scholarly journals Mechanisms, Determinants and Model of Early Succession on the Lateritic Plateau of the Sahelian Part of Western Niger

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Soumana Idrissa ◽  
Iro Dan Guimbo ◽  
Tougiani Abasse ◽  
Guero Yadji ◽  
Mahamane Ali
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Alternative Stable States ◽  
Exchange Capacity ◽  
Available Phosphorus ◽  
Stable States ◽  
Vegetation Development ◽  
Plant Assemblage ◽  
Species Establishment

<p class="1Body">Western Niger lateritic plateaux formally occupied by tiger bush are mainly secondary ecosystems affected by crusting and soil compaction that impedes infiltration and induces intense erosion, which hampered lowlands millet fields. Restoration of these plateaux is essential, but, failure is frequently reported about early species establishment. It’s therefore necessary to examine the mechanisms and factors of early plants recovery which are important for vegetation restoration. Vegetation data have been recorded in 31 plots, at four sites with similar environmental characteristics and different land use histories: Unrevegetated area, 1-3-years old revegetated area, 6-years old revegetated area and 14-years old revegetated area. We also measured 16 environmental variables in each plot to examine the driving forces of succession and the vegetation-environment relationships. TWINSPAN results revealed that plant species could be classified into six plant communities representing 4 succession stages. The DCA confirm TWINSPAN classification and indicated two gradients of succession: land condition and successional age. According to the CCA and the Monte Carlo tests, the determinants of succession are succession age, covers of gravel crusts, erosive crusts, barren soil, plants and litter, soil pH, soil contents of organic carbon, organic matter, available phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, total of basic cations and Cation exchange capacity. The chronological changes in plant communities associated with environmental variables contribute to plant assemblage and vegetation development. Since, the environmental variables are able to change with succession age, succession pathways can be divergent, but in the present study it becomes convergent at late stage. As each stage can be structured by more than one plant community, the model of restoring degraded lateritic is closer to alternative stable states model.</p>

scholarly journals Dynamic of Dominant Plant Communities in Kettle Holes (Northeast Germany) during a Five-Year Period of Extreme Weather Conditions

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 688
Author(s):  
Marlene Pätzig ◽  
Eveline Düker
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Alternative Stable States ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Systems ◽  
Terrestrial Plants ◽  
Stable States ◽  
Central European ◽  
Progressive Succession

Understanding the ecosystem functions and services of central European kettle holes (small wetlands) requires knowledge about their spatiotemporal dynamics. A lot of existing research has been conducted on the wet–dry cycles of North American potholes, but much less is known about kettle holes. Based on the extreme weather conditions between 2015 and 2020, we aimed to quantify differences among dominant plant communities of kettle holes using unmanned aerial systems. Different dominant plant communities were differently affected by dry and wet intervals with a major increase in terrestrial plants. Multivariate analysis showed strong variability in plant community composition for permanent and semi-permanent kettle holes, where hydrophytes decreased and nitrophilous perennials increased. Although we cannot provide quantitative results in succession over a five-year observation period, we found indications of progressive succession towards irreversible alternative stable states with woody plants for some kettle holes, especially of the “storage type”. Therefore, we assume stronger changes in proportion of wetland types in kettle holes compared to potholes and we expect the proportion of wood-dominated kettle holes to increase in the central European landscape in the future, leading to enhanced homogenization of the landscape accompanied by a loss of ecosystem functions and services.

Fire Feedbacks with Vegetation and Alternative Stable States

2009 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Beckage ◽  
Chris Ellingwood ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Stable States ◽  
Stable States ◽  
Fire Feedbacks

Are systems with strong underlying abiotic regimes more likely to exhibit alternative stable states?

