title: Plant functional traits suggest a change in novel ecological strategies for dominant species in the stages of forest succession.
abstract: In forest succession, the ecological strategies of the dominant species that are based on functional traits are important in the determination of both the mechanisms and the potential directions of succession. Thirty-one plots were established in the Loess Plateau region of northern Shaanxi in China. Fifteen leaf traits were measured for the 31 dominant species that represented the six stages of succession, and the traits included four that were related to morphology, seven to stoichiometry and four to physiological ecology. The species from the different successional stages had different patterns of distribution of the traits, and different key traits predicted the turnover of the species during succession. The ash and the cellulose contents were key regulatory factors of species turnover in the early successional communities, and the trait niche forces in sugar and leaf dry mass content might become more important with the progression of succession. When only the three herb stages were considered, a progressive replacement of the ruderal by the competitive-ruderal species occurred in the intermediate stages of succession, which was followed by the stress-tolerant-competitive or the competitive-stress tolerant-ruderal strategists late in the succession. Thus, the different species that occurred in the different stages of succession shared different trait-based ecological strategies. Additionally, these differences occurred concomitantly with a shift toward competitive-stress tolerant-ruderal strategies.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Northwest University, Taibai North Road 229, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. chaiyfhappy@163.com.
authors.forename: Yongfu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Northwest University, Taibai North Road 229, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. yueming@nwu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Northwest University, Taibai North Road 229, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. wangmao88@126.com.
authors.forename: Mao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Northwest University, Taibai North Road 229, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. suejineshek@163.com.
authors.forename: Jinshi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Northwest University, Taibai North Road 229, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. liuxiao@nwu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Plant Ecology Department, University of Tuebingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 3, 72076, Tuebingen, Germany. zrc4@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Ruichang
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Northwest University, Taibai North Road 229, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. fiercewan@163.com.
authors.forename: Pengcheng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wan
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D002241:Carbohydrates; D002482:Cellulose; D002681:China; D004463:Ecology; D065928:Forests; D010641:Phenotype; D018515:Plant Leaves; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism; D014197:Trees / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D002241:Carbohydrates; D002482:Cellulose
keywords: Community assembly; Diversity; Leaf traits; Loess Plateau; Trait distribution