Articles | Volume 8, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-137-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-137-2017
Research article
 | 
06 Feb 2017
Research article |  | 06 Feb 2017

Community-weighted mean traits but not functional diversity determine the changes in soil properties during wetland drying on the Tibetan Plateau

Wei Li, Howard E. Epstein, Zhongming Wen, Jie Zhao, Jingwei Jin, Guanghua Jing, Jimin Cheng, and Guozhen Du

Abstract. Climate change and human activities have caused a shift in vegetation composition and soil biogeochemical cycles of alpine wetlands on the Tibetan Plateau. The primary goal of this study was to test for associations between community-weighted mean (CWM) traits, functional diversity, and soil properties during wetland drying. We collected soil samples and investigated the aboveground vegetation in swamp, swamp meadow, and typical meadow environments. Four CWM trait values (specific leaf area is SLA, leaf dry matter content is LDMC, leaf area is LA, and mature plant height is MPH) for 42 common species were measured across the three habitats; three components of functional diversity (functional richness, functional evenness, and functional divergence) were also quantified at these sites. Our results showed that the drying of the wetland dramatically altered plant community and soil properties. There was a significant correlation between CWM of traits and soil properties, but not a significant correlation between functional diversity and soil properties. Our results further showed that CWM-LA, CWM-SLA, and CWM-LDMC had positive correlations with soil readily available nutrients (available nitrogen, AN; available phosphorus, AP), but negative correlations with total soil nutrients (soil organic carbon is SOC, total nitrogen is TN, and total phosphorus is TP). Our study demonstrated that simple, quantitative plant functional traits, but not functional diversity, are directly related to soil C and N properties, and they likely play an important role in plant–soil interactions. Our results also suggest that functional identity of species may be more important than functional diversity in influencing ecosystem processes during wetland drying.

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Short summary
This is an interesting piece of work and makes a nice contribution to the knowledge on how aboveground vegetation can control belowground soil properties through functional traits and functional diversity. Functional traits are the center of recent attempts to unify key ecological theories on species coexistence and assembly in communities. The results presented are valuable for understanding the relationship between species traits, functional diversity, and soil properties.