BIOL 3290 PDF - Lecture Notes: Plant Ecology

LECTURE I PLANT ECOLOGY study of plants in relation to their natural envir : Eat discover distributions abundance of plants...

LECTURE I PLANT ECOLOGY study of plants in relation to their natural envir : Eat discover distributions abundance of plants V ENVIRONMENT - me MACROENVIRONMENT / V ↳ regional envir PHYSIOGNOMY OF VEGETATION = Outer appearance BIOTIC = living MENVIRONMENT - ABIOTIC non-living Iclose to a VEGETATION InOF Communities that extend over large areas enough = - ↳ ex : temp , PH , etc. plant to be affected ↳> ex : boreal forest , montane mixed conifer forest western , - by it I temperate rainforest,etc. I Y > "MICROHABITAT" ABTAT "SERIES" = variation of a particular vegetation type i DIFFERENT - of envir a plant general envir a plant requires dominant species "type. needs in it's immediate ↳ "ASSOCIATION" - refers to co-occurring species surroundings I 19 ↓ MUNITY" STATION = coexisting populations that interactw one another ? = all of the plant species in a region (AKA "FLORA")-how they ex : - could be all species in an area or ↳ "GUILDS" are distributed in time a space just the plants or just the animals & "vegetation types" are distinguished 11 by "LIFEFORM = Sets of organisms that use resources in the same way a s Cand form's of the My "growth domi n ant FUNCTIONAL GROUPS " " I. & TAXA" = groups of species sharing a specific ancestor RAUNKIAERE distinguished by... PLANT ECOLOGY lifespan woodiness - ↳> classification based on ↳ size - greent rooted to the parasitic vs COMMUNITY ("SYNECOLOGY" LOCATION OF OVERWINTERING 3 POPULATION ("AUTECOLOGY' PARTS (bulbs , buds , seeds -morphology ground vs.. ↳ leaf traits epiphytic ↳ plant sociology ↳ pop'n dynamics ↓ 1 PHANEROPHYTE ↳ location of a phenology ↳ community dynamics demographics Hall trees is perennial trunks perennating ↳ landscape ecology ↳ ecophysiology branches in buds) bulbs HEW! -3 2 CHAMAEPHYTES (shrubs w " systems ecology - conservation perennating aboveground stems short * restoration 4 HEMI CRYPTOPHYTE surface of (perennating a HTORY stems onlyalong ground 5-9 CRYPTOPHYTES (all perennial underground/underwater includes GEOPHYTES- underground : 5-7 ; HELOPHYTES in marshy ground 7 : HYDROPHYTES underwater -9) - - LECTURE 2 HISTORY CON'T : Theories of succession - CLEMENTS The : MONOCIMAX hypothesis. predictable sequence in a single end-point determined by local climate · · simple pioneers -> final climatic climax each species modifies its envir to make it less suitable for them a ·. more suitable for the next species * aka "RELAY FLORISTIC"model or : "FACILITATION" communities undergo series of developmental stages... like they · a are SUPERORGANISMS SUCCESSION Mpredictable me sequence => f INTIALFLORISTIC.COMPOSITION model EGLER The : Not all dominant at the ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION = process of new habitats being inhabited by development depends on which species arrives first same time. Longevity is key here. various species appearing + disappearing in a no predictable convergence to climatic climax All are present at an species inhibit the establishment of later (new early stage. ↳recognizable sequence * INHIBITION : early shapes community structure consequences for specieshospeciescompetitivelysuperiore , land occurs in to human management, response s ↓ natural disturbances short-lived ones over time * 2 BASIC TYPES OF SUCCESSION * * TOLERANCE : some species become dominant bic they are more ↳ 10 on an initially sterile areawo littleno soil seed bank tolerant of limited = , no increasingly resources. ↳ Co on an area that = initially has little / no above-ground established seed bank RANDOM2010 NATION model E vegetation BUT has soil t LAWTON : The "null model" which hypotheses about other models can be against · "SERE"-complete successional sea. for a specific site tested interactions - chance survival , random colonization "SERAL STAGE" One stage in the sere ecological - · = no um A succession can move in any direction * ruu ST HELENS. ~ 10 succession example - What is likely to replace the species RACEMENT shows · mudflow deposits covered all existing surfaces a created a new surface MODEL for succession to occur "proportion" - proportion of allseedingsundercanopy ae specie ↳ ↳ # of species reached a plateau quickly BUT total plant cover increased neck lect. for up by species n) only slowly due to harsh conditions ( nutrients , Perosion freqdessication) example calculation assumptions , ↳ lots of lighta space available competition bit plants m little have · LUPINES-scattered clumps later occupied by other species (also fix N) mm : sapling % -ages are constant , all saplings chance of surviving to maturity , all trees have same · example of a nurse plant generation time , community will approach STEADY STATE colonizers need seeds to survive harsh condi But large seeds independent of its large starting point ·. disperse poorly > - slow succession (also ↓ nutrients , ↑ erosion drought) , * can alter model to takeinto account other phenomena (like self- ↳ ind's that inhibition) realistic But also , by chance colonize , early spread, most rapidly > makes model more more complex * eventually become dominant LECTURES SUCCESSION CONTINUED General Trends in Succession ↳ PRIMARY SUCCESSION - GLACIER BAY MORAINES (ALASEA) MASS - ↑ increases plant cover also increases (Leaf Area Index + faster than below ; above-ground - TOT LEAF SURFACE GROUND SURFACE : TOT glaciers retreating -200 last years above-ground · : proportion of