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Journal of Ecology: Volume 109, Issue 1
1-596January 2021
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COVER PICTURE AND ISSUE INFORMATION
Cover Picture and Issue Information
- Pages: 1-3
- First Published: 10 January 2021
View of the alpine forb Potentilla pamirica at 5850 m a.s.l. in Ladakh, Western Himalayas, India. Photograph by Jiri Dolezal. See related article by Dolezal et al. pp 179–190
ESSAY REVIEW
Evaluation of seven indices of on-plant seed storage (serotiny) shows that the linear slope is best
- Pages: 4-18
- First Published: 24 May 2020
Many trees and shrubs in fire-prone parts of the world store their seeds on the plant, known as serotiny. Seeds are released gradually over time or rapidly in response to fire. I show that the best index of serotiny is one that takes the inherent rate of seed release into account not just how many cones/fruits are closed.
MINI-REVIEW
Community-scale effects and strain: Facilitation beyond conspicuous patterns
- Pages: 19-25
- First Published: 02 July 2020
Where vegetation cover is continuous, the whole community can ameliorate abiotic conditions (community-scale facilitative effect) and any species experiencing stress (strain) could be facilitated. Community-scale facilitative effect might be often inconspicuous. Considering together community-scale effect and strain might be key to progress our understanding of the general role of facilitation for species coexistence, ecosystem function, species distribution or climate change impact.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Intraspecific variation in tree growth responses to neighbourhood composition and seasonal drought in a tropical forest
- Pages: 26-37
- First Published: 29 May 2020
The plant ecology literature has been rapidly accumulating functional trait and neighbourhood modelling studies for the last decade. A surprising outcome is that these studies often find weak results. Here we provide the first study to our knowledge that utilizes individual-level trait data while simultaneously considering the biotic and temporally varying climatic contexts an individual tree experiences to model fine-scale tree growth. Importantly, the results cast doubt on the utility of widely utilized approaches that do not consider how trait-based biotic interactions are mediated by trait–climate interactions and that rely on species-level aggregation of trait data.
The effect of root-associated microbes on plant growth and chemical defence traits across two contrasted elevations
- Pages: 38-50
- First Published: 29 May 2020
Our research demonstrated that root-associated microbes (RAMs) from contrasted elevations impact how plants grow or synthesize toxic secondary metabolites. At low elevation, where biotic interactions are stronger, RAMs enhance plant biomass accumulation and the production of toxic secondary metabolites.
Shifts in taxonomic and functional composition of trees along rainfall and phosphorus gradients in central Panama
- Pages: 51-61
- First Published: 29 May 2020
Our results offer weak support for the tolerance hypothesis for tree communities in central Panama. Instead, we observe functional and taxonomic turnover reflecting trade-offs and conflicting species' responses to multiple abiotic factors including moisture, soil phosphorus and potentially other correlated variables (e.g. light).
Multi-population seedling and soil transplants show possible responses of a common tropical montane tree species (Weinmannia bangii) to climate change
- Pages: 62-73
- First Published: 30 May 2020
Our findings reveal that rising temperatures are a serious threat to plants, especially in populations growing in the hotter portion of their species’ range. At least in the case of W. bangii, novel soil conditions will not limit the establishment or growth of seedlings at higher elevations. As such, decreases in the survivorship at lower elevations may be offset through upward migrations as temperatures continue to increase.
Per-gram competitive effects and contrasting soil resource effects in grasses and woody plants
- Pages: 74-84
- First Published: 18 June 2020
Soil nitrogen (N) decreases significantly with increasing total tissue N in grasses (green circles) but increases in woody plants (brown triangles). This difference may contribute to negative feedback in grasslands, excluding trees by means of resource competition, and to positive feedback beneath woody plants, resulting in a state change from grassland to woody vegetation.
An alternate vegetation type proves resilient and persists for decades following forest conversion in the North American boreal biome
- Pages: 85-98
- First Published: 15 June 2020
Conversion from black spruce to deciduous forest is already underway at regional scales in interior Alaska, and similar transitions have been widely observed throughout the North American boreal biome. We show that this boreal deciduous forest type is likely a resilient alternate state that will persist through the 21st century, which is important, because future vegetation outcomes will shape biophysical feedbacks to regional climate and influence subsequent disturbance regimes. Photo by Ann K. Olsson.
