A structural equation model to integrate changes in functional strategies during old-field succession

Ecology
Denis VileEric Garnier

Abstract

From a functional perspective, changes in abundance, and ultimately species replacement, during succession are a consequence of integrated suites of traits conferring different relative ecological advantages as the environment changes over time. Here we use structural equations to model the interspecific relationships between these integrated functional traits using 34 herbaceous species from a Mediterranean old-field succession and thus quantify the notion of a plant strategy. We measured plant traits related to plant vegetative and reproductive size, leaf functioning, reproductive phenology, seed mass, and production on 15 individuals per species monitored during one growing season. The resulting structural equation model successfully accounts for the pattern of trait covariation during the first 45 years post-abandonment using just two forcing variables: time since site abandonment and seed mass; no association between time since field abandonment and seed mass was observed over these herbaceous stages of secondary succession. All other predicted traits values are determined by these two variables and the cause-effect linkage between them. Adding pre-reproductive vegetative mass as a third forcing variable noticeably increas...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jun 2, 2009·Oecologia·Kelley M StewartRoger W Ruess
May 31, 2014·AoB Plants·Elizabeth M Wolkovich, Elsa E Cleland
Jul 18, 2008·The American Naturalist·Daniel S FalsterMark Westoby
Mar 19, 2014·Current Opinion in Plant Biology·Christine Granier, Denis Vile
Jun 23, 2016·Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics·Enrique ValenciaFernando T Maestre
May 17, 2012·Annals of Botany·Rebecca E DrenovskyChristina L Richards
Jun 17, 2016·American Journal of Botany·Jessy LorangerCyrille Violle
Sep 10, 2019·Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry·Elisa PellegriniMaria De Nobili
Sep 2, 2020·Ecological Applications : a Publication of the Ecological Society of America·Simon F ThrushConrad Pilditch
Dec 25, 2021·Frontiers in Plant Science·Ying LiNianpeng He

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