The convex relationship between plant cover and biomass: Implications for assessing species and community properties

作者：Xiaobin Pan, Nathan D. Ferris, Markéta Applová, Johanne Gresse, Kari Iamba, Warbota Khum, Tereza Švancárová, A. Y. Ayesh Piyar Wipulasena, Jan Hrček, Jan Lepš · 发表于：Journal of Vegetation Science · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1111/jvs.13288 · 被引用次数：8 · 研究领域：Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies、Peatlands and Wetlands Ecology、Botany and Plant Ecology Studies

Abstract Questions Cover and biomass serve as common measures of species abundance in plant ecology. However, the underlying relationship between these two measures and its implications remain poorly understood. This makes results based on cover and biomass difficult to compare. Locations Wet meadow, southeast of České Budějovice, Czech Republic (48°57′ N, 14°36′ E). Method We developed theoretical expectations for systematic differences in characterizing vegetation using cover and biomass for species and community characteristics, including species diversity, temporal dynamics, and responses to experimental manipulations. We then tested these expectations using cover and biomass data from an experimental study of fertilization and dominant removal spanning 14 years (2001–2014). Results Consistent with our expectations, on average, species biomass corresponded to the power of species cover, with a power coefficient slightly below 3/2. Community diversity indices calculated using cover and biomass were tightly correlated but were higher for cover. Temporal variabilities based on cover and biomass for individual species were also correlated, but higher for biomass than cover. Though strongly correlated, cover data show much stronger asynchrony, suggesting higher importance of compensatory dynamics. However, using the sum of individual species' cover values as a measure of total community abundance or productivity is problematic. Such a measure is nearly independent of total bio...