BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Understanding interspecific differences in plant growth rates and their internal and external drivers is key to predicting species responses to ongoing environmental changes. Annual growth rates vary among plants based on their ecological preferences, growth forms, ecophysiological adaptations and evolutionary history. However, the relative importance of these factors remains unclear, particularly in high-mountain ecosystems experiencing rapid changes. METHODS: We examined how habitat associations, elevational optima, growth forms, and ecophysiological and anatomical traits influence interspecific differences in radial growth rates among 324 vascular dicot species naturally occurring in the western Himalayas. Growth rates were determined from annual ring width measurements on the oldest plant sections of over 7800 individuals from a range of habitats (desert, steppe, wetland, alpine, subnival), growth forms (perennial tap-rooted, rhizomatous, cushiony, woody) and climatic gradients (elevations of 2650-6150 m). KEY RESULTS: Habitat associations accounted for 24 % of the variability in interspecific growth rates. Adding growth form and height increased the explanation to 42 %, and incorporating plant functional traits further improved predictions to 46 %. Growth rates were higher in warmer, drier conditions and lower in cold, wet environments. Subnival cushion plants had the slowest growth, while ruderal plants grew the fastest. Desert plants showed higher growth rates, reflecting their drought adaptive strategies, while wetland forbs had lower growth rates due to increased resource competition. Growth was positively correlated with leaf nitrogen content and non-structural carbohydrates (mainly fructans), due to enhanced photosynthesis and stress tolerance, and negatively correlated with leaf carbon and root nitrogen content. CONCLUSION: Our study of 324 dicot species in the western Himalayas suggests that plant growth in high elevations is determined by a combination of habitat conditions, morphological traits and ecophysiological adaptations. Growth variations among the highest-growing angiosperms reflect adaptive strategies along the global 'fast-slow' and 'acquisitive-conservative' spectrums. These results underscore the importance of habitat-specific studies for predicting plant growth responses to environmental changes, emphasizing a species-specific approach for effective conservation in fragile ecosystems.

• Klíčová slova
• Fast–slow economics spectrum, Himalayan plants, ecophysiology, functional traits, herbchronology, high-elevation plants, plant growth,
• MeSH
• druhová specificita MeSH
• ekosystém * MeSH
• fyziologická adaptace * MeSH
• nadmořská výška MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Indie MeSH

Traditionally managed grasslands are among the most species-rich communities, which are threatened by land use changes-management intensification or abandonment. The resistance of their species composition to mismanagement and ability to recover after re-establishment of traditional management is of prime conservational interest. In a manipulative experiment in a wet meadow, we simulated mismanagement by a factorial combination of abandonment of mowing and fertilization. The dominant species Molinia caerulea was removed in half of the plots to assess its role in community dynamics. The 21 years' mismanagement period was followed by the re-establishment of the traditional management. The plots were sampled yearly from 1994 (the baseline data, before the introduction of the experimental treatments), until 2023. Estimates of cover of all vascular plant species provided the species richness and effective number of species. For each year, the chord distances to baseline species composition and to corresponding control plot were calculated. The compositional data were analyzed by constrained ordination methods, and the univariate characteristics by Repeated Measures ANOVA. All the plots, including those with traditional management throughout the whole experiment, underwent directional changes, probably caused by a decrease in groundwater level due to global warming. Both fertilization and abandonment led to a loss of competitively weak, usually low-statured species, due to increased asymmetric competition for light. The effect of fertilization was faster and stronger than that of abandonment demonstrating weaker resistance to fertilization. The removal of dominant species partially mitigated negative effects only in unmown, non-fertilized plots. The recovery following mismanagement cessation was faster (signifying higher resilience) in unmown than in fertilized plots, where it was slowed by a legacy of fertilization. In a changing world, two reference plot types are recommended for assessment of resistance and resilience, one original state and one reflecting compositional changes independent of treatments.

• Klíčová slova
• abandonment, competition asymmetry, dominant removal, fertilization, global warming, mowing, resilience, resistance,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Understanding how land use affects temporal stability is crucial to preserve biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Yet, the mechanistic links between land-use intensity and stability-driving mechanisms remain unclear, with functional traits likely playing a key role. Using 13 years of data from 300 sites in Germany, we tested whether and how trait-based community features mediate the effect of land-use intensity on acknowledged stability drivers (compensatory dynamics, portfolio effect, and dominant species variability), within and across plant and arthropod communities. Trait-based plant features, especially the prevalence of acquisitive strategies along the leaf-economics spectrum, were the main land-use intensity mediators within and across taxonomic and trophic levels, consistently influencing dominant species variability. Functional diversity also mediated land-use intensity effects but played a lesser role. Our analysis discloses trait-based community features as key mediators of land-use effects on stability drivers, emphasizing the need to consider multi-trophic functional interactions to better understand complex ecosystem dynamics.

• MeSH
• biodiverzita * MeSH
• členovci fyziologie   MeSH
• ekosystém * MeSH
• potravní řetězec MeSH
• rostliny MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Německo MeSH

• Publikační typ
• dopisy MeSH

Ecological theory posits that temporal stability patterns in plant populations are associated with differences in species' ecological strategies. However, empirical evidence is lacking about which traits, or trade-offs, underlie species stability, especially across different biomes. We compiled a worldwide collection of long-term permanent vegetation records (greater than 7000 plots from 78 datasets) from a large range of habitats which we combined with existing trait databases. We tested whether the observed inter-annual variability in species abundance (coefficient of variation) was related to multiple individual traits. We found that populations with greater leaf dry matter content and seed mass were more stable over time. Despite the variability explained by these traits being low, their effect was consistent across different datasets. Other traits played a significant, albeit weaker, role in species stability, and the inclusion of multi-variate axes or phylogeny did not substantially modify nor improve predictions. These results provide empirical evidence and highlight the relevance of specific ecological trade-offs, i.e. in different resource-use and dispersal strategies, for plant populations stability across multiple biomes. Further research is, however, necessary to integrate and evaluate the role of other specific traits, often not available in databases, and intraspecific trait variability in modulating species stability.

• Klíčová slova
• acquisitive, conservative, dispersal, long-term studies, temporal patterns, variability,
• MeSH
• ekosystém * MeSH
• fenotyp MeSH
• fylogeneze MeSH
• listy rostlin MeSH
• rostliny * MeSH
• semena rostlinná MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. MeSH