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Plasticity of plant silicon and nitrogen concentrations in response to water regimes varies across temperate grassland species.

Authors :
Klotz, Marius
Schaller, Jörg
Feldhaar, Heike
Dengler, Jürgen
Gebauer, Gerhard
Aas, Gregor
Weissflog, Anita
Engelbrecht, Bettina M. J.
Source :
Functional Ecology. Dec2022, Vol. 36 Issue 12, p3211-3222. 12p.
Publication Year :
2022

Abstract

Temperate grasslands exhibit strong spatial and temporal variation in water regimes. Thus, grassland plants experience potentially stressful water regimes, which may influence their tissue silicon (Si) and nitrogen (N) concentrations. Plant Si and N concentrations play important ecological roles in temperate grasslands, for example, by influencing plant performance and herbivory, yet comparisons of species' responses to a broad range of water regimes, including drought, waterlogging and flooding, are lacking.We conducted a mesocosm experiment with 10 temperate grassland species of two life‐forms (grasses and forbs) exposed to four different soil water regimes (drought, a benign control, waterlogged and flooded conditions), and analysed their Si and N concentrations.Grasses showed lower Si concentrations under drought and flooding compared to the benign control and the highest concentrations emerged under waterlogging. Overall, plant Si responses of grasses were more uniform, while in forbs, responses varied both in direction and magnitude across species. For N concentrations, all species and life‐forms showed the highest concentrations under drought compared to the benign control, while half of the species exhibited decreasing concentrations under waterlogging and/or flooding. The water regimes, especially waterlogging and flooding, induced changes in species rankings of plant Si and N concentrations, with stronger shifts in forbs than in grasses.Our results indicate that spatial and temporal variation of water regimes may influence plant Si and N concentrations in temperate grassland species. Plant Si responses to water regimes might be highly species‐specific in forbs but more similar in grasses, whereas plant N responses are likely to be relatively uniform across species and life‐forms.The strong plasticity in plant Si and N concentrations we observed might have pervasive consequences for ecological processes, such as herbivory. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
02698463
Volume :
36
Issue :
12
Database :
Academic Search Index
Journal :
Functional Ecology
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
160530639
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14225