Details zur Publikation |
| Kategorie | Textpublikation |
| Referenztyp | Zeitschriften |
| DOI | 10.1093/aob/mcaf158 |
| Titel (primär) | Intensity and timing of land use influence annual increment in growth rings of Galium mollugo in temperate grasslands |
| Autor | Jessen, M.-T.
; Roeder, A.; Roscher, C. |
| Quelle | Annals of Botany |
| Erscheinungsjahr | 2025 |
| Department | iDiv; PHYDIV |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Topic | T5 Future Landscapes |
| Keywords | Climate; Galium mollugo; grassland; growth ring; land-use intensity; management timing; secondary growth; xylem |
| Abstract | Current grassland management, including fertilization, mowing and livestock grazing, substantially influences plant communities; however, it is not fully understood how management can affect plant growth at the individual level. Most herbaceous dicotyledonous plant species form distinct annual rings in the xylem that reveal age, but their annual width can also respond to changes in environmental conditions. It is also unclear at what scale, from the local plot level to the regional level, such secondary growth varies most. Methods Using cross-sections of the oldest well-preserved detectable part of the rhizome of Galium mollugo agg., we determined the response of secondary growth to the intensity, timing and type of grassland management for 1220 individuals across 60 populations in three different regions in Germany. In addition, we used environmental variables to examine the effects of climatic, soil and diversity-related characteristics on variation in ring width. Key Results The age of the studied G. mollugo individuals ranged between 1 and 17 years (average age 6 years). Secondary growth varied most among individuals within sites and only slightly among sites within regions and among regions, indicating a strong influence of local plant–plant interactions. Increasing overall management and land-use intensity decreased secondary growth, whereas a late start of annual land use increased it. In addition, summer soil moisture was positively related whereas neighbour species richness was negatively related to secondary growth. Conclusions Our results indicate that annual secondary growth of a widespread herbaceous grassland species is sensitive to timing and intensity of land use and seasonal water regimes. The results imply that trends of increasing land-use intensity along with prolonged summer heat waves will further hamper growth of G. mollugo, which might translate to reduced performance and subsequently affect the overall plant community. |
| dauerhafte UFZ-Verlinkung | https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=31294 |
| Jessen, M.-T., Roeder, A., Roscher, C. (2025): Intensity and timing of land use influence annual increment in growth rings of Galium mollugo in temperate grasslands Ann. Bot. 10.1093/aob/mcaf158 |
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