Trait-performance relationships of grassland plant species differ between common garden and field conditions.

ABSTRACT: The way functional traits affect growth of plant species may be highly context-specific. We asked which combinations of trait values are advantageous under field conditions in managed grasslands as compared to conditions without competition and land-use. In a two-year field experiment, we recorded the performance of 93 species transplanted into German grassland communities differing in land-use intensity and into a common garden, where species grew unaffected by land-use under favorable conditions regarding soil, water, and space. The plants' performance was characterized by two independent dimensions (relative growth rates (RGR) of height and leaf length vs. aboveground biomass and survival) that were differently related to the eight focal key traits in our study (leaf dry matter content

SUBMITTER: Breitschwerdt E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6392492 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature