Woody species in resource-rich microrefugia of granite outcrops display unique functional signatures

Gianluigi Ottaviani; Gunnar Keppel; Matteo Marcantonio; Ladislav Mucina; Grant Wardell-Johnson

doi:10.1111/aec.12745

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Woody species in resource-rich microrefugia of granite outcrops display unique functional signatures

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Woody species in resource-rich microrefugia of granite outcrops display unique functional signatures

Gianluigi Ottaviani, Gunnar Keppel, Matteo Marcantonio, Ladislav Mucina and Grant Wardell-Johnson

Austral ecology, Vol.44(4), pp.575-580

2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.12745

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Abstract

conservation planning

functional biogeography

global biodiversity hotspot

habitat islands

intraspecific trait variability

south-western Australia

Refugia are key environments in biogeography and conservation. Because of their unique eco-evolutionary formation and functioning, they should display distinct functional trait signatures. However, comparative trait-based studies of plants in refugia and non-refugia are lacking. Here, we provide a comparison between resource-rich (putative microrefugia for species preferring mesic habitats under increasing aridity) and resource-impoverished woodlands (non-refugia) around two granite outcrops in south-western Australia. We measured and compared six functional traits (bark thickness, foliar δ13C, foliar C:N, leaf dry matter content, plant height, specific leaf area) in four woody species. We performed multiple-trait, multiple-species and single-trait, within-species analyses to test whether plants in resource-rich habitats were functionally distinct and more diverse than those in the surrounding resource-impoverished woodlands. We found that species in resource-rich woodlands occupied larger and distinct multiple-trait functional spaces and showed distinct single-trait values (for specific leaf area and bark thickness). This suggests that plants in resource-rich woodlands can deploy unique and more diverse ecological strategies, potentially making these putative microrefugia more resilient to environmental changes. These findings suggest that species in microrefugia may be characterised by unique functional signatures, illustrating the utility of comparative trait-based approaches to improve understanding of the functioning of refugia.

Details

Title: Woody species in resource-rich microrefugia of granite outcrops display unique functional signatures
Authors/Creators: Gianluigi Ottaviani - The University of Western Australia
Gunnar Keppel - University of Göttingen
Matteo Marcantonio - University of California Davis
Ladislav Mucina - Univ Western Australia, Sch Biol Sci, Crawley, WA, Australia
Grant Wardell-Johnson - Curtin University
Publication Details: Austral ecology, Vol.44(4), pp.575-580
Publisher: Wiley
Number of pages: 6
Grant note: 14-36079G; 16-19245S / Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (Centre of Excellence PLADIAS); Grant Agency of the Czech Republic SIRF UWA Safety-Net To-Up Endeavour Europe Award (Australian Government) UPAIS CIPRS (Curtin University) Ad-Hoc scholarship schemes (The University of Western Australia)
Identifiers: 991005579937107891
Copyright: © 2019 Ecological Society of Australia
Murdoch Affiliation: Centre for Terrestrial Ecosystem Science and Sustainability
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Citation topics: 3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology; 3.40 Forestry; 3.40.195 Biodiversity Conservation
Web Of Science research areas: Ecology
ESI research areas: Environment/Ecology