biomass + yearly 1s after exposure of new substrates glacial l : umtoGNgeneratecommunitie , conical - rapid growth, colonizers Colonized by blue-green algae horsetail gametophytes lichens , , , small leaves numerous , , multilayered randomly oriented , of the is slower , fewer more/less morains liverworts , fireweed > - climax trees : growth but larger leaves leaves , · xing microbes low growing unilayered 2 35-45 yrs : Dryas drummondii , scattered willows , cottonwood, - NUTRIENTS 10 SUCCESSION -early stages : Mostly in the soil alder sitka spruce = = in plant biomass · , > later - stages mostly : N-fixing symbionts in roots WITHIN THE SOIL... /minerals) early mostly in inorgo component of soil : yrs : 3 pure alder thickets (up to 9 m tall) of soil (inplant orgo component later : in · · mostly tissues) N-fixing plant , Nin soil + earlystages autorapiddecomposition ofprevioussee : 4yrs : Sitha spruce 2 SUCCESSION are mid-seral staasilyleachedoutofthecommunityminimum 5 is 200-225 yrs : one possible "CLIMAX" mixed spruce-hemlock prevents minerals from ~ being aa forest stallest species of tree in Canada > Coniferous - > - # * another possible "CLIMAX" in poorly drained are as RIMARY PRODUCTION MUSKEG photosynthesis respiration = low elevation where water can accumulate = - + may decline in succession (more supporting tissue relative to photosynthetic > WHICH MODEL OF - SUCCESSION BEST ACCOUNTS FOR CHANGES ? tissue , nutrient elimiting as taken up/stored may become , + % of old plants) O MOISTURET 4 extreme wet (HYDRIC) or extreme u dry (XERIC) - to Mesic between wet dry & EMP HUMIDITY : - both become less variable as canopy closes SolL Sand clay 1 succession in glacier bay-relatively rapid ! -becomes : deeper , more organic , finer textured , better at retaining water ↳ Hawaii : fresh lava- rainforest (300yrs) PLANT SPECIES DIVERSITY ↳ Canada : bare granite - pine Scrub (700yrs) ↳ : sand dune- decid forest (1000yrs usually +in early stages+ ↓ in late seral stages (canopy closes -few ↳ Lake Michigan major dominant. competition + & initialAlaskan ↳ substrate interior : glacial debris-moSs-birch-tussock grass forest (Strs) ↳ species become periodic disturbances necessary = METAMORPHOSED SANDSTONETLIMESTONE ; to maintain greatest diversity easily weathered stages e a (in mid seral ↳ wet , moderate climate NON-PROGRESSIVE SUCCESSION m ipresent organisms x in in multiple seral g "progressive" diversity biomass high diversity + biomass · > stages low - - maintain succession in the seral · "retrogressive" decrease in biomass diversity FIRES pine stage - - ↳ occur naturally every 5-7 yrs be bi soil weathering nutrient depletion · may ↳ hardwood seedlings saplings are susceptible to damage ↳ pines 10 yrs old are resistant (thick bark , ↑ height) CYCLICAL SUCCESSION · no static end-point ; repeating sea of changes can occur when seedlings have better chance of establ under some · species aside from their own  vs BELOW GROUND LECTURE 4 Num. accumulateleaveswood in humus and litter in upa ~ CENT SIMILARITY (PS) PS = min (Xi 1 Xi2) · early forest development : nutrients from soil balanced i · xi =% biomass of species (in2 old growth forest : little/ no further accumulation of uptake plots being compared tied up. & BOREAL FORESTS.... N in humus (slow decomposition) ~ DECIDUOUS FORESTS - -- faster nutrient turnover rate LOSS OF NUTRIENTS FROM FOREST ECOSYSTEMS : ↳ streams - production of H2S by anaerobic soil bacteria ↳ release of volatile hydrocarbons from leaves ↳ loss Of NH3 , Has from leaves gases particles produced by - + fires ↳ harvesting un BILIZATION - uptake of mineral nutrients from soil solution by microbes/plants - conversion into orgo form BIOELEMENTS = elements that cycle through living organisms > - makes nutrients available to (other) plants * EX : NHyt > uptake by plant < conversion to root amino acids - nutrients move from one "compartment" to anotherili ecosystems BLOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES - Nutrient exchanges between biological MINERALIZATION release into soil solution of mineral nutrients from non-biological compartments organic molecules by respiration/decomposition closed when viewed nutrients available for use by global scale ; open when plants - > cycles are on a · makes * EX : amino acids > decomposition > NH+ viewed - - on a local scale * SERTMENTS Arbitrarilydefineddecies - mmmBARD · began 1963 BROOK EXPERIMENTAL FOREST, NEW HAMPSHIRE (pook of nutrients site had impervious bedrock or the each contain exited - a quantity so all runoff via streams , · leaves of one species , ↳ exchange nutrients w other compartments · several watersheds examined · FLUX = rate of movement into out of a compartment-turnover measured time nutrient input (precipitation) vs loss. (stream runoff * turnover time(aka mean residence time) = measure of how rapidly materials more (Tot mass in compartment)/flux through the system WITHOUT LOGGING... Nutrients enter ecosystems via... · small net losses : Ca , Mg K Na , , , Al Soy , , silica ↳ Cl METEOROLOGICAL INPUTS dissolved dust net gains Noz NHy in rain/snow , atmospheric · : - gases , , , ↳ -weathering surface/subsurface drainage GEOLOGICAL INPUTS , movement of animals bet ecosystems , biological fixation * BIOLOGICAL INDUTS - POST-LOGGING (1966) : Runoff + 32 %, NOz440-60x Cat , 417 %,+ 1558% General Categories of Cycles : LOCAL : W/i an ecosystem non-volatile elements * short-term boost in plant growth but nutrient losses , N , C O water , volatile , one long-term GLOBAL : , giant ecosystem : the biosphere