TY - JOUR A1 - Plue, Jan A1 - De Frenne, Pieter A1 - Acharya, Kamal A1 - Brunet, Jörg A1 - Chabrerie, Olivier A1 - Decocq, Guillaume A1 - Diekmann, Martin A1 - Graae, Bente J. A1 - Heinken, Thilo A1 - Hermy, Martin A1 - Kolb, Annette A1 - Lemke, Isgard A1 - Liira, Jaan A1 - Naaf, Tobias A1 - Verheyen, Kris A1 - Wulf, Monika A1 - Cousins, Sara A. O. T1 - Where does the community start, and where does it end? BT - including the seed bank to reassess forest herb layer responses to the environment JF - Journal of vegetation science N2 - 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. KW - Above-ground KW - Below-ground KW - Canopy KW - Disturbance KW - Diversity KW - Light availability KW - NWEurope KW - Plant community KW - Species co-existence KW - Storage effect Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12493 SN - 1100-9233 SN - 1654-1103 VL - 28 IS - 2 SP - 424 EP - 435 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Plue, Jan A1 - De Frenne, Pieter A1 - Acharya, Kamal P. A1 - Brunet, Jorg A1 - Chabrerie, Olivier A1 - Decocq, Guillaume A1 - Diekmann, Martin A1 - Graae, Bente J. A1 - Heinken, Thilo A1 - Hermy, Martin A1 - Kolb, Annette A1 - Lemke, Isgard A1 - Liira, Jaan A1 - Naaf, Tobias A1 - Shevtsova, Anna A1 - Verheyen, Kris A1 - Wulf, Monika A1 - Cousins, Sara A. O. T1 - Climatic control of forest herb seed banks along a latitudinal gradient JF - Global ecology and biogeography : a journal of macroecology N2 - 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. KW - Climate change KW - interspecific variation KW - plant-climate interaction KW - seed longevity KW - seed production KW - temperate deciduous forest KW - temperature Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12068 SN - 1466-822X SN - 1466-8238 VL - 22 IS - 10 SP - 1106 EP - 1117 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER -