C-S-R Strategy Theory: Understanding Plant Adaptation and Vegetation Processes

1. Please switch to ‘slide show’ mode (press F5)

2. A brief tutorial on C-S-R strategy theory “ The external factors which limit the amount of living and dead plant material present in any habitat may be classified into two categories ” Opening sentence from J P Grime’s 1979 book Plant Strategies and Vegetation Processes

3. Category 1: Stress Phenomena which restrict plant production e.g. shortages of light, water, mineral nutrients, or non-optimal temperature

4. Category 2: Disturbance Phenomena which destroy plant production e.g. herbivory, pathogenicity,trampling, mowing, ploughing, wind damage, frosting, droughting, soil erosion, burning

5. Habitats may experience stress and disturbance to any degree and in any combination Stress Disturbance

6. Low or moderate combinations of stress and disturbance can support vegetation … Stress Disturbance … but extreme combinations of stress and disturbance cannot

7. There are other ways of describing stress and disturbance Habitat productivity (= resource level) Stress Disturbance Habitat duration

8. So, is ozone a stress or a disturbance? It is a stress because its physiological action is to restrict plant production But it is also a disturbance because it can partially or wholly destroy plant production

9. Now, in the domain where vegetation is possible … Stress-tolerator where S is high but D is low S Stress Ruderal where S is low but D is high Competitor where both S and D are low C R Disturbance … plant life has evolved strategies for dealing with the different combinations

10. No plant strategies occur in the ‘impossible domain’ S R C (different parts of this domain are devoid of vegetation for different reasons, but that is another story)

11. Now we rearrange this shape a little … S R C

12. S R C

13. S C R

14. S C R

15. S C R

16. S C R

17. S C R

18. C S R

19. C S R

20. C S R

21. C S R

22. C R S

23. C R S

24. An intermediate type exists … C CSR R S

25. … with further intermediates here C CS CR CSR R S SR

26. … and yet more intermediates here C CS CR CSR R S SR

27. To recreate these C-S-R plant functional types within the self-assembling model … … we changed the specifications controlling morphology, physiology and reproductive behaviour …

29. How does SAM re-create real vegetation? The high dimensionality of real plant life is reduced to plant functional types “ There are many more actors on the stage than roles that can be played ”

30. Do just seven functional types provide enough precision? The C-S-R system recognizes nineteen different functional types The seven currently used by SAM are just the main ones; intermediate types could be added later

31. How do we know what functional types are present in real vegetation? There is a look-up list containing 1000 European species For any others, simple tools can allocate functional type rapidly See the web page ‘Allocating C-S-R types’

32. Do SAM’s predictions come in the form of species or functional types? As plant functional types; however, this makes the interpretation of vegetation processes much simpler and more general

33. What does that mean, exactly? Functional types provide continuity when relative abundances, and even identities, of the constituent species are in flux This makes it possible to link communities which are separate in time and space into one conceptual framework Then effects of ozone on biodiversity, vulnerability and stability can be compared and mapped across Europe