Aims the total space of traits covered by the members of plant com-munities is an important parameter of ecosystem functioning and complexity.We trace the variability of trait space during early plant succession and a...Aims the total space of traits covered by the members of plant com-munities is an important parameter of ecosystem functioning and complexity.We trace the variability of trait space during early plant succession and ask how trait space co-varies with phylogenetic community structure and soil conditions.Particularly,we are inter-ested in the small-scale variability in trait space and the influence of biotic and abiotic filters.Methods We use data on species richness and soil conditions from the first 7 years of initial succession of an artificial catchment in north-east-ern germany.total functional attribute diversity serves as a proxy to total trait space.Important Findingstotal trait space steadily increased during succession.We observed high small-scale variability in total trait space that was positively correlated with species richness and phylogenetic segregation and negatively correlated with total plant cover.trait space increased with soil carbonate content,while pH and the fraction of sandy material behaved indifferently.our results indicate that during early succession,habitat filtering processes gain importance leading to a lesser increase in trait space than expected from the increase in species richness alone.展开更多
基金Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Brandenburg Ministry of Science,Research and Culture(Potsdam).Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education(N 304306740 to M.P.).
文摘Aims the total space of traits covered by the members of plant com-munities is an important parameter of ecosystem functioning and complexity.We trace the variability of trait space during early plant succession and ask how trait space co-varies with phylogenetic community structure and soil conditions.Particularly,we are inter-ested in the small-scale variability in trait space and the influence of biotic and abiotic filters.Methods We use data on species richness and soil conditions from the first 7 years of initial succession of an artificial catchment in north-east-ern germany.total functional attribute diversity serves as a proxy to total trait space.Important Findingstotal trait space steadily increased during succession.We observed high small-scale variability in total trait space that was positively correlated with species richness and phylogenetic segregation and negatively correlated with total plant cover.trait space increased with soil carbonate content,while pH and the fraction of sandy material behaved indifferently.our results indicate that during early succession,habitat filtering processes gain importance leading to a lesser increase in trait space than expected from the increase in species richness alone.