Sensory co-evolution: The sex attractant of a gall-making fly primes plant defences, but female flies recognize resulting changes in host-plant quality
- Pages: 99-108
- First Published: 15 June 2020
Eurosta solidaginis males emit a putative pheromone that is attractive to females. Exposure to E-conophthorin, the primary component of the pheromone, primes the defenses of E. solidaginis's host plant Solidago altissima. Overall, plants exposed to the pheromone were protected from galling by E. solidaginis; however, the effectiveness of the defence varied, and females preferred to oviposit on less protected plants.
Contrasting species decline but high sensitivity to increasing water stress on a mixed pine–oak ecotone
- Pages: 109-124
- First Published: 20 June 2020
Pines expressed negative responses to increased water stress regardless of age, showing rising gas exchange constraints through tighter stomatal control of water losses than oaks. Young pines showed similar functional responses to water stress than old pines in decline, which suggests species-level vulnerability and could be regarded as early-warning signals anticipating mortality in pines.
A regime shift from erosion to carbon accumulation in a temperate northern peatland
- Pages: 125-138
- First Published: 20 June 2020
Long-term ecological data reveal a switch from a degraded peatland with active erosion and carbon loss to a revegetated peatland accumulating carbon. The switch can be interpreted as a bifurcation tipping point. We suggest that external factors such as climate and pollution levels are important for setting suitable boundary conditions for peatland recovery, but internal mechanisms can explain the change in peatland state.
Gene flow effects on populations inhabiting marginal areas: Origin matters
- Pages: 139-153
- First Published: 24 June 2020
Our results suggest that gene flow between marginal populations from similar environmental conditions increases the fitness of the recipient population by increasing genetic diversity and simultaneously providing adaptive alleles generated under similar selective pressures. Results also highlight the adaptive potential of marginal populations as genetic diversity from marginal areas may provide a fitness advantage to the populations in optimal areas. In this context, the adaptive value of marginal populations increases their relevance and potential use in conservation management.
The diversity of post-fire regeneration strategies in the cerrado ground layer
- Pages: 154-166
- First Published: 24 June 2020
Fire dramatically changes the ground layer of savanna vegetation in the short term, but the system is highly resilient, quickly recovering the pre-fire state. Recovery involves different strategies, which we categorized into five functional groups of plant species: grasses, seeders, bloomers, undergrounders and resprouters. Knowledge of these diverse strategies should be used as a tool to assess conservation and restoration status of fire-resilient ecosystems in the cerrado.
Optimal Defense Theory in an ant–plant mutualism: Extrafloral nectar as an induced defence is maximized in the most valuable plant structures
- Pages: 167-178
- First Published: 27 June 2020
Our results show that extrafloral nectar production before and after simulated herbivory, as well as ant recruitment, varies according to the plant structure on which EFNs are located. Our study is the first to show that ant recruitment via extrafloral nectar follows predictions from Optimal Defense Theory, and that the ant foraging patterns may be shaped by the plant part attacked and the level of damage it receives.
Editor’s Choice
Climate warming drives Himalayan alpine plant growth and recruitment dynamics
- Pages: 179-190
- First Published: 02 July 2020
We studied populations of the forb Potentilla pamirica across its entire elevation range in Western Himalayas. We identified contrasting climatic controls of recruitment and growth, and contrasting demographic trends at opposite elevation range margins. These findings highlight the complexity of plant responses to warming and the necessity of a population-specific focus for assessing climate change impacts on geographic range shifts.
Foundation species promote local adaptation and fine-scale distribution of herbaceous plants
- Pages: 191-203
- First Published: 02 July 2020
Adaptation or plasticity in phenotypic expression has different implications for demographic rate and persistence of species in changing environments. Local adaptation to neighbours suggests that reductions in foundation species diversity could concomitantly lead to reduced genetic diversity of commingled species while a plastic response indicates a more robust and broad response to changing climatic and biotic conditions.