Oikos ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 110 (2) ◽  
pp. 409-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raphael K. Didham ◽  
Corinne H. Watts ◽  
David A. Norton
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Stable States ◽  
Stable States

scholarly journals Path-dependent institutions drive alternative stable states in conservation

2018 ◽  
Vol 116 (2) ◽  
pp. 689-694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward W. Tekwa ◽  
Eli P. Fenichel ◽  
Simon A. Levin ◽  
Malin L. Pinsky
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Resources ◽  
Path Dependence ◽  
Alternative Stable States ◽  
Stable State ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Stable States ◽  
Alternative Stable State ◽  
Important Challenge ◽  
Quantitative Analyses ◽  
Path Dependent

Understanding why some renewable resources are overharvested while others are conserved remains an important challenge. Most explanations focus on institutional or ecological differences among resources. Here, we provide theoretical and empirical evidence that conservation and overharvest can be alternative stable states within the same exclusive-resource management system because of path-dependent processes, including slow institutional adaptation. Surprisingly, this theory predicts that the alternative states of strong conservation or overharvest are most likely for resources that were previously thought to be easily conserved under optimal management or even open access. Quantitative analyses of harvest rates from 217 intensely managed fisheries supports the predictions. Fisheries’ harvest rates also showed transient dynamics characteristic of path dependence, as well as convergence to the alternative stable state after unexpected transitions. This statistical evidence for path dependence differs from previous empirical support that was based largely on case studies, experiments, and distributional analyses. Alternative stable states in conservation appear likely outcomes for many cooperatively managed renewable resources, which implies that achieving conservation outcomes hinges on harnessing existing policy tools to navigate transitions.

scholarly journals Effects of biological legacies and herbivory on fuels and flammability traits: A long-term experimental study of alternative stable states

2017 ◽  
Vol 105 (5) ◽  
pp. 1309-1322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melisa Blackhall ◽  
Estela Raffaele ◽  
Juan Paritsis ◽  
Florencia Tiribelli ◽  
Juan M. Morales ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Alternative Stable States ◽  
Stable States ◽  
Biological Legacies

scholarly journals Resilience of Alternative Stable States during the Recovery of Shallow Lakes from Eutrophication: Lake Veluwe as a Case Study

Ecosystems ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bas W. Ibelings ◽  
Rob Portielje ◽  
Eddy H. R. R. Lammens ◽  
Ruurd Noordhuis ◽  
Marcel S. van den Berg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Shallow Lakes ◽  
Alternative Stable States ◽  
Stable States

Seasonal-dependence in the responses of biological communities to flood pulses in warm temperate floodplain lakes: implications for the “alternative stable states” model

2014 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 579-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Griselda Chaparro ◽  
María Soledad Fontanarrosa ◽  
María Romina Schiaffino ◽  
Paula de Tezanos Pinto ◽  
Inés O’Farrell
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Stable States ◽  
Floodplain Lakes ◽  
Stable States ◽  
Biological Communities ◽  
Flood Pulses ◽  
Warm Temperate ◽  
Seasonal Dependence

scholarly journals Environmental variables and Piper assemblage composition: a mesoscale study in the Madeira-Purus interfluve, Central Amazonia

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 83-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolina Bernardes ◽  
Flávia Regina Capellotto Costa
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Environmental Variable ◽  
Canopy Openness ◽  
Assemblage Composition ◽  
Cation Content ◽  
Litter Depth ◽  
Plant Assemblage ◽  
Plant Groups ◽  
Central Amazonia ◽  
Floristic Variation

This study aimed to determine the effects of canopy openness, litter depth, soil cation content and texture on Piper assemblage composition at a mesoscale. Piper assemblage composition and environmental variables were inventoried in 41 0.125 ha (250 × 5 m) plots placed in a terra firme forest located in the Madeira-Purus interfluve, Central Amazonia. Ordination of the 41 plots by Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) in one dimension captured 58% of the floristic variation and was used as the response variable in multiple regression models. Environmental variables explained 39% of the variation in Piper assemblage composition, which was significantly related to litter depth, soil texture and canopy openness, but not to the cation content. Effects of edaphic components on plant assemblage structure have been reported for different plant groups, however the strong effect of litter depth at a mesoscale had not yet been demonstrated. We suggest that litter depth variation not only influences the structure of Piper assemblages, but also of other plant groups at a mesoscale, as this environmental variable has a direct or indirect effect on species germination and establishment.

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