Productivity and species richness in longleaf pine woodlands: resource-disturbance influences across an edaphic gradient.

This study examines the complex feedback mechanisms that regulate a positive relationship between species richness and productivity in a longleaf pine-wiregrass woodland. Across a natural soil moisture gradient spanning wet-mesic to xeric conditions, two large scale manipulations over a 10-yr period were used to determine how limiting resources and fire regulate plant species diversity and productivity at multiple scales. A fully factorial experiment was used to examine productivity and species richness responses to N and water additions. A separate experiment examined standing crop and richness responses to N addition in the presence and absence of fire. Specifically, these manipulations addressed the following questions: (1) How do N and water addition influence annual aboveground net primary productivity of the midstory/overstory and ground cover? (2) How do species richness responses to resource manipulations vary with scale and among functional groups of ground cover species? (3) How does standing crop (including overstory, understory/midstory, and ground cover components) differ between frequently burned and fire excluded plots after a decade without fire? (4) What is the role of fire in regulating species richness responses to N addition? This long-term study across a soil moisture gradient provides empirical evidence that species richness and productivity in longleaf pine woodlands are strongly regulated by soil moisture. After a decade of treatment, there was an overall species richness decline with N addition, an increase in richness of some functional groups with irrigation, and a substantial decline in species richness with fire exclusion. Changes in species richness in response to treatments were scale-dependent, occurring primarily at small scales (≤10 m2 ). Further, with fire exclusion, standing crop of ground cover decreased with N addition and non-pine understory/midstory increased in wet-mesic sites. Non-pine understory/midstory standing crop increased in xeric sites with fire exclusion, but there was no influence of N addition. This study highlights the complexity of interactions among multiple limiting resources, frequent fire, and characteristics of dominant functional groups that link species richness and productivity.

Legumes native to longleaf pine savannas exhibit capacity for high N2 -fixation rates and negligible impacts due to timing of fire.

• N2 fixation rates of three legume species and the impact of fire regime are reported. • Summer, winter, and no burn treatments were applied. N 2 fixation rates ( 15 N isotope dilution) and C trade-offs with flowering and fine root turnover were examined in response to season of burn. • Tephrosia and Centrosema had uniformly high percentage N dfa across all treatments (74-92% N dfa ), whereas Rhynchosia showed limited N 2 fixation activity (18% and 0%). No evidence for decreased N 2 fixation due to loss of leaf area following growing season burns was found. Moreover, no consistent evidence for decreased N 2 fixation with greater flowering or fine root turnover was observed. • Despite species differences in response to fire regime, the following patterns emerged: when increased N 2 fixation is associated with decreased growth rates, legumes show limited N 2 fixation rates (as seen in Rhynchosia ). Alternatively, if greater N 2 fixation is related to increased growth rates, then legumes experience C limitations to N 2 fixation only in small individuals or during periods of rapid growth (as in Centrosema ). Reproduction may influence N 2 -fixation, but, as in the case of Tephrosia , the relationship was positive, opposite to patterns indicative of C trade-offs.

Distribution of native legumes (Leguminoseae) in frequently burned longleaf pine (Pinaceae)-wiregrass (Poaceae) ecosystems.

Legume species distribution and abundance and selected environmental variables were quantified across a complex gradient (varying in both water-holding capacity and fertility) for frequently burned longleaf pine (Pinus palustris)-wiregrass (Aristida stricta) ecosystems. Legumes were present in all months; however, abundance peaked in June and was minimal after killing frosts in October. Legume species were prominent in the flora (43 species encountered) ubiquitous (94% of 2-m(2) subplots had at least one legume species), and abundant (nearly 120 000 stems/ha). Although most species were widely distributed throughout the gradient, Lespedeza angustifolia was distinctly associated with the more hydric end of the gradient, while both Petalostemon pinnatum and Galactia microphylla were located in the more xeric extreme. The percentage variation in species that could be accounted for by environmental variation was low (27%). Of the variation that could be accounted for, a number of environmental variables were important, including soil moisture, pine basal area (i.e., light), and bivalent base cations (e.g., Ca(2+)). Although gradients in resource availability among sites did not affect the distribution of species or abundance of legumes strongly, variation in resources are likely to regulate N(2)-fixation rates of the various native legume species, and thereby affect ecological functions such as maintenance of N capital and productivity.