Plant species richness increases with light availability, but not variability, in temperate forests understorey.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Temperate forest understorey vegetation poses an excellent study system to investigate whether increases in resource availability lead to an increase in plant species richness. Most sunlight is absorbed by the species-poor tree canopy, making the much more species-rich understorey species inhabit a severely resource-limited habitat. Additionally, the heterogeneity of light availability, resulting from management-moderated tree composition and age structure, may contribute to species coexistence. One would therefore expect that the diversity in the herb layer correlates positively with either the overall light availability, or the light heterogeneity, depending on whether resource availability or heterogeneity are more important drivers of diversity. To test this idea, we

SUBMITTER: Dormann CF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7392730 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature