Using Yearly-Resolved Time Series to Disentangle Interannual Variability, Directional Change, and Pseudoturnover in Plant Community Composition

IF 2.7 3区环境科学与生态学 Q2 ECOLOGY

Journal of Vegetation Science Pub Date : 2025-07-29 DOI:10.1111/jvs.70052

Francesco Maria Sabatini, Michele Di Musciano, Alessandro Chiarucci

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Questions

Change in species composition over time is the result of both interannual variability, that is, year-to-year fluctuations due to weather patterns or demographic processes, and directional change, following succession or changing climatic conditions. Quantifying each component is difficult due to the confounding effects of pseudoturnover (i.e., apparent turnover due to observer error). Can yearly-resolved vegetation plot time series be used to quantify the relative contribution of these components of change, while controlling for pseudoturnover?

Location

A European beech (Fagus sylvatica) forest in Central Apennines, Italy.

Methods

We developed an approach based on matrix decomposition and PERMANOVA to disentangle the effect of pseudoturnover, directional change, and interannual variability across nine permanent vegetation plots resurveyed for thirteen consecutive years, comparing the herb layer in a newly formed canopy gap, at the gap margins, and in the forest interior. We used helical graphs, generalized linear models, and non-metric multidimensional scaling to compare the timing and pace of vegetation change.

Results

Interannual variability and directional change accounted for similar shares of overall variation (26.7% and 28.9%, respectively). While pseudoturnover accounted for a modest 0.4%, ignoring it would result in a substantial overestimation of interannual variability. Overall, the herb layer reacted vigorously to disturbance-triggered changes in light conditions. Species richness increased from 11 to 23.3 in canopy gaps but remained stable at the gap margin and in the forest interior. The rate of change was 3.0 species/year immediately after disturbance and slowed down to 0.3 species/year after 11 years.

Conclusions

The composition of the herb layer varied substantially in the study period and showed a marked year-to-year variation even in the forest interior, where light conditions were relatively stable. A proper estimation of the interannual variability of vegetation, while crucial to benchmark the effects of disturbance in forests, should account for the confounding effect of pseudoturnover.

Abstract Image

查看原文本刊更多论文

利用年分辨时间序列分析植物群落组成的年际变异、方向性变化和假周转

随着时间的推移，物种组成的变化是年际变化的结果，年际变化是由于天气模式或人口过程引起的年与年的波动，也是由于演替或气候条件变化引起的方向变化的结果。由于伪更替（即由于观察者误差造成的表观更替）的混杂效应，量化每个成分是困难的。在控制伪周转率的同时，能否使用年分辨植被图时间序列来量化这些变化成分的相对贡献？位于意大利亚平宁山脉中部的欧洲山毛榉（山毛榉属）森林。方法采用基于矩阵分解和PERMANOVA的方法，通过比较新形成林隙、林隙边缘和林内草本层，对连续13年复测的9个永久植被样地的假更替、方向变化和年际变异的影响进行分析。我们使用螺旋图、广义线性模型和非度量多维尺度来比较植被变化的时间和速度。结果年际变异和方向性变化在总变异中所占的份额相似（分别为26.7%和28.9%）。虽然假周转率只占0.4%，但忽略它将导致年际变率的大幅高估。总的来说，草本层对干扰引发的光照条件变化反应强烈。林隙物种丰富度从11增加到23.3，林隙边缘和林内物种丰富度保持稳定。干扰发生后的变化率为3.0种/年，11年后的变化率降至0.3种/年。结论在研究期间，草本层的组成变化很大，即使在光照条件相对稳定的森林内部，草本层的年际变化也很明显。对植被年际变化的适当估计，虽然对森林扰动的影响至关重要，但也应考虑到假周转率的混淆效应。

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来源期刊

Journal of Vegetation Science 环境科学-林学

CiteScore

6.00

自引率

3.60%

发文量

审稿时长

2 months

期刊介绍： The Journal of Vegetation Science publishes papers on all aspects of plant community ecology, with particular emphasis on papers that develop new concepts or methods, test theory, identify general patterns, or that are otherwise likely to interest a broad international readership. Papers may focus on any aspect of vegetation science, e.g. community structure (including community assembly and plant functional types), biodiversity (including species richness and composition), spatial patterns (including plant geography and landscape ecology), temporal changes (including demography, community dynamics and palaeoecology) and processes (including ecophysiology), provided the focus is on increasing our understanding of plant communities. The Journal publishes papers on the ecology of a single species only if it plays a key role in structuring plant communities. Papers that apply ecological concepts, theories and methods to the vegetation management, conservation and restoration, and papers on vegetation survey should be directed to our associate journal, Applied Vegetation Science journal.