Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Species richness captures plant functional and phylogenetic diversity variations along different ecosystems on the hillsides of Damavand Mountain (Iran)

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Arabian Journal of Geosciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The phylogenetic diversity (PD) can be used as a proxy for measures of functional diversity (FD); this relationship between PD and FD is premised on the reasonable assumption that evolutionary diversification has generated trait diversification, which in turn may result in greater niche complementarity. Functional traits have been used in various applications, from assemblage ecology looking at the relationship between functional diversity, environmental filtering, and assemblage structure. We used a trait-based approach, quantifying variations in the leaf-height-seed (LHS) scheme and functional and phylogenetic indices in semi-arid communities from three different habitats (grasslands, shrubland, and mixed habitats). To do so, three functional traits including specific leaf area (SLA), vegetation height (VH), and seed mass (SM) were measured in three habitats. We calculated at the plot scale, community weighted means (CWM) for each trait, species richness, Faith’s phylogenetic diversity index (PD), functional richness (Frich), functional and phylogenetic mean pairwise dissimilarities (MPD), and nutrient concentration. The results showed that the first Soil_PCA axis (explaining 37.1% of the total variance) showed a high loading of soil nutrients (N, P, K, OM) and pH, while the second axis (which explained 22.1% 224 of the variance) exhibited a high loading of pH at the top and K at the bottom. Also, the higher soil nutrient concentration and pH were significant and positively related with species and functional richness and Faith’s phylogenetic diversity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ashrafzadeh M, Erfanzadeh R (2014) Study on the effect of soil chemical characteristics and crown canopy of Ziziphus spina-christi L. on soil seed bank characteristics. J Range Water Manag. 66(4):477–491

  • Berdugo M, Kéfi S, Soliveres S, Maestre FT (2017) Plant spatial patterns identify alternative ecosystem multifunctionality states in global drylands. Nat Ecol Evol 1:0003. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-016-0003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruelheide H, Dengler J, Purschke O, Lenoir J, Jiménez-Alfaro B, Hennekens SM, Kattge J (2018) Global trait–environment relationships of plant communities. Nature Ecol Evolu 2:1906

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cavender-Bares J, Kozak KH, Fine PVA, Kembel SW (2009) The merging of community ecology and phylogenetic biology. Ecol Lette 12(7):693–715. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01314.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ceulemans T, Bodé S, Bollyn J, Harpole S, Coorevits K, Peeters G, Honnay O (2017) Phosphorus resource partitioning shapes phosphorus acquisition and plant species abundance in grasslands. Nat Plants 3(2):16224. https://doi.org/10.1038/nplants.2016.224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang CC, HilleRisLambers J (2019) Trait and phylogenetic patterns reveal deterministic community assembly mechanisms on Mount St. Helens Plant Ecol 220:675–698

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cingolani AM, Posse G, Collantes MB (2005) Plant functional traits, herbivore selectivity and response to sheep grazing in Patagonian steppe grasslands. J Applied Ecol 42:50–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conti G, Díaz S (2013) Plant functional diversity and carbon storage–an empirical test in semi-arid forest ecosystems. J Ecol 101:18–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Bello F, Lepš J, Sebastià MT (2006) Variations in species and functional plant diversity along climatic and grazing gradients. Ecog 29(6):801–810

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Bello F, Lavorel S, Albert CH, Boulangeat I, Mazel F, Thuiller W (2013) Hierarchical effects of environmental filters on the functional structure of plant communities: a case study in the French Alps. Ecog 36:393–402. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0587.2012.07438.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Bello F, Carmona CP, Lepš J, Szava-Kovats R, Pärtel M (2016) Functional diversity through the mean trait dissimilarity: resolving shortcomings with existing paradigms and algorithms. Oecol 180:933–940. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-016-3546-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De la Riva EG, Tosto A, PérezRamos IM (2016) A plant economics spectrum in Mediterranean forests along environmental gradients: is there coordination among leaf, stem and root traits? J Veg Sc 27:187–199. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12341

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De la Riva EG, Violle C, PérezRamos IM, Marañón T, Navarro Fernández CM, Olmo M, Villar R (2018) A multidimensional functional trait approach reveals the imprint of environmental stress in Mediterranean woody communities. Ecosys 21:248–262. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-017-0147-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De la Riva EG, Godoy O, Castro Díez P, GutiérrezCánovas C, Vilà M (2019) Functional phylogenetic consequences of plant invasion for coastal native communities. J Vege Scie 30:510–520. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12748

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delgado-Baquerizo M, Maestre FT, Gallardo A et al (2013) Decoupling of soil nutrient cycles as a function of aridity in global drylands. Nature 502(7473):672

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Díaz S, Kattge J, Cornelissen JHC, Wright IJ, Lavorel S, Dray S, Gorné LD (2016) The global spectrum of plant form and func- tion. Nature 529:167–171. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature16489

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dubuis A (2013) Predicting spatial patterns of plant biodiversity: from species to communities. Thesis Ph.D. University of Lausanne, p 295

  • Eldridge DJ, Poore AG, RuizColmenero M, Letnic M, Soliveres S (2016) Ecosystem structure, function, and composition in rangelands are negatively affected by livestock grazing. Ecol Applica 26:1273–1283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garnier E, Cortez J, Billes G, Navas ML, Roumet C, Debussche M, Laurent G, Blanchard A, Aubry D, Bellmann A, Neill C, Toussaint JP (2004) Plant functional markers capture ecosystem properties during secondary succession. Ecol 85:2630–2637. https://doi.org/10.1890/03-0799

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross N, Börger L, SorianoMorales SI, Bagousse Pinguet Y (2013) Uncovering multiscale effects of aridity and biotic interactions on the functional structure of Mediterranean shrublands. J Ecol 101:637–649

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jafarian Z, Kargar M, Tamartash R, Alavi SJ (2019) Spatial distribution modelling of plant functional diversity in the mountain rangeland, north of Iran. Ecol Indicator 97:231–238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.10.019

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jobbágy EG, Jackson RB (2001) The distribution of soil nutrients with depth: global patterns and the imprint of plants. Biogeoch 53:51–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jung V, Albert CH, Violle C, Kunstler G, Loucougaray G, Spiegelberger T (2014) Intraspecific trait variability mediates the response of subalpine grassland communities to extreme drought events. J Ecol 102:45–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keesstra SD, Bouma J, Wallinga J et al (2016) The significance of soils and soil science towards realization of the United Nations sustainable development goals. Soil 2:111–128. https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kembel SW, Cowan PD, Helmus MR, Cornwell WK, Morlon H, Ackerly DD, Webb CO (2010) Picante: R tools for integrating phylogenies and ecology. Bioinfor 26:1463–1464. https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btq166

  • Kouba Y, Merdas S, Mostephaoui T, Saadali B, Chenchouni H (2021) Plant community composition and structure under short-term grazing exclusion in steppic arid rangelands. Ecol Indicat 120:106910

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laliberté E, Shipley B, Norton DA, Scott D (2012) Which plant traits determine abundance under longterm shifts in soil resource availability and grazing intensity? J Ecol 100(3):662–677

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laughlin DC, Leppert JJ, Moore MM, Sieg CH (2010) A multi trait test of the leaf-height-seed plant strategy scheme with 133 species from a pine forest flora. Functio Ecol 24:493–501. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2009.01672.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lavorel S, Garnier E (2002) Predicting changes in community composition and ecosystem functioning from plant traits: revisiting the Holy Grail. Func Ecol 16:545–556

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Le Bagousse-Pinguet Y, Soliveres S, Gross N, Torices R, Berdugo M, Maestre FT (2019) Phylogenetic, functional, and taxonomic richness have both positive and negative effects on ecosystem multifunctionality. Proc Natl Acad Sci 116(17):8419–8424. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1815727116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lefcheck JS (2016) Piece wise SEM: Piecewise structural equation modelling in r for ecology, evolution, and systematics. Meth in Ecol and Evolu 7(5):573–579

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li W, Huang HZ, Zhang ZN, Wu GL (2011) Effects of grazing on the soil properties and C and N storage in relation to biomass allocation in an alpine meadow. J Soil Scie Plant Nutri 11:27–39. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-95162011000400003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lord J, Westoby M, Leishman M (1995) Seed size and phylogeny in six temperate floras: constraints, niche conservatism, and adaptation. Ameri Natur 146:349–364. https://doi.org/10.1086/285804

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu X, Yan Y, Sun J, Zhang X, Chen Y, Wang X, Cheng G (2015) Short-term grazing exclusion has no impact on soil properties and nutrients of degraded alpine grassland in Tibet, China. Solid Earth 6:1195–1205. https://doi.org/10.5194/se-6-1195-2015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macheroum A, Kadik L, Neffar S, Chenchouni H (2021) Environmental drivers of taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity patterns of plant communities in semi-arid steppe rangelands of North Africa. Ecol Indicat 132:108279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maire E, Grenouillet G, Brosse S, Villéger S (2015) How many dimensions are needed to accurately assess functional diversity? Global Ecolo. Biogeo 24:728–740. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12299

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marcon E (2016) Mesures de la biodiversit´e. Doctoral dissertation, AgroParisTech. https://hal-agroparistech.archives-ouvertes.fr/cel-01205813v2

  • Miller RH, Keeney DR (1982) Methods of soil analysis, 2nd Edn. Part 2, Chemical and Microbiological Properties, ASA, SSSA, Madison, WI, 1–129

  • Nelson DW, Sommers LE (1982) Total carbon, organic carbon and organic matter, in: Methods of Soil Analysis, edited by: Page, A. L., Miller, R. H., and Keeney, D. R., Part 2, Chemical and Microbiological Properties Agronomy Monograph, 2nd Edn., American Society of Agronomy Inc., Madison. 9, 539–579

  • Nieder R, Benbi DK (2008) Carbon and nitrogen in the terrestrial environment, Springer Science 159 P

  • Niu KC, He JS, Zhang ST, Lechowicz MJ (2015) Grazing increases functional richness but not functional divergence in Tibetan alpine meadow plant communities. Biodi Conser 25:2441–2452. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-015-0960-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pérez-Ramos IM, et al (2012) Evidence for a “plant community economics spectrum” driven by nutrient and water limitations in a Mediterranean rangeland of southern France. J Ecol 100:1315–1327

  • Pérez-Ramos P, Manuel I, Delgado DR, de L Riva EG, Montero V, Francisco L,Teodoro M (2017) Climate variability and community stability in Mediterranean shrublands: the role of functional diversity and soil environment. J Ecol 105:1335-1346https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12747

  • Pielou EC (1969) An introduction to mathematical ecology. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Pinheiro J, Bates D, DebRoy S, Sarkar D (2016) R Core Team. nlme: linear and nonlinear mixed effects models. R package version 3.1-128. Bioinform 26:1463–1464

    Google Scholar 

  • Qian H, Jin Y (2015) An updated megaphylogeny of plants, a tool for generating plant phylogenies and an analysis of phylogenetic community structure. J Plant Ecol 9:233–239. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtv047

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2014) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. URL http://www.R-project.org/

  • Reich PB (2014) The world-wide “fast–slow” plant economics spectrum: a traits manifesto. J Ecol 102:275–301. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reu B, Proulx R, Bohn K, Dyke JG, Kleidon A, Pavlick R, Schmidtlein S (2011) The role of climate and plant functional trade-offs in shaping global biome and biodiversity patterns. Global Ecol and Bioge 20(4):570–581

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rossier L (2011) Predicting spatial patterns of functional traits. MSC Thesis. University of Lausanne, p 44

