Spatial homogenization of understory plant communities under eCO2 in a mature Eucalyptus woodland

Raúl Ochoa-Hueso, Juan Piñeiro, Shun Hasegawa, Sonia Illanas, Héctor Miranda, Margarita Reverter, Sally A. Power

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

1. Understory plant communities comprise a large portion of biodiversity of forests and woodlands globally, where they contribute to tree species dynamics, biogeochemical cycling, and carbon sequestration. 2. Here, we evaluated the effects of elevated CO2 (400 vs. 550 ppm) on the spatial distribution of understory plant communities from a mature eucalypt woodland in Eastern Australia (EucFACE experiment). 3. Three years of elevated CO2 resulted in a loss of the characteristic aggregated and segregated spatial pattern of species richness at both short and long distances (20 cm - 227 cm), respectively. Changes in spatial patterns emerged over time, indicating that these results are due to a relatively slow reordering of the understory plant community. In contrast, when analyzed from a multivariate perspective, changes in terms of community composition were not as clear as changes in the spatial rearrangement of plant communities. 4. Synthesis. Given that the spatial patterns of communities are likely a reflection of the way in which multiple species interact and how energy and matter flow throw ecosystems, community reordering due to global change may have far-reaching implications in terms of ecosystem functioning. Moreover, subtle early changes in the spatial pattern of understory plant communities may represent an early-warning indicator of global change impacts in forest ecosystems.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1386-1395
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Ecology
Volume109
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Keywords

  • carbon dioxide
  • eucalyptus
  • global environmental change

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