Have you ever been puzzled by the fact that we as ecologists often lump a range of plant species into a single functional category? In this paper the focus is to the most species rich functional grouping we often apply in grasslands, the herbaceous plants with colorful flowers, the forbs. We lump them because each single species often make up a very small abundance, yet why are there so many forb species with small abundances? And why are they in sum often inferior in abundance to the grasses? If looking at forbs in a paleoecological perspective, in the cold Mammoth steppe and in which DNA-based evidence indicates the forbs flourished, we may rethink the importance of forbs and why they often do not seem to thrive in grasslands today.
You can access the paper here: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fee.2405
Reference: Bråthen, K.A., Pugnaire, F.I. and Bardgett, R.D., 2021. The paradox of forbs in grasslands and the legacy of the mammoth steppe. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
Text: Kari Anne Bråthen, Professor, UiT The Arctic University of Norway.
Illustration: Ernst Asbjørn Høgtun