Elemental composition of bryophytes to investigate competition and land plant colonisation (BRYOELEM)

Summary:

The elemental composition of organisms (the elementome) has great potential to enhance our understanding of how organism communities are structured, how ecosystems function, and their responses to environmental changes. This is because the elementome of organisms determines their functional traits and, therefore, their interaction with the environment. Thus, differences in elementomes among organisms underlie differences in the ecological niches they occupy.

Recent studies suggest that differences in elementomes among different species are related to differences in their ecological niches (the biogeochemical niche hypothesis). Thus, organisms would tend toward diverse communities of biogeochemical niches to optimize the use of environmental resources through niche partitioning. However, there is little empirical evidence for the biogeochemical niche hypothesis, and none based on whole-organism elementomes. Bryophytes, being much smaller and simpler than vascular plants, allow for studying the elementome of the entire organism, unlike vascular plants where only leaves are analyzed. Additionally, ancestors of current bryophytes were among the first plants to colonize and expand on land. Consequently, studying the evolutionary history of their biochemical niches will provide better insights into the terrestrial colonization by plants.

BRYOELEM will evaluate the biogeochemical niche hypothesis through a study of bryophyte elementomes. The specific objectives are to assess changes in elementomes due to coexistence and how the environmental context (e.g., eutrophication) affects them, to determine biogeochemical niches in relation to habitat (e.g., terrestrial, epiphytic) and functional traits, and to explore their evolutionary history. BRYOELEM will combine mesocosm experiments with fertilization and sampling of bryophyte species across different habitats. Understanding how coexistence leads to changes in elementomes can improve assessments of competitive relationships among organisms. Moreover, functional ecosystem diversity (and therefore its functioning) could be better predicted from the elementomes of its organisms. Thus, the results of BRYOELEM could greatly improve our understanding of the mechanisms behind biotic assemblages and the productivity-biodiversity relationship, and be applied to the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning field.

Principal investigators:
Dr. Roger Grau Andrés
Funder: Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Type of project: Proyectos de Generación de Conocimiento 2022
Reference: PID2023-152149NA-I00
Funding: 137.5 k€
Host institutions:
CREAF
Start date: 1 September 2024
End date: 31 August 2026
Working team:
Dr. Alba Anadon-Rosell
Dr. Helena Vallicrosa
Dr. Estela Romero
Dr. Xin Song
Eladio Rodríguez-Penedo
Judith Solé
Collaborators:
Dr. Marcos Fernández-Martínez
Jordi Corbera
Dr. Francesc Sabater