Megporzás és növényi jellegek - Új cikk az Applied Vegetation Science-ben

 

Megjelent Edy Fantinato elsőszerzőségével legújabb közleményünk az Applied Vegetation Science hasábjain. A jelen cikk homoki szukcessziós vizsgálatainkhoz kapcsolódva arra keresi a választ, hogy vajon a vegetatív vagy a generatív jellegek által meghatározott jellegösszetétel áll-e gyorsabban helyre (illetve válik hasonlóvá a referencia gyepekhez képest) a spontán szukcessziós folyamatok során. Edy vendég doktoranduszként töltött egy hónapot a tanszékünkön. A megjelent közlemény ékes bizonyítéka annak, hogy igenis fontos lenne, ha a Ph.D. képzés időtartama alatt - az olasz vagy a cseh mintához hasonlóan - a hazai képzés által finanszírozott formában kötelezően el kellene tölteni  egy félévet vagy néhány hónapot külföldi partnerintézményben bekapcsolódva az ott zajló kutatási munkába. A közlemény összefoglalója az alábbiakban olvasható.

Pollination and dispersal trait spectra recover faster than growth form spectrum during the spontaneous succession in sandy old-fields

Edy Fantinato, Judit Sonkoly, Giulia Silan, Orsolya Valkó, Béla Tóthmérész, Balázs Deák, András Kelemen, Tamás Miglécz, Silvia Del Vecchio, Francesca Bettiol, Gabriella Buffa, Péter Török

Question. Spontaneous succession is the most natural and cost-effective solution for grassland restoration. However, little is known about the time required for the recovery of grassland functionality, i.e. for the recovery of reproductive and vegetative processes typical of pristine grasslands. Since these processes operate at different scales, we addressed the question: do reproductive and vegetative processes require different recovery times during spontaneous succession?

Location. Kiskunság sand region (Central Hungary).

Methods. As combinations of plant traits can be used to highlight general patterns in ecological processes, we compared reproductive (pollination- and dispersal-related) and vegetative (growth form) traits between recovered grasslands of different age (<10 yr old; 10–20 yr old; 20–40 yr old) and pristine grasslands.
 

Results. During spontaneous succession the reproductive trait spectra became similar to those of pristine grasslands earlier than the vegetative one. In arable land abandoned for ten years, pollination- and dispersal-related trait spectra did not show significant difference to those of pristine grasslands; anemophily and anemochory were the prevailing strategies. Contrarily, significant differences in the growth form spectrum could be observed even after forty years of abandonment; in recovered grasslands erect leafy species prevailed, while the fraction of dwarf shrubs and tussock-forming species was significantly lower than in pristine grasslands.
 

Conclusions. The recovery of the ecological processes of pristine grasslands might require different amounts of time, depending on the spatial scale at which they operate. Reproductive trait spectrum recovered earlier than the vegetative one, since reproductive attributes first determine plant species sorting at the regional level towards their respective habitats. The recovery of the vegetative trait spectrum needs more time as vegetative-based interactions operate on a smaller spatial scale. Thus, vegetative traits might be more effective in the long-term assessment of restoration success than the reproductive ones.