Testing community assembly predictions for nominal and continuous plant traits in species-rich grasslands

0370235 - BÚ 2012 RIV CZ eng J - Journal Article
Schamp, B. S. - Hettenbergerová, E. - Hájek, Michal
Testing community assembly predictions for nominal and continuous plant traits in species-rich grasslands.
Preslia. Roč. 83, č. 3 (2011), s. 329-346. ISSN 0032-7786. E-ISSN 0032-7786
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60050516
Keywords : coexistence * functional diversity * limiting similarity
Subject RIV: EF - Botanics
Impact factor: 2.521, year: 2011

We investigated patterns of trait-based community assembly in grasslands using continuous and nominal species-level traits. Plant species were randomly organized with respect to both maximum and minimum species height; however, coexisting plant species had a significantly smaller mean seed mass than expected by chance, and were significantly convergent in seed mass. These patterns were most pronounced in wet grasslands. Grasslands were non-randomly assembled with respect to five of our ten traits including seed mass, fruit type, CGO, branching type and leaf distribution. Among these, only patterns of branching type clearly conformed to the predictions from Limiting Similarity Theory, suggesting that variation in this trait may contribute to species coexistence in these grasslands. In general, patterns were consistent across the two plot sizes.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0204094