Mechanismy zodpovědné za vztah počtu druhů a dostupné energie na různých prostorových úrovních

Explaining spatial variation of species richness is a central goal of ecology. Recently it has been shown that the number of species is related to energy availability. There are two major categories of hypotheses concerning possible processes behind this relationship: i) hypotheses based on an assumption that the total number of species at given site is limited by the total amount of resources, and ii) hypotheses assuming that evolutionary and historical processes are mainly responsible for the current species richness patterns. We tested possible explanations concerning both resource limitation and evolutionary history using datasets of herbaceous plants, trees and dragonflies, varying in their scale and extent. Within local communities of herbaceous plants, the number of species was influenced by the total amount of available resources (productivity), through its effect on the total number of individuals and the intensity of interspecific competition. However, the role of resource limitation was not strong, and the form of the resulting species-productivity relationship was affected by habitat heterogeneity acting independently of productivity. Historical processes affecting the size of species pool appeared also as important at this scale (Chapter 1). Within local communities of trees...Jedním z hlavních cílů ekologie je vysvětlení příčin variability v druhovém bohatství. Mnohé studie ukázaly, že druhová bohatost závisí na dostupné energii. Hypotézy, které vysvětlují, jak může dostupná energie ovlivňovat počet druhů, se dají rozdělit do dvou hlavních kategorií: i) hypotézy založené na předpokladu, že počet druhů na daném stanovišti je omezen celkovým množstvím zdrojů a ii) hypotézy předpovídající že hlavní vliv na současnou variabilitu v počtu druhů mají historické a evoluční procesy. Testovali jsme předpoklady hypotéz týkajících se jak limitací zdroji tak historických procesů s použitím dat bylinné vegetace, stromů a vážek. Tato data se zároveň lišila i v prostorovém rozlišení. V případě lokálních společenstev bylinné vegetace byl počet druhů ovlivněn celkovým množstvím zdrojů (produktivitou stanoviště) a to skrze vliv produktivity na počet jedinců a intensitu mezidruhové kompetice. Vliv produktivity ale nebyl silný a výsledná závislost mezi produktivitou a počtem druhů byla ovlivněna prostorovou heterogenitou, nezávislou na produktivitě. Jako důležitá se ukázala i historie daného regionu ovlivňující velikost druhového poolu pro jednotlivá společenstva (Kapitola 1). Vliv proměnných vyjadřujících produktivitu prostředí se ukázal jako nevýznamný v případě snímků lokálních...Department of EcologyKatedra ekologieFaculty of SciencePřírodovědecká fakult

Late Quaternary climate legacies in contemporary plant functional composition

The functional composition of plant communities is commonly thought to be determined by contemporary climate. However, if rates of climate‐driven immigration and/or exclusion of species are slow, then contemporary functional composition may be explained by paleoclimate as well as by contemporary climate. We tested this idea by coupling contemporary maps of plant functional trait composition across North and South America to paleoclimate means and temporal variation in temperature and precipitation from the Last Interglacial (120 ka) to the present. Paleoclimate predictors strongly improved prediction of contemporary functional composition compared to contemporary climate predictors, with a stronger influence of temperature in North America (especially during periods of ice melting) and of precipitation in South America (across all times). Thus, climate from tens of thousands of years ago influences contemporary functional composition via slow assemblage dynamics

Habitat area and climate stability determine geographical variation in plant species range sizes

Despite being a fundamental aspect of biodiversity, little is known about what controls species range sizes. This is especially the case for hyperdiverse organisms such as plants. We use the largest botanical data set assembled to date to quantify geographical variation in range size for ∼ 85 000 plant species across the New World. We assess prominent hypothesised range-size controls, finding that plant range sizes are codetermined by habitat area and long- and short-term climate stability. Strong short- and long-term climate instability in large parts of North America, including past glaciations, are associated with broad-ranged species. In contrast, small habitat areas and a stable climate characterise areas with high concentrations of small-ranged species in the Andes, Central America and the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest region. The joint roles of area and climate stability strengthen concerns over the potential effects of future climate change and habitat loss on biodiversity

Diversity and dynamics of the psamophyte vegetation in the Elbe basin

Katedra botanikyDepartment of BotanyFaculty of SciencePřírodovědecká fakult

Mechanisms of species-energy relationships across spatial scales

Explaining spatial variation of species richness is a central goal of ecology. Recently it has been shown that the number of species is related to energy availability. There are two major categories of hypotheses concerning possible processes behind this relationship: i) hypotheses based on an assumption that the total number of species at given site is limited by the total amount of resources, and ii) hypotheses assuming that evolutionary and historical processes are mainly responsible for the current species richness patterns. We tested possible explanations concerning both resource limitation and evolutionary history using datasets of herbaceous plants, trees and dragonflies, varying in their scale and extent. Within local communities of herbaceous plants, the number of species was influenced by the total amount of available resources (productivity), through its effect on the total number of individuals and the intensity of interspecific competition. However, the role of resource limitation was not strong, and the form of the resulting species-productivity relationship was affected by habitat heterogeneity acting independently of productivity. Historical processes affecting the size of species pool appeared also as important at this scale (Chapter 1). Within local communities of trees..

Co bylo dříve, déšť nebo deštný les?

Přizpůsobují se rostliny klimatickým podmínkám, nebo klima naopak zásadně ovlivňují? Nejspíše platí oba případy a záleží na jednotlivých typech rostlin, neboli na rostlinných vlastnostech. Když se nám podaří těmto vazbám mezi rostlinami a prostředím porozumět, máme šanci, že se i my zvládneme měnícímu se prostředí alespoň trochu přizpůsobit.projektem OP VK PVBV – Popularizace vědy a badatelsky orientované výuky, reg. č. CZ.1.07/2.3.00/45.00

Diversity and dynamics of the psamophyte vegetation in the Elbe basin

Katedra botanikyDepartment of BotanyFaculty of SciencePřírodovědecká fakult

Stress from cold and drought as drivers of functional trait spectra in North American angiosperm tree assemblages.

Understanding how environmental change alters the composition of plant assemblages, and how this in turn affects ecosystem functioning is a major challenge in the face of global climate change. Assuming that values of plant traits express species adaptations to the environment, the trait-based approach is a promising way to achieve this goal. Nevertheless, how functional traits are related to species' environmental tolerances and how trait spectra respond to broad-scale environmental gradients remains largely unexplored. Here, we identify the main trait spectra for US angiosperm trees by testing hypotheses for the relationships between functional traits and species' environmental tolerances to environmental stresses, as well as quantifying the environmental drivers of assemblage means and variances of these traits. We analyzed >74,000 community assemblages from the US Forest Inventory and Analysis using 12 functional traits, five traits expressing species' environmental tolerances and 10 environmental variables. Results indicated that leaf traits, dispersal traits, and traits related to stem hydraulics were related to cold or drought tolerance, and their assemblage means were best explained by minimum temperatures. Assemblage means of traits related to shade tolerance (tree growth rate, leaf phosphorus content, and bark thickness) were best explained by aridity index. Surprisingly, aridity index, rather than minimum temperature, was the best predictors of assemblage variances of most traits, although these relationships were variable and weak overall. We conclude that temperature is likely to be the most important driver of functional community structure of North American angiosperm trees by selecting for optimum strategies along the cold and drought stress trade-off. In turn, water availability primarily affects traits related to shade tolerance through its effect on forest canopy structure and vegetation openness