The convex relationship between plant cover and biomass:Implications for assessing species and community properties

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60077344%3A_____%2F24%3A00587706" target="_blank" >RIV/60077344:_____/24:00587706 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/60076658:12310/24:43908633 RIV/62156489:43210/24:43925388 RIV/62156489:43410/24:43925388

Result on the web

<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jvs.13288" target="_blank" >https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jvs.13288</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jvs.13288" target="_blank" >10.1111/jvs.13288</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

The convex relationship between plant cover and biomass:Implications for assessing species and community properties

Original language description

QuestionsnCover and biomass serve as common measures of species abundance in plant ecology. However, the underlying relationship between these two measures and its implications remain poorly understood. This makes results based on cover and biomass difficult to compare.nLocationsnWet meadow, southeast of České Budějovice, Czech Republic (48°57′ N, 14°36′ E).nMethodnWe developed theoretical expectations for systematic differences in characterizing vegetation using cover and biomass for species and community characteristics, including species diversity, temporal dynamics, and responses to experimental manipulations. We then tested these expectations using cover and biomass data from an experimental study of fertilization and dominant removal spanning 14 years (2001–2014).nResultsnConsistent with our expectations, on average, species biomass corresponded to the power of species cover, with a power coefficient slightly below 3/2. Community diversity indices calculated using cover and biomass were tightly correlated but were higher for cover. Temporal variabilities based on cover and biomass for individual species were also correlated, but higher for biomass than cover. Though strongly correlated, cover data show much stronger asynchrony, suggesting higher importance of compensatory dynamics. However, using the sum of individual species' cover values as a measure of total community abundance or productivity is problematic. Such a measure is nearly independent of total biomass and leads to contradictory results when used to characterize temporal variability. Species- and community-level responses to treatments were congruent between the measures.nConclusionsnOur study provides theoretical background for a convex relationship between plant cover and biomass. The data analysis confirms the relationship and its consequences for describing species- and community-level properties. Most characteristics are well correlated between cover and biomass, but with one metric systematically shifted higher in many cases. Total abundance is the most sensitive measure and is well characterized by sum of biomass, but not by sum of cover. Understanding these systematic differences allows meaningful comparison of studies based on biomass and cover.

Czech name

—

Czech description

—

Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10618 - Ecology

Project

<a href="/en/project/GA23-05654S" target="_blank" >GA23-05654S: Drivers of competition asymmetry in communities of perennial species: ubiquitous but untested</a><br>

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2024

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Journal of Vegetation Science

ISSN

1100-9233

e-ISSN

1654-1103

Volume of the periodical

35

Issue of the periodical within the volume

4

Country of publishing house

US - UNITED STATES

Number of pages

13

Pages from-to

e13288

UT code for WoS article

001268299800001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85197661923