Effects of Soil Properties, Temperature and Disturbance on Diversity and Functional Composition of Plant Communities Along a Steep Elevational Gradient on Tenerife

作者：Amanda Ratier Backes, Larissa Frey, José Ramón Arévalo, Sylvia Haider · 发表于：Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution · 年份：2021 · DOI：10.3389/fevo.2021.758160 · 被引用次数：21 · 研究领域：Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies、Species Distribution and Climate Change、Plant and animal studies

Elevational variation of vegetation has been of interest for centuries, and a prominent example for such pronounced vegetation changes can be found along the steep elevational gradient on Tenerife, Canary Islands, 200 km off the West-African cost. The 3,718-m ascent to the peak of the island volcano, Teide, offers a unique opportunity to investigate associated changes in vegetation. However, elevation is not a directly acting factor, but represents several natural environmental gradients. While the elevational variation of temperature is globally rather uniform and temperature effects on plant communities are well understood, much less is known about the region-specific elevational change of chemical soil properties and their impact on plant communities along elevational gradients. Because human interference takes place even at high-elevation areas, we considered human-induced disturbance as important third factor acting upon plant community assemblages. In our study, we compared the effects of soil properties, temperature and disturbance on species richness, functional identity and functional diversity of plant communities along the elevational gradient on Tenerife. We used pairs of study plots: directly adjacent to a road and in natural vegetation close by. In each plot, we did vegetation relevées, took soil samples, and installed temperature loggers. Additionally, we collected leaf samples to measure leaf functional traits of 80% of the recorded species. With increasing el...