TY - JOUR A1 - Vanneste, Thomas A1 - Valdes, Alicia A1 - Verheyen, Kris A1 - Perring, Michael P. A1 - Bernhardt-Roemermann, Markus A1 - Andrieu, Emilie A1 - Brunet, Jorg A1 - Cousins, Sara A. O. A1 - Deconchat, Marc A1 - De Smedt, Pallieter A1 - Diekmann, Martin A1 - Ehrmann, Steffen A1 - Heinken, Thilo A1 - Hermy, Martin A1 - Kolb, Annette A1 - Lenoir, Jonathan A1 - Liira, Jaan A1 - Naaf, Tobias A1 - Paal, Taavi A1 - Wulf, Monika A1 - Decocq, Guillaume A1 - De Frenne, Pieter T1 - Functional trait variation of forest understorey plant communities across Europe JF - Basic and applied ecology : Journal of the Gesellschaft für Ökologie N2 - 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. KW - Agricultural landscapes KW - Biogeography KW - Community ecology KW - Forest understorey KW - Functional trait diversity KW - Fragmentation KW - Global environmental change KW - Landscape connectivity KW - Macroclimatic gradient KW - Multi-scale analysis Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2018.09.004 SN - 1439-1791 SN - 1618-0089 VL - 34 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Elsevier GmbH CY - München ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lemke, Isgard H. A1 - Kolb, Annette A1 - Graae, Bente J. A1 - De Frenne, Pieter A1 - Acharya, Kamal P. A1 - Blandino, Cristina A1 - Brunet, Jorg A1 - Chabrerie, Olivier A1 - Cousins, Sara A. O. A1 - Decocq, Guillaume A1 - Heinken, Thilo A1 - Hermy, Martin A1 - Liira, Jaan A1 - Schmucki, Reto A1 - Shevtsova, Anna A1 - Verheyen, Kris A1 - Diekmann, Martin T1 - Patterns of phenotypic trait variation in two temperate forest herbs along a broad climatic gradient JF - Plant ecology : an international journal N2 - 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. KW - Climate change KW - Global environmental change KW - Milium effusum KW - Phenotypic plasticity KW - Intraspecific variation KW - Stachys sylvatica Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-015-0534-0 SN - 1385-0237 SN - 1573-5052 VL - 216 IS - 11 SP - 1523 EP - 1536 PB - Springer CY - Dordrecht ER -