Functional plant traits and diversity of subalpine Bromus variegatus grasslands of the North-Western Caucasus
https://doi.org/10.55959/MSU0137-0952-16-79-4-16
Abstract
The role of leaf functional traits (leaf area, mass, specific leaf area – SLA, water content), plant height and Grime’s CSR strategies in plant community formation and plant dominance was studied for subalpine grasslands of the NW Caucasus. These grasslands occur on snowless slopes with deep soil freezing and serve as pastures for high-mountain ungulates. We tested the hypothesis that plant community combines features of stress-tolerants and ruderals and differs from the previously studied high-mountain communities of the Caucasus. The mean aboveground biomass is 349 ± 15 g/m2. Comparison of the mean species trait values with a random sample of a local flora revealed the importance of all studied traits for species selection into community, for instance, leaf size characteristics in grasslands are 10 times lower than in the model community. Comparison of mean and weighted mean shows that dominants of community have smaller dry and stiff leaves at higher functional height of the individual. The mean values of the C:S:R contribution were 26:45:29%. The high contribution of S-strategy is important for both species selection into grasslands and dominance in them. High richness (FR) was recorded for the leaf water content. Divergence (FD) was high only for leaf size traits.
Keywords
functional traits,
ecological strategies,
functional diversity,
subalpine grasslands,
aboveground biomass,
specific leaf aarea
Supporting agencies: The study was conducted under the state assignment of Lomonosov Moscow State University № 121032500089-1.
About the Authors
S. D. Varybok
Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Leninskye gory, 1–12, Moscow, 119234
V. G. Onipchenko
Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University ; U.D. Aliyev Karachay-Cherkess State University ; Teberdinsky National Park
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Leninskye gory, 1–12, Moscow, 119234
ul. Lenina, 29, Karachayevsk, The Karachay-Cherkess Republic, 369200
per. Baduksky, 1, Teberda, KCR, 369210
D. M. Gulov
Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University ; Institute of Biology, Russian Academy of Science
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Leninskye gory, 1–12, Moscow, 119234
October Ave., 69, Ufa, 450054, Republic of Bashkortostan
T. G. Elumeeva
Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Leninskye gory, 1–12, Moscow, 119234
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For citations:
Varybok S.D., Onipchenko V.G., Gulov D.M., Elumeeva T.G. Functional plant traits and diversity of subalpine Bromus variegatus grasslands of the North-Western Caucasus. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 16. Biologiya. 2024;79(4):330-337. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.55959/MSU0137-0952-16-79-4-16
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