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Chen X, Zhang Y, Qian L, Zhou R, Sun H, Chen J. Sex-specific facilitation and reproduction of the gynodioecious cushion plant Arenaria polytrichoides on the Himalaya-Hengduan mountains, SW China. PLANT DIVERSITY 2024; 46:247-255. [PMID: 38807903 PMCID: PMC11128911 DOI: 10.1016/j.pld.2023.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2023] [Revised: 06/15/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 05/30/2024]
Abstract
When benefiting other beneficiaries, cushion plants may reciprocally receive feedback effects. The feedback effects on different sex morphs, however, remains unclear. In this study, taking the gynodioecious Arenaria polytrichiodes as a model species, we aimed to assess the sex-specific facilitation intensity of cushion plant by measuring the beneficiary cover ratio, and to assess the potential costs in cushion reproductive functions by measuring the flower and fruit cover ratios. The total beneficiary cover ratio was similar between females and hermaphrodites. Females produced much less flowers but more fruits than hermaphrodites. These results suggested that females and hermaphrodites possess similar facilitation intensity, and female cushion A. polytrichoides may allocate more resources saved from pollen production to seed production, while hermaphrodites possibly allocate more resources to pollen production hence reducing seed production. The surface areas covered by beneficiaries produced less flowers and fruits than areas without beneficiaries. In addition, strong negative correlations between beneficiary cover and flower cover were detected for both females and hermaphrodites, but the correlation strength were similar for these two sex morphs. However, the correlation between beneficiary cover and fruit cover was only significantly negative for females, suggesting that beneficiary plants negatively affect fruit reproduction of females while have neutral effects on hermaphrodites. All the results suggest that to facilitate other beneficiaries can induce reproductive costs on cushion A. polytrichoides, with females possibly suffering greater cost than hermaphrodites. Such differentiation in reproductive costs between sex morphs, in long-term perspective, may imply sex imbalance in population dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xufang Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China
| | - Yazhou Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China
| | - Lishen Qian
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China
| | - Renyu Zhou
- Yunnan Key Laboratory of Plateau Wetland Conservation, Restoration and Ecological Services, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, Yunnan, China
| | - Hang Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China
| | - Jianguo Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China
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Liversage K, Kotta J, Fraser CML, Figueira WF, Coleman RA. The overlooked role of taphonomy in ecology: post‐mortem processes can outweigh recruitment effects on community functions. OIKOS 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.06780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kiran Liversage
- Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Marine Ecology Laboratories (A11), The Univ. of Sydney NSW 2006 Australia
- Estonian Marine Inst., Univ. of Tartu Mäealuse 14 EE‐12618 Tallinn Estonia
| | - Jonne Kotta
- Estonian Marine Inst., Univ. of Tartu Mäealuse 14 EE‐12618 Tallinn Estonia
| | - Clarissa M. L. Fraser
- Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Marine Ecology Laboratories (A11), The Univ. of Sydney NSW 2006 Australia
| | - Will F. Figueira
- Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Marine Ecology Laboratories (A11), The Univ. of Sydney NSW 2006 Australia
| | - Ross A. Coleman
- Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Marine Ecology Laboratories (A11), The Univ. of Sydney NSW 2006 Australia
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Decker O, Leonard S, Gibb H. Rainfall‐dependent impacts of threatened ecosystem engineers on organic matter cycling. Funct Ecol 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Orsi Decker
- Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution School of Life Sciences La Trobe University Melbourne Vic. Australia
- Research Centre for Future Landscapes La Trobe University Melbourne Vic. Australia
| | - Steve Leonard
- Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution School of Life Sciences La Trobe University Melbourne Vic. Australia
- Research Centre for Future Landscapes La Trobe University Melbourne Vic. Australia
- Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment Hobart TAS Australia
| | - Heloise Gibb
- Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution School of Life Sciences La Trobe University Melbourne Vic. Australia
- Research Centre for Future Landscapes La Trobe University Melbourne Vic. Australia
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Guo Y, Schöb C, Ma W, Mohammat A, Liu H, Yu S, Jiang Y, Schmid B, Tang Z. Increasing water availability and facilitation weaken biodiversity-biomass relationships in shrublands. Ecology 2019; 100:e02624. [PMID: 30644535 PMCID: PMC6850503 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2018] [Revised: 12/18/2018] [Accepted: 01/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Positive biodiversity–ecosystem‐functioning (BEF) relationships are commonly found in experimental and observational studies, but how they vary in different environmental contexts and under the influence of coexisting life forms is still controversial. Investigating these variations is important for making predictions regarding the dynamics of plant communities and carbon pools under global change. We conducted this study across 433 shrubland sites in northern China. We fitted structural equation models (SEMs) to analyze the variation in the species‐richness–biomass relationships of shrubs and herbs along a wetness gradient and general liner models (GLMs) to analyze how shrub or herb biomass affected the species‐richness–biomass relationship of the other life form. We found that the positive species‐richness–biomass relationships for both shrubs and herbs became weaker or even negative with higher water availability, likely indicating stronger interspecific competition within life forms under more benign conditions. After accounting for variation in environmental contexts using residual regression, we found that the benign effect of greater facilitation by a larger shrub biomass reduced the positive species‐richness–biomass relationships of herbs, causing them to become nonsignificant. Different levels of herb biomass, however, did not change the species‐richness–biomass relationship of shrubs, possibly because greater herb biomass did not alter the stress level for shrubs. We conclude that biodiversity in the studied plant communities is particularly important for plant biomass production under arid conditions and that it might be possible to use shrubs as nurse plants to facilitate understory herb establishment in ecological restoration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanpei Guo
