Braak, C.J.F., ter

Groenendael, J.M., van

Hennekens, S.M.

Ozinga, W.A.

Prinzing, A.

Schaminee, J.H.J.

Wageningen Yield 

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Predicting changes in ecosystem functioning 
from shifts in plant traits
Wim A. Ozinga (post-doc)
Radboud University Nijmegen (Experimental Plant Ecology, Institute for Water and Wetland Research)
Email: Wim.ozinga@wur.nl
With: Joop Schaminée, Stephan Hennekens, Andreas Prinzing, Cajo ter Braak and Jan van Groenendael
Stakeholders: Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL), State Forestry Service (SBB), National 
Authority for Data concerning Nature (GAN)
Background and aim
From a perspective of ecosystem functioning, not only species diversity is important but also the functional 
diversity within plant communities based on functional traits of the component species. A better understanding 
of how functional diversity is influenced by environmental change is a prerequisite for predicting changes in 
ecosystem functioning and for cost-efficient management strategies. In order to link environmental changes to 
ecosystem functions and associated ecosystem services, we will distinguish between two aspects: on the one hand 
traits determine the response of the plants to environmental change and on the other hand traits are instrumental 
for the effect that plants impose on ecosystem functions and ecosystem services (response-to-effect framework). 
By using traits of known importance to ecosystem functions, shifts in trait composition within communities can be 
used as indicators (proxies) for changes in ecosystem functions and associated ecosystem services.
The objectives of this project are:
1. To develop a set of trait-based indicators of ecosystem functions and associated ecosystem services;
2. To link changes in habitat quality and connectivity to shifts in indicators of ecosystem functions and services.
By combining recent trait databases with the Dutch National Vegetation Database, containing over 550.000 geo-
referenced site descriptions of species composition and habitat characteristics (see Schaminée et al. 2012; Bongers 
et al. 2013), this can be done in a way that was not previously possible. For the analysis of trait-environment 
relationships we have developed a new generalised linear mixed model approach (see Jamil et al. 2013). We have 
established collaborations with several other research groups.
Some first results
In the first phase of the project we focused on the response-side of the story. At the species level we compared 
the performance of specialists and generalists on both ecological and evolutionary scales (Ozinga et al. 2013, see 
newsletter 1). Here we report on another subproject where we analysed the effect of nitrogen deposition on the 
local aboveground persistence of plant species in permanent plots (Hendriks et al. 2014).
Many empirical studies have shown that there is a continuous small-scale turnover of plant species, with the 
net result that plant species show temporal variation in their spatial distribution patterns as ‘shifting clouds in 
the sky’. While the direction of vegetation changes has received much attention, this is less the case for the rate 
of vegetation change. Local vegetation dynamics are determined by a dynamic balance between colonisation 
and local extinction. At the scale of small plots, the rate of local aboveground extinction can be expressed as 
the reciprocal of the mean or median time that a species persists in a plot. We used survival statistics (Kaplan-
Meier analysis and Cox’ regression) to analyse the effect of life-history traits and local abiotic conditions on local 
aboveground persistence.
At the species level there may be intrinsic differences in the likelihood of local aboveground persistence (survival 
time), due to trade-offs between investments in attributes that enhance aboveground persistence and investments 
in other life-history traits. Adult lifespan is hypothesised to be negatively related to dispersal ability and to seed 
longevity. If there is a trade-off between aboveground persistence and dispersal ability, we may also expect a 
relationship between aboveground survival patterns and local environmental conditions, since environmental 
25
constraints may impose restrictions on the viable trait combinations in a given habitat. The net effect of traits 
on the local persistence might depend on ecosystem properties such as disturbance regime and availability of 
resources. Comparative data on the local aboveground persistence of plant species across habitats are, however, 
sparse and generally from studies based on few populations of a limited number of species. Here we focus on 
the effect of nitrogen deposition, which is considered to be one of the strongest drivers of changes in species 
composition.
We combined information on local aboveground persistence of vascular plants in 245 permanent plots in the 
Netherlands with estimated levels of nitrogen deposition at the time of recording. We found a positive relation 
between local aboveground persistence of plants and high levels of nitrogen deposition (especially ammonia 
deposition). This was not only the case for species with high nitrogen requirements, but also for species with low 
nutrient requirements. The results are a preliminary indication of the importance of lower colonisation access due 
to nitrogen deposition. The ‘fixation’ of vegetation dynamics due to the lower accessibility to newcomers poses 
an extra threat to species diversity, since it may lead to further additional extinction of species due to population 
dynamic and population genetic effects. Follow-up research is required to see to what extent this influences traits 
that are instrumental for the effect that plants impose on ecosystem functions and ecosystem services (i.e. the 
response-to-effect framework).
Figure | Long-term permanent with vegetation data are an important information source for the analysis of 
vegetation dynamics. 
Publications
Bongers, M.G.H., de Graaf, M.C.C., Hennekens, S.M., Janssen, J.A.M., van Loon, H.A.M.M., Ozinga, W.A., van Rooijen, N.M. & Schaminée, 
J.H.J. (2013). Wegwijs in de natuur: achtergronden, illustraties en toepassingen van het informatiesysteem SynBioSys. Wageningen, 
Alterra / Van Hall Larenstein.
Cordlandwehr, V., Meredith, R.L., Ozinga, W.A., Bekker, R.M., van Groenendael, J.M. & Bakker, J.P. (2013). Do plant traits retrieved from a 
database accurately predict on-site measurements? Journal of Ecology 101: 662-670.
Hendriks, R.J.J., W.A. Ozinga, L.J.L. van den Berg, E. Noordijk, J.H.J. Schaminée & J.M. van Groenendael (2014). Aboveground persistence of 
vascular plants in relationship to the levels of airborne nutrient deposition. Plant Ecology 215: 1277–1286.
Jamil, T., Ozinga, W.A., Kleyer, M., ter Braak, C.J.F. (2013) Selecting traits that explain species–environment relationships: a generalized linear 
mixed model approach. Journal of Vegetation Science (in press).
Ozinga, W.A., Colles, A., Bartish, I.V., Hennion, F., Hennekens, S.M., Pavoine, S., Poschlod, P., Hermant, M., Schaminee, J.H.J., Prinzing, A. 
(2013). Specialists leave fewer descendants within a region than generalists. Global Ecology and Biogeography 22: 213-222.
Schaminée, J.H.J., Hennekens, S.M., Ozinga, W.A. (2012). The Dutch National Vegetation Database. Biodiversity & Ecology 4: 201–209.


Predicting changes in ecosystem functioning from shifts in plant traits

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