Speaker
Description
SEED-DarkDivNet is an add-on in the DarkDivNet and started in February 2020. DarkDivNet is a global network across 119 regions that aims to better understand the mechanisms underlying the absence of species that could potentially occur at a given site, i.e. the dark diversity. SEED-DarkDivNet aims at empirically testing how species belonging to the dark diversity can establish based on their traits and co-occurrence with species locally present. Collaborating partners from 6 different countries (Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal), working in 9 study regions are participating in this add-on and collected seed material of ~ 200 species from the regional species pool and belonging to the dark diversity. Collected species differed in their suitability for a given site. In autumn 2020, 50 seeds of 20 plant species were added to four permanent subplots in core sites within each study region. To quantify the effect of competition on establishment success, half of each subplot was disturbed. For each species, dispersal traits were measured. We also measured seedling traits of most of the sown species under controlled conditions in the lab. Seedlings were grown in the climate chamber under standardized conditions and the SLA, tissue C:N, and shoot and root biomass were measured when individuals had two fully emerged true leaves. We were able to get traits from at least 108 species/populations. Preliminary analyses show that, as expected, more species could establish at disturbed compared to undisturbed patches and species with higher suitability values could establish better compared with species with low suitability values. Further analyses will show how dispersal and seedling traits affect the establishment of dark diversity species in the field.
| Status Group | Postdoctoral Researcher |
|---|---|
| Poster Presentation Option | Undecided/No preference |
