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Liancourt P, Doležal J. Overgrowth competition or facilitation from cushion plants: Implication for the role of plant-plant interactions. Ecology 2023; 104:e3989. [PMID: 36756970 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3989] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2022] [Revised: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 12/28/2022] [Indexed: 02/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Pierre Liancourt
- Botany Department, State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany.,Plant Ecology Group, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Jiri Doležal
- Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Pruhonice, Czech Republic.,Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
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2
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Verdú M, Gómez JM, Valiente-Banuet A, Schöb C. Facilitation and plant phenotypic evolution. TRENDS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2021; 26:913-923. [PMID: 34112618 DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2021.04.005] [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: 11/19/2020] [Revised: 04/02/2021] [Accepted: 04/23/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
While antagonistic interactions between plants have been a major topic of eco-evolutionary research, little evidence exists on the evolution of positive plant interactions (i.e., plant facilitation). Here, we first summarize the existing empirical evidence on the role of facilitation as a selection pressure on plants. Then, we develop a theoretical eco-evolutionary framework based on fitness-trait functions and interaction effectiveness that provides predictions for how facilitation-related traits may evolve. As evolution may act at levels beyond the individual (such as groups or species), we discuss the subject of the units of evolutionary selection through facilitation. Finally, we use the proposed formal evolutionary framework for facilitation to identify areas of future research based on the knowledge gaps detected.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Verdú
- Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación (CSIC-UV-GV), Ctra Moncada-Náquera km4.5, 46113 Moncada, (Valencia), Spain.
| | - J M Gómez
- Dpto de Ecología Funcional y Evolutiva, Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (EEZA-CSIC), Carretera de Sacramento s/n, La Cañada de San Urbano, 0-4120 Almería, Spain
| | - A Valiente-Banuet
- Departamento de Ecología de la Biodiversidad, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A.P. 70-275, C.P. 04510, México D.F., México; Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510, México D.F., México
| | - C Schöb
- Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zurich, Universitätstrasse 2, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
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Carscadden KA, Emery NC, Arnillas CA, Cadotte MW, Afkhami ME, Gravel D, Livingstone SW, Wiens JJ. Niche Breadth: Causes and Consequences for Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation. QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.1086/710388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Liancourt P, Le Bagousse-Pinguet Y, Rixen C, Dolezal J. SGH: stress or strain gradient hypothesis? Insights from an elevation gradient on the roof of the world. ANNALS OF BOTANY 2017; 120:29-38. [PMID: 28444363 PMCID: PMC5737727 DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcx037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2017] [Accepted: 03/15/2017] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS The stress gradient hypothesis (SGH), the view that competition prevails in undisturbed and productive environments, and shifts to facilitation in disturbed or stressful environments, has become a central paradigm in ecology. However, an alternative view proposes that the relationship between biotic interactions and environmental severity should be unimodal instead of monotonic. Possible causes of discrepancies between these two views were examined in the high elevation desert of the arid Trans-Himalayas. METHODS A putative nurse species and its associated plant community was surveyed over its entire elevation range, spanning from alpine to desert vegetation belts. The results were analysed at the community level (vegetation cover and species richness), considering the distinction between the intensity and the importance of biotic interactions. Interactions at the species level (pairwise interactions) were also considered, i.e. the variation of biotic interactions within the niche of a species, for which the abundance (species cover) and probability of occurrence (presence/absence) for the most widespread species along the gradient were distinguished. KEY RESULTS Overall, facilitation was infrequent in our study system; however, it was observed for the two most widespread species. At the community level, the intensity and importance of biotic interactions showed a unimodal pattern. The departure from the prediction of the SGH happened abruptly where the nurse species entered the desert vegetation belt at the lowest elevation. This abrupt shift was attributed to the turnover of species with contrasting tolerances. At the species level, however, facilitation increased consistently as the level of stress increases and individuals deviate from their optimum (increasing strain). CONCLUSION While the stress gradient hypothesis was not supported along our elevation gradient at the community level, the strain gradient hypothesis, considering how species perceive the ambient level of stress and deviate from their optimum, provided a parsimonious explanation for the outcome of plant-plant interactions at both scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierre Liancourt
- Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Dukelská 135, 379 82 Trebon, Czech Republic
| | - Yoann Le Bagousse-Pinguet
- Departamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, C/ Tulipán s/n, 28933 Móstoles, Spain
| | - Christian Rixen
- WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos Dorf, Switzerland
| | - Jiri Dolezal
- Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Dukelská 135, 379 82 Trebon, Czech Republic
- Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Na Zlate stoce 1, 370 05 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
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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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Metz J, Tielbörger K. Spatial and temporal aridity gradients provide poor proxies for plant–plant interactions under climate change: a large‐scale experiment. Funct Ecol 2015. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12599] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Johannes Metz
- Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation Institute of Biochemistry and Biology University of Potsdam Maulbeerallee 3 14469 Potsdam Germany
| | - Katja Tielbörger
- Plant Ecology Group Institute of Evolution and Ecology University of Tübingen Auf der Morgenstelle 5 72076 Tübingen Germany
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Michalet R, Schöb C, Xiao S, Zhao L, Chen T, An L, Callaway RM. Beneficiary feedback effects on alpine cushion benefactors become more negative with increasing cover of graminoids and in dry conditions. Funct Ecol 2015. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Christian Schöb
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies University of Zürich Winterthurerstrasse 190 CH‐8057 Zürich Switzerland
| | - Sa Xiao
- School of Life Sciences Lanzhou University Lanzhou China
| | - Liang Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Three Gorges Reservoir Region′s Eco‐Environment Ministry of Education Chongqing University Chongqing 400045 China
| | - Tuo Chen
- Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute Lanzhou China
| | - Li‐zhe An
- School of Life Sciences Lanzhou University Lanzhou China
| | - Ragan M. Callaway
- Division of Biological Sciences and Institute on Ecosystems University of Montana Missoula MT USA
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Soliveres S, Smit C, Maestre FT. Moving forward on facilitation research: response to changing environments and effects on the diversity, functioning and evolution of plant communities. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2015; 90:297-313. [PMID: 24774563 PMCID: PMC4407973 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 115] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2013] [Revised: 04/02/2014] [Accepted: 04/04/2014] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Once seen as anomalous, facilitative interactions among plants and their importance for community structure and functioning are now widely recognized. The growing body of modelling, descriptive and experimental studies on facilitation covers a wide variety of terrestrial and aquatic systems throughout the globe. However, the lack of a general body of theory linking facilitation among different types of organisms and biomes and their responses to environmental changes prevents further advances in our knowledge regarding the evolutionary and ecological implications of facilitation in plant communities. Moreover, insights gathered from alternative lines of inquiry may substantially improve our understanding of facilitation, but these have been largely neglected thus far. Despite over 15 years of research and debate on this topic, there is no consensus on the degree to which plant-plant interactions change predictably along environmental gradients (i.e. the stress-gradient hypothesis), and this hinders our ability to predict how plant-plant interactions may affect the response of plant communities to ongoing global environmental change. The existing controversies regarding the response of plant-plant interactions across environmental gradients can be reconciled when clearly considering and determining the species-specificity of the response, the functional or individual stress type, and the scale of interest (pairwise interactions or community-level response). Here, we introduce a theoretical framework to do this, supported by multiple lines of empirical evidence. We also discuss current gaps in our knowledge regarding how plant-plant interactions change along environmental gradients. These include the existence of thresholds in the amount of species-specific stress that a benefactor can alleviate, the linearity or non-linearity of the response of pairwise interactions across distance from the ecological optimum of the beneficiary, and the need to explore further how frequent interactions among multiple species are and how they change across different environments. We review the latest advances in these topics and provide new approaches to fill current gaps in our knowledge. We also apply our theoretical framework to advance our knowledge on the evolutionary aspects of plant facilitation, and the relative importance of facilitation, in comparison with other ecological processes, for maintaining ecosystem structure, functioning and dynamics. We build links between these topics and related fields, such as ecological restoration, woody encroachment, invasion ecology, ecological modelling and biodiversity-ecosystem-functioning relationships. By identifying commonalities and insights from alternative lines of research, we further advance our understanding of facilitation and provide testable hypotheses regarding the role of (positive) biotic interactions in the maintenance of biodiversity and the response of ecological communities to ongoing environmental changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Santiago Soliveres
- Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología y Geología, Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Calle Tulipán s/n, 28933 Móstoles, Spain
| | - Christian Smit
- Community and Conservation Ecology group, Centre for Evolutionary and Ecological Studies, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 11103, Nijenborg 7, 9700 CC Groningen, the Netherland
| | - Fernando T. Maestre
- Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología y Geología, Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Calle Tulipán s/n, 28933 Móstoles, Spain
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Matute DR. Noisy neighbors can hamper the evolution of reproductive isolation by reinforcing selection. Am Nat 2015; 185:253-69. [PMID: 25616143 DOI: 10.1086/679504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Reinforcement is the process by which selection against hybridization leads to an increase in reproductive isolation. The influence of reinforcing selection can be detected when sympatric individuals (those from areas of secondary contact) show a higher degree of prezygotic isolation than allopatric individuals (those from areas outside each other's range). In areas of secondary contact with Drosophila santomea, Drosophila yakuba females show reinforcement of gametic isolation but not behavioral isolation, despite the fact that both behavioral and gametic isolation evolve in D. yakuba in experimental sympatry. Using behavioral assays and experimental evolution, I studied how both gametic and behavioral isolation are affected by biotic factors that the two species encounter in their natural environment. I show that if D. yakuba females are in environments where D. yakuba, D. santomea, and males from other species coexist, these females cannot fully discern between conspecific and heterospecific males. In such complex environments, gametic but not behavioral isolation evolves. The presence of nonhybridizing species can constrain the effect of reinforcement on behavioral isolation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel R Matute
- Biology Department, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
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Hughes AR, Moore AFP, Piehler MF. Independent and interactive effects of two facilitators on their habitat-providing host plant,Spartina alterniflora. OIKOS 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0706.2013.01035.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Kraigher H, Bajc M, Grebenc T. Mycorrhizosphere Complexity. DEVELOPMENTS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-08-098349-3.00008-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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