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Randé H, Michalet R, Nemer D, Delerue F. Relative contribution of canopy and soil effects between plants with different metal tolerance along a metal pollution gradient. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 904:166905. [PMID: 37699491 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166905] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2023] [Revised: 09/05/2023] [Accepted: 09/05/2023] [Indexed: 09/14/2023]
Abstract
Multiple effects, operating either on the long-term (soil-engineering effects) or on the short-term during plant life (microclimate modification or resources pre-emption), can act simultaneously and determine the outcome of plant-plant interactions. These diverse effects have not been disentangled along a gradient of metal/metalloid pollution, although this is crucial for understanding the dominant species turnover along the gradient, and thus the driving processes of facilitation recurrently found in metalliferous ecosystems, which could help improving ecological restoration of these degraded ecosystems. Here, we experimentally assessed different short-term effects of two dominant forbs of highly polluted habitats (Hutchinsia alpina and Arenaria multicaulis, tolerant to metal stress) and two grasses of less polluted habitats (Agrostis capillaris and Festuca rubra, less tolerant to metal stress) on target plant species (the same as the dominant species mentioned above) transplanted along a large metal pollution gradient. Additionally, in highly polluted environments, we differentiated short- from long-term effects of the two metallicolous forbs, which had different abilities to concentrate metals in their leaves. In line with other studies along metal gradients, variation of short-term interactions appeared to follow the Stress Gradient Hypothesis for plants less adapted to metal pollution (p = 0.030), with positive interactions dominating in most severe areas. Regarding long-term effects, the species with highest leaf metal-accumulation showed no negative effect contrary to the Elemental allelopathy Hypothesis. Long-term effects of the species with lower leaf-metal accumulation could not be determined because of the occurrence of an unexpected difference in micro-habitat conditions (soil depth and humidity) for this species along the metal pollution gradient. Increasing short-term facilitation along metal pollution gradients, which confirmed previous studies, is promising for improving conditions and restoring the most polluted environments. However, long-term results stressed the difficulty to quantify these effects given that these areas are highly fragmented and heterogeneous.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hugo Randé
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, Bordeaux INP, EPOC, UMR 5805, F-33600 Pessac, France
| | - Richard Michalet
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, Bordeaux INP, EPOC, UMR 5805, F-33600 Pessac, France
| | - David Nemer
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, Bordeaux INP, EPOC, UMR 5805, F-33600 Pessac, France
| | - Florian Delerue
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, Bordeaux INP, EPOC, UMR 5805, F-33600 Pessac, France.
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Cui G, Pugnaire FI, Yang L, Zhao W, Ale R, Shen W, Luo T, Liang E, Zhang L. Shrub-mediated effects on soil nitrogen determines shrub-herbaceous interactions in drylands of the Tibetan Plateau. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1137365. [PMID: 36844071 PMCID: PMC9950575 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1137365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Shrub promotes the survival, growth and reproduction of understory species by buffering the environmental extremes and improving limited resources (i.e., facilitation effect) in arid and semiarid regions. However, the importance of soil water and nutrient availability on shrub facilitation, and its trend along a drought gradient have been relatively less addressed in water-limited systems. METHODS We investigated species richness, plant size, soil total nitrogen and dominant grass leaf δ13C within and outside the dominant leguminous cushion-like shrub Caragana versicolor along a water deficit gradient in drylands of Tibetan Plateau. RESULTS We found that C. versicolor increased grass species richness but had a negative effect on annual and perennial forbs. Along the water deficit gradient, plant interaction assessed by species richness (RIIspecies) showed a unimodal pattern with shift from increase to decrease, while plant interaction assessed by plant size (RIIsize) did not vary significantly. The effect of C. versicolor on soil nitrogen, rather than water availability, determined its overall effect on understory species richness. Neither the effect of C. versicolor on soil nitrogen nor water availability affected plant size. DISCUSSION Our study suggests that the drying tendency in association with the recent warming trends observed in drylands of Tibetan Plateau, will likely hinder the facilitation effect of nurse leguminous shrub on understories if moisture availability crosses a critical minimum threshold.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guangshuai Cui
- State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System Science, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Almería, Spain
| | - Francisco I. Pugnaire
- Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Almería, Spain
| | - Liu Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System Science, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Wanglin Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System Science, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Rita Ale
- State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System Science, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Wei Shen
- State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System Science, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Tianxiang Luo
- State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System Science, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Eryuan Liang
- State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System Science, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Lin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System Science, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Institute of Science and Technology Information of Tibet Autonomous Region, Lhasa, China
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Gomaa NH, Hegazy AK, Latef AAHA. Facilitation Effects of Haloxylon salicornicum Shrubs on Associated Understory Annuals, and a Modified “Stress-Gradient” Hypothesis for Droughty Times. PLANTS 2020; 9:plants9121726. [PMID: 33297465 PMCID: PMC7762360 DOI: 10.3390/plants9121726] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2020] [Revised: 12/01/2020] [Accepted: 12/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Perennial shrub-annual plant interactions play key roles in desert regions influencing the structure and dynamics of plant communities there. In the present study, carried out in northwestern Saudi Arabia, we examined the effect of Haloxylon salicornicum shrubs on their associated understory annual species across four consecutive growing seasons, along with a record of the seasonal rainfall patterns. We measured density and species richness of all the annual species in permanent quadrats located beneath individual shrubs, as well as in the spaces between shrubs. During wet growing season H. salicornicum shrubs significantly enhanced the density and species richness of sub-canopy species, whereas in the relatively dry seasons they exerted negative effects on the associated species. In all growing seasons, the presence of shrubs was associated with enhanced soil properties, including increased organic carbon content, silt + clay, and levels of nutrients (N, P and K). Shrubs improved soil moisture content beneath their canopies in the wet growing season, while in the dry seasons they had negative effects on water availability. Differences in effects of H. salicornicum on understory plants between growing seasons seem due to the temporal changes in the impact of shrubs on water availability. Our results suggest the facilitative effects of shrubs on sub-canopy annuals in arid ecosystems may switch to negative effects with increasing drought stress. We discuss the study in light of recent refinements of the well-known “stress-gradient hypothesis”.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nasr H. Gomaa
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef 62521, Egypt
- Biology Department, College of Science, Jouf University, P.O. Box 2014, Sakaka 72341, Saudi Arabia
- Correspondence:
| | - Ahmad K. Hegazy
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza 12613, Egypt;
| | - Arafat Abdel Hamed Abdel Latef
- Department of Biology, Turabah University College, Turabah Branch, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia;
- Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, South Valley University, Qena 83523, Egypt
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Chaieb G, Wang X, Abdelly C, Michalet R. Shift from short‐term competition to facilitation with drought stress is due to a decrease in long‐term facilitation. OIKOS 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.07528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ghassen Chaieb
- Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte, Univ. of Carthage Zarzouna Tunisia
- Univ. of Bordeaux, UMR CNRS 5805 EPOC, Allée Geoffroy Saint‐Hilaire – CS 50023 FR‐33615 Pessac France
| | - Xiangtai Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland and Agro‐ecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou Univ., Lanzhou Gansu PR China
| | - Chedly Abdelly
- Laboratory of Extremophiles Plants, Center of Biotechnology of Borj Cedria, 2050 Tunisia
| | - Richard Michalet
- Univ. of Bordeaux, UMR CNRS 5805 EPOC, Allée Geoffroy Saint‐Hilaire – CS 50023 FR‐33615 Pessac France
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Chaieb G, Abdelly C, Michalet R. A Regional Assessment of Changes in Plant–Plant Interactions Along Topography Gradients in Tunisian Sebkhas. Ecosystems 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s10021-020-00567-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Xiao Y, Yang L, Nie X, Li C, Xiong F, Wang L, Zhou G. Examining differences in phylogenetic composition enhances understanding of the phylogenetic structure of the shrub community in the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:6723-6731. [PMID: 32724545 PMCID: PMC7381756 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2019] [Revised: 04/14/2020] [Accepted: 05/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Periodic climatic oscillations and species dispersal during the postglacial period are two important causes of plant assemblage and