hide
Free keywords:
-
Abstract:
Aims
Studies that investigate the space-filling heterogeneity of biological structures
in plant communities remain scarce. The main objective of this
study was to evaluate the relationship between newly developed photographic
measures of structural heterogeneity in digital images and plant
species composition in the context of a long-term grassland experiment.
Methods
We tested a close-range photographic protocol using measures of
structural heterogeneity in gray-tone images, namely mean information
gain (MIG) and spatial anisotropy, to assess differences in
the compositional (species richness) and functional characteristics
(plant height and flowering) of 78 managed grassland communities.
We also implemented a random placement model of community
assembly to explore the links between our measures of structural
complexity and the geometric pattern of plant communities.
Important Findings
MIG and spatial anisotropy correlated with the growth and species
richness of grassland communities. Simulations showed that structural
heterogeneity in gray-tone digital images is a function of the
size distribution and orientation pattern of plant modules. This easy,
fast and non-destructive methodological approach could eventually
serve to monitor the diversity and integrity of various ecosystems at different resolutions across space and time.
