Linking Plant Functional Traits to Demography in a Fragmented Landscape

Habitat loss in highly deforested landscapes such as the Brazilian Atlantic Forest has been severely affecting the diversity and survival of palm species. As some species are more sensitive than others, trait responses to the environment, as well as environmental effects on fecundity, growth, and mo...

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Autores principales:	Rita de Cássia Quitete Portela, Sara Lucía Colmenares-Trejos, Eduardo Arcoverde de Mattos
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	Atlantic Forest conservation demography fragmentation functional traits palms Forestry SD1-669.5 Environmental sciences GE1-350
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/bd3b751de88d4f03a613005c065cac0c
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:bd3b751de88d4f03a613005c065cac0c2021-11-19T07:51:35ZLinking Plant Functional Traits to Demography in a Fragmented Landscape2624-893X10.3389/ffgc.2021.717406https://doaj.org/article/bd3b751de88d4f03a613005c065cac0c2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2021.717406/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/2624-893XHabitat loss in highly deforested landscapes such as the Brazilian Atlantic Forest has been severely affecting the diversity and survival of palm species. As some species are more sensitive than others, trait responses to the environment, as well as environmental effects on fecundity, growth, and mortality rates, may affect species demography. Considering this context, we studied functional and demographic responses of three palm species (Astrocaryum aculeatissimum, Euterpe edulis, and Geonoma schottiana) to habitat loss in the Atlantic Forest in southeastern Brazil by measuring morpho-physiological traits related to plant growth and light acquisition for photosynthesis. We also tested the response of population fitness to fragment size. Plant survival and growth was subsequently monitored in 2006 and 2007, and population dynamics were summarized in pool matrices for large and small forest fragments in the monitoring periods comprehending one full year between 2005–2006 and 2006–2007. The asymptotic growth rate of populations (defined here as population fitness, λ) in five forest fragments was then calculated. Diameter of individuals of the demography plots (from year 2005 to 2007) was used to calculate the relative diameter growth rate. Later, in 2015, we measured a set of morpho-physiological functional traits in palms in the same plots used in the demographic studies. While A. aculeatissimum populations were stable in both monitoring periods in small and large fragments, E. edulis populations were predicted to decline due to intense predation by monkeys in the large fragment, but were stable in the smaller fragments, and G. schottiana populations were stable in the large fragments in both monitoring periods, but populations in the smaller fragments were predicted to decline in the second period, i.e., with lower fitness in these fragments. In addition, the functional traits analyzed showed that G. schottiana is a forest interior species associated with the shade/understory environment response. E. edulis was also affected by the size of the fragment, but due to a disruptive interaction with a predator and showed intermediate functional traits values. On the other hand, A. aculeatissimum thrived in areas with higher and lower incidence of light and was not demographically affected by forest remnant size. This suggests that E. edulis and A. aculeatissimum are habitat generalists. We concluded that differences in the ecophysiological performance of palms due to distinct morpho-physiological functional traits related to leaf economic spectrum, such as LDMC or specific leaf area (SLA) and to photosynthetic responses to light environment as electron transport rate (ETR) and saturation irradiance (Ik) were linked to the demographic variation observed in forest remnants of different size.Rita de Cássia Quitete PortelaSara Lucía Colmenares-TrejosEduardo Arcoverde de MattosFrontiers Media S.A.articleAtlantic Forestconservationdemographyfragmentationfunctional traitspalmsForestrySD1-669.5Environmental sciencesGE1-350ENFrontiers in Forests and Global Change, Vol 4 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Atlantic Forest conservation demography fragmentation functional traits palms Forestry SD1-669.5 Environmental sciences GE1-350
spellingShingle	Atlantic Forest conservation demography fragmentation functional traits palms Forestry SD1-669.5 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Rita de Cássia Quitete Portela Sara Lucía Colmenares-Trejos Eduardo Arcoverde de Mattos Linking Plant Functional Traits to Demography in a Fragmented Landscape
description	Habitat loss in highly deforested landscapes such as the Brazilian Atlantic Forest has been severely affecting the diversity and survival of palm species. As some species are more sensitive than others, trait responses to the environment, as well as environmental effects on fecundity, growth, and mortality rates, may affect species demography. Considering this context, we studied functional and demographic responses of three palm species (Astrocaryum aculeatissimum, Euterpe edulis, and Geonoma schottiana) to habitat loss in the Atlantic Forest in southeastern Brazil by measuring morpho-physiological traits related to plant growth and light acquisition for photosynthesis. We also tested the response of population fitness to fragment size. Plant survival and growth was subsequently monitored in 2006 and 2007, and population dynamics were summarized in pool matrices for large and small forest fragments in the monitoring periods comprehending one full year between 2005–2006 and 2006–2007. The asymptotic growth rate of populations (defined here as population fitness, λ) in five forest fragments was then calculated. Diameter of individuals of the demography plots (from year 2005 to 2007) was used to calculate the relative diameter growth rate. Later, in 2015, we measured a set of morpho-physiological functional traits in palms in the same plots used in the demographic studies. While A. aculeatissimum populations were stable in both monitoring periods in small and large fragments, E. edulis populations were predicted to decline due to intense predation by monkeys in the large fragment, but were stable in the smaller fragments, and G. schottiana populations were stable in the large fragments in both monitoring periods, but populations in the smaller fragments were predicted to decline in the second period, i.e., with lower fitness in these fragments. In addition, the functional traits analyzed showed that G. schottiana is a forest interior species associated with the shade/understory environment response. E. edulis was also affected by the size of the fragment, but due to a disruptive interaction with a predator and showed intermediate functional traits values. On the other hand, A. aculeatissimum thrived in areas with higher and lower incidence of light and was not demographically affected by forest remnant size. This suggests that E. edulis and A. aculeatissimum are habitat generalists. We concluded that differences in the ecophysiological performance of palms due to distinct morpho-physiological functional traits related to leaf economic spectrum, such as LDMC or specific leaf area (SLA) and to photosynthetic responses to light environment as electron transport rate (ETR) and saturation irradiance (Ik) were linked to the demographic variation observed in forest remnants of different size.
format	article
author	Rita de Cássia Quitete Portela Sara Lucía Colmenares-Trejos Eduardo Arcoverde de Mattos
author_facet	Rita de Cássia Quitete Portela Sara Lucía Colmenares-Trejos Eduardo Arcoverde de Mattos
author_sort	Rita de Cássia Quitete Portela
title	Linking Plant Functional Traits to Demography in a Fragmented Landscape
title_short	Linking Plant Functional Traits to Demography in a Fragmented Landscape
title_full	Linking Plant Functional Traits to Demography in a Fragmented Landscape
title_fullStr	Linking Plant Functional Traits to Demography in a Fragmented Landscape
title_full_unstemmed	Linking Plant Functional Traits to Demography in a Fragmented Landscape
title_sort	linking plant functional traits to demography in a fragmented landscape
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/bd3b751de88d4f03a613005c065cac0c
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Linking Plant Functional Traits to Demography in a Fragmented Landscape

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