distribution on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). To improve our understanding of the bio-geological histories of shrub communities on the QTP, we tested two hypotheses. First, the intensity of climatic oscillations played a filtering role during community structuring. Second, species dispersal during the postglacial period contributed to the recovery of species and phylogenetic diversity and the emergence of phylogenetic overdispersion. To test these hypotheses, we investigated and compared the shrub communities in the alpine and desert habitats of the northeastern QTP. Notably, we observed higher levels of species and phylogenetic diversity in the alpine habitat than in the desert habitat, leading to phylogenetic overdispersion in the alpine shrub communities versus phylogenetic clustering in the desert shrub communities. This phylogenetic overdispersion increased with greater climate anomalies. These results suggest that (a) although climate anomalies strongly affect shrub communities, these phenomena do not act as a filter for shrub community structuring, and (b) species dispersal increases phylogenetic diversity and overdispersion in a community. Moreover, our investigation of the phylogenetic community composition revealed a larger number of plant clades in the alpine shrub communities than in the desert shrub communities, which provided insights into plant clade-level differences in the phylogenetic structures of alpine and desert shrub communities in the northeastern QTP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuanming Xiao
- Northwest Institute of Plateau BiologyChinese Academy of SciencesXiningChina
- University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Lucun Yang
- Northwest Institute of Plateau BiologyChinese Academy of SciencesXiningChina
- Key Laboratory of Tibetan Medicine ResearchChinese Academy of SciencesXiningChina
- Qinghai Key Laboratory of Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau Biological ResourcesXiningChina
| | - Xiuqing Nie
- Northwest Institute of Plateau BiologyChinese Academy of SciencesXiningChina
- University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Changbin Li
- Northwest Institute of Plateau BiologyChinese Academy of SciencesXiningChina
- University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Feng Xiong
- Northwest Institute of Plateau BiologyChinese Academy of SciencesXiningChina
- University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Lingling Wang
- Northwest Institute of Plateau BiologyChinese Academy of SciencesXiningChina
- University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Guoying Zhou
- Northwest Institute of Plateau BiologyChinese Academy of SciencesXiningChina
- Key Laboratory of Tibetan Medicine ResearchChinese Academy of SciencesXiningChina
- Qinghai Key Laboratory of Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau Biological ResourcesXiningChina
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Jian Deng, Chong Y, Dan Z, Kang D, Han X, Yang G. Aggregated Distribution of Herbaceous Plants in Restored Vegetation Community in a Semi-arid Area: Evidence from the Loess Plateau of China. RUSS J ECOL+ 2020. [DOI: 10.1134/s1067413620020058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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Swanson EK, Sheley RL, James JJ. Do shrubs improve reproductive chances of neighbors across soil types in drought? Oecologia 2019; 192:79-90. [PMID: 31768737 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-019-04559-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2018] [Accepted: 11/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Plant reproduction is highly sensitive to stress from severe weather. While facilitation has been shown to buffer negative impacts along stress gradients, less is known about facilitating plant reproduction in drought periods. Because intensity and frequency of drought are predicted to increase, plant reproductive facilitation has important implications for a species ability to adapt to changes in climate. Our primary study objective is to test if nurse shrubs act as reproductive micro-refugia across soil types, by improving reproductive potential of perennial bunchgrass neighbors subjected to severe drought. To investigate this objective, we designed a fully factored study testing direct interaction between shrub and bunchgrasses in eastern Oregon sagebrush steppe, at two sites with different soil types. The study consisted of six simple effect treatments combining three moisture regimes (moist, ambient, and drought) with two shrub conditions (shrub intact or shrub removed). Our results indicate when facilitation of reproductive potential occurs, it occurs strongly and particularly in drought, consistent with the stress gradient hypothesis (SGH), where several species produced at least 54% more inflorescences in the presence of shrub neighbors. In addition, we found facilitation to be consistent with the SGH at the species level likely reflecting differences in plant strategy and perception of strain, but to follow alternative SGH models more closely at the site level where facilitation declined on the drier soil. Ultimately, our findings highlight the importance of facilitation in improving plant reproductive potential in drought, and support the role of nurse shrubs as micro-refugia in a changing climate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth K Swanson
- Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA.
| | - Roger L Sheley
- United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Burns, OR, 97720, USA
| | - Jeremy J James
- Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Sierra Foothills Research and Extension Center, University of California, Browns Valley, CA, 95918, USA
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9
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Responses of different herb life-history groups to a dominant shrub species along a dune stabilization gradient. Basic Appl Ecol 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.baae.2019.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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10
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Woods NN, McCarthy R, Miriti MN. Non‐hierarchical competition among co‐occurring woody seedlings in a resource‐limited environment. Ecosphere 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.2751] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Natasha N. Woods
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology The Ohio State University 318 W. 12th Avenue Columbus Ohio 43214 USA
| | - Ryan McCarthy
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology The Ohio State University 318 W. 12th Avenue Columbus Ohio 43214 USA
| | - Maria N. Miriti
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology The Ohio State University 318 W. 12th Avenue Columbus Ohio 43214 USA
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Guo Y, Schöb C, Ma W, Mohammat A, Liu H, Yu S, Jiang Y, Schmid B, Tang Z. Increasing water availability and facilitation weaken biodiversity-biomass relationships in shrublands. Ecology 2019; 100:e02624. [PMID: 30644535 PMCID: PMC6850503 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2018] [Revised: 12/18/2018] [Accepted: 01/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Positive biodiversity–ecosystem‐functioning (BEF) relationships are commonly found in experimental and observational studies, but how they vary in different environmental contexts and under the influence of coexisting life forms is still controversial. Investigating these variations is important for making predictions regarding the dynamics of plant communities and carbon pools under global change. We conducted this study across 433 shrubland sites in northern China. We fitted structural equation models (SEMs) to analyze the variation in the species‐richness–biomass relationships of shrubs and herbs along a wetness gradient and general liner models (GLMs) to analyze how shrub or herb biomass affected the species‐richness–biomass relationship of the other life form. We found that the positive species‐richness–biomass relationships for both shrubs and herbs became weaker or even negative with higher water availability, likely indicating stronger interspecific competition within life forms under more benign conditions. After accounting for variation in environmental contexts using residual regression, we found that the benign effect of greater facilitation by a larger shrub biomass reduced the positive species‐richness–biomass relationships of herbs, causing them to become nonsignificant. Different levels of herb biomass, however, did not change the species‐richness–biomass relationship of shrubs, possibly because greater herb biomass did not alter the stress level for shrubs. We conclude that biodiversity in the studied plant communities is particularly important for plant biomass production under arid conditions and that it might be possible to use shrubs as nurse plants to facilitate understory herb establishment in ecological restoration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanpei Guo
- Institute of EcologyCollege of Urban and Environmental Sciences and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface ProcessesPeking UniversityBeijingChina
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental StudiesUniversity of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
| | - Christian Schöb
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental StudiesUniversity of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
- Department of Environmental Systems ScienceSwiss Federal Institute of TechnologyETH ZurichZurichSwitzerland
| | - Wenhong Ma
- School of Life SciencesInner Mongolia UniversityHohhotChina
| | - Anwar Mohammat
- Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and GeographyChinese Academy of SciencesUrumqiChina
| | - Hongyan Liu
- Institute of EcologyCollege of Urban and Environmental Sciences and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface ProcessesPeking UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Shunli Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental ChangesInstitute of BotanyChinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Youxu Jiang
- Institute of EcologyCollege of Urban and Environmental Sciences and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface ProcessesPeking UniversityBeijingChina
- Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and EnvironmentState Forestry Administration, Research Institute of Forest EcologyEnvironment and ProtectionChinese Academy of ForestryBeijingChina
| | - Bernhard Schmid
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental StudiesUniversity of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
- Department of GeographyUniversity of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
| | - Zhiyao Tang
- Institute of EcologyCollege of Urban and Environmental Sciences and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface ProcessesPeking UniversityBeijingChina
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12
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Verwijmeren M, Smit C, Bautista S, Wassen MJ, Rietkerk M. Combined Grazing and Drought Stress Alter the Outcome of Nurse: Beneficiary Interactions in a Semi-arid Ecosystem. Ecosystems 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s10021-019-00336-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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13
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Pistón N, Michalet R, Schöb C, Macek P, Armas C, Pugnaire FI. The balance of canopy and soil effects determines intraspecific differences in foundation species’ effects on associated plants. Funct Ecol 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Nuria Pistón
- Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (EEZA‐CSIC) Almería Spain
- Nuria Pistón, Departamento de EcologíaInstituto de BiologiaUniversidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) Rio de Janeiro Brazil
| | | | - Christian Schöb
- Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (EEZA‐CSIC) Almería Spain
- Christian Schöb, Department of Environmental System ScienceSwiss Federal Institute of TechnologyETH Zurich Tannenstrasse 1 8092 Zürich Switzerland
| | - Petr Macek
- Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (EEZA‐CSIC) Almería Spain
- Petr Macek, Faculty of ScienceUniversity of South Bohemia Branišovská 1760 CZ‐370 05 České Budějovice Czech Republic
| | - Cristina Armas
- Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (EEZA‐CSIC) Almería Spain
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Filazzola A, Liczner AR, Westphal M, Lortie CJ. The effect of consumer pressure and abiotic stress on positive plant interactions are mediated by extreme climatic events. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2018; 217:140-150. [PMID: 28944475 DOI: 10.1111/nph.14778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2017] [Accepted: 07/30/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Environmental extremes resulting from a changing climate can have profound implications for plant interactions in desert communities. Positive interactions can buffer plant communities from abiotic stress and consumer pressure caused by climatic extremes, but limited research has explored this empirically. We tested the hypothesis that the mechanism of shrub facilitation on an annual plant community can change with precipitation extremes in deserts. During years of extreme drought and above-average rainfall in a desert, we measured plant interactions and biomass while manipulating a soil moisture gradient and reducing consumer pressure. Shrubs facilitated the annual plant community at all levels of soil moisture through reductions in microclimatic stress in both years and herbivore protection in the wet year only. Shrub facilitation and the high rainfall year contributed to the dominance of a competitive annual species in the plant community. Precipitation patterns in deserts determine the magnitude and type of facilitation mechanisms. Moreover, shrub facilitation mediates the interspecific competition within the associated annual community between years with different rainfall amounts. Examining multiple drivers during extreme climate events is a challenging area of research, but it is a necessary consideration given forecasts predicting that these events will increase in frequency and magnitude.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Filazzola
- Department of Biology, York University, 4700 Keele St, Toronto, ON, M3J 1P3, Canada
| | - Amanda Rae Liczner
- Department of Biology, York University, 4700 Keele St, Toronto, ON, M3J 1P3, Canada
| | - Michael Westphal
- US Bureau of Land Management, Central Coast Field Office, 940 2nd Avenue, Hollister, CA, 93933, USA
| | - Christopher J Lortie
- Department of Biology, York University, 4700 Keele St, Toronto, ON, M3J 1P3, Canada
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15
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Zhang G, Zhao W, Zhou H, Yang Q, Wang X. Extreme drought stress shifts net facilitation to neutral interactions between shrubs and sub-canopy plants in an arid desert. OIKOS 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.04630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gefei Zhang
- Linze Inland River Basin Research Station, Chinese Ecosystem Research Network, Key Laboratory of Eco-hydrology of Inland River Basin, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Science; CN-73000 Lanzhou PR China
| | - Wenzhi Zhao
- Linze Inland River Basin Research Station, Chinese Ecosystem Research Network, Key Laboratory of Eco-hydrology of Inland River Basin, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Science; CN-73000 Lanzhou PR China
| | - Hai Zhou
- Linze Inland River Basin Research Station, Chinese Ecosystem Research Network, Key Laboratory of Eco-hydrology of Inland River Basin, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Science; CN-73000 Lanzhou PR China
| | - Qiyue Yang
- Linze Inland River Basin Research Station, Chinese Ecosystem Research Network, Key Laboratory of Eco-hydrology of Inland River Basin, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Science; CN-73000 Lanzhou PR China
| | - Xiaofen Wang
- Prata cultural College, Gansu Agricultural Univ.; Lanzhou PR China
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Lozano YM, Armas C, Hortal S, Casanoves F, Pugnaire FI. Disentangling above- and below-ground facilitation drivers in arid environments: the role of soil microorganisms, soil properties and microhabitat. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2017; 216:1236-1246. [PMID: 28262957 DOI: 10.1111/nph.14499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2016] [Accepted: 01/11/2017] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Nurse plants promote establishment of other plant species by buffering climate extremes and improving soil properties. Soil biota plays an important role, but an analysis to disentangle the effects of soil microorganisms, soil properties and microclimate on facilitation is lacking. In three microhabitats (gaps, small and large Retama shrubs), we placed six microcosms with sterilized soil, two per soil origin (i.e. from each microhabitat). One in every pair received an alive, and the other a sterile, inoculum from its own soil. Seeds of annual plants were sown into the microcosms. Germination, survival and biomass were monitored. Soil bacterial communities were characterized by pyrosequencing. Germination in living Retama inoculum was nearly double that of germination in sterile inoculum. Germination was greater under Retama canopies than in gaps. Biomass was up to three times higher in nurse than in gap soils. Soil microorganisms, soil properties and microclimate showed a range of positive to negative effects on understory plants depending on species identity and life stage. Nurse soil microorganisms promoted germination, but the effect was smaller than the positive effects of soil properties and microclimate under nurses. Nurse below-ground environment (soil properties and microorganisms) promoted plant growth and survival more than nurse microhabitat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yudi M Lozano
- Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, Spanish National Research Council (EEZA-CSIC), Carretera de Sacramento s/n, E-04120, La Cañada de San Urbano, Almería, Spain
| | - Cristina Armas
- Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, Spanish National Research Council (EEZA-CSIC), Carretera de Sacramento s/n, E-04120, La Cañada de San Urbano, Almería, Spain
| | - Sara Hortal
- Western Sydney University, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia
| | - Fernando Casanoves
- Unidad de Bioestadística del Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE), Turrialba, 7170, Costa Rica
| | - Francisco I Pugnaire
- Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, Spanish National Research Council (EEZA-CSIC), Carretera de Sacramento s/n, E-04120, La Cañada de San Urbano, Almería, Spain
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Zhang H, Lü X, Knapp AK, Hartmann H, Bai E, Wang X, Wang Z, Wang X, Yu Q, Han X. Facilitation by leguminous shrubs increases along a precipitation gradient. Funct Ecol 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12941] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hai‐Yang Zhang
- Erguna Forest‐Steppe Ecotone Research StationInstitute of Applied EcologyChinese Academy of Sciences Shenyang China
- Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry Jena Germany
| | - Xiao‐Tao Lü
- Erguna Forest‐Steppe Ecotone Research StationInstitute of Applied EcologyChinese Academy of Sciences Shenyang China
| | - Alan K. Knapp
- Department of BiologyColorado State University Fort Collins CO USA
| | | | - Edith Bai
- Erguna Forest‐Steppe Ecotone Research StationInstitute of Applied EcologyChinese Academy of Sciences Shenyang China
| | - Xiao‐Bo Wang
- Erguna Forest‐Steppe Ecotone Research StationInstitute of Applied EcologyChinese Academy of Sciences Shenyang China
| | - Zheng‐Wen Wang
- Erguna Forest‐Steppe Ecotone Research StationInstitute of Applied EcologyChinese Academy of Sciences Shenyang China
| | - Xiao‐Guang Wang
- College of Environment and ResourcesDalian Minzu University Dalian China
| | - Qiang Yu
- National Hulunber Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station/Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional PlanningChinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Beijing China
| | - Xing‐Guo Han
- State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental ChangeInstitute of BotanyChinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
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18
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Al-Namazi AA, El-Bana MI, Bonser SP. Competition and facilitation structure plant communities under nurse tree canopies in extremely stressful environments. Ecol Evol 2017; 7:2747-2755. [PMID: 28428865 PMCID: PMC5395439 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.2690] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2016] [Revised: 11/10/2016] [Accepted: 11/20/2016] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Nurse plant facilitation in stressful environments can produce an environment with relatively low stress under its canopy. These nurse plants may produce the conditions promoting intense competition between coexisting species under the canopy, and canopies may establish stress gradients, where stress increases toward the edge of the canopy. Competition and facilitation on these stress gradients may control species distributions in the communities under canopies. We tested the following predictions: (1) interactions between understory species shift from competition to facilitation in habitats experiencing increasing stress from the center to the edge of canopy of a nurse plant, and (2) species distributions in understory communities are controlled by competitive interactions at the center of canopy, and facilitation at the edge of the canopy. We tested these predictions using a neighbor removal experiment under nurse trees growing in arid environments. Established individuals of each of four of the most common herbaceous species in the understory were used in the experiment. Two species were more frequent in the center of the canopy, and two species were more frequent at the edge of the canopy. Established individuals of each species were subjected to neighbor removal or control treatments in both canopy center and edge habitats. We found a shift from competitive to facilitative interactions from the center to the edge of the canopy. The shift in the effect of neighbors on the target species can help to explain species distributions in these canopies. Canopy‐dominant species only perform well in the presence of neighbors in the edge microhabitat. Competition from canopy‐dominant species can also limit the performance of edge‐dominant species in the canopy microhabitat. The shift from competition to facilitation under nurse plant canopies can structure the understory communities in extremely stressful environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ali A Al-Namazi
- Evolution and Ecology Research Centre School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences UNSW Australia Sydney NSW Australia.,King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) Riyadh Saudi Arabia
| | - Magdy I El-Bana
- Department of Botany Faculty of Science Port Said University Port Said Egypt
| | - Stephen P Bonser
- Evolution and Ecology Research Centre School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences UNSW Australia Sydney NSW Australia
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Michalet R, Maalouf JP, Hayek PA. Direct litter interference and indirect soil competitive effects of two contrasting phenotypes of a spiny legume shrub drive the forb composition of an oromediterranean community. OIKOS 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.03800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Richard Michalet
- Univ. of Bordeaux, UMR CNRS 5805 EPOC, avenue Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, FR-33615 Pessac Cedex; France
| | | | - Patrick Al Hayek
- Univ. of Bordeaux, UMR CNRS 5805 EPOC, avenue Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, FR-33615 Pessac Cedex; France
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