Traits for understanding plant community assembly
Informations
- Funding country
Hungary- Acronym
- -
- URL
- -
- Start date
- 4/1/2011
- End date
- 3/31/2015
- Budget
- 79,229 EUR
Fundings
| Name | Role | Start | End | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thematic Programme | Grant | 4/1/2011 | 3/31/2015 | 79,229 EUR |
Abstract
The aim of the project is to study of community assembly within a trait-based theoretical framework. Two theories are considered: habitat filtering and limiting similarity. Habitat filtering means that the species traits are filtered by habitat conditions (e.g. soil properties) and disturbance regime. Not only the occurrence of filtering will be tested, but also the range of trait values before and after filtering will be measured. According to the limiting similarity principle, co-existing species have to differ in traits related to regulating factors. The parallel study of the effect of these two principles to community assembly is rare till now. It will need extensive survey of traits of species occurring in the studied communities and development of new statistical procedures. The research will be done in two sites (one forest and one grassland site), where the main environmental gradients can be measured easily. The expected results are: (1) development of statistical methods, (2) trait database for the occurring species, (3) trait based assembly rules. (1) and (3) will be published in international journals, while (2) will be compatible and may join to large international databases.