当前位置： SCI文献检索 > ANNALS OF BOTANY期刊下所有文献 > Temperate rain forest species partition fine-scale gradients in light availability based on their leaf mass per area (LMA).

Temperate rain forest species partition fine-scale gradients in light availability based on their leaf mass per area (LMA).

Abstract：

BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Ecologists are increasingly using plant functional traits to predict community assembly, but few studies have linked functional traits to species' responses to fine-scale resource gradients. In this study, it was tested whether saplings of woody species partition fine-scale gradients in light availability based on their leaf mass per area (LMA) in three temperate rain forests and one Mediterranean forest in southern Chile. METHODS:LMA was measured under field conditions of all woody species contained in approx. 60 plots of 2 m2 in each site, and light availability, computed as the gap light index (GLI), was determined. For each site, species' pairwise differences in mean LMA (Δ LMA) and abundance-weighted mean GLI (Δ light response) of 2 m2 plots were calculated and it was tested whether they were positively related using Mantel tests, i.e. if species with different LMA values differed in their response to light availability. Additionally linear models were fitted to the relationship between plot-level mean LMA and GLI across plots for each site. KEY RESULTS:A positive and significant relationship was found between species' pairwise differences in mean LMA and differences in light response across species for all temperate rain forests, but not for the Mediterranean forest. The results also indicated a significant positive interspecific link between LMA and light availability for all forests. This is in contrast to what is traditionally reported and to expectations from the leaf economics spectrum. CONCLUSIONS:In environments subjected to light limitation, interspecific differences in a leaf trait (LMA) can explain the fine-scale partitioning of light availability gradients by woody plant species. This niche partitioning potentially facilitates species coexistence at the within-community level. The high frequency of evergreen shade-intolerant species in these forests may explain the positive correlation between light availability and LMA.

journal_name

Ann Bot

journal_title

Annals of botany

authors

Fajardo A,Siefert A

doi

10.1093/aob/mcw184

subject

Has Abstract

pub_date

2016-12-01 00:00:00

pages

1307-1315

issue

eissn

0305-7364

issn

1095-8290

pii

mcw184

journal_volume

118

pub_type

杂志文章

在线工具

Temperate rain forest species partition fine-scale gradients in light availability based on their leaf mass per area (LMA).