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Xiao Y, Liu X, Song Z, Lu Y, Zhang L, Huang M, Cheng Y, Chen S, Zhao Y, Zhang Z, Zhou S. Plant size-dependent influence of foliar fungal pathogens promotes diversity through allometric growth. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2024; 242:687-699. [PMID: 38396376 DOI: 10.1111/nph.19600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2023] [Accepted: 01/26/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024]
Abstract
The effect of pathogens on host diversity has attracted much attention in recent years, yet how the influence of pathogens on individual plants scales up to affect community-level host diversity remains unclear. Here, we assessed the effects of foliar fungal pathogens on plant growth and species richness using allometric growth theory in population-level and community-level foliar fungal pathogen exclusion experiments. We calculated growth scaling exponents of 24 species to reveal the intraspecific size-dependent effects of foliar fungal pathogens on plant growth. We also calculated the intercepts to infer the growth rates of relatively larger conspecific individuals. We found that foliar fungal pathogens inhibited the growth of small conspecific individuals more than large individuals, resulting in a positive allometric growth. After foliar fungal pathogen exclusion, species-specific growth scaling exponents and intercepts decreased, but became positively related to species' relative abundance, providing a growth advantage for individuals of abundant species with a higher growth scaling exponent and intercept compared with rare species, and thus reduced species diversity. By adopting allometric growth theory, we elucidate the size-dependent mechanisms through which pathogens regulate species diversity and provide a powerful framework to incorporate antagonistic size-dependent processes in understanding species coexistence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yao Xiao
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Coastal Ecosystems Research Station of the Yangtze River Estuary, Institute of Biodiversity Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, 2005 Songhu Road, Shanghai, 200438, China
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China
| | - Xiang Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China
| | - Zhiping Song
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Coastal Ecosystems Research Station of the Yangtze River Estuary, Institute of Biodiversity Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, 2005 Songhu Road, Shanghai, 200438, China
| | - Yawen Lu
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Coastal Ecosystems Research Station of the Yangtze River Estuary, Institute of Biodiversity Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, 2005 Songhu Road, Shanghai, 200438, China
| | - Li Zhang
- Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Bamboo Research Institute, Nanjing Forestry University, 159 Longpan Road, Nanjing, 210037, China
| | - Mengjiao Huang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Coastal Ecosystems Research Station of the Yangtze River Estuary, Institute of Biodiversity Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, 2005 Songhu Road, Shanghai, 200438, China
| | - Yikang Cheng
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Coastal Ecosystems Research Station of the Yangtze River Estuary, Institute of Biodiversity Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, 2005 Songhu Road, Shanghai, 200438, China
| | - Shiliang Chen
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Coastal Ecosystems Research Station of the Yangtze River Estuary, Institute of Biodiversity Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, 2005 Songhu Road, Shanghai, 200438, China
| | - Yimin Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Genetics and Germplasm Innovation of Tropical Special Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants, Ministry of Education, College of Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China
| | - Zhenhua Zhang
- Qinghai Haibei National Field Research Station of Alpine Grassland Ecosystem, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, China
| | - Shurong Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Genetics and Germplasm Innovation of Tropical Special Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants, Ministry of Education, College of Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China
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Tian Z, Li W, Kou Y, Dong X, Liu H, Yang X, Dong Q, Chen T. Effects of Different Livestock Grazing on Foliar Fungal Diseases in an Alpine Grassland on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. J Fungi (Basel) 2023; 9:949. [PMID: 37755057 PMCID: PMC10533196 DOI: 10.3390/jof9090949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2023] [Revised: 09/15/2023] [Accepted: 09/19/2023] [Indexed: 09/28/2023] Open
Abstract
In grassland ecosystems, the occurrence and transmission of foliar fungal diseases are largely dependent on grazing by large herbivores. However, whether herbivores that have different body sizes differentially impact foliar fungal diseases remains largely unexplored. Thus, we conducted an 8-year grazing experiment in an alpine grassland on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China and tested how different types of livestock (sheep (Ovis aries), yak (Bos grunniens), or both)) affected foliar fungal diseases at the levels of both plant population and community. At the population level, grazing by a single species (yak or sheep) or mixed species (sheep and yak) significantly decreased the severity of eight leaf spot diseases. Similarly, at the community level, both single species (yak or sheep) and mixed grazing by both sheep and yak significantly decreased the community pathogen load. However, we did not find a significant difference in the community pathogen load among different types of livestock. These results suggest that grazing by large herbivores, independently of livestock type, consistently decreased the prevalence of foliar fungal diseases at both the plant population and community levels. We suggest that moderate grazing by sheep or yak is effective to control the occurrence of foliar fungal diseases in alpine grasslands. This study advances our knowledge of the interface between disease ecology, large herbivores, and grassland science.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhen Tian
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, Center for Grassland Microbiome, College of Pastoral Agricultural Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China; (Z.T.); (W.L.); (Y.K.); (X.D.); (H.L.)
| | - Wenjie Li
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, Center for Grassland Microbiome, College of Pastoral Agricultural Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China; (Z.T.); (W.L.); (Y.K.); (X.D.); (H.L.)
| | - Yixin Kou
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, Center for Grassland Microbiome, College of Pastoral Agricultural Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China; (Z.T.); (W.L.); (Y.K.); (X.D.); (H.L.)
| | - Xin Dong
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, Center for Grassland Microbiome, College of Pastoral Agricultural Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China; (Z.T.); (W.L.); (Y.K.); (X.D.); (H.L.)
| | - Huining Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, Center for Grassland Microbiome, College of Pastoral Agricultural Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China; (Z.T.); (W.L.); (Y.K.); (X.D.); (H.L.)
| | - Xiaoxia Yang
- Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Adaptive Management on Alpine Grassland, Qinghai Academy of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, China; (X.Y.); (Q.D.)
| | - Quanmin Dong
- Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Adaptive Management on Alpine Grassland, Qinghai Academy of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, China; (X.Y.); (Q.D.)
| | - Tao Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, Center for Grassland Microbiome, College of Pastoral Agricultural Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China; (Z.T.); (W.L.); (Y.K.); (X.D.); (H.L.)
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Qi Y, Sun X, Peng S, Tan X, Zhou S. Effects of fertilization on soil nematode communities in an alpine meadow of Qinghai-Tibet plateau. Front Ecol Evol 2023. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2023.1122505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Nitrogen and phosphorus are important nutrient elements for plants and underground organisms. The nematode is an important part of the soil food web. Although many studies have explored the effects of fertilization on soil nematode community structure, little is known about the response mechanism of the nematode community to fertilization. In this study, we investigated the diversity and functional diversity of soil nematode communities, as well as soil physicochemical properties, root functional traits, and plant richness. We explored the response mechanism of soil nematode communities to nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer. Nitrogen fertilizer increased the abundance and richness of bacterivorous nematodes, while phosphorus fertilizer decreased the total abundance of bacterivorous nematodes. Meanwhile, the diversity of the nematode community was significantly affected by soil physicochemical properties and plant root functional traits. Therefore, our study revealed the effects of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer on soil nematode community diversity and functional diversity. Exploring the response mechanism of soil nematode communities to fertilization interference provides further evidence for the role of nematodes in maintaining the function of subsurface ecosystems.
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Liu X, Xiao Y, Lin Z, Wang X, Hu K, Liu M, Zhao Y, Qi Y, Zhou S. Spatial scale-dependent dilution effects of biodiversity on plant diseases in grasslands. Ecology 2023; 104:e3944. [PMID: 36477908 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2022] [Revised: 11/03/2022] [Accepted: 11/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The rapid biodiversity losses of the Anthropocene have motivated ecologists to understand how biodiversity affects infectious diseases. Spatial scale is thought to moderate negative biodiversity-disease relationships (i.e., dilution effects) in zoonotic diseases, whereas evidence from plant communities for an effect of scale remains limited, especially at local scales where the mechanisms (e.g., encounter reduction) underlying dilution effects actually work. Here, we tested how spatial scale affects the direction and magnitude of biodiversity-disease relationships. We utilized a 10-year-old nitrogen addition experiment in a Tibetan alpine meadow, with 0, 5, 10, and 15 g/m2 nitrogen addition treatments. Within the treatment plots, we arranged a total of 216 quadrats (of either 0.125 × 0.125 m, 0.25 × 0.25 m or 0.5 × 0.5 m size) to test how the sample area affects the relationship between plant species richness and foliar fungal disease severity. We found that the dilution effects were stronger in the 0.125 × 0.125 m and 0.25 × 0.25 m quadrats, compared with 0.5 × 0.5 m quadrats. There was a significant interaction between species richness and nitrogen addition in the 0.125 × 0.125 m and 0.25 × 0.25 m quadrats, indicating that a dilution effect was more easily observed under higher levels of nitrogen addition. Based on multigroup structural equation models, we found that even accounting for the direct impact of nitrogen addition (i.e., "nitrogen-disease hypothesis"), the dilution effect still worked at the 0.125 × 0.125 m scale. Overall, these findings suggest that spatial scale directly determines the occurrence of dilution effects, and can partly explain the observed variation in biodiversity-disease relationships in grasslands. Next-generation frameworks for predicting infectious diseases under rapid biodiversity loss scenarios need to incorporate spatial information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiang Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Yao Xiao
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Ziyuan Lin
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Xingxing Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Kui Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Mu Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Yimin Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Genetics and Germplasm Innovation of Tropical Special Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants, Ministry of Education, College of Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, China
| | - Yanwen Qi
- Key Laboratory of Genetics and Germplasm Innovation of Tropical Special Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants, Ministry of Education, College of Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, China
| | - Shurong Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Genetics and Germplasm Innovation of Tropical Special Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants, Ministry of Education, College of Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou, China
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Mipam TD, Chen F, Tian L, Zhang P, Huang M, Chen L, Wang X, Zhang P, Lin Z, Liu X. Plant community-mediated effects of grazing on plant diseases. Oecologia 2022; 199:897-905. [PMID: 35907123 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-022-05223-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2021] [Accepted: 07/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Grazing is one of the most important management practices for grasslands. To date, most studies on how grazing affects plant diseases have focused on a single plant species, ignoring plant community characteristics and phylogeny. We used data from a 6-year yak grazing experiment (0, 1, 2, and 3 yak(s) ha - 1 treatment) in an alpine meadow ecosystem of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, from which we tested grazing effects on foliar fungal diseases at both population and community levels. By measuring plant community variables (including richness, evenness, phylogenetic diversity, and composition) and disease severity, we evaluated the relative importance of plant community-mediated effects of yak grazing on community pathogen load with a multi-model inference approach. We found significant differences in pathogen load among different grazing treatments; we recorded the highest and lowest pathogen loads in the 1 yak ha - 1 treatment and in the 3 yaks ha - 1 treatment, respectively. Pielou's evenness index and community proneness (i.e., an estimate of the capacity of plant communities to support diseases) best explained variation in pathogen load, indicating that plant community-mediated effects (through evenness and proneness) of yak grazing determined pathogen load. Our study provides empirical evidence that grazing influences foliar fungal disease prevalence through plant community evenness and composition, which demonstrates the necessity of incorporating host plant community characteristics into disease load prediction frameworks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tserang Donko Mipam
- Sichuan Zoige Alpine Wetland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Institute of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, 610041, People's Republic of China
| | - Fei Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems & College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, People's Republic of China
| | - Liming Tian
- Sichuan Zoige Alpine Wetland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Key Laboratory for Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, People's Republic of China
| | - Pei Zhang
- Sichuan Zoige Alpine Wetland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Key Laboratory for Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, People's Republic of China
| | - Mengjiao Huang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, 2005 Songhu Road, Shanghai, 200438, People's Republic of China
| | - Lifan Chen
- School of Arts and Sciences, Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Shanghai, 201318, People's Republic of China
| | - Xingxing Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems & College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, People's Republic of China
| | - Peng Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems & College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, People's Republic of China
| | - Ziyuan Lin
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems & College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiang Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems & College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, People's Republic of China.
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朱 高. Research Progress on the Effects of Nitrogen Deposition on Plant Pathogens. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.12677/ije.2022.114064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
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Liu M, Mipam TD, Wang X, Zhang P, Lin Z, Liu X. Contrasting effects of mammal grazing on foliar fungal diseases: patterns and potential mechanisms. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2021; 232:345-355. [PMID: 33666239 DOI: 10.1111/nph.17324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2020] [Accepted: 03/01/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Plant pathogens and their hosts often coexist with mammal grazers. However, the direction and strength of grazing effects on foliar fungal diseases can be idiosyncratic, varying among host plant species and pathogen types. We combined a 6 yr yak-grazing experiment, a clipping experiment simulating different mammal consumption patterns (leaf damage vs whole-leaf removal), and a meta-analysis of 63 comparisons to evaluate how grazing impacts foliar fungal diseases across plant growth types (grass vs forb) and pathogen life histories (biotroph vs necrotroph). In the yak-grazing experiment, grazing had no significant effect on disease severity, and grasses experienced a higher disease severity than forbs; there was a significant interaction between pathogen type and grazing. In both the yak-grazing experiment and meta-analysis, grazing decreased biotrophic pathogens (mainly rusts and powdery mildew), but did not affect necrotrophic pathogens (mainly leaf spots). The clipping experiment suggested that grazers might promote infection by necrotrophic pathogens by producing wounds on leaves, but inhibit biotrophic pathogens via leaf removal. In conclusion, our three-part approach revealed that intrinsic properties of both plants and pathogens shape patterns of disease in natural ecosystems, greatly improving our ability to predict disease severity under mammal grazing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mu Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems & Institute of Innovation Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China
- National Observation and Research Station for Yangtze Estuarine Wetland Ecosystems, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China
| | - Tserang Donko Mipam
- Institute of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Xingxing Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems & Institute of Innovation Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China
| | - Peng Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems & Institute of Innovation Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China
| | - Ziyuan Lin
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems & Institute of Innovation Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China
| | - Xiang Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems & Institute of Innovation Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China
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