The initiation and spread of wildfires depend, among others, on the live fuel moisture content (LFMC) in plants. Whereas the intrinsic and environmental drivers of LFMC in individual plants are fairly well understood, less is known about ecological interactions potentially affecting LFMC in diverse plant communities. Here, we asked how the interaction between climate and species diversity affects the spatial and temporal dynamics of LFMC in Mediterranean plant communities. We sampled LFMC in six plant communities located along a steep precipitation gradient in four monthly intervals and analysed how LFMC was affected by the structure of the community as well by site and climate conditions. LFMC varied greatly among species, and climate and species richness had an interactive effect on LFMC. On average, species richness had a strong negative effect on LFMC in sites with high rainfall, whereas in drier sites, richness had a small positive effect. Yet the effect of richness on LFMC varied across species, with some exhibiting a positive effect of richness on their LFMC. Individuals surrounded by more heterospecifics tended to have lower LFMC compared with ones surrounded by conspecifics. Our results highlight the interactive roles of climate and community characteristics on LFMC dynamics in eastern Mediterranean ecosystems.

中文翻译：

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地中海东部林地燃料含水量的时空动态受气候和群落结构之间的相互作用驱动

野火的发生和蔓延取决于植物中的活性燃料水分含量 (LFMC)。虽然个体植物中 LFMC 的内在和环境驱动因素已被很好地理解，但对可能影响不同植物群落中 LFMC 的生态相互作用知之甚少。在这里，我们询问气候和物种多样性之间的相互作用如何影响地中海植物群落中 LFMC 的时空动态。我们每隔四个月对位于陡峭降水梯度的六个植物群落中的 LFMC 进行采样，并分析了 LFMC 如何受群落结构以及地点和气候条件的影响。LFMC在物种间差异很大，气候和物种丰富度对LFMC有交互作用。一般，物种丰富度在降雨量大的地点对 LFMC 有很强的负面影响，而在较干燥的地点，物种丰富度对 LFMC 有很小的正面影响。然而，丰富度对 LFMC 的影响因物种而异，其中一些表现出丰富度对其 LFMC 的积极影响。与被同种物种包围的个体相比，被更多异种物种包围的个体往往具有较低的 LFMC。我们的研究结果强调了气候和群落特征对地中海东部生态系统中 LFMC 动态的交互作用。与被同种物种包围的个体相比，被更多异种物种包围的个体往往具有较低的 LFMC。我们的研究结果强调了气候和群落特征对地中海东部生态系统中 LFMC 动态的交互作用。与被同种物种包围的个体相比，被更多异种物种包围的个体往往具有较低的 LFMC。我们的研究结果强调了气候和群落特征对地中海东部生态系统中 LFMC 动态的交互作用。