Facilitation of a tropical seagrass by a chemosymbiotic bivalve increases with environmental stress
- Pages: 204-217
- First Published: 02 July 2020
The strength of lucinid–seagrass facilitation increases under environmental conditions that hinder the ability of seagrass to detoxify sulphide. Our results provide evidence of a potential mechanism by which the spatiotemporal association between lucinids and seagrasses is maintained and support the incorporation of interspecific facilitation into conservation and restoration strategies for foundation species in the face of increasing anthropogenic impact and global change.
Optimal resource allocation and prolonged dormancy strategies in herbaceous plants
- Pages: 218-233
- First Published: 11 July 2020
Our findings reveal that maintenance costs and the effects of resource allocation on survival are primary determinants of the fitness consequences of different life history strategies, yet previous theory on plant life history evolution has largely ignored these factors. Our findings also validate recent arguments that prolonged dormancy may be an optimal response to costs of sprouting. These findings have broad implications for understanding patterns of plant life history variation and predicting plant responses to changing environments.
Moisture absorption and drying alter nonadditive litter flammability in a mixed conifer forest
- Pages: 234-245
- First Published: 15 July 2020
Characterizing how litter fuels retain moisture through time and how fuels from multiple species interact are key steps to adding taxon-specific information to fire behaviour prediction. Moisture absorption and drying change flammability rankings under moist compared with dry fuels. Litter mixtures generally burn with fire behaviour more similar to that of the most flammable constituent species and this effect increases as fuels dry.
Xylomelum occidentale (Proteaceae) accesses relatively mobile soil organic phosphorus without releasing carboxylates
- Pages: 246-259
- First Published: 11 July 2020
Our findings show the first field evidence of effectively utilizing soil organic P by X. occidentale without carboxylate exudation and explain their relatively restricted distribution in an old P-impoverished landscape, contributing to a better understanding of how diverse P-acquisition strategies coexist in a megadiverse ecosystem.
Plant protection services mediated by extrafloral nectaries decline with aridity but are not influenced by chronic anthropogenic disturbance in Brazilian Caatinga
- Pages: 260-272
- First Published: 11 July 2020
Our findings suggest that CAD does not affect plant-protection services mediated by EFNs in Brazilian Caatinga. However, ant-protection services declined with increased aridity, and this occurred through changes in the composition of attendant ant species rather than by changes in the production of extrafloral nectar. Such a response to increasing aridity highlights the vulnerability of EFN-bearing plants to climate change through decreased predation of herbivores.
Scale-dependent changes in tree diversity over more than a century in eastern Canada: Landscape diversification and regional homogenization
- Pages: 273-283
- First Published: 13 July 2020
Our results show that land use-related disturbances have led simultaneously to increased diversity within landscapes and a homogenization at the regional scale (i.e. decreased composition dissimilarity among landscapes). This highlights possible ways that human-driven changes in tree diversity might impact forest resistance and resilience to future global changes.
Limited evidence for a consistent seed mass-dispersal trade-off in wind-dispersed pines
- Pages: 284-293
- First Published: 27 July 2020
We have found strong support for a trade-off between seed mass and dispersal potential across a wide range of wind-dispersed Pinus species. Importantly, we show that this trade-off is largely absent within species, potentially reducing selective pressure. This may be largely due to the relationships between cone investment and samara traits, whereby increases in cone investment result in a proportionally greater increase in wing size than seed mass. Where resources are limited, investment in seed mass may be prioritized over dispersal.
A king and vassals' tale: Molecular signatures of clonal integration in Posidonia oceanica under chronic light shortage
- Pages: 294-312
- First Published: 27 July 2020
Our results demonstrate a high level of specialization of integrated ramets within seagrass clones and a ‘division of labour’ under adverse conditions. Vertical shoots appear to do ‘most of the job’ especially in terms of resource providing, whereas activated functions in apical shoots were restricted to few important processes, according to an ‘energy-saving’ strategy. The response of vertical shoots could be seen as a ‘sacrificing response’ allowing the survival of ‘the king’ that is key for ensuring propagation and population maintenance, and for the colonization of new environments.
