Abstract:
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 Findings
Total trait space steadily increased during succession. We observed
high small-scale variability in total trait space that was positively cor
-
related with species richness and phylogenetic segregation and nega-
tively 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.
Description:
This study is part of the Transregional Collaborative Research Centre
38 (SFB/TRR 38: ecosystem assembly and succession). The authors
thank the working group Z1 (monitoring) members of the SFB/TRR
38 who helped us to perform this study and the Vattenfall Europe
Mining A.G. for providing the research site.