Variable responses to top-down and bottom-up control on multiple traits in the foundational plant, Spartina alterniflora.

ABSTRACT: While the effects of top-down and bottom-up forces on aboveground plant growth have been extensively examined, less is known about the relative impacts of these factors on other aspects of plant life history. In a fully-factorial, field experiment in a salt marsh in Virginia, USA, we manipulated grazing intensity (top-down) and nutrient availability (bottom-up) and measured the response in a suite of traits for smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora). The data presented within this manuscript are unpublished, original data that were collected from the same experiment presented in Silliman and Zieman 2001. Three categories of traits and characteristics were measured: belowground characteristics, litter production, and reproduction, encompassing nine total responses. Of the nine response va

SUBMITTER: Valdez SR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10212092 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature