Plant response traits mediate the effects of subalpine grasslands on soil moisture.

* In subalpine grasslands, changes in abiotic conditions with decreased management intensity alter the functional composition of plant communities, leading to modifications of ecosystem properties. Here, it is hypothesized that the nature of plant feedbacks on soil moisture is determined by the values of key traits at the community level. * As community functional parameters of grasslands change along a gradient of land uses, those traits that respond most to differences in abiotic conditions produced by land use changes were identified. A vegetation removal experiment was then conducted to determine how each plant community affected soil moisture. * Soil moisture was negatively correlated with community root length and positively correlated with canopy height, whereas average leaf area was associated with productivity. These traits were successfully used to predict the effects on soil moisture of each plant community in the removal experiment. This result was validated using data from an additional set of fields. * These findings demonstrate that the modification of soil moisture following land use change in subalpine grasslands can be mediated through those plant functional traits that respond to water availability.

[1]  Sandra Díaz,et al.  Scaling environmental change through the community‐level: a trait‐based response‐and‐effect framework for plants , 2008 .

[2]  S. Lavorel,et al.  Incorporating plant functional diversity effects in ecosystem service assessments , 2007, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[3]  C. Violle,et al.  Let the concept of trait be functional , 2007 .

[4]  S. Lavorel,et al.  Neglect of mowing and manuring leads to slower nitrogen cycling in subalpine grasslands , 2007 .

[5]  S. Lavorel,et al.  Leaf dry matter content and lateral spread predict response to land use change for six subalpine grassland species , 2007 .

[6]  S. Lavorel,et al.  PLANT TRAITS IN A STATE AND TRANSITION FRAMEWORK AS MARKERS OF ECOSYSTEM RESPONSE TO LAND-USE CHANGE , 2007 .

[7]  Josep G. Canadell,et al.  Terrestrial Ecosystems in a Changing World , 2007 .

[8]  Sandra Lavorel,et al.  Plant functional types: are we getting any closer to the Holy Grail? , 2007 .

[9]  J. P. Grime,et al.  Plant Strategies, Vegetation Processes, and Ecosystem Properties , 2006 .

[10]  J. Craine.  Competition for Nutrients and Optimal Root Allocation , 2006, Plant and Soil.

[11]  F. Chapin,et al.  Seasonal variations in plant species effects on soil N and P dynamics. , 2006, Ecology.

[12]  J. Soussana,et al.  Plant traits and functional types in response to reduced disturbance in a semi‐natural grassland , 2005 .

[13]  S. Wilson,et al.  Plant feedbacks increase the temporal heterogeneity of soil moisture , 2004 .

[14]  Eric Garnier,et al.  PLANT FUNCTIONAL MARKERS CAPTURE ECOSYSTEM PROPERTIES DURING SECONDARY SUCCESSION , 2004 .

[15]  J. P. Grime,et al.  The plant traits that drive ecosystems: Evidence from three continents , 2004 .

[16]  Osvaldo E. Sala,et al.  Hierarchy of responses to resource pulses in arid and semi-arid ecosystems , 2004, Oecologia.

[17]  David D. Ackerly,et al.  FUNCTIONAL STRATEGIES OF CHAPARRAL SHRUBS IN RELATION TO SEASONAL WATER DEFICIT AND DISTURBANCE , 2004 .

[18]  Mark Westoby,et al.  A leaf-height-seed (LHS) plant ecology strategy scheme , 1998, Plant and Soil.

[19]  O. Sala,et al.  Resource partitioning between shrubs and grasses in the Patagonian steppe , 1989, Oecologia.

[20]  F. Stuart Chapin,et al.  Functional Matrix: A Conceptual Framework for Predicting Multiple Plant Effects on Ecosystem Processes , 2003 .

[21]  Katharine N. Suding,et al.  RELATIONSHIPS AMONG SPECIES TRAITS: SEPARATING LEVELS OF RESPONSE AND IDENTIFYING LINKAGES TO ABUNDANCE , 2003 .

[22]  Erich Tasser,et al.  Impact of land use changes on mountain vegetation , 2002 .

[23]  M. Westoby,et al.  ECOLOGICAL STRATEGIES : Some Leading Dimensions of Variation Between Species , 2002 .

[24]  S. Lavorel,et al.  Predicting changes in community composition and ecosystem functioning from plant traits: revisiting the Holy Grail , 2002 .

[25]  J. Reynolds,et al.  Do morphological changes mediate plant responses to water stress? A steady-state experiment with two C4 grasses. , 2002, The New phytologist.

[26]  D. Moog,et al.  Comparison of species composition between different grassland management treatments after 25 years , 2002 .

[27]  J. Lovett-Doust,et al.  Plant strategies, vegetation processes, and ecosystem properties , 2002 .

[28]  Luo Xue-gang,et al.  Architectural Plasticity in Response to Soil Moisture in the Stoloniferous Herb, Duchesnea indica , 2002 .

[29]  P. Ryser,et al.  Phenotypic Plasticity of Grass Root Anatomy in Response to Light Intensity and Nutrient Supply , 2001 .

[30]  J. Fuhrer,et al.  Effects of abandonment on the energy balance and evapotranspiration of wet subalpine grassland , 2001 .

[31]  P. Reich,et al.  Strategy shifts in leaf physiology, structure and nutrient content between species of high‐ and low‐rainfall and high‐ and low‐nutrient habitats , 2001 .

[32]  D. Goldberg,et al.  DO DISTURBANCES ALTER COMPETITIVE HIERARCHIES? MECHANISMS OF CHANGE FOLLOWING GAP CREATION , 2001 .

[33]  Lauri Oksanen,et al.  Logic of experiments in ecology: is pseudoreplication a pseudoissue? , 2001 .

[34]  J. Ehleringer,et al.  Water use trade‐offs and optimal adaptations to pulse‐driven arid ecosystems , 2001 .

[35]  P. Reich,et al.  Do species and functional groups differ in acquisition and use of C, N and water under varying atmospheric CO2 and N availability regimes? : a field test with 16 grassland species , 2001 .

[36]  Jacob McC. Overton,et al.  Shifts in trait‐combinations along rainfall and phosphorus gradients , 2000 .

[37]  F. Chapin,et al.  Consequences of changing biodiversity , 2000, Nature.

[38]  P. Reich,et al.  Generality of leaf trait relationships: a test across six biomes: Ecology , 1999 .

[39]  Sandra Díaz,et al.  Leaf structure and defence control litter decomposition rate across species and life forms in regional floras on two continents , 1999 .

[40]  K. Weathers,et al.  The importance of cloud and fog in the maintenance of ecosystems. , 1999, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[41]  C. Brewer,et al.  Patterns of leaf surface wetness for montane and subalpine plants , 1997 .

[42]  Mark Klunk.  GRASSLANDS , 1993, Restoration & Management Notes.

[43]  D. Gordon,et al.  Competitive Effects of Grassland Annuals on Soil Water and Blue Oak (Quercus Douglasii) Seedlings , 1993 .

[44]  A. Eshel,et al.  Plant roots : the hidden half , 1991 .

[45]  M. Werger,et al.  CANOPY STRUCTURE AND MICROCLIMATE OF TWO WET GRASSLAND COMMUNITIES , 1984 .

[46]  J. P. Grime,et al.  Evidence for the Existence of Three Primary Strategies in Plants and Its Relevance to Ecological and Evolutionary Theory , 1977, The American Naturalist.