Plant–plant facilitation increases with reduced phylogenetic relatedness along an elevation gradient

Oikos ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milen Duarte ◽  
Miguel Verdú ◽  
Lohengrin A. Cavieres ◽  
Ramiro O. Bustamante
Keyword(s):  
Elevation Gradient ◽  
Phylogenetic Relatedness ◽  
Plant Facilitation ◽  
Plant Plant

scholarly journals Competition-free gaps are essential for the germination and recruitment of alpine species along an elevation gradient in the European Alps

Alpine Botany ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Margreiter ◽  
Janette Walde ◽  
Brigitta Erschbamer
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Seedling Recruitment ◽  
Environmental Control ◽  
Elevation Gradient ◽  
European Alps ◽  
Plant Interactions ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Seed Sowing ◽  
Plant Plant

AbstractSeed germination and seedling recruitment are key processes in the life cycle of plants. They enable populations to grow, migrate, or persist. Both processes are under environmental control and influenced by site conditions and plant–plant interactions. Here, we present the results of a seed-sowing experiment performed along an elevation gradient (2000–2900 m a.s.l.) in the European eastern Alps. We monitored the germination of seeds and seedling recruitment for 2 years. Three effects were investigated: effects of sites and home sites (seed origin), effects of gaps, and plant–plant interactions. Seeds of eight species originating from two home sites were transplanted to four sites (home site and ± in elevation). Seed sowing was performed in experimentally created gaps. These gap types (‘gap + roots’, ‘neighbor + roots’, and ‘no-comp’) provided different plant–plant interactions and competition intensities. We observed decreasing germination with increasing elevation, independent of the species home sites. Competition-released gaps favored recruitment, pointing out the important role of belowground competition and soil components in recruitment. In gaps with one neighboring species, neutral plant–plant interactions occurred (with one exception). However, considering the relative vegetation cover of each experimental site, high vegetation cover resulted in positive effects on recruitment at higher sites and neutral effects at lower sites. All tested species showed intraspecific variability when responding to the experimental conditions. We discuss our findings considering novel site and climatic conditions.

scholarly journals Pollination interactions reveal direct costs and indirect benefits of plant–plant facilitation for ecosystem engineers

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianalberto Losapio ◽  
Christian Schöb
Keyword(s):  
Fruit Set ◽  
Seed Set ◽  
Ecosystem Engineer ◽  
Direct Costs ◽  
Ecosystem Engineers ◽  
Plant Interactions ◽  
Plant Facilitation ◽  
Indirect Feedback ◽  
Associated Species ◽  
Plant Plant

Abstract Aims Ecosystem engineers substantially modify the environment via their impact on abiotic conditions and the biota, resulting in facilitation of associated species that would not otherwise grow. Yet, reciprocal effects are poorly understood as studies of plant–plant interactions usually estimate only benefits for associated species, while how another trophic level may mediate direct and indirect feedback effects for ecosystem engineers is hardly considered. Methods We ran a field experiment with two ecosystem engineers (Arenaria tetraquetra and Hormathophylla spinosa) blooming either alone or with associated plants to decompose net effects and to test the hypothesis that pollinator-mediated interactions provide benefits that balance costs of facilitation by ecosystem engineers. Important Findings We found that net costs of facilitation are accompanied by pollinator-mediated benefits. Despite ecosystem engineers producing fewer flowers per plant, they were visited by more and more diverse pollinators per flower when blooming with associated plants than when blooming alone. Although seed production per plant was higher when ecosystem engineers bloomed alone, fruit set and seed set varied between species. In one case (A. tetraquetra), fruit and seed sets were negatively affected by the presence of associated plants, whereas, in another case (H. spinosa), fruit set and seed set were higher and unaffected when ecosystem engineers bloomed with associated plants, respectively. Our findings suggest that besides experiencing direct costs, ecosystem engineers can also benefit from facilitating other species via increasing their own visibility to pollinators. Thus, we highlight that pollination interactions can compensate for costs of facilitation depending on ecosystem engineer species. This study illuminates how the outcome of direct plant–plant interactions might be mediated by indirect interactions including third players.

