Abstract
Shifts in community leaf functional traits are related to litter decomposition along a secondary forest succession series in subtropical China
Highlights
Secondary succession is defined as a directional change in community composition after disturbance (Finegan 1984; Horn 1974)
community-weighted mean traits (CWM) related to high community productivity and to nutritional quality decreased along the successional gradient, whereas in the group of CWM traits that were related to physical resistance, carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (C/N) and leaf toughness (LT) as well as the proportion of evergreen species increased
C/N and leaf dry matter content (LDMC), traits with known impact on physical defense (Eichenberg et al 2014; Villar et al 2006), increased with ongoing succession, whereas community litter decomposition rates did not change significantly. These results are in full accordance with the findings of Kröber et al (2012) who investigated the importance of abiotic vs. biotic factors in trait shifts along the secondary successional gradient of the BEF-China experiment
Summary
Secondary succession is defined as a directional change in community composition after disturbance (Finegan 1984; Horn 1974). The investigated plant characteristics often comprised functional leaf traits such as specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf nitrogen content (LNC), which commonly exhibit directional changes during succession. In a global analysis Wright et al (2004) demonstrated that SLA, LNC and LDMC, among other traits, determine the leaf economics spectrum (LES) which is defined by a trade-off between productivity and resource conservation. In contrast to most other studies, Mason et al (2011) detected an increase in SLA and a decrease in leaf secondary metabolites (e.g. polyphenolics) along secondary succession of a temperate rain forest in New Zealand. The majority of successional studies have reported the opposite trend, and the New Zealand rainforest study seems to describe an exceptional system
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