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Qin W, Sun Y, Müller-Schärer H, Huang W. Responses of non-native and native plant species to fluctuations of water availability in a greenhouse experiment. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11692. [PMID: 38983706 PMCID: PMC11232050 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2024] [Revised: 06/05/2024] [Accepted: 06/20/2024] [Indexed: 07/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Water availability strongly influences the survival, growth, and reproduction of most terrestrial plant species. Experimental evidence has well documented the effect of changes in total amount of water availability on non-native vs. native plants. However, little is known about how fluctuations in water availability affect these two groups, although more extreme fluctuations in water availability increasingly occur with prolonged drought and extreme precipitation events. Here, we grew seven non-native and seven native plant species individually in the greenhouse. Then, we exposed them to four watering treatments, each treatment with the same total amount of water, but with different divisions: W1 (added water 16 times with 125 mL per time), W2 (8 times, 250 mL per time), W3 (4 times, 500 mL per time), and W4 (2 times, 1000 mL per time). We found that both non-native and native plants produced the most biomass under medium frequency/magnitude watering treatments (W2 and W3). Interestingly, non-native plants produced 34% more biomass with the infrequent, substantial watering treatment (W4) than with frequent, minor watering treatment (W1), whereas native plants showed opposite patterns, producing 26% more biomass with W1 than with W4. Differences in the ratio of root to shoot under few/large and many/small watering treatments of non-native vs. native species probably contributed to their different responses in biomass production. Our results advance the current understanding of the effect of water availability on non-native plants, which are affected not only by changes in amount of water availability but also by fluctuations in water availability. Furthermore, our results indicate that an increased few/large precipitation pattern expected under climate change conditions might further promote non-native plant invasions. Future field experiments with multiple phylogenetically controlled pairs of non-native and native species will be required to enhance our understanding of how water availability fluctuations impact on non-native invasions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenchao Qin
- Wuhan Botanical Garden Chinese Academy of Sciences Wuhan China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
| | - Yan Sun
- College of Resources and Environment Huazhong Agricultural University Wuhan China
| | - Heinz Müller-Schärer
- College of Resources and Environment Huazhong Agricultural University Wuhan China
- Department of Biology University of Fribourg Fribourg Switzerland
| | - Wei Huang
- Wuhan Botanical Garden Chinese Academy of Sciences Wuhan China
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Wetland Evolution & Ecological Restoration, Wuhan Botanical Garden Chinese Academy of Sciences Wuhan China
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Álvarez-Holguín A, Morales-Nieto CR, Corrales-Lerma R, Ochoa-Rivero JM, Ponce-García OC, Prieto-Amparán JA, Vega-Mares JH, Villarreal-Guerrero F. Grass species with potential for rangelands restoration in northern Mexico: an assessment with environmental niche modeling. Sci Rep 2024; 14:6318. [PMID: 38491325 PMCID: PMC10943106 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-56918-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 03/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Environmental niche modeling (ENM) has emerged as a promising tool for identifying grass species with potential for rangeland restoration. This approach can detect suitable areas and environments where these species can be planted. In this study, we employed ENM to estimate the potential distribution range of 50 grass species of the grasslands and shrublands of northern Mexico. The outcome of the ENM served to identify grass species with potential for restoration in Mexico, especially those not commonly used for that purpose in the past. Results suggested the possibility of selecting seven grass species with the potential for revegetating degraded grasslands, nine for shrublands, and six for alkaline soils. This research provides insights into the environmental adaptations of different grass species distributed in the rangelands of northern Mexico. Ecologists, conservation planners, researchers, and range managers could use these outcomes and the maps of the potential distribution ranges as supportive information to conduct effective restoration efforts. In turn, this can assist in increasing the probability of success of future rangelands restoration programs, which are often costly in terms of financial investments and labor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan Álvarez-Holguín
- Facultad de Zootecnia y Ecología, Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, Periférico Francisco R. Almada Km 1, 31453, Chihuahua, Chih., Mexico
| | - Carlos Raúl Morales-Nieto
- Facultad de Zootecnia y Ecología, Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, Periférico Francisco R. Almada Km 1, 31453, Chihuahua, Chih., Mexico
| | - Raúl Corrales-Lerma
- Facultad de Zootecnia y Ecología, Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, Periférico Francisco R. Almada Km 1, 31453, Chihuahua, Chih., Mexico
| | - Jesús Manuel Ochoa-Rivero
- Campo Experimental La Campana, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias (INIFAP), Carretera Chihuahua-Ojinaga Km. 33.3, 32190, Aldama, Chih., Mexico
| | - Omar Castor Ponce-García
- Campo Experimental La Campana, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias (INIFAP), Carretera Chihuahua-Ojinaga Km. 33.3, 32190, Aldama, Chih., Mexico
| | - Jesús Alejandro Prieto-Amparán
- Facultad de Zootecnia y Ecología, Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, Periférico Francisco R. Almada Km 1, 31453, Chihuahua, Chih., Mexico
| | - José Humberto Vega-Mares
- Facultad de Zootecnia y Ecología, Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, Periférico Francisco R. Almada Km 1, 31453, Chihuahua, Chih., Mexico
| | - Federico Villarreal-Guerrero
- Facultad de Zootecnia y Ecología, Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, Periférico Francisco R. Almada Km 1, 31453, Chihuahua, Chih., Mexico.
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Javadian M, Scott RL, Biederman JA, Zhang F, Fisher JB, Reed SC, Potts DL, Villarreal ML, Feldman AF, Smith WK. Thermography captures the differential sensitivity of dryland functional types to changes in rainfall event timing and magnitude. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2023; 240:114-126. [PMID: 37434275 DOI: 10.1111/nph.19127] [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: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 06/21/2023] [Indexed: 07/13/2023]
Abstract
Drylands of the southwestern United States are rapidly warming, and rainfall is becoming less frequent and more intense, with major yet poorly understood implications for ecosystem structure and function. Thermography-based estimates of plant temperature can be integrated with air temperature to infer changes in plant physiology and response to climate change. However, very few studies have evaluated plant temperature dynamics at high spatiotemporal resolution in rainfall pulse-driven dryland ecosystems. We address this gap by incorporating high-frequency thermal imaging into a field-based precipitation manipulation experiment in a semi-arid grassland to investigate the impacts of rainfall temporal repackaging. All other factors held constant, we found that fewer/larger precipitation events led to cooler plant temperatures (1.4°C) compared to that of many/smaller precipitation events. Perennials, in particular, were 2.5°C cooler than annuals under the fewest/largest treatment. We show these patterns were driven by: increased and consistent soil moisture availability in the deeper soil layers in the fewest/largest treatment; and deeper roots of perennials providing access to deeper plant available water. Our findings highlight the potential for high spatiotemporal resolution thermography to quantify the differential sensitivity of plant functional groups to soil water availability. Detecting these sensitivities is vital to understanding the ecohydrological implications of hydroclimate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mostafa Javadian
- School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
| | - Russell L Scott
- Southwest Watershed Research Center, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Tucson, AZ, 85719, USA
| | - Joel A Biederman
- Southwest Watershed Research Center, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Tucson, AZ, 85719, USA
| | - Fangyue Zhang
- School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
- Southwest Watershed Research Center, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Tucson, AZ, 85719, USA
| | - Joshua B Fisher
- Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, CA, 92866, USA
| | - Sasha C Reed
- Southwest Biological Science Center, US Geological Survey, Moab, UT, 84532, USA
| | - Daniel L Potts
- Biology Department, SUNY Buffalo State, Buffalo, NY, 14222, USA
| | - Miguel L Villarreal
- Western Geographic Science Center, US Geological Survey, Moffett Field, CA, 94035, USA
| | - Andrew F Feldman
- Biospheric Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA
- NASA Postdoctoral Program, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA
| | - William K Smith
- School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
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