scholarly journals Games on the checkerboard : How soil heterogeneity influences plant species coexistence

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Xue
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Species Coexistence ◽  
Soil Heterogeneity ◽  
Plant Species Coexistence

Plant species’ coexistence relationships may shift according to life history traits and seasons

Plant Ecology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 215 (6) ◽  
pp. 597-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeshi Osawa ◽  
Hiromune Mitsuhashi ◽  
Atushi Ushimaru
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Species Coexistence ◽  
Plant Species Coexistence

scholarly journals The effects of rainforest fragment area on the strength of plant–pathogen interactions

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 20180493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashwin Viswanathan ◽  
Jaboury Ghazoul ◽  
Ganesh Honwad ◽  
N. Arun Kumar ◽  
Robert Bagchi
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Species Coexistence ◽  
Fragment Size ◽  
Pathogenic Fungi ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Seedling Mortality ◽  
Toona Ciliata ◽  
Plant Pathogen Interactions ◽  
Plant Species Coexistence

Pathogenic interactions between fungi and plants facilitate plant species coexistence and tropical rainforest diversity. Such interactions, however, may be affected by forest fragmentation as fungi are susceptible to anthropogenic disturbance. To examine how fragmentation affects fungus-induced seed and seedling mortality, we sowed seeds of six plant species in soils collected from 21 forest fragments. We compared seedling establishment in unmanipulated soils to soils treated with fungicides. Fungicides increased germination of Toona ciliata seeds and decreased mortality of Syzygium rubicundum and Olea dioica seedlings. The fungus-induced mortality of one of these species, S. rubicundum , decreased with decreasing fragment size, indicating that its interactions with pathogenic fungi may weaken as fragments become smaller. We provide evidence that a potential diversity-maintaining plant–fungus interaction weakens in small forest fragments and suggest that such disruptions may have important long-term consequences for plant diversity. However, we emphasize the need for further research across rainforest plant communities to better understand the future of diversity in fragmented rainforest landscapes.

scholarly journals Natural Enemies and the Maintenance of Tropical Tree Diversity: Recent Insights and Implications for the Future of Biodiversity in a Changing World

2020 ◽  
Vol 105 (3) ◽  
pp. 377-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liza S. Comita ◽  
Simon M. Stump
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Natural Enemies ◽  
Fungal Pathogens ◽  
Species Coexistence ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Tree Diversity ◽  
Forest Diversity ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Plant Species Coexistence

Over the past five decades, many studies have examined the Janzen-Connell hypothesis, which posits that host-specific natural enemies, such as insect herbivores and fungal pathogens, promote plant species coexistence by providing a recruitment advantage to rare plant species. Recently, researchers have been exploring new and exciting angles on plant-enemy interactions that have yielded novel insights into this long-standing hypothesis. Here, we highlight some empirical advances in our understanding of plant-enemy interactions in tropical forests, including improved understanding of variation in plant species’ susceptibility to enemy effects, as well as insect and pathogen host ranges. We then review recent advances in related ecological theory. These theoretical studies have confirmed that specialist natural enemies can promote tree diversity. However, they have also shown that the impact of natural enemies may be weakened, or that natural enemies could even cause species exclusion, depending on enemy host range, the spatial extent of enemy effects, and variation among plant species in seed dispersal or enemy susceptibility. Finally, we end by discussing how human impacts on tropical forests, such as fragmentation, hunting, and climate change, may alter the plant-enemy interactions that contribute to tropical forest diversity.

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