scholarly journals Do interactions between plant and soil biota change with elevation? A study on Fagus sylvatica

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 699-701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Defossez ◽  
Benoît Courbaud ◽  
Benoît Marcais ◽  
Wilfried Thuiller ◽  
Elena Granda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fagus Sylvatica ◽  
Elevation Gradient ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Tree Regeneration ◽  
Soil Biota ◽  
Positive Interactions ◽  
Plant Interactions ◽  
Tree Survival ◽  
Plant Plant

Theoretical models predict weakening of negative biotic interactions and strengthening of positive interactions with increasing abiotic stress. However, most empirical tests have been restricted to plant–plant interactions. No empirical study has examined theoretical predictions of interactions between plants and below-ground micro-organisms, although soil biota strongly regulates plant community composition and dynamics. We examined variability in soil biota effects on tree regeneration across an abiotic gradient. Our candidate tree species was European beech ( Fagus sylvatica L.), whose regeneration is extremely responsive to soil biota activity. In a greenhouse experiment, we measured tree survival in sterilized and non-sterilized soils collected across an elevation gradient in the French Alps. Negative effects of soil biota on tree survival decreased with elevation, similar to shifts observed in plant–plant interactions. Hence, soil biota effects must be included in theoretical models of plant biotic interactions to accurately represent and predict the effects of abiotic gradient on plant communities.

A role for below-ground biota in plant-plant facilitation

2013 ◽  
Vol 101 (6) ◽  
pp. 1420-1428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susana Rodríguez-Echeverría ◽  
Cristina Armas ◽  
Nuria Pistón ◽  
Sara Hortal ◽  
Francisco I. Pugnaire
Keyword(s):  
Below Ground ◽  
Plant Facilitation ◽  
Plant Plant

Testing the role of functional trait expression in plant–plant facilitation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephni van der Merwe ◽  
Michelle Greve ◽  
Bernard Olivier ◽  
Peter C. le Roux
Keyword(s):  
Functional Trait ◽  
Plant Facilitation ◽  
Plant Plant

scholarly journals The shift from plant-plant facilitation to competition under severe water deficit is spatially explicit

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 2441-2448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. O'Brien ◽  
Francisco I. Pugnaire ◽  
Cristina Armas ◽  
Susana Rodríguez-Echeverría ◽  
Christian Schöb
Keyword(s):  
Water Deficit ◽  
Spatially Explicit ◽  
Severe Water Deficit ◽  
Plant Facilitation ◽  
Plant Plant

Phylogenetic relatedness and immediate early gene expression in black-capped chickadees

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher B. Sturdy ◽  
Marc T. Avey ◽  
Laurie L. Bloomfield ◽  
Julie E. Elie ◽  
Todd M. Freeberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Immediate Early Gene ◽  
Early Gene ◽  
Immediate Early ◽  
Phylogenetic Relatedness ◽  
Early Gene Expression

Functional evenness of bird communities varies along the elevational gradient in Europe: Conservation implications

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Morelli ◽  
Yanina
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Elevation Gradient ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Elevational Gradient ◽  
Negative Association ◽  
Bird Communities ◽  
Breeding Bird ◽  
Bird Species Richness ◽  
Large Spatial Scale ◽  
Functional Evenness

ContextThe negative association between elevation and species richness is a well-recognized pattern in macro-ecology. ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to investigate changes in functional evenness of breeding bird communities along an elevation gradient in Europe. MethodsUsing the bird data from the EBCC Atlas of European Breeding Birds we estimated an index of functional evenness which can be assumed as a measure of the potential resilience of communities.ResultsOur findings confirm the existence of a negative association between elevation and bird species richness in all European eco regions. However, we also explored a novel aspect of this relationship, important for conservation: Our findings provide evidence at large spatial scale of a negative association between the functional evenness (potential community resilience) and elevation, independent of the eco region. We also found that the Natura2000 protected areas covers the territory most in need of protection, those characterized by bird communities with low potential resilience, in hilly and mountainous areas.ConclusionsThese results draw attention to European areas occupied by bird communities characterized by a potential lower capacity to respond to strong ecological changes, and, therefore, potentially more exposed to risks for conservation.

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