- Institute of EcologyCollege of Urban and Environmental Sciences and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface ProcessesPeking UniversityBeijingChina
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental StudiesUniversity of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
| | - Christian Schöb
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental StudiesUniversity of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
- Department of Environmental Systems ScienceSwiss Federal Institute of TechnologyETH ZurichZurichSwitzerland
| | - Wenhong Ma
- School of Life SciencesInner Mongolia UniversityHohhotChina
| | - Anwar Mohammat
- Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and GeographyChinese Academy of SciencesUrumqiChina
| | - Hongyan Liu
- Institute of EcologyCollege of Urban and Environmental Sciences and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface ProcessesPeking UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Shunli Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental ChangesInstitute of BotanyChinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Youxu Jiang
- Institute of EcologyCollege of Urban and Environmental Sciences and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface ProcessesPeking UniversityBeijingChina
- Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and EnvironmentState Forestry Administration, Research Institute of Forest EcologyEnvironment and ProtectionChinese Academy of ForestryBeijingChina
| | - Bernhard Schmid
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental StudiesUniversity of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
- Department of GeographyUniversity of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
| | - Zhiyao Tang
- Institute of EcologyCollege of Urban and Environmental Sciences and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface ProcessesPeking UniversityBeijingChina
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Anderson CB, Vanessa Lencinas M, Wallem PK, Valenzuela AEJ, Simanonok MP, Martínez Pastur G. Engineering by an invasive species alters landscape-level ecosystem function, but does not affect biodiversity in freshwater systems. DIVERS DISTRIB 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/ddi.12147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Christopher B. Anderson
- Institute of Polar Sciences; Natural Resources & Environment; National University of Tierra del Fuego; Onas 450 Ushuaia 9410 Argentina
- Austral Center for Scientific Research (CADIC-CONICET); Houssay 200 Ushuaia 9410 Argentina
- Omora Sub-Antarctic Research Alliance; 510 Calahaln Road Mocksville NC 27028 USA
| | - María Vanessa Lencinas
- Austral Center for Scientific Research (CADIC-CONICET); Houssay 200 Ushuaia 9410 Argentina
| | - Petra K. Wallem
- Bioamérica Consultores; Monseñor Sótero Sanz 55 - Oficina 601A Providencia Santiago Chile
| | - Alejandro E. J. Valenzuela
- Southern Patagonia Coordination Office; Argentine National Park Administration; San Martín 1395 Ushuaia 9410 Argentina
| | - Michael P. Simanonok
- Department of Ecology; Montana State University; P.O. Box 173460 Bozeman MT 59717 USA
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Testing the stress-gradient hypothesis at the roof of the world: effects of the cushion plant Thylacospermum caespitosum on species assemblages. PLoS One 2013; 8:e53514. [PMID: 23326446 PMCID: PMC3542354 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0053514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2012] [Accepted: 11/30/2012] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Many cushion plants ameliorate the harsh environment they inhabit in alpine ecosystems and act as nurse plants, with significantly more species growing within their canopy than outside. These facilitative interactions seem to increase with the abiotic stress, thus supporting the stress-gradient hypothesis. We tested this prediction by exploring the association pattern of vascular plants with the dominant cushion plant Thylacospermum caespitosum (Caryophyllaceae) in the arid Trans-Himalaya, where vascular plants occur at one of the highest worldwide elevational limits. We compared plant composition between 1112 pair-plots placed both inside cushions and in surrounding open areas, in communities from cold steppes to subnival zones along two elevational gradients (East Karakoram: 4850–5250 m and Little Tibet: 5350–5850 m). We used PERMANOVA to assess differences in species composition, Friedman-based permutation tests to determine individual species habitat preferences, species-area curves to assess whether interactions are size-dependent and competitive intensity and importance indices to evaluate plant-plant interactions. No indications for net facilitation were found along the elevation gradients. The open areas were not only richer in species, but not a single species preferred to grow exclusively inside cushions, while 39–60% of 56 species detected had a significant preference for the habitat outside cushions. Across the entire elevation range of T. caespitosum, the number and abundance of species were greater outside cushions, suggesting that competitive rather than facilitative interactions prevail. This was supported by lower soil nutrient contents inside cushions, indicating a resource preemption, and little thermal amelioration at the extreme end of the elevational gradient. We attribute the negative associations to competition for limited resources, a strong environmental filter in arid high-mountain environment selecting the stress-tolerant species that do not rely on help from other plants during their life cycle and to the fact the cushions do not provide a better microhabitat to grow in.
