1
|
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
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Alatalo JM, Dai J, Pandey R, Erfanian MB, Ahmed T, Bai Y, Molau U, Jägerbrand AK. Impact of ambient temperature, precipitation and seven years of experimental warming and nutrient addition on fruit production in an alpine heath and meadow community. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 836:155450. [PMID: 35490820 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2021] [Revised: 04/10/2022] [Accepted: 04/18/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Alpine and polar regions are predicted to be among the most vulnerable to changes in temperature, precipitation, and nutrient availability. We carried out a seven-year factorial experiment with warming and nutrient addition in two alpine vegetation communities. We analyzed the relationship between fruit production and monthly mean, maximum, and min temperatures during the fall of the pre-fruiting year, the fruiting summer, and the whole fruit production period, and measured the effects of precipitation and growing and thawing degree days (GDD & TDD) on fruit production. Nutrient addition (heath: 27.88 ± 3.19 fold change at the end of the experiment; meadow: 18.02 ± 4.07) and combined nutrient addition and warming (heath: 20.63 ± 29.34 fold change at the end of the experiment; meadow: 18.21 ± 16.28) increased total fruit production and fruit production of graminoids. Fruit production of evergreen and deciduous shrubs fluctuated among the treatments and years in both the heath and meadow. Pre-maximum temperatures had a negative effect on fruit production in both communities, while current year maximum temperatures had a positive impact on fruit production in the meadow. Pre-minimum, pre-mean, current mean, total minimum, and total mean temperatures were all positively correlated with fruit production in the meadow. The current year and total precipitation had a negative effect on the fruit production of deciduous shrubs in the heath. GDD had a positive effect on fruit production in both communities, while TDD only impacted fruit production in the meadow. Increased nutrient availability increased fruit production over time in the high alpine plant communities, while experimental warming had either no effect or a negative effect. Deciduous shrubs were the most sensitive to climate parameters in both communities, and the meadow was more sensitive than the heath. The difference in importance of TDD for fruit production may be due to differences in snow cover in the two communities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Juha M Alatalo
- Environmental Science Center, Qatar University, PO Box 2713, Doha, Qatar.
| | - Junhu Dai
- Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Rajiv Pandey
- Division of Forestry Statistics, Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehradun, India
| | - Mohammad Bagher Erfanian
- Quantitative Plant Ecology and Biodiversity Research Lab, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Talaat Ahmed
- Environmental Science Center, Qatar University, PO Box 2713, Doha, Qatar
| | - Yang Bai
- Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China
| | - Ulf Molau
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, PO Box 461, SE-405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Annika K Jägerbrand
- Department of Environmental and Biosciences, School of Business, Innovation and Sustainability, Halmstad University, P.O. Box 823, SE-301 18 Halmstad, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Zhang YZ, Qian LS, Chen XF, Sun L, Sun H, Chen JG. Diversity patterns of cushion plants on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau: A basic study for future conservation efforts on alpine ecosystems. PLANT DIVERSITY 2022; 44:231-242. [PMID: 35769589 PMCID: PMC9209862 DOI: 10.1016/j.pld.2021.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2021] [Revised: 08/25/2021] [Accepted: 09/03/2021] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) is an important cushion plant hotspot. However, the distribution of cushion plants on the QTP is unknown, as are the factors that drive cushion plant distribution, limiting our understanding of the evolution of cushion species in the region. In this study, we assessed spatial patterns of total cushion plant diversity (including taxonomic and phylogenetic) over the entire QTP and compared patterns of diversity of cushion plants with different typologies (i.e., compact vs. loose). We also examined how these patterns were related to climatic features. Our results indicate that the southern QTP hosts the highest total cushion plant richness, especially in the south-central Hengduan Mountains subregion. The total number of cushion species declines from south to north and from southeast to northwest. Compact cushion plants exhibit similar patterns as the total cushion plant richness, whereas loose cushion plants show random distribution. Cushion plant phylogenetic diversity showed a similar pattern as that of the total cushion plant richness. In addition, cushion plant phylogenetic community structure was clustered in the eastern and southwestern QTP, whereas random or overdispersed in other areas. Climatic features represented