Using co-occurrence information and trait composition to understand individual plant performance in grassland communities.

ABSTRACT: Depending on the strength of environmental filtering and competitive exclusion, successful colonizers of plant communities show varying degrees of similarity to resident species with respect to functional traits. For the present study, colonizer's performance was assessed in relation to the degree of fit with the resident community, and in addition, in relation to the community's trait profile and the environmental factors at the study locations. The two-year field experiment investigated the relative growth rates of 130 species that had been transplanted into German grassland communities varying in intensities of land-use. The transplanted species were selected in accordance with the following scenarios: species with highly similar or dissimilar traits to residents, species with highest d

SUBMITTER: Breitschwerdt E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5998150 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature