Top

Contemporary Problems of Ecology

Published in:

01-02-2024

Directed Trends in the Shoot Number Dynamics and the Functional Traits of Plants Growing on Festuca varia Grasslands of the Teberda National Park

Authors: D. V. Sukhova, T. G. Elumeeva, V. G. Onipchenko

Published in: Contemporary Problems of Ecology | Issue 1/2024

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config

AI-assisted search

Off

Abstract

The modern long-term dynamics of high-mountain communities can be influenced by either climate warming or a reduction in land use intensity. Annual counts of the shoot number of vascular plants were carried out in 1987–2019 on permanent plots located on alpine Festuca varia grasslands (Teberda National Park, Karachay-Cherkessia, Russia). Regression models simulating the shoot number dynamics used predictors such as the year (for revealing linear trends) and weather conditions, including the average temperatures and precipitation in the preceding vegetation season (July–August) and in the beginning of the current season (May–June). The number of shoots significantly increased in six species characterized by the lower average altitudes of distribution within the National Park and decreased in five high-mountain species. However, these trends were not associated with an increase in the average temperatures of the July–August period of the preceding year. Changes in weather conditions influenced fluctuations in several species independently of the direction of their dynamics. The linear trend values for one of the sample areas positively correlated with the specific leaf area, water content in leaves, and contribution of a ruderal strategy, and they negatively correlated with the contribution of a stress-tolerant strategy. The dynamics of Festuca varia grasslands was related mainly to a long-term recovery succession after grazing cessation, but not to the warming that occurred during a vegetation season. The main dominant of the community, Festuca varia Haenke, was less subjected to fluctuations and climate changes within the current amplitude, thus providing the stability of the community.

previous article Role of Fungi and Bacteria in the Mineralization of Nitrogen Compounds in the Soil of the Southern Taiga Birch Forest in European Russia

next article Bioclimatic Factors and Ecogeographical Patterns in the Distribution of the Rare Species Hedysarum grandiflorum Pall.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 102.000 Bücher
über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 390 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Adzhiev, R.K. and Onipchenko, V.G., Germination of fresh seeds of alpine plants of the no.orthern Caucasus as an indicator of strategy of seed recruitment, Materialy dokladov 9 Vserossiiskogo populatsionnogo seminara “Osob’ i populatsia – strategii zhizni” (Proc. Rep. 9 All-Russ. Population Seminar “Individual and Population – Life Strategies”), Ishbirdin, A.R., et al., Eds., Ufa, 2006, pp. 8–12.

Adzhiev, R.K., Onipchenko, V.G., and Tekeev, D.K., Viability of buried plant seeds from alpine plant communities (Northwest Caucasus): Results of a five year experiment, Zh. Obshch. Biol., 2012, vol. 73, no. 6, pp. 453–458.PubMed

Adzhieva, R.B. and Onipchenko, V.G., Relationships between seed weight and ecological and morphological features of alpine plants in the Northwest Caucasus, Ekol. Vestn. Sev. Kavk., 2008, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 82–87.

Akhmetzhanova, A.A., Onipchenko, V.G., El’kanova, M.Kh., Stogova, A.V., and Tekeev, D.K., Changes in eco-morphological parameters of alpine plant’s leaves as an effect of fertilization, Zh. Obshch. Biol., 2011, vol. 72, no. 5, pp. 388–400.PubMed

Akhmetzhanova, A.A., Soudzilovskaia, N.A., Onipchenko, V.G., Cornwell, W.K., Agafonov, V.A., Selivanov, I.A., and Cornelissen, J.H.C., A rediscovered treasure: mycorrhizal intensity database for 3000 vascular plant species across the former Soviet Union, Ecology, 2012, vol. 93, no. 3. pp. 689–690.CrossRef

Bahn, M. and Körner, C., Recent increases in summit flora caused by warming in the Alps, in Alpine Biodiversity in Europe, vol. 167: Ecological studies (analysis and synthesis), Nagi, L., Grabherr, G., Körner, C., and Thompson, D.B.A., Eds., Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, 2003, Bekker, R.M., Verweij, G.L., Bakker, J.P., and Fresco, L.F.M., Soil seed bank dynamics in hayfield succession, J. Ecol., 2000, vol. 88, no. 4, pp. 594–607.

Bostanova, F.S., Akhmetzhanova, A.A., and Onipchenko, V.G., Functional traits of roots of alpine plants in the north-western Caucasus, in Teberdinskii zapovednik (Teberdinsky Reserve), Kislovodsk: MIL, 2017, no. 63.

Czortek, P., Eykott, A.E., Grytnes, J.-A., Delimat, A., Kapfer, J., and Jaroscewicz, B., Effects of grazing abandonment and climate change on mountain summits flora: a case study in the Tatra Mts, Plant Ecol., 2018, vol. 219, no. 1, pp. 261–276.CrossRef

Dudova, K.V., Ataballyev, G.G., Akhmetzhanova, A.A., Gulov, D.M., Dudov, S.V., Elumeeva, T.G., Klink, G.V., Logvinenko, O.A., Semenova, R.B., and Onipchenko, V.G., Plant height as a functional trait of alpine plants, Byull. Mosk. O-va. Ispyt. Prir., Otd. Biol., 2019, vol. 124, no. 1, pp. 33–46.

10.

Egorov, A.V., Zernov, A.S., and Onipchenko, V.G., North-West Caucasus, in Plant Biogeography and Vegetation of High Mountains of Central and South-West Asia, Noroozi, J., Ed., Cham: Springer-Verlag, 2020, vol. 17, pp. 315–360.

11.

Ellison, A. and Degrassi, A., All species are important, but some species are more important than others, J. Veg. Sci., 2017, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 669–671.CrossRef

12.

Elumeeva, T.G., Onipchenko, V.G., Egorov, A.V., Khubiev, A.B., Tekeev, D.K., Soudzilovskaia, N.A., and Cornelissen, J.H.C., Long-term vegetation dynamic in the Northwestern Caucasus: which communities are more affected by upward shifts of plant species?, Alpine Bot., 2013, vol. 123, no. 2, pp. 77–85.CrossRef

13.

Elumeeva, T.G., Onipchenko, V.G., and Werger, M.J.A., No other species can replace them: evidence for the key role of dominants in an alpine Festuca varia grassland, J. Veg. Sci., 2017, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 674–683.CrossRef

14.

Elumeeva, T.G., Tekeev, D.K., Bairamkulova, S.U., and Onipchenko, V.G., Long term natural dynamics of an alpine lichen heath in the Teberda State Biosphere Reserve, northwestern Caucasus, Botany, 2021, vol. 99, no. 10, pp. 609–618.CrossRef

15.

Erkenova, M.A., Leaf lifespan of plants of Geranium-Hedysarum meadows and alpine snowbeds of the northwestern Caucasus, in Teberdinskii zapovednik (Teberdinsky Reserve), Kislovodsk: MIL, 2012, no. 53.

16.

Fox, J. and Weisberg, S., An {R} Companion to Applied Regression, Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2019. https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/jfox/Books/Companion/.

17.

Freedman, B., Hill, N., Svoboda, J., and Henry, G.H.R., Seed banks and seedling occurrence in a high Arctic oasis at Alexandra Fjord, Ellesmere Island, Canada, Can. J. Bot., 1982, vol. 60, no. 10, pp. 2112–2118.CrossRef

18.

Gornish, E.S. and Prather, C.M., Foliar functional traits that predict plant biomass response to warming, J. Veg. Sci., 2014, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 919–927.CrossRef

19.

Gottfried, M., Pauli, H., Futschik, A., Akhalkatsi, M., Barančok, P., Alonso, J.L.B., Coldea, G., Dick, J., Erschbamer, B., Fernández Calzado, M.R., Kazakis, G., Krajči, J., Larsson, P., Mallaun, M., Michelsen, O., Moiseev, D., Moiseev, P., Molau, U., Merzouki, A., Nagy, L., Nakhutsrishvili, G., Pedersen, B., Pelino, G., Puscas, M., Rossi, G., Stanisci, A., Theurillat, J.-P., Tomaselli, M., Villar, L., Vittoz, P., Vogiatzakis, I., and Grabherr, G., Continent-wide response of mountain vegetation to climate change, Nat. Clim. Change, 2012, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 111–115.ADSCrossRef

20.

Grime, J.P., Evidence for the existence of three primary strategies in plants and its relevance to ecological and evolutionary theory, Am. Nat., 1977, vol. 111, no. 982, pp. 1169–1194.CrossRef

21.

Harte, J. and Shaw, R., Shifting dominance within a montane vegetation community: results of a climate-warming experiment, Science, 1995, vol. 267, no. 5199, pp. 876–880.ADSPubMedCrossRef

22.

Kammer, P., Schöb, C., and Choler, P., Increasing species richness on mountain summits: Upward migration due to anthropogenic climate change or re-colonisation?, J. Veg. Sci., 2007, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 301–306.

23.

Kaufmann, R., Mayer, R., Schallhart, N., and Erschbamer, B., Effects of climate change vs. grazing exclusion on species diversity over 18 years along an elevation gradient in the European Alps, Front. Ecol. Evol., 2021, vol. 9, no. 640103, pp. 1–14.CrossRef

24.

Kurashev, A.S. and Onipchenko, V.G., Antecology of alpine plants of the northwestern Caucasus, in Teberdinskii zapovednik (Teberdinsky Reserve), Kislovodsk: MIL, 2013, no. 55.

25.

Larigauderie, A. and Körner, C., Acclimation of leaf dark respiration to temperature in alpine and lowland plant species, Ann. Bot., 1995, vol. 76, no. 3, pp. 245–252.CrossRef

26.

Lepš, J., Götzenberger, L., Valencia, E., and de Bello, F., Accounting for long-term directional trends on year-to-year synchrony in species fluctuations, Ecography, 2019, vol. 42, no. 10, pp. 1728–1741.ADSCrossRef

27.

Liberati, L., Messerli, S., Matteodo, M., and Vittoz, P., Contrasting impacts of climate change on the vegetation of windy ridges and snowbeds in the Swiss Alps, Alp. Bot., 2019, vol. 129, no. 2, pp. 95–105.CrossRef

28.

Matteodo, M., Ammann, K., Verrecchia, E.P., and Vittoz, P., Snowbeds are more affected than other subalpine-alpine plant communities by climate change in the Swiss Alps, Ecol. Evol., 2016, vol. 6, no. 19, pp. 6969–6982.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef

29.

Mayer, R., Kaufmann, R., Vorhauser, K., and Erschbamer, B., Effects of grazing exclusion on species composition in high altitude grasslands of the Central Alps, Basic Appl. Ecol., 2009, vol. 10, no. 5, pp. 447–455.CrossRef

30.

Onipchenko, V.G., Alpine Vegetation of the Teberda Reserve, the Northwestern Caucasus, Zürich: Geobotanisches Institut ETH, Stiftung Rübel, 2002.

31.

Onipchenko, V.G., Golikov, K.A., Blinkova, O.V., and Zakharov, A.A., Fluctuations and trends in the dynamics of alpine lichen heath and snowbed communities, in Alpine Ecosystems in the Northwest Caucasus, Onipchenko, V.G., Ed., Dordrecht: Kluwer, 2004, pp. 144–157.CrossRef

32.

Onipchenko, V.G., Dudova, K.V., Akhmetzhanova, A.A., Khomutovskiy, M.I., Dzhatdoeva, T.M., Tekeev, D.K., and Elumeeva, T.G., Which plant strategies are related to dominance in alpine communities?, Zh. Obshch. Biol., 2020, vol. 81, no. 1, pp. 37–46.

33.

Onipchenko, V.G., Dudova, K.V., Gulov, D.M., Akhmetzhanova, A.A., Tekeev, D.K., and Elumeeva, T.G., Leaf functional traits are important for the formation of alpine plant communities’ composition, Zh. Obshch. Biol., 2022, vol. 83, no. 2, pp. 127–137.

34.

Palay, A. and Kollár, J., Changes in alpine vegetation over 50 years in the Western Tatras (Slovakia), Ekológia, 2018, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 122–133.CrossRef

35.

Parmesan, C., Ecological and evolutionary responses to recent climate change, Ann. Rev. Ecol., Evol., Syst., 2006, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 637–669.CrossRef

36.

Pauli, H., Gottfried, M., Dullinger, S., Abdaladze O., Akhalkatsi, M., Alonso, J.L.B., Coldea, G., Dick, J., Erschbamer, B., Fernández Calzado, R., Ghosn, D., Holten, J.I., Kanka, R., Kazakis, G., Kollár, J., Larsson, P., Moiseev, P., Moiseev, D., Molau, U., Molero Mesa, J., Nagy, L., Pelino, G., Puşcaş, M., Rossi, G., Stanisci, A., Syverhuset, A.O., Theurillat, J.-P., Tomaselli, M., Unterluggauer, P., Villar, L., Vittoz, P., and Grabherr, G., Recent plant diversity changes on Europe’s mountain summits, Science, 2012, vol. 336, no. 6079, pp. 353–355.ADSPubMedCrossRef

37.

Phoenix, G.K., Hicks, W.K., Cinderby, S., Kuylenstierna, J.C.I., Stock, W.D., Dentener, F.J., Giller, K.E., Austin, A.T., Lefroy, R.D.B., Gimeno, B.S., Ashmore, M.R., and Ineson, P., Atmospheric nitrogen deposition in world biodiversity hotspots: the need for a greater global perspective in assessing N deposition impacts, Global Change Biol., 2006, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 470–476.ADSCrossRef

38.

Pierce, S., Negreiros, D., Cerabolini, B., Kattge, J., Diaz, S., Kleyer, M., Shipley, B., Wright, S.J., Soudzilovskaia, N., Onipchenko, V., Bodegom, P., Frenette Dussault, C., Weiher, E., Pinho, B., Cornelissen, J.H.C., Grime, J., Thompson, K., Hunt, R., Wilson, P., Buffa, G., Nyakunga, O.C., Reich, P.B., Caccianiga, M., Mangili, F., Ceriani, R.M., Luzzaro, A., Brusa, G., Siefert, A., Barbosa, N.P.U., Chapin III, F.S., Cornwell, W.K., Fang, J., Fernandes, G.W., Garnier, E., Le Stradic, S., Penuelas, J., Melo, F.P.L, Slaviero, A., Tabarelli, M., and Tampucci, D., StrateFy—The global vascular plant CSR strategy calculator, Funct. Ecol., 2017, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 444–457.CrossRef

39.

Pinheiro, J., Bates, D., DebRoy, S., and Sarkar, D., R Core Team (2016) nlme: Linear and Nonlinear Mixed Effects Models. R Package Version 3.1-128, 2016. http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=nlme.

40.

R Development Core Team. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria, 2016.

41.

Shidakov, I.I. and Tekeev, D.K., Ecologo-morphological traits of alpine plant leaves of the Teberda reserve, in Teberdinskii zapovednik (Teberdinsky Reserve), Kislovodsk: MIL, 2010, no. 51.

42.

Sizov, I.E., Mikhailova, N.V., Mikhailov, A.V., Onipchenko, V.G., Komarov, A.S., and Semenova, G.V., Population biology of alpine plants, in Alpine Ecosystems in the Northwest Caucasus, Onipchenko, V.G., Ed., Dordrecht: Kluwer, 2004, pp. 181–222.

43.

Skálová, H., Hadincová, V., Krahulec, F., Pecháčková, S., and Herben, T., Dynamics of a mountain grassland: Environment predicts long-term trends, while species’ traits predict short-term fluctuations, J. Veg. Sci., 2022, vol. 33, no. 3, p. e13138.CrossRef

44.

Soudzilovskaia, N.A., Elumeeva, T.G., Onipchenko, V.G., Shidakov, I.I., Salpagarova, F.S., Khubiev, A.B., Tekeev, D.K., and Cornelissen, J.H.C., Functional traits predict relationship between plant abundance dynamic and long-term climate warming, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 2013, vol. 110, no. 45, pp. 18180–18184.ADSPubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef

45.

Speed, J.D.M., Austrheim, G., Hester, A.J., and Mysterud, A., Elevational advance of alpine plant communities is buffered by herbivory, J. Veg. Sci., 2012, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 617–625.CrossRef

46.

Tekeev, D.K., Semenova, R.B., and Onipchenko, V.G., Integral assessment of the regrow capacity of alpine plants, Vestn. Mosk. Univ., Ser. 16: Biol., 2012, no. 1, pp. 36–40.

47.

Tetevina, I.O. and Onipchenko, V.G., Long-term reaction of the plant species of four north-West Caucasus alpine communities on their transplantation to new ecological conditions, Zh. Obshch. Biol., 2008, vol. 69, no. 3, pp. 195–206.PubMed

48.

Tilman, D., Competition and biodiversity in spatially structured habitats, Ecology, 1994, vol. 75, no. 1, pp. 2–16.CrossRef

49.

Walther, G.-R., Beißner, S., and Burga, C., Trends in the upward shift of Alpine plants, J. Veg. Sci., 2009, vol. 16, no. 5, pp. 541–548.CrossRef

50.

Wang, S., Duan, J., Xu, G., Wang, Y., Zhang, Z., Rui, Y., Luo, C., Xu, B., Zhu, X., Chang, X., Cui, X., Niu, H., Zhao, X., and Wang, W., Effects of warming and grazing on soil N availability, species composition, and ANPP in an alpine meadow, Ecology, 2012, vol. 93, no. 11, pp. 2365–2376.PubMedCrossRef

51.

Winkler, D.E., Lubetkin, K.C., Carrell, A., Jabis, M.D., Yang, Y., and Kueppers, L.M., Responses of alpine plant communities to climate warming, in Ecosystem Consequences of Soil Warming. Microbes, Vegetation, Fauna and Soil Biogeochemistry, Moran, J.E., Ed., Cambridge: Acad. Press, 2019, pp. 297–346.

52.

Xu, J., Chai, Y., Wang, M., Dang, H., Guo, Y., Chen, Y., Zhang, Ch., Li, T., Zhang, L., and Yue, M., Shifts in plant community assembly processes across growth forms along a habitat severity gradient: a test of the plant functional trait approach, Front. Plant Sci., 2018, vol. 9, p. 180.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef

53.

Zanzottera, M., Dalle Fratte, M., Caccianiga, M., Pierce, S., and Cerabolini, B.E.L., Community-level variation in plant functional traits and ecological strategies shapes habitat structure along succession gradients in alpine environment, Commun. Ecol., 2020, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 55–65.CrossRef

54.

Zhang, H., John, R., Liu, K., Qi, W., and Long, W.X., Using functional trait diversity patterns to disentangle the processes influencing the recovery of subalpine grasslands following abandonment of agricultural use, Front. Ecol. Evol., 2019, vol. 7, no. 128, pp. 1–13.ADSCrossRef

55.

Zuur, A.F., Ieno, E.N., Walker, N.J., Saveliev, A.A., and Smith, J.M., Mixed Effects Models and Extentions in Ecology with R, New York: Springer-Verlag, 2009.CrossRef

Title: Directed Trends in the Shoot Number Dynamics and the Functional Traits of Plants Growing on Festuca varia Grasslands of the Teberda National Park
Authors: D. V. Sukhova
T. G. Elumeeva
V. G. Onipchenko
Publication date: 01-02-2024
Publisher: Pleiades Publishing
Published in: Contemporary Problems of Ecology / Issue 1/2024
Print ISSN: 1995-4255
Electronic ISSN: 1995-4263
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S199542552401013X

Springer Professional

Abstract

Please log in to get access to your license.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Springer Professional "Technik"

Other articles of this Issue 1/2024

Composition and Structure of Tugai Communities in the Indication of Ecological Conditions in the Lower Amu Dar’ya

Soil and Plant Cover and Microbial–Biomorphic Assessment of Ecosystems in Coastal Depressions of Highly Mineralized Drainless Pulsating Lakes of Dauria (Southeastern Transbaikalia)

Ecological Factors and Denitrifying Bacteria of Lake Baikal Epilithon

Phenotypic Plasticity of Two Stipa in Grassland Responses to Elevated CO2 and Precipitation Change

Ecological and Geographical Structure and Dynamics of Spring Migration of Water and Semiaquatic Birds on the Putorana Plateau

Decalcification of a Clam Shell Caused by Trematodes: Side Effect or Manipulation of the Host Phenotype?