can diminish storm surges and storm waves. Conversely, currents often exert high mechanical stresses onto the plants and hence affect vegetation structure and plant characteristics. In our study, we aim at analysing this interaction from both angles. On the one hand, we quantify the reduction of current velocity by Bolboschoenus maritimus, and on the other hand, we identify functional traits of B. maritimus’ ramets along environmental gradients. Our results show that tidal marsh vegetation is able to buffer a large proportion of the flow velocity at currents under normal conditions. Cross-shore current velocity decreased with distance from the marsh edge and was reduced by more than 50% after 15 m of vegetation. We were furthermore able to show that plants growing at the marsh edge had a significantly larger diameter than plants from inside the vegetation. We found a positive correlation between plant thickness and cross-shore current which could provide an adaptive value in habitats with high mechanical stress. With the adapted morphology of plants growing at the highly exposed marsh edge, the entire vegetation belt is able to better resist the mechanical stress of high current velocities. This self-adaptive effect thus increases the ability of B. maritimus to grow and persist in the pioneer zone and may hence better contribute to ecosystem-based coastal protection by reducing current velocity.
KW  - Adaptive value
KW  - Bolboschoenus maritimus
KW  - brackish marsh
KW  - flow velocity
KW  - mechanical pressure
KW  - morphological adaptation
KW  - phenotypic plasticity
KW  - pioneer zone
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1904
SN  - 2045-7758
VL  - 6
SP  - 1579
EP  - 1589
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Wright, Justin P.
A1  - Ames, Gregory M.
A1  - Mitchelll, Rachel M.
T1  - The more things change, the more they stay the same? When is trait variability important for stability of ecosystem function in a changing environment
JF  - Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London : B, Biological sciences
N2  - The importance of intraspecific trait variability for community dynamics and ecosystem functioning has been underappreciated. There are theoretical reasons for predicting that species that differ in intraspecific trait variability will also differ in their effects on ecosystem functioning, particularly in variable environments. We discuss whether species with greater trait variability are likely to exhibit greater temporal stability in their population dynamics, and under which conditions this might lead to stability in ecosystem functioning. Resolving this requires us to consider several questions. First, are species with high levels of variation for one trait equally variable in others? In particular, is variability in response and effects traits typically correlated? Second, what is the relative contribution of local adaptation and phenotypic plasticity to trait variability? If local adaptation dominates, then stability in function requires one of two conditions: (i) individuals of appropriate phenotypes present in the environment at high enough frequencies to allow for populations to respond rapidly to the changing environment, and (ii) high levels of dispersal and gene flow. While we currently lack sufficient information on the causes and distribution of variability in functional traits, filling in these key data gaps should increase our ability to predict how changing biodiversity will alter ecosystem functioning.
KW  - biodiversity
KW  - intraspecific variation
KW  - ecosystem function
KW  - functional traits
KW  - phenotypic plasticity
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0272
SN  - 0962-8436
SN  - 1471-2970
VL  - 371
PB  - Royal Society
CY  - London
ER  -