@article {KNZ001488, title = {Global diversity of drought tolerance and grassland climate-change resilience}, journal = {Nature Climate Change}, volume = {3}, year = {2013}, pages = {63 -67}, abstract = {

Drought reduces plant productivity, induces widespread plant mortality and limits the geographic distribution of plant species1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. As climates warm and precipitation patterns shift in the future8, 9, understanding the distribution of the diversity of plant drought tolerance is central to predicting future ecosystem function and resilience to climate change10, 11, 12. These questions are especially pressing for the world\’s 11,000 grass species13, which dominate a large fraction of the terrestrial biosphere14, yet are poorly characterized with respect to responses to drought. Here, we show that physiological drought tolerance, which varied tenfold among 426 grass species, is well distributed both climatically and phylogenetically, suggesting most native grasslands are likely to contain a high diversity of drought tolerance. Consequently, local species may help maintain ecosystem functioning in response to changing drought regimes without requiring long-distance migrations of grass species. Furthermore, physiologically drought-tolerant species had higher rates of water and carbon dioxide exchange than intolerant species, indicating that severe droughts may generate legacies for ecosystem functioning. In all, our findings suggest that diverse grasslands throughout the globe have the potential to be resilient to drought in the face of climate change through the local expansion of drought-tolerant species.

}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ, Climate-change ecology, Drought, Grassland ecology}, doi = {10.1038/nclimate1634}, url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate1634}, author = {Craine, J.M. and Ocheltree, T.W. and Jesse B. Nippert and Towne, E.G. and Skibbe, A.M. and Kembel, S.W. and Fargione, J.E.} } @article {KNZ001446, title = {Flowering phenology as a functional trait in a tallgrass prairie}, journal = {New Phytologist}, volume = {193}, year = {2012}, pages = {673 -682}, abstract = {

\•The timing of flowering is a critical component of the ecology of plants and has the potential to structure plant communities. Yet, we know little about how the timing of flowering relates to other functional traits, species abundance, and average environmental conditions. \•Here, we assessed first flowering dates (FFDs) in a North American tallgrass prairie (Konza Prairie) for 431 herbaceous species and compared them with a series of other functional traits, environmental metrics, and species abundance across ecological contrasts. \•The pattern of FFDs among the species of the Konza grassland was shaped by local climate, can be linked to resource use by species, and patterns of species abundance across the landscape. Peak FFD for the community occurred when soils were typically both warm and wet, while relatively few species began flowering when soils tended to be the driest. Compared with late-flowering species, species that flowered early had lower leaf tissue density and were more abundant on uplands than lowlands. \•Flowering phenology can contribute to the structuring of grassland communities, but was largely independent of most functional traits. Therefore, selection for flowering phenology may be independent of general resource strategies.

}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ}, doi = {10.1111/j.1469-8137.2011.03953.x}, url = {https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2011.03953.x}, author = {Craine, J.M. and Wolkovich, E.M. and Towne, E.G. and Kembel, S.W.} } @article {KNZ001367, title = {Functional consequences of climate-change induced plant species loss in a tallgrass prairie}, journal = {Oecologia}, volume = {165}, year = {2011}, pages = {1109 -1117}, abstract = {

Future climate change is likely to reduce the floristic diversity of grasslands. Yet the potential consequences of climate-induced plant species losses for the functioning of these ecosystems are poorly understood. We investigated how climate change might alter the functional composition of grasslands for Konza Prairie, a diverse tallgrass prairie in central North America. With species-specific climate envelopes, we show that a reduction in mean annual precipitation would preferentially remove species that are more abundant in the more productive lowland positions at Konza. As such, decreases in precipitation could reduce productivity not only by reducing water availability but by also removing species that inhabit the most productive areas and respond the most to climate variability. In support of this prediction, data on species abundance at Konza over 16 years show that species that are more abundant in lowlands than uplands are preferentially reduced in years with low precipitation. Climate change is likely to also preferentially remove species from particular functional groups and clades. For example, warming is forecast to preferentially remove perennials over annuals as well as Cyperaceae species. Despite these predictions, climate change is unlikely to unilaterally alter the functional composition of the tallgrass prairie flora, as many functional traits such as physiological drought tolerance and maximum photosynthetic rates showed little relationship with climate envelope parameters. In all, although climatic drying would indirectly alter grassland productivity through species loss patterns, the insurance afforded by biodiversity to ecosystem function is likely to be sustained in the face of climate change.

}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ, biogeography, Climate change, Functional traits, Grasslands, Konza Prairie}, doi = {10.1007/s00442-011-1938-8}, url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007\%2Fs00442-011-1938-8}, author = {Craine, J.M. and Jesse B. Nippert and Towne, E.G. and Tucker, S. and Kembel, S.W. and Skibbe, A.M. and McLauchlan, K.K.} }