Ecology of Floristic Quality Assessment: testing for correlations between coefficients of conservatism, species traits and mycorrhizal responsiveness.

Jonathan T Bauer,Liz Koziol,James D Bever

doi:10.1093/aobpla/plx073

Jonathan T Bauer, Liz Koziol + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plx073

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Abstract

Many plant species are limited to habitats relatively unaffected by anthropogenic disturbance, so protecting these undisturbed habitats is essential for plant conservation. Coefficients of conservatism (C values) were developed as indicators of a species' sensitivity to anthropogenic disturbance, and these values are used in Floristic Quality Assessment as a means of assessing natural areas and ecological restoration. However, assigning of these values is subjective and improved quantitative validation of C values is needed. We tested whether there are consistent differences in life histories between species with high and low C values. To do this, we grew 54 species of tallgrass prairie plants in a greenhouse and measured traits that are associated with trade-offs on the fast-slow continuum of life-history strategies. We also grew plants with and without mycorrhizal fungi as a test of these species' reliance on this mutualism. We compared these traits and mycorrhizal responsiveness to C values. We found that six of the nine traits we measured were correlated with C values, and together, traits predicted up to 50 % of the variation in C values. Traits including fast growth rates and greater investment in reproduction were associated with lower C values, and slow growth rates, long-lived leaves and high root:shoot ratios were associated with higher C values. Additionally, plants with high C values and a slow life history were more responsive to mutualisms with mycorrhizal fungi. Overall, our results connect C values with life-history trade-offs, indicating that high C value species tend to share a suite of traits associated with a slow life history.

Highlights

Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA) is increasingly used to identify natural areas for conservation, monitor outcomes of ecological restoration and evaluate environmental mitigation efforts
While we know that individual plant species vary in their response to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) species (Koziol and Bever 2016a), we generally find that response to a mixture of AMF species is similar to the effect of the fungi that is most effective at promoting plant growth (Vogelsang et al 2006; Koziol and Bever 2016b)
PC1 is positively correlated with C values (r2 = 0.45; Fig. 2A) and with a plant species’ responsiveness to AMF (r2 = 0.35; Fig. 2B), and AMF responsiveness is positively correlated with C values (r2 = 0.17; Fig. 2C)

Summary

Introduction

Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA) is increasingly used to identify natural areas for conservation, monitor outcomes of ecological restoration and evaluate environmental mitigation efforts. Floristic Quality Assessment is based on coefficients of conservatism (C values) These values, between 0 and 10, are assigned to each species of a region’s flora by expert botanists to indicate a species’ reliance on communities that are relatively free of anthropogenic disturbance. With these values, metrics of floristic quality can be calculated from inventories of a. Floristic Quality Assessment was originally developed as a means to prioritize natural areas for conservation (Swink and Wilhelm 1994), and FQA has since been used to evaluate the outcomes of ecological restoration (Taft et al 2006; Matthews et al 2009, 2014; Spyreas et al 2012). The widespread acceptance and application of FQA and C values suggests that these metrics reflect the goals of conservation practitioners, but we have a limited understanding of the ecology underlying the assignment of these values

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