Chemical properties of plant litter in response to elevation: subarctic vegetation challenges phenolic allocation theories
Summary Several theories predict that increasing stress (e.g. decreasing nutrient availability or decreasing temperature) should result in higher amounts of plant phenolic compounds both at the interspecific and intraspecific levels. Further, several theories predict that plant phenolics are major d...
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crwiley:10.1111/j.1365-2435.2012.02034.x 2024-06-02T08:15:01+00:00 Chemical properties of plant litter in response to elevation: subarctic vegetation challenges phenolic allocation theories Sundqvist, Maja K. Wardle, David A. Olofsson, Elin Giesler, Reiner Gundale, Michael J. Thompson, Ken 2012 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2012.02034.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1365-2435.2012.02034.x https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2012.02034.x en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Functional Ecology volume 26, issue 5, page 1090-1099 ISSN 0269-8463 1365-2435 journal-article 2012 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2012.02034.x 2024-05-03T11:20:44Z Summary Several theories predict that increasing stress (e.g. decreasing nutrient availability or decreasing temperature) should result in higher amounts of plant phenolic compounds both at the interspecific and intraspecific levels. Further, several theories predict that plant phenolics are major drivers of plant–soil feedbacks whereby they influence litter decomposition rates and the return of nutrients to plants. We investigated the potential influence of shifts in abiotic factors on litter phenolic properties using an elevational gradient in northern S weden, for which temperature and soil fertility decline with increasing elevation. The system consists of two vegetation types: heath, (associated with low soil fertility) and meadow (associated with higher fertility), which occur across the entire gradient. We hypothesized that total phenolics, tannins and protein complexation capacity ( PCC ) of leaf litter would increase with elevation within and among plant species. We further hypothesized that at the whole‐plot level (using community‐weighted averages), these properties would be higher in heath than meadow, and that phenolic properties for meadow vegetation would show stronger responses to elevation than for heath. We measured phenolic properties in leaf litter for 13 species from both vegetation types across an established elevational gradient (500–1000 m) in S wedish subarctic tundra. Contrary to our hypotheses, different species showed highly contrasting responses in their phenolic characteristics to elevation. At the across‐species level, total phenolic content in litter decreased with elevation. At the whole‐plot level, tannin concentrations were higher for the heath than for the meadow, whereas total phenolics and PCC did not differ. However, consistent with our hypothesis, our results showed that phenolic properties were more responsive to elevation for the meadow compared to the heath, as a consequence of greater species turnover for the meadow. Our results are inconsistent with theories ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Subarctic Tundra Wiley Online Library Functional Ecology 26 5 1090 1099 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Summary Several theories predict that increasing stress (e.g. decreasing nutrient availability or decreasing temperature) should result in higher amounts of plant phenolic compounds both at the interspecific and intraspecific levels. Further, several theories predict that plant phenolics are major drivers of plant–soil feedbacks whereby they influence litter decomposition rates and the return of nutrients to plants. We investigated the potential influence of shifts in abiotic factors on litter phenolic properties using an elevational gradient in northern S weden, for which temperature and soil fertility decline with increasing elevation. The system consists of two vegetation types: heath, (associated with low soil fertility) and meadow (associated with higher fertility), which occur across the entire gradient. We hypothesized that total phenolics, tannins and protein complexation capacity ( PCC ) of leaf litter would increase with elevation within and among plant species. We further hypothesized that at the whole‐plot level (using community‐weighted averages), these properties would be higher in heath than meadow, and that phenolic properties for meadow vegetation would show stronger responses to elevation than for heath. We measured phenolic properties in leaf litter for 13 species from both vegetation types across an established elevational gradient (500–1000 m) in S wedish subarctic tundra. Contrary to our hypotheses, different species showed highly contrasting responses in their phenolic characteristics to elevation. At the across‐species level, total phenolic content in litter decreased with elevation. At the whole‐plot level, tannin concentrations were higher for the heath than for the meadow, whereas total phenolics and PCC did not differ. However, consistent with our hypothesis, our results showed that phenolic properties were more responsive to elevation for the meadow compared to the heath, as a consequence of greater species turnover for the meadow. Our results are inconsistent with theories ... |
author2 |
Thompson, Ken |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sundqvist, Maja K. Wardle, David A. Olofsson, Elin Giesler, Reiner Gundale, Michael J. |
spellingShingle |
Sundqvist, Maja K. Wardle, David A. Olofsson, Elin Giesler, Reiner Gundale, Michael J. Chemical properties of plant litter in response to elevation: subarctic vegetation challenges phenolic allocation theories |
author_facet |
Sundqvist, Maja K. Wardle, David A. Olofsson, Elin Giesler, Reiner Gundale, Michael J. |
author_sort |
Sundqvist, Maja K. |
title |
Chemical properties of plant litter in response to elevation: subarctic vegetation challenges phenolic allocation theories |
title_short |
Chemical properties of plant litter in response to elevation: subarctic vegetation challenges phenolic allocation theories |
title_full |
Chemical properties of plant litter in response to elevation: subarctic vegetation challenges phenolic allocation theories |
title_fullStr |
Chemical properties of plant litter in response to elevation: subarctic vegetation challenges phenolic allocation theories |
title_full_unstemmed |
Chemical properties of plant litter in response to elevation: subarctic vegetation challenges phenolic allocation theories |
title_sort |
chemical properties of plant litter in response to elevation: subarctic vegetation challenges phenolic allocation theories |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2012.02034.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1365-2435.2012.02034.x https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2012.02034.x |
genre |
Subarctic Tundra |
genre_facet |
Subarctic Tundra |
op_source |
Functional Ecology volume 26, issue 5, page 1090-1099 ISSN 0269-8463 1365-2435 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2012.02034.x |
container_title |
Functional Ecology |
container_volume |
26 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
1090 |
op_container_end_page |
1099 |
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1800739074489712640 |