Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1016/j.baae.2012.07.004
Title (Primary) Regional adaptation improves the performance of grassland plant communities
Author Weißhuhn, K.; Fischer, M.; Auge, H. ORCID logo
Source Titel Basic and Applied Ecology
Year 2012
Department BZF
Volume 13
Issue 6
Page From 551
Page To 559
Language englisch
Keywords Central Europe; Climate; Community ecology; Grassland management; Multi-species transplant experiment
Abstract

Many plant species are adapted locally or regionally. Whether such individual species performance translates into effects at community and ecosystem levels has rarely been tested. Such tests are crucial, however, to predict ecosystem consequences of sowing seed mixtures for grassland restoration or hay production. We compared the performance of replicated sown plant communities of regional origin with the performance of four foreign communities consisting of the same grassland species but originating from distances up to 890 km from our experimental site. The regional communities performed better than foreign communities in plant cover and diversity but not in aboveground biomass production. Additionally, in communities based on regional seeds fewer unsown species occurred and less bare ground was left open for erosion. Variation in community performance among source regions was related to climatic differences rather than to geographic distance to source regions. Individual species performance only partly explained community patterns, highlighting the importance of community level experiments. Our results suggest that the use of regional seeds represents an important approach to improve sown managed grasslands.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=12733
Weißhuhn, K., Fischer, M., Auge, H. (2012):
Regional adaptation improves the performance of grassland plant communities
Basic Appl. Ecol. 13 (6), 551 - 559 10.1016/j.baae.2012.07.004