Journal article
Differences in forest plant functional trait distributions across land-use and productivity gradient
MM Mayfield, JM Dwyer, L Chalmandrier, JA Wells, SP Bonser, CP Catterall, F DeClerck, Y Ding, JM Fraterrigo, DJ Metcalfe, C Queiroz, PA Vesk, JW Morgan
American Journal of Botany | WILEY | Published : 2013
DOI: 10.3732/ajb.1200461
Abstract
Premise of study: Plant functional traits are commonly used as proxies for plant responses to environmental challenges, yet few studies have explored how functional trait distributions differ across gradients of land-use change. By comparing trait distributions in intact forests with those across land-use change gradients, we can improve our understanding of the ways land-use change alters the diversity and functioning of plant communities. Methods: We examined how the variation and distribution of trait values for seven plant functional traits differ between reference natural forest and three types of land-use conversion (pasture, old-field, or "legacy" sites-regrowth following logging), la..
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Awarded by National Science Foundation
Funding Acknowledgements
The authors thank M. Bradford, A. Ford, J. Kanowski, R. Kooyman, S. McKenna, H. M. Pereira, D. Sanchez-Merlos, N. Tucker, and G. Wardell-Johnson for their important roles in developing several of the original data sets used in this study. They also thank A. Burley for help with data management, L. Hurrey and M. Sams for helpful discussions of this manuscript, and E. Laliberte for assistance with statistical analyses. This paper is the outcome of Working Group 31 of the ARC-NZ Network for Vegetation Function. The authors thank the Network for funding this working group and Network staff for facilitating working group activities. They also thank the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, the Australian Government's Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility and National Environmental Research Program, and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology for funding PV, DM, CC, and CQ, respectively.