DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1922266117
论文题名: High plant diversity and slow assembly of old-growth grasslands
作者: Nerlekar A.N. ; Veldman J.W.
刊名: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
ISSN: 0027-8424
出版年: 2020
卷: 117, 期: 31 起始页码: 18550
结束页码: 18556
语种: 英语
英文关键词: Biodiversity
; Disturbance
; Land-use change
; Meta-analysis
; Succession
Scopus关键词: article
; biodiversity
; consciousness
; destruction
; ecologist
; forest
; herbivore
; human
; human experiment
; land use
; nonhuman
; plant community
; plantation
; savanna
; species diversity
; structure activity relation
; synthesis
; tillage
; agriculture
; classification
; ecosystem
; grassland
; growth, development and aging
; Poaceae
; Agriculture
; Biodiversity
; Ecosystem
; Grassland
; Poaceae
英文摘要: Earth's ancient grasslands and savannas-hereafter old-growth grasslands-have long been viewed by scientists and environmental policymakers as early successional plant communities of low conservation value. Challenging this view, emerging research suggests that old-growth grasslands support substantial biodiversity and are slow to recover if destroyed by human land uses (e.g., tillage agriculture, plantation forestry). But despite growing interest in grassland conservation, there has been no global test of whether old-growth grasslands support greater plant species diversity than secondary grasslands (i.e., herbaceous communities that assemble after destruction of old-growth grasslands). Our synthesis of 31 studies, including 92 timepoints on six continents, found that secondary grasslands supported 37% fewer plant species than old-growth grasslands (log response ratio = -0.46) and that secondary grasslands typically require at least a century, and more often millennia (projected mean 1,400 y), to recover their former richness. Young (<29 y) secondary grasslands were composed of weedy species, and even as their richness increased over decades to centuries, secondary grasslands were still missing characteristic old-growth grassland species (e.g., long-lived perennials). In light of these results, the view that all grasslands are weedy communities, trapped by fire and large herbivores in a state of arrested succession, is untenable. Moving forward, we suggest that ecologists should explicitly consider grassland assembly time and endogenous disturbance regimes in studies of plant community structure and function. We encourage environmental policymakers to prioritize old-growth grassland conservation and work to elevate the status of old-growth grasslands, alongside old-growth forests, in the public consciousness. © 2020 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Citation statistics:
资源类型: 期刊论文
标识符: http://119.78.100.158/handle/2HF3EXSE/164099
Appears in Collections: 气候变化与战略
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作者单位: Nerlekar, A.N., Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843-2258, United States; Veldman, J.W., Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843-2258, United States
Recommended Citation:
Nerlekar A.N.,Veldman J.W.. High plant diversity and slow assembly of old-growth grasslands[J]. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,2020-01-01,117(31)