  • Rusch GM, Skarpe C, Halley DJ (2009) Plant traits link hypothesis about resources and response to herbivory. Basic Appl Ecol 10:466–474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2009.01.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salgado-Luarte C, Escobedo VM, Stotz GC, Rios RS, Arancio G, Gianoli E (2019) Goat grazing reduces diversity and leads to functional, taxonomic, and phylogenetic homogenization in an arid shrubland. Land Degr Develop 30(2):178–189. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.3208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Šímová I, Violle C, Kraft NJ, Storch D, Svenning JC, Boyle B, Piel WH (2015) Shifts in trait means and variances in North American tree assemblages: species richness patterns are loosely related to the functional space. Ecog 38(7):649–658. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.00867

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Souahi H, Gacem R, Chenchouni H (2022) Variation in plant diversity along a watershed in the semi-arid lands of North Africa. Divers 14:450. https://doi.org/10.3390/d14060450

  • Tanaka T, Sato T (2015) Taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional diversities of ferns and lycophytes along an elevational gradient depend on taxonomic scales. Plant Ecol 216:1597–1609

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner BJ (2008) Resource partitioning for soil phosphorus: a hypothesis. J Ecol 96:698–702

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vaieretti MV, Iamamoto S, Harguindeguy NP, Cingolani AM (2018) Livestock grazing affects microclimate conditions for decomposition process through changes in vegetation structure in mountain grasslands. Acta Oecol 91:101–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2018.07.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vesk PA, Leishman MR, Westoby M (2004) Simple traits do not predict grazing response in Australian dry shrublands and woodlands. J Appl Ecol 41:22–31. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2004.00857.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wieczynski DJ, Boyle B, Buzzard V, Duran SM, Henderson AN, Hulshof CM, Asner GP (2019) Climate shapes and shifts functional biodiversity in forests worldwide. Proceed Nati Acade Scie 116(2):587–592

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Willems JH, Peet RK, Bik L (1993) Changes in chalk-grassland structure and species richness resulting from selective nutrient additions. J Veget Science 4(2):203–212. https://doi.org/10.2307/3236106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu J, Chen Y, Zhang L, Chai Y, Wang M, Guo Y, Yue M (2017) Using phylogeny and functional traits for assessing community assembly along environmental gradients: a deterministic process driven by elevation. Ecol Evol 7:5056–5069. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3068

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang Y, Zhu Q, Peng C, Wang H, Chen H (2015) From plant functional types to plant functional traits: a new paradigm in modelling global vegetation dynamics. Prog in Physic Geog 39(4):514–535

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yu Y, Jia ZQ (2014) Changes in soil organic carbon and nitrogen capacities of Salix cheilophila Schneid along a revegetation Chrono sequence in semi-arid degraded sandy land of the Gonghe Basin. Tibet Plateau Solid Ear 51:045–2014. https://doi.org/10.5194/sed-6-2371-2014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zanne AE, Tank DC, Cornwell WK, Eastman JM, Smith SA, Royer DL (2014) Three keys to the radiation of angiosperms into freezing environments. Nature 506:89–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nature Engineering, Factually of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Ardakan University, P.O. Box 184, Ardakan, Iran

    Majid Sadeghinia

  2. Watershed and Natural Resources Administration of Alborz Province, Karaj, Iran

    Mansoureh Kargar

  3. Department of Ecology, Brandenburg University of Technology, Cottbus, Germany

    Enrique G. de la Riva

Authors
  1. Majid Sadeghinia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mansoureh Kargar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Enrique G. de la Riva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mansoureh Kargar.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: by Haroun Chenchouni

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 18 KB)

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sadeghinia, M., Kargar, M. & de la Riva, E.G. Species richness captures plant functional and phylogenetic diversity variations along different ecosystems on the hillsides of Damavand Mountain (Iran). Arab J Geosci 16, 41 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-022-11141-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-022-11141-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation