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Hischier CM, Hille Ris Lambers J, Iseli E, Alexander JM. Positive and negative plant-plant interactions influence seedling establishment at both high and low elevations. ALPINE BOTANY 2023; 134:15-27. [PMID: 38966403 PMCID: PMC11219458 DOI: 10.1007/s00035-023-00302-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2023] [Accepted: 10/25/2023] [Indexed: 07/06/2024]
Abstract
Deciphering how plants interact with each other across environmental gradients is important to understand plant community assembly, as well as potential future plant responses to environmental change. Plant-plant interactions are expected to shift from predominantly negative (i.e. competition) to predominantly positive (i.e. facilitation) along gradients of environmental severity. However, most experiments examine the net effects of interactions by growing plants in either the presence or absence of neighbours, thereby neglecting the interplay of both negative and positive effects acting simultaneously within communities. To partially unravel these effects, we tested how the seedling establishment of 10 mountain grassland plants varied in the presence versus absence of plant communities at two sites along an elevation gradient. We created a third experimental treatment (using plastic plant mats to mimic surrounding vegetation) that retained the main hypothesised benefits of plant neighbours (microsite amelioration), while reducing a key negative effect (competition for soil resources). In contrast to our expectations, we found evidence for net positive effects of vegetation at the low elevation site, and net negative effects at the high elevation site. Interestingly, the negative effects of plant neighbours at high elevation were driven by high establishment rates of low elevation grasses in bare soil plots. At both sites, establishment rates were highest in artificial vegetation (after excluding two low elevation grasses at the high elevation site), indicating that positive effects of above-ground vegetation are partially offset by their negative effects. Our results demonstrate that both competition and facilitation act jointly to affect community structure across environmental gradients, while emphasising that competition can be strong also at higher elevations in temperate mountain regions. Consequently, plant-plant interactions are likely to influence the establishment of new, and persistence of resident, species in mountain plant communities as environments change. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00035-023-00302-8.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Evelin Iseli
- Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Jake M. Alexander
- Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
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2
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Geppert C, Bertolli A, Prosser F, Marini L. Red-listed plants are contracting their elevational range faster than common plants in the European Alps. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2211531120. [PMID: 36913570 PMCID: PMC10041064 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2211531120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 01/18/2023] [Indexed: 03/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Mountain ecosystems are exposed to multiple anthropogenic pressures that are reshaping the distribution of plant populations. Range dynamics of mountain plants exhibit large variability with species expanding, shifting, or shrinking their elevational range. Using a dataset of more than 1 million records of common and red-listed native and alien plants, we could reconstruct range dynamics of 1,479 species of the European Alps over the last 30 y. Red-listed species were not able to track climate warming at the leading edge of their distribution, and further experienced a strong erosion of rear margins, resulting in an overall rapid range contraction. Common natives also contracted their range, albeit less drastically, through faster upslope shift at the rear than at the leading edge. By contrast, aliens quickly expanded upslope by moving their leading edge at macroclimate change speed, while keeping their rear margins almost still. Most red-listed natives and the large majority of aliens were warm-adapted, but only aliens showed high competitive abilities to thrive under high-resource and disturbed environments. Rapid upward shifts of the rear edge of natives were probably driven by multiple environmental pressures including climate change as well as land-use change and intensification. The high environmental pressure that populations encounter in the lowlands might constrain the ability of expanding species to shift their range into more natural areas at higher elevations. As red-listed natives and aliens mostly co-occurred in the lowlands, where human pressures are at their highest, conservation should prioritize low-elevation areas of the European Alps.
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Affiliation(s)
- Costanza Geppert
- Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, 35020Legnaro, Padova, Italy
| | - Alessio Bertolli
- Fondazione Museo Civico di Rovereto, 38068Rovereto, Trento, Italy
| | - Filippo Prosser
- Fondazione Museo Civico di Rovereto, 38068Rovereto, Trento, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Marini
- Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, 35020Legnaro, Padova, Italy
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3
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Wedegärtner REM, Lembrechts JJ, Wal R, Barros A, Chauvin A, Janssens I, Graae BJ. Hiking trails shift plant species' realized climatic niches and locally increase species richness. DIVERS DISTRIB 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/ddi.13552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | - Jonas J. Lembrechts
- Research Group of Plants and Ecosystems (PLECO) University of Antwerp Wilrijk Belgium
| | - René Wal
- Department of Ecology Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala Sweden
| | - Agustina Barros
- Instituto Argentino de Nivología Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales (IANIGLA), CONICET, CCT‐Mendoza Mendoza Argentina
| | - Aurélie Chauvin
- Department of Biology Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim Norway
| | - Ilias Janssens
- Research Group of Plants and Ecosystems (PLECO) University of Antwerp Wilrijk Belgium
| | - Bente Jessen Graae
- Department of Biology Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim Norway
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4
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Reciprocal interactions between a non-native shrub and the dominant native trees of a high mountain woodland: who benefits? Biol Invasions 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10530-020-02355-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Abstract
River ports represent a special type of urbanized area. They are considered to be an important driver of biological invasion and biotic homogenization on a global scale, but it remains unclear how and to what degree they serve as a pool of alien species. Data for 54 river ports (16 German, 20 Czech, 7 Hungarian, 3 Slovak, and 8 Austrian ports) on two important Central European waterways (the Elbe-Vltava and Danube waterways) were collected over 40 years. In total, 1056 plant species were found. Of these, 433 were alien, representing 41% of the total number of species found in all the studied Elbe, Vltava, and Danube ports. During comparison of floristic data from literary sources significant differences in the percentage of alien species in ports (50%) and cities (38%) were found. The number of alien species was closely related to port size, but the proportion of alien species expressed as a percentage of the total number of species did not depend significantly on port area. The proportion of alien species in both studied waterways decreased with distance from the sea and was highest in the Hungarian ports and lowest in the Czech Republic, Austria and Bavaria. Lower levels of shipping towards inland regions due to decreased river flow are likely the reason for this trend. The dissimilarity in the species composition of alien and native flora between individual river ports increased with increasing inter-port distance. Neophytes presented a stronger distance decay pattern than did either native species or archaeophytes of the Danube inland ports, potentially due to the different cargoes of individual ports, which may affect the introduction of different neophytes from different geographic areas. The results show that river ports in Central Europe should be regarded as a type of industrial area and deserve full attention with regard to the distribution and spread of alien plants.
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Marcora PI, Ferreras AE, Zeballos SR, Funes G, Longo S, Urcelay C, Tecco PA. Context-dependent effects of fire and browsing on woody alien invasion in mountain ecosystems. Oecologia 2018; 188:479-490. [PMID: 30062564 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-018-4227-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2017] [Accepted: 07/12/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Anthropogenic activities have increased disturbances and alien woody invasion in mountain ecosystems worldwide. Whether disturbances promote or counteract upward movement of woody aliens is poorly understood. We assessed if the most successful woody invader of low mountains of central Argentina (Gleditsia triacanthos) might expand its elevational distribution in response to the principal disturbances of these ecosystems (fire and livestock browsing) across increasing climatic severity. We assessed seedling emergence, growth and mycorrhizal colonization on sown plots distributed in burned and unburned sites, with and without browsing at the lower and upper elevation belts (i.e. 1000 and 2400 m a.s.l.). Additionally, several abiotic variables were measured to relate their influence on the seedling establishment. Disturbances reduced seedling emergence at both elevations. Burned conditions increased seedling growth and arbuscular colonization only in the lower belt. Seedling success (total seedling biomass per plot) was not modified by disturbances at the upper elevation, but was reduced by browsing and enhanced by fire in the lower elevation. The overall reduction in seedling emergence and growth in the upper elevation despite the higher soil nutrient content places climate as the strongest regulator of G. triacanthos seedling establishment. Accordingly, climate rather than disturbances would be the main limiting factor of upward expansion of this woody alien. Our findings differ from general patterns described for mountain invasion by herbaceous species, highlighting that mountain invasibility is highly growth-form dependent, and that upper range expansion by woody aliens interacting with multiple disturbances should be assessed worldwide.
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Affiliation(s)
- P I Marcora
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Córdoba), Av. Vélez Sársfield, 1611, 5000, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - A E Ferreras
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Córdoba), Av. Vélez Sársfield, 1611, 5000, Córdoba, Argentina.
| | - S R Zeballos
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Córdoba), Av. Vélez Sársfield, 1611, 5000, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - G Funes
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Córdoba), Av. Vélez Sársfield, 1611, 5000, Córdoba, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Vélez Sársfield 299, X5000HVA, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - S Longo
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Córdoba), Av. Vélez Sársfield, 1611, 5000, Córdoba, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Vélez Sársfield 299, X5000HVA, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - C Urcelay
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Córdoba), Av. Vélez Sársfield, 1611, 5000, Córdoba, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Vélez Sársfield 299, X5000HVA, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - P A Tecco
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Córdoba), Av. Vélez Sársfield, 1611, 5000, Córdoba, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Vélez Sársfield 299, X5000HVA, Córdoba, Argentina
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Alexander JM, Chalmandrier L, Lenoir J, Burgess TI, Essl F, Haider S, Kueffer C, McDougall K, Milbau A, Nuñez MA, Pauchard A, Rabitsch W, Rew LJ, Sanders NJ, Pellissier L. Lags in the response of mountain plant communities to climate change. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2018; 24:563-579. [PMID: 29112781 PMCID: PMC5813787 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 138] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2017] [Revised: 09/12/2017] [Accepted: 10/24/2017] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Rapid climatic changes and increasing human influence at high elevations around the world will have profound impacts on mountain biodiversity. However, forecasts from statistical models (e.g. species distribution models) rarely consider that plant community changes could substantially lag behind climatic changes, hindering our ability to make temporally realistic projections for the coming century. Indeed, the magnitudes of lags, and the relative importance of the different factors giving rise to them, remain poorly understood. We review evidence for three types of lag: "dispersal lags" affecting plant species' spread along elevational gradients, "establishment lags" following their arrival in recipient communities, and "extinction lags" of resident species. Variation in lags is explained by variation among species in physiological and demographic responses, by effects of altered biotic interactions, and by aspects of the physical environment. Of these, altered biotic interactions could contribute substantially to establishment and extinction lags, yet impacts of biotic interactions on range dynamics are poorly understood. We develop a mechanistic community model to illustrate how species turnover in future communities might lag behind simple expectations based on species' range shifts with unlimited dispersal. The model shows a combined contribution of altered biotic interactions and dispersal lags to plant community turnover along an elevational gradient following climate warming. Our review and simulation support the view that accounting for disequilibrium range dynamics will be essential for realistic forecasts of patterns of biodiversity under climate change, with implications for the conservation of mountain species and the ecosystem functions they provide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jake M. Alexander
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
- Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich, Universitätsstrasse 16, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Loïc Chalmandrier
- Landscape Ecology, Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, ETH Zurich, Universitätsstrasse 16, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
- Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Jonathan Lenoir
- UR « Ecologie et Dynamique des Systèmes Anthropisés » (EDYSAN, FRE 3498 CNRS-UPJV), Université de Picardie Jules Verne, 1 Rue des Louvels, 80000 Amiens, France
| | - Treena I. Burgess
- Centre for Phytophthora Science and Management, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Perth, 6150, Australia
| | - Franz Essl
- Division of Conservation, Landscape and Vegetation Ecology, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Sylvia Haider
- Institute of Biology / Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Christoph Kueffer
- Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich, Universitätsstrasse 16, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Keith McDougall
- Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution, La Trobe University, PO Box 821, Wodonga, Victoria, 3689, Australia
| | - Ann Milbau
- Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Kliniekstraat 25, 1070 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Martin A. Nuñez
- Grupo de Ecología de Invasiones, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, INIBIOMA, CONICET, Av. Pionero, 2335 C.P. 8400, Bariloche, Argentina
| | - Aníbal Pauchard
- Laboratorio de Invasiones Biológicas, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile
- Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB), Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile
| | - Wolfgang Rabitsch
- Environment Agency Austria, Department Biodiversity & Nature Conservation, Spittelauer Lände 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Lisa J. Rew
- Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA
| | - Nathan J. Sanders
- The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Crested Butte, CO 81224, USA
- Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark 2100
| | - Loïc Pellissier
- Landscape Ecology, Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, ETH Zurich, Universitätsstrasse 16, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
- Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland
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De Boeck HJ, Hiltbrunner E, Verlinden M, Bassin S, Zeiter M. Legacy Effects of Climate Extremes in Alpine Grassland. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2018; 9:1586. [PMID: 30425726 PMCID: PMC6218882 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2018.01586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2018] [Accepted: 10/11/2018] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Climate change is particularly apparent in many mountainous regions, with warming rates of more than twice the global average being reported for the European Alps. As a result, the probability of climate extremes has increased and is expected to rise further. In an earlier study, we looked into immediate impacts of experimentally imposed heat waves in alpine grassland, and found that these systems were able to cope with heat as long as enough water was available. However, concomitant drought led to increased stress, and reduced aboveground biomass production and green plant cover. Here, we studied the legacy effects (lag-effects) of the imposed climate extreme to see whether delayed responses occurred and how fast the alpine grassland could rebound from the initial changes. Green cover continued to be suppressed the two following years in communities that had been exposed to the most intense hot drought, while aboveground biomass production had returned to control levels by year 2. The initial lower resistance of the forb fraction in the communities was not compensated by faster recovery later on. This resulted in alpine communities that became (and remained) relatively enriched with graminoids, which resisted the original extreme better. The responses of alpine grassland to heat extremes with or without drought observed in this study resemble those typically found in lowland grassland in the short term. However, alpine grassland exhibited longer legacy effects from an annual perspective, with delayed recovery of aboveground production and persistent changes in community composition. This suggests that once initial resistance thresholds are exceeded, impacts may be longer-lasting in alpine grassland, where recovery is constrained by both the short growing season and difficult seedling establishment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hans J. De Boeck
- Centre of Excellence PLECO (Plants and Ecosystems), Department of Biology, Universiteit Antwerpen (Campus Drie Eiken), Wilrijk, Belgium
- *Correspondence: Hans J. De Boeck
| | - Erika Hiltbrunner
- Institute of Botany, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Maya Verlinden
- Centre of Excellence PLECO (Plants and Ecosystems), Department of Biology, Universiteit Antwerpen (Campus Drie Eiken), Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Seraina Bassin
- Agroscope, Climate and Agriculture Group, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Michaela Zeiter
- School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Zollikofen, Switzerland
- Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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9
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Abstract
Until now, nonnative plant species were rarely found at high elevations and latitudes. However, partly because of climate warming, biological invasions are now on the rise in these extremely cold environments. These plant invasions make it timely to undertake a thorough experimental assessment of what has previously been holding them back. This knowledge is key to developing efficient management of the increasing risks of cold-climate invasions. Here, we integrate human interventions (i.e., disturbance, nutrient addition, and propagule input) and climatic factors (i.e., temperature) into one seed-addition experiment across two continents: the subantarctic Andes and subarctic Scandinavian mountains (Scandes), to disentangle their roles in limiting or favoring plant invasions. Disturbance was found as the main determinant of plant invader success (i.e., establishment, growth, and flowering) along the entire cold-climate gradient, explaining 40-60% of the total variance in our models, with no indication of any facilitative effect from the native vegetation. Higher nutrient levels additionally stimulated biomass production and flowering. Establishment and flowering displayed a hump-shaped response with increasing elevation, suggesting that competition is the main limit on invader success at low elevations, as opposed to low-growing-season temperatures at high elevations. Our experiment showed, however, that nonnative plants can establish, grow, and flower well above their current elevational limits in high-latitude mountains. We thus argue that cold-climate ecosystems are likely to see rapid increases in plant invasions in the near future as a result of a synergistic interaction between increasing human-mediated disturbances and climate warming.
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