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Reid AM, Lortie CJ. Cushion plants are foundation species with positive effects extending to higher trophic levels. Ecosphere 2012. [DOI: 10.1890/es12-00106.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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Klemmer AJ, Wissinger SA, Greig HS, Ostrofsky ML. Nonlinear effects of consumer density on multiple ecosystem processes. J Anim Ecol 2012; 81:770-80. [PMID: 22339437 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2012.01966.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
1. In the face of human-induced declines in the abundance of common species, ecologists have become interested in quantifying how changes in density affect rates of biophysical processes, hence ecosystem function. We manipulated the density of a dominant detritivore (the cased caddisfly, Limnephilus externus) in subalpine ponds to measure effects on the release of detritus-bound nutrients and energy. 2. Detritus decay rates (k, mass loss) increased threefold, and the loss of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from detrital substrates doubled across a range of historically observed caddisfly densities. Ammonium and total soluble phosphorus concentrations in the water column also increased with caddisfly density on some dates. Decay rates, nutrient release and the change in total detritivore biomass all exhibited threshold or declining responses at the highest densities. 3. We attributed these threshold responses in biophysical processes to intraspecific competition for limiting resources manifested at the population level, as density-dependent per-capita consumption, growth, development and case : body size in caddisflies was observed. Moreover, caddisflies increasingly grazed on algae at high densities, presumably in response to limiting detrital resources. 4. These results provide evidence that changes in population size of a common species will have nonlinear, threshold effects on the rates of biophysical processes at the ecosystem level. Given the ubiquity of negative density dependence in nature, nonlinear consumer density-ecosystem function relationships should be common across species and ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda J Klemmer
- Biology Department, Allegheny College, Meadville, PA 16225, USA.
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Navel S, Mermillod-Blondin F, Montuelle B, Chauvet E, Marmonier P. Sedimentary context controls the influence of ecosystem engineering by bioturbators on microbial processes in river sediments. OIKOS 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0706.2011.19742.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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de Bello F, Doležal J, Dvorský M, Chlumská Z, Řeháková K, Klimešová J, Klimeš L. Cushions of Thylacospermum caespitosum (Caryophyllaceae) do not facilitate other plants under extreme altitude and dry conditions in the north-west Himalayas. ANNALS OF BOTANY 2011; 108:567-573. [PMID: 21813564 PMCID: PMC3158696 DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcr183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2011] [Accepted: 05/26/2011] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cushion plants are commonly considered as keystone nurse species that ameliorate the harsh conditions they inhabit in alpine ecosystems, thus facilitating other species and increasing alpine plant biodiversity. A literature search resulted in 25 key studies showing overwhelming facilitative effects of different cushion plants and hypothesizing greater facilitation with increased environmental severity (i.e. higher altitude and/or lower rainfall). At the same time, emerging ecological theory alongside the cushion-specific literature suggests that facilitation might not always occur under extreme environmental conditions, and especially under high altitude and dryness. METHODS To assess these hypotheses, possible nursing effects of Thylacospermum caespitosum (Caryophyllaceae) were examined at extremely high altitude (5900 m a.s.l.) and in dry conditions (precipitation <100 mm year(-1)) in Eastern Ladakh, Trans-Himalaya. This is, by far, the highest site, and the second driest, at which the effects of cushions have been studied so far. KEY RESULTS In accordance with the theoretical predictions, no nursing effects of T. caespitosum on other alpine plants were detected. The number and abundance of species were greater outside cushions than within and on the edge of cushions. None of the 13 species detected was positively associated with cushions, while nine of them were negatively associated. Plant diversity increased with the size of the area sampled outside cushions, but no species-area relationship was found within cushions. CONCLUSIONS The results support the emerging theoretical prediction of restricted facilitative effects under extreme combinations of cold and dryness, integrating these ideas in the context of the ecology of cushion plants. This evidence suggests that cases of missing strong facilitation are likely to be found in other extreme alpine conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco de Bello
- Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Dukelská 135, CZ-379 82 Třeboň, Czech Republic.
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LANE AMANDAM, SHINE RICHARD. When seasnake meets seabird: Ecosystem engineering, facilitation and competition. AUSTRAL ECOL 2010. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1442-9993.2010.02185.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Predicting effects of ecosystem engineering on species richness along primary productivity gradients. ACTA OECOLOGICA-INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/j.actao.2009.09.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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