A plant functional traits database for the Alps: Application to the understanding of functional effects of changed grassland management
Une base de données pour les traits fonctionnels des plantes: application à la compréhension des effets fonctionnels des changements de pratiques sur les prairies
Résumé
Plant functional traits are powerful tools to identify generic responses of biodiversity and ecosystem function to environmental change and to understand their underlying mechanisms. A collaborative initiative was launched to collect under a single data base information for vegetation composition, environmental variables, and plant traits of alpine ecosystems. This data base makes it possible to gather under a flexible structure data collected by naturalists, conservation managers and scientists, and to use this data to address both fundamental research and management questions. As a first test for the applicability of this data base we asked the following questions:(1) Knowing that plants show phenotypic variation for traits known as variable (e.g. height, leaf structural and chemical traits), to what extent are trait data collected under specific conditions in a given massif applicable to other alpine areas? This question is addressed by comparing trait values for a few common grassland species along a climatic gradient and across grassland management states.(2) Are there generic functional responses that can be detected using traits? This question is addressed by comparing responses of community-level traits to grassland management gradients within three different massifs.(3) Can traits be used to quantify the effects of environmental change on ecosystem services that are relevant to local stakeholders? This question is addressed by linking functional diversity to ecosystem functions associated with services identified by local stakeholders.