Testing the limits of resistance: a 19-year study of Mediterranean grassland response to grazing regimes.

A synthesis of a long-term (19 years) study assessing the effects of cattle grazing on the structure and composition of a Mediterranean grassland in north-eastern Israel is presented, with new insights into the response of the vegetation to grazing management and rainfall. We hypothesized that the plant community studied would be resistant to high grazing intensities and rainfall variability considering the combined long history of land-use and unpredictable climatic conditions where this community evolved. Treatments included manipulations of stocking densities (moderate, heavy, and very heavy) and of grazing regimes (continuous vs. seasonal), in a factorial design. The effect of interannual rainfall variation on the expression of grazing impacts on the plant community was minor. The main effects of grazing on relative cover of plant functional groups were related to early vs. late seasonal grazing. Species diversity and equitability were remarkably stable across all grazing treatments. A reduction in tall grass cover at higher stocking densities was correlated with increased cover of less palatable groups such as annual and perennial thistles, as well as shorter and prostrate groups such as short annual grasses. This long-term study shows that interannual fluctuations in plant functional group composition could be partly accounted for by grazing pressure and timing, but not by the measured rainfall variables. Grazing affected the dominance of tall annual grasses. However, the persistence of tall grasses and more palatable species over time, despite large differences in grazing pressure and timing, supports the idea that Mediterranean grasslands are highly resistant to prolonged grazing. Indeed, even under the most extreme grazing conditions applied, there were no signs of deterioration or collapse of the ecosystem. This high resistance to grazing intensity and interannual fluctuation in climatic conditions should favor the persistence of the plant community under forecasted increasing unpredictability due to climate change.

Climate change scenarios of herbaceous production along an aridity gradient: vulnerability increases with aridity.

Climate change is expected to reduce annual precipitation by 20% and increase its standard deviation by 20% in the eastern Mediterranean. We have examined how these changes may affect herbaceous aboveground net primary production (ANPP) and its inter-annual coefficient of variation (CV) in natural rangelands along a desert-Mediterranean precipitation gradient, at five sites representing arid, semi-arid, and Mediterranean-type ecosystems, respectively, all showing positive linear relationships between herbaceous ANPP and annual precipitation. Scenarios of reduced annual precipitation and increased inter-annual precipitation variability were defined by manipulating mean annual precipitation (MAP) and its standard deviation. We simulated precipitation and calculated ANPP using current ANPP-precipitation relationships. Our model predicts that reduced precipitation will strongly reduce ANPP in arid and semi-arid sites. Moreover, the effect of reduced precipitation on the CV of ANPP along the entire gradient may be modified by changes in inter-annual variability in MAP. Reduced precipitation combined with increased precipitation variability was the scenario most relevant to the wet end of the gradient, due to the increased likelihood for both dry and rainy years. In contrast, the scenario most relevant to the arid end of the gradient combined reduced precipitation with decreased precipitation variability, due to the strong effect on mean ANPP. All scenarios increased variability of ANPP along the entire gradient. However, the higher sensitivity of vegetation at arid and semi-arid sites (i.e., lower forage production) to future changes in the precipitation regime emphasizes the need to adapt grazing management in these ecosystems to secure their long-term viability as sustainable rangelands.

Leaf traits capture the effects of land use changes and climate on litter decomposability of grasslands across Europe.

Land use and climate changes induce shifts in plant functional diversity and community structure, thereby modifying ecosystem processes. This is particularly true for litter decomposition, an essential process in the biogeochemical cycles of carbon and nutrients. In this study, we asked whether changes in functional traits of living leaves in response to changes in land use and climate were related to rates of litter potential decomposition, hereafter denoted litter decomposability, across a range of 10 contrasting sites. To disentangle the different control factors on litter decomposition, we conducted a microcosm experiment to determine the decomposability under standard conditions of litters collected in herbaceous communities from Europe and Israel. We tested how environmental factors (disturbance and climate) affected functional traits of living leaves and how these traits then modified litter quality and subsequent litter decomposability. Litter decomposability appeared proximately linked to initial litter quality, with particularly clear negative correlations with lignin-dependent indices (litter lignin concentr tion, lignin:nitrogen ratio, and fiber component). Litter quality was directly related to community-weighted mean traits. Lignin-dependent indices of litter quality were positively correlated with community-weighted mean leaf dry matter content (LDMC), and negatively correlated with community-weighted mean leaf nitrogen concentration (LNC). Consequently, litter decomposability was correlated negatively with community-weighted mean LDMC, and positively with community-weighted mean LNC. Environmental factors (disturbance and climate) influenced community-weighted mean traits. Plant communities experiencing less frequent or less intense disturbance exhibited higher community-weighted mean LDMC, and therefore higher litter lignin content and slower litter decomposability. LDMC therefore appears as a powerful marker of both changes in land use and of the pace of nutrient cycling across 10 contrasting sites.

An evolutionary perspective on leaf economics: phylogenetics of leaf mass per area in vascular plants.

In plant leaves, resource use follows a trade-off between rapid resource capture and conservative storage. This "worldwide leaf economics spectrum" consists of a suite of intercorrelated leaf traits, among which leaf mass per area, LMA, is one of the most fundamental as it indicates the cost of leaf construction and light-interception borne by plants. We conducted a broad-scale analysis of the evolutionary history of LMA across a large dataset of 5401 vascular plant species. The phylogenetic signal in LMA displayed low but significant conservatism, that is, leaf economics tended to be more similar among close relatives than expected by chance alone. Models of trait evolution indicated that LMA evolved under weak stabilizing selection. Moreover, results suggest that different optimal phenotypes evolved among large clades within which extremes tended to be selected against. Conservatism in LMA was strongly related to growth form, as were selection intensity and phenotypic evolutionary rates: woody plants showed higher conservatism in relation to stronger stabilizing selection and lower evolutionary rates compared to herbaceous taxa. The evolutionary history of LMA thus paints different evolutionary trajectories of vascular plant species across clades, revealing the coordination of leaf trait evolution with growth forms in response to varying selection regimes.

Assessing the effects of land-use change on plant traits, communities and ecosystem functioning in grasslands: a standardized methodology and lessons from an application to 11 European sites.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: A standardized methodology to assess the impacts of land-use changes on vegetation and ecosystem functioning is presented. It assumes that species traits are central to these impacts, and is designed to be applicable in different historical, climatic contexts and local settings. Preliminary results are presented to show its applicability. METHODS: Eleven sites, representative of various types of land-use changes occurring in marginal agro-ecosystems across Europe and Israel, were selected. Climatic data were obtained at the site level; soil data, disturbance and nutrition indices were described at the plot level within sites. Sixteen traits describing plant stature, leaf characteristics and reproductive phase were recorded on the most abundant species of each treatment. These data were combined with species abundance to calculate trait values weighed by the abundance of species in the communities. The ecosystem properties selected were components of above-ground net primary productivity and decomposition of litter. KEY RESULTS: The wide variety of land-use systems that characterize marginal landscapes across Europe was reflected by the different disturbance indices, and were also reflected in soil and/or nutrient availability gradients. The trait toolkit allowed us to describe adequately the functional response of vegetation to land-use changes, but we suggest that some traits (vegetative plant height, stem dry matter content) should be omitted in studies involving mainly herbaceous species. Using the example of the relationship between leaf dry matter content and above-ground dead material, we demonstrate how the data collected may be used to analyse direct effects of climate and land use on ecosystem properties vs. indirect effects via changes in plant traits. CONCLUSIONS: This work shows the applicability of a set of protocols that can be widely applied to assess the impacts of global change drivers on species, communities and ecosystems.