A trait-based approach to assessing resistance and resilience to wildfire in two iconic North American conifers
- Pages: 313-326
- First Published: 27 July 2020
Plant traits and vital rates differed among populations of Pinus ponderosa and Pseudotsuga menziesii, with apparent trade-offs between investment in traits that promote individual defence to fire (e.g. bark thickness, time to fire-resistant size) and those that promote recolonization of disturbed sites (e.g. seed cone production). Future changes in fire regimes will act as a filter throughout North American forests, with our findings helping to infer which individuals and populations of two iconic species are most vulnerable to future change and offering a framework for future inquiry in other forests facing an uncertain future.
Three eco-physiological strategies of response to drought maintain the form and function of a tropical montane grassland
- Pages: 327-341
- First Published: 10 August 2020
Plants exhibit different strategies, as well as different contributions to community and ecosystem attributes. We developed an integrated approach to both identify strategies and estimate their relative contribution. Thereby, as droughts intensify, we can better predict which plants are more likely to be lost and how their loss will impact the communities and ecosystem where they occur. This knowledge is necessary for specifying conservation priorities and for developing more efficient conservation practices.
Post-disturbance conifer tree-ring δ15N reflects openness of the nitrogen cycle across temperate coastal rainforests
- Pages: 342-353
- First Published: 31 July 2020
Five decades after timber harvest, tree-ring δ15N of Picea sitchensis and Thuja plicata gained up to 6‰ with increasing rates of soil N mineralization. Sharp increases in tree-ring δ15N underscore the vulnerability of low C:N soils with open N cycles to post-disturbance N losses, and highlight how frequent harvesting cycles may risk substantial N depletion from these productive temperate rainforests.
Effects of soil salinity on the expression of direct and indirect defences in wild cotton Gossypium hirsutum
- Pages: 354-368
- First Published: 31 July 2020
By investigating the effects of soil salinity on the expression of multiple direct and indirect defensive traits and their underlying correlations, these findings build towards a better understanding of how abiotic context-dependency shapes plant allocation to and expression of multiple defensive traits.
‘Latent reserves’: A hidden treasure in National Forest Inventories
- Pages: 369-383
- First Published: 11 August 2020
Europe faces a strong lack of data on natural forests due to centuries of forest management activities. National Forest Inventories conceal an important fraction of sample plots that have been free of human intervention for decades. These ‘latent reserves’ show great potential to improve our understanding of near-natural forests at the European scale. Image shows spruce-dominated forest sample plots from the Swiss National Forest Inventory. (L) ‘Latent reserve’ - no human intervention for at least 40 to 70 years. (R) Managed forest - human intervention occurred in the last 40 years.
Uncovering structural features that underlie coexistence in an invaded woody plant community with interaction networks at multiple life stages
- Pages: 384-398
- First Published: 13 August 2020
I demonstrated that a network approach is a useful way to characterize competitive and facilitative plant–plant interactions using garden and field experiments in an old field woody plant community. I identified features that may promote coexistence by contrasting network architectures at two different life stages and analysing within-network substructure patterns—features that were not observable in interactions within a single life stage or when considering pairwise interactions independently.
Bridging ecology and physics: Australian fairy circles regenerate following model assumptions on ecohydrological feedbacks
- Pages: 399-416
- First Published: 21 September 2020
Spatially periodic vegetation patterns of drylands have been extensively modelled by physicists based on ecohydrological feedbacks and the reaction-diffusion or Turing mechanism. A detailed ecological test of the validity of such processes, however, is still pending. Based on the Australian fairy circles, we show that short-range positive and long-range negative feedbacks between plants are indeed explaining such emergent vegetation patterns.
Environmental drivers of Sphagnum growth in peatlands across the Holarctic region
- Pages: 417-431
- First Published: 27 August 2020
We measured growth in two species from the peat forming bryophyte genus Sphagnum (peat mosses) across the Holarctic. Employing structural equation models, we explored how indirect and direct drivers, such as weather variables, PAR, water table, nitrogen and vascular plant cover affect growth. Species-specific responses may affect competitive outcomes in a changing environment, and potentially the carbon sink function of peatlands.
