7 research outputs found
TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access
Plant traits—the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants—determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits—almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives
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Predicting invasion in grassland ecosystems: is exotic dominance the real embarrassment of richness?
Invasions have increased the size of regional species pools, but are typically assumed to reduce native diversity. However, global-scale tests of this assumption have been elusive because of the focus on exotic species richness, rather than relative abundance. This is problematic because low invader richness can indicate invasion resistance by the native community or, alternatively, dominance by a single exotic species. Here, we used a globally replicated study to quantify relationships between exotic richness and abundance in grass-dominated ecosystems in 13 countries on six continents, ranging from salt marshes to alpine tundra. We tested effects of human land use, native community diversity, herbivore pressure, and nutrient limitation on exotic plant dominance. Despite its widespread use, exotic richness was a poor proxy for exotic dominance at low exotic richness, because sites that contained few exotic species ranged from relatively pristine (low exotic richness and cover) to almost completely exotic-dominated ones (low exotic richness but high exotic cover). Both exotic cover and richness were predicted by native plant diversity (native grass richness) and land use (distance to cultivation). Although climate was important for predicting both exotic cover and richness, climatic factors predicting cover (precipitation variability) differed from those predicting richness (maximum temperature and mean temperature in the wettest quarter). Herbivory and nutrient limitation did not predict exotic richness or cover. Exotic dominance was greatest in areas with low native grass richness at the site- or regional-scale. Although this could reflect native grass displacement, a lack of biotic resistance is a more likely explanation, given that grasses comprise the most aggressive invaders. These findings underscore the need to move beyond richness as a surrogate for the extent of invasion, because this metric confounds monodominance with invasion resistance. Monitoring species’ relative abundance will more rapidly advance our understanding of invasions.This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and can be found at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2486
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LambrinosJohnHorticulturePredictingInvasionGrassland.pdf
Invasions have increased the size of regional species pools, but are typically assumed to reduce native diversity.
However, global-scale tests of this assumption have been elusive because of the focus on exotic species richness,
rather than relative abundance. This is problematic because low invader richness can indicate invasion resistance by
the native community or, alternatively, dominance by a single exotic species. Here, we used a globally replicated
study to quantify relationships between exotic richness and abundance in grass-dominated ecosystems in 13 countries
on six continents, ranging from salt marshes to alpine tundra. We tested effects of human land use, native community
diversity, herbivore pressure, and nutrient limitation on exotic plant dominance. Despite its widespread use,
exotic richness was a poor proxy for exotic dominance at low exotic richness, because sites that contained few exotic
species ranged from relatively pristine (low exotic richness and cover) to almost completely exotic-dominated ones
(low exotic richness but high exotic cover). Both exotic cover and richness were predicted by native plant diversity
(native grass richness) and land use (distance to cultivation). Although climate was important for predicting both
exotic cover and richness, climatic factors predicting cover (precipitation variability) differed from those predicting
richness (maximum temperature and mean temperature in the wettest quarter). Herbivory and nutrient limitation
did not predict exotic richness or cover. Exotic dominance was greatest in areas with low native grass richness at the
site- or regional-scale. Although this could reflect native grass displacement, a lack of biotic resistance is a more likely
explanation, given that grasses comprise the most aggressive invaders. These findings underscore the need to move
beyond richness as a surrogate for the extent of invasion, because this metric confounds monodominance with invasion
resistance. Monitoring species’ relative abundance will more rapidly advance our understanding of invasions
Recommended from our members
LambrinosJohnHorticulturePredictingInvasionGrasslandSupportingInformation.pdf
Invasions have increased the size of regional species pools, but are typically assumed to reduce native diversity.
However, global-scale tests of this assumption have been elusive because of the focus on exotic species richness,
rather than relative abundance. This is problematic because low invader richness can indicate invasion resistance by
the native community or, alternatively, dominance by a single exotic species. Here, we used a globally replicated
study to quantify relationships between exotic richness and abundance in grass-dominated ecosystems in 13 countries
on six continents, ranging from salt marshes to alpine tundra. We tested effects of human land use, native community
diversity, herbivore pressure, and nutrient limitation on exotic plant dominance. Despite its widespread use,
exotic richness was a poor proxy for exotic dominance at low exotic richness, because sites that contained few exotic
species ranged from relatively pristine (low exotic richness and cover) to almost completely exotic-dominated ones
(low exotic richness but high exotic cover). Both exotic cover and richness were predicted by native plant diversity
(native grass richness) and land use (distance to cultivation). Although climate was important for predicting both
exotic cover and richness, climatic factors predicting cover (precipitation variability) differed from those predicting
richness (maximum temperature and mean temperature in the wettest quarter). Herbivory and nutrient limitation
did not predict exotic richness or cover. Exotic dominance was greatest in areas with low native grass richness at the
site- or regional-scale. Although this could reflect native grass displacement, a lack of biotic resistance is a more likely
explanation, given that grasses comprise the most aggressive invaders. These findings underscore the need to move
beyond richness as a surrogate for the extent of invasion, because this metric confounds monodominance with invasion
resistance. Monitoring species’ relative abundance will more rapidly advance our understanding of invasions
TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access
10.1111/gcb.14904GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY261119-18