Relation between above-ground biomass and diversity indices.

<p>Relation between above-ground biomass and diversity indices: Species richness (left), Simpson’s diversity index with equivalent numbers (centre), and Functional diversity’s index Rao with equivalent numbers (right) in both the highland and the lowland. The black points correspond to the lowland, and the white points correspond to the highland. Solid linear regression line reflects significant relationship (p<0.05) between the variables in the lowland; dashed line refers to a marginal significant correlation (p<0.1) in the highland; and no line represents no significance.</p

Relationship between the initial CWM SLA and the change in vegetation composition.

<p>Relationship between the initial CWM SLA and the change in vegetation composition (Bray-Curtis dissimilarity) between beginning and end of experiment, in both the highland and the lowland. The black points correspond to the lowland, and the white points correspond to the highland. Solid linear regression line reflects significant relationship (p < 0.05) in the lowland; and no line represents no significance.</p

Results of multiple regression models to assess the effect of the plant functional traits (SLA, LDMC, height, start of first flowering, % prostrate, % rhizomes) on above-ground biomass, with transplant (highland and lowland) and site (p1 and p2 sites in the highland).

<p>^a***P < 0.001</p><p>^bP-values in bold indicate significant relationships (P-values < 0.05)</p><p>Results of multiple regression models to assess the effect of the plant functional traits (SLA, LDMC, height, start of first flowering, % prostrate, % rhizomes) on above-ground biomass, with transplant (highland and lowland) and site (p1 and p2 sites in the highland).</p

Effect of the transplant experiment on the CWM of traits.

<p>Effect of the transplant experiment on the Community weighted means (CWM) of SLA (upper left), % of rhizomatous species (upper right), start of first flowering (lower left), and % of prostrate plants (lower right) along time. The black points correspond to the lowland, and the white points correspond to the highland. The whiskers refer to standard deviation. The x axis indicates the dates of the repeated samplings (frequency) within each turf. The first sampling was done in mid May and the last one in the lowland at the beginning of September. For the corresponding statistical tests see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0141899#pone.0141899.t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>.</p

Effect of the transplant on the diversity indices.

<p>Effect of the transplant experiment on diversity indices: Species richness (left), Simpson’s reciprocal diversity index with equivalent numbers (centre), and Functional diversity’s index Rao with equivalent numbers (left) along time. The black points correspond to the lowland, and the white points correspond to the highland. The whiskers refer to standard deviation. See <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0141899#pone.0141899.g001" target="_blank">Fig 1</a> for more information on sampling dates and <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0141899#pone.0141899.t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a> for the corresponding statistical tests.</p

Appendix A. Fertilization and climatic effects on species population stability.

Fertilization and climatic effects on species population stability

Temporal changes in species composition for demonstration of asynchrony and trend

The zip archive file contains six files, all in the txt format. The technical details are in the read_me.txt, the five remaining files contain species composition sampled repeatedly in permanent plots

Variation of functional diversity (FD) along altitudinal gradient for each functional trait (a-i).

<p>Partition of FD into inter- and intra-specific variability (difference between Total—inter-specific FD) expressed as yellow and blue vertical bars respectively along altitudinal gradient. Trait labels are the same as in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0118876#pone.0118876.g001" target="_blank">Fig. 1</a>.</p

Variation of community weighted means values (CWM) along altitudinal gradient for each functional trait (a-i).

<p>Response of two CWM values along altitudinal gradient: using mean trait value measured for each species across all sites (CWM_f—open triangles) and mean trait value at each site (CWM_s—black dots). Trait labels are the same as in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0118876#pone.0118876.g001" target="_blank">Fig. 1</a>.</p

Principal component analysis (PCAs) using the nine traits measured in eleven species for a total of 856 individuals.

<p>The variability of individuals of each species and their distributions along trait axes is represented in the main PCA by lines that arise from species mean value and by an ellipse of dispersion. The minor PCA shows the correlation between the nine traits using all data. Species names are included by using acronyms and colour-coded by their growth form: (i) Hemicryptophyte (dark grey): PV (<i>Pilosella vahlii</i>), SP (<i>Senecio carpetanus</i>), JH (<i>Jurinea humilis</i>); (ii) cushion chamaephyte (white): AC (<i>Armeria caespitosa</i>), JC (<i>Jasione crispa</i>), MR (<i>Minuartia recurva</i>), SC (<i>Silene ciliata</i>); (iii) caespitosous hemicryptophyte (light grey) FC (<i>Festuca curvifolia</i>), DF (<i>Deschampsia flexuosa</i>), AD (<i>Agrostis delicatula</i>); (iv) shrub (black) JN (<i>Juniperus communis</i> subsp. <i>alpina</i>). Acronyms for traits: plant size (IS), plant height (H), leaf thickness (LT), specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf carbon content (LCC), leaf nitrogen content (LNC), carbon and nitrogen isotopes ratios (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N, respectively).</p