Litter facilitates plant development but restricts seedling establishment during vegetation regeneration. (17th October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Xiaoyue; Ni, Xiangyin; Heděnec, Petr; Yue, Kai; Wei, Xinyu; Yang, Jing; Wu, Fuzhong
• Is Part Of: Functional ecology. Volume 36:Number 12(2022)
• Page Start: 3134
• Page End: 3147
• Publication Date: 2022-10-17
• Subjects: global greening -- litter production -- plant height -- seedling density -- seedling establishment -- species richness; Ecology -- Periodicals; 574.505
• DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.14200
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0269-8463

Abstract

Abstract: Rapid vegetation regeneration and increased litter production have been predicted under the global greening scenario, but the overall relationship between litter production and vegetation regeneration has not been well addressed. To bridge this knowledge gap, we quantified the responses of the seed stage, seedling stage, plant development stage and vegetation community to litter using 3193 paired observations at the global scale based on the effect size across different categories. Overall, litter significantly decreased seedling establishment and density by 28.4% and 27.7%, increased plant height by 17.4% and decreased species richness by 15.4%. Seed germination at the seed stage was not directly controlled by litter but was positively regulated by changes in soil moisture from litter. In contrast, litter type and litter mass displayed negative effects on the seedling stage, but litter promoted seedling survival with increasing elevation. Moreover, litter composition and plant type dominated the effects of litter on the plant development stage, showing that the increase in litter production might favour the development of broadleaved trees rather than other plants. The present results suggest that litter could restrict the stage from seed to seedling but facilitate plant development after the seedling establishment and slightly affect the vegetation community except for species richness. These results provide deep insight into the relationships between litter production and vegetation regeneration at different stages, which are important for developing models accounting for vegetation regeneration responses to ongoing global greening. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. Abstract : Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. 摘要: 在全球绿化的背景下， 已经预测到植被快速更新和凋落物产量增加，但凋落物和植被更新之间的总体关系尚未得到很好的解决。 为了弥补这一知识空白， 我们使用全球尺度的3193对观测数据， 基于不同类别的效应大小， 量化了种子阶段、 幼苗阶段、 植物发育阶段和植被群落对凋落物的响应。 总体而言， 凋落物使幼苗的建立率和密度分别显著降低了28.4%和27.7%， 使株高显著增加了17.4%， 使物种丰富度显著降低了15.4%。 在种子阶段， 种子萌发不受凋落物的直接控制， 而是由凋落物引起的土壤湿度变化正向调控。 凋落物类型和凋落物质量对幼苗阶段表现出负面影响， 但随着海拔的升高， 凋落物促进了幼苗的存活。 凋落物组成和植被类型主导了凋落物对植物发育阶段的影响， 相较于其他植被，凋落物产量的增加可能更有利于阔叶树的发育。 结果表明， 凋落物对种子到幼苗的阶段有限制作用， 有利于幼苗建立后的植物发育， 但对植被群落的影响轻微。 这些结果对凋落物和植被再生不同阶段的关系提供了深入的认识， 这对于开发评估植被更新对持续全球绿化响应的模型至关重要。