Long-term ecological legacies in western Amazonia
- Pages: 432-446
- First Published: 05 September 2020
We documented successional dynamics in a lowland Amazonian forest setting for hundreds of years following the cessation of pre-Columbian disturbance. We found no evidence of persistent enrichment or depletion of intentionally altered taxa (i.e. direct legacy effects) but did find evidence of indirect legacy effects that have persisted to the modern day.
Relative effects of climate and litter traits on decomposition change with time, climate and trait variability
- Pages: 447-458
- First Published: 08 October 2020
The relative effects of litter traits and climate on decomposition depend on the ranges in climate and litter traits considered and change with time. Our study emphasizes the critical role of representative ranges in climate and functional trait values for understanding the drivers of litter decomposition and for improving predictions of climate-change effects on this important ecosystem process.
More than one way to kill a spruce forest: The role of fire and climate in the late-glacial termination of spruce woodlands across the southern Great Lakes
- Pages: 459-477
- First Published: 08 October 2020
Palaeoecological records from the Midwest show that climate was the primary driver of spruce losses during the last deglaciation, but increased fire frequency sometimes accelerated spruce declines by clearing the way for thermophilous deciduous hardwoods. Hence, warming and intensified fire regimes likely interacted in the past to cause abrupt conifer losses and could do so again in the coming decades.
Macroclimate drives growth of hair lichens in boreal forest canopies
- Pages: 478-490
- First Published: 16 November 2020
We show that precipitation promotes growth of pale pendulous lichens (Alectoria, Usnea), not of dark ones (Bryoria), across a continental-oceanic gradient in Scandinavia. The growth-precipitation relationship depends on functional lichen traits (colour, water storage, size, chlorophyll). Our findings may explain the distribution of hair lichens and allow predictions of how climate change and forestry influence these canopy components.
Long-term effects of colonization–extinction dynamics of generalist versus specialist wood-decaying fungi
- Pages: 491-503
- First Published: 15 October 2020
The occupancy of sessile species is generated by dynamic rates of colonization and extinction. Studying the landscape-scale metapopulation dynamics of wood-decaying fungi in boreal forests, we demonstrate systematic decreases in colonization rate and increases in extinction rate with increasing species' degree of specialization. The figure shows posterior distributions of the estimated base rates of colonization (a) and extinction (b) of the 10 study species, ordered by increasing degree of specialization.
Crown-fire severity is more important than ground-fire severity in determining soil fungal community development in the boreal forest
- Pages: 504-518
- First Published: 21 October 2020
Historically, boreal pine forests have been shaped by low-severity ground-fires. Our study highlights a risk that increasing occurrence of high-severity crown-fire as climate warms will have detrimental effects on mycorrhizal-mediated functions that are pivotal for maintaining organic matter turnover, soil fertility and forest resilience.
Unraveling the relative role of light and water competition between lianas and trees in tropical forests: A vegetation model analysis
- Pages: 519-540
- First Published: 29 October 2020
BIOLOGICAL FLORA OF THE BRITISH ISLES
Biological Flora of the British Isles: Crataegus monogyna
- Pages: 541-571
- First Published: 10 January 2021
Crataegus monogyna is a shrub or small tree native to almost the whole of Britain, and to Europe generally excepting its northern and southern margins. Hawthorn has a wide ecological range and is an important component of hedges. It can colonize derelict or abandoned arable land forming dense scrub and thicket. In both flowering and fruiting, it is an eye-catching component of the landscape that provides food and shelter for many other organisms. Planting stock of unknown origin, together with its propensity for hybridization in secondary contact zones, has led to introgression which has blurred species delimitation. Conseqently it has become a species of considerable interest for taxonomic and phylogenetic research. Photo: Theresa Reimann.
Biological Flora of the British Isles: Crataegus laevigata
- Pages: 572-596
- First Published: 10 January 2021
Midland hawthorn is native to the south and east of the Midlands in Britain, and into central and northern Europe. It is at its best in old undisturbed woodlands on heavy clay soils, avoiding chalk and limestone, and is an Ancient Woodland indicator. But even here it tends to occur as isolated individuals and can easily be overlooked. Woodland disturbance lets in more light and allows common hawthorn to permeate, leading to extensive introgression such that pure Midland hawthorn is becoming rare in many woodlands and may even be endangered despite its many uses in herbal and modern medicine.