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Response of floodplain understorey species to environmental gradients and tree invasion: a functional trait perspective

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Abstract

Plants are connected to habitats by functional traits which are filtered by environmental gradients. Since tree species composition in the forest canopy can influence ecosystem processes by changing resource availability, litter accumulation, and soil nutrient content, we hypothesised that non-native invasive trees can establish new environmental filters on the understorey communities. In the hardwood floodplain forests in Northern Italy, the invasive trees Robinia pseudoacacia L. and Prunus serotina Ehrh. are the dominant canopy species. We used trait data assembled from databases and iterative RLQ analysis to identify a parsimonious set of functional traits responding to environmental variables (soil, light availability, disturbance, and stand structure) and the dominant native and invasive canopy species. Then, RLQ and fourth-corner analysis was conducted to investigate the joint structure between macro-environmental variables and species traits and functional groups were identified. The trait composition of the herb-layer was significantly related to the main environmental gradients and the presence of the invaders in the canopy showed significant relationships with several traits. In particular, the presence of P. serotina may mitigate or even erase the effect of disturbances, maintaining a stable forest microclimate and thus favouring ‘true’ forest species, while R. pseudoacacia may slow down forest succession and regeneration by establishing new stable associations with a graminoid-dominated understorey. The impact of the two invasive trees on herb layer composition appears to differ, indicating that different management and control strategies may be needed.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Marianne and Dr. Fritz-Walter Fischer Foundation within the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft and the Foundation of the Free University Bozen-Bolzano for funding our research and the Ateneo Italo-Tedesco for providing the VIGONI program for supporting project based exchange of staff. Many thanks to Thomas Wilhalm and Francesco Sartori for help and support with the determination of the plant species, to Fulvio Caronni, Valentina Parco, and the park administration for useful information about the biosphere reserve and providing free accommodation during field work, and to Anna Radtke for valuable comments on former versions of the manuscript. We also thank Jeff Wright and four anonymous reviewers for many constructive comments and suggestions on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Piazza Università 5, 39100, Bolzano, Italy

    André Terwei & Stefan Zerbe

  2. Department of Ecological Interactions, German Federal Institute of Hydrology, Am Mainzer Tor 1, 56068, Koblenz, Germany

    André Terwei

  3. Graduate School of Forest and Agricultural Sciences, Büsgenweg 5, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Inga Mölder

  4. Department of Silviculture and Forest Ecology of the Temperate Zones, University of Göttingen, Büsgenweg 1, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Peter Annighöfer, Heike Kawaletz & Christian Ammer

  5. German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU), DBU Natural Heritage GmbH, An der Bornau 2, 49090, Osnabrück, Germany

    Heike Kawaletz

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  1. André Terwei
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  2. Stefan Zerbe
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  3. Inga Mölder
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  4. Peter Annighöfer
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  5. Heike Kawaletz
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  6. Christian Ammer
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Correspondence to André Terwei.

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Terwei, A., Zerbe, S., Mölder, I. et al. Response of floodplain understorey species to environmental gradients and tree invasion: a functional trait perspective. Biol Invasions 18, 2951–2973 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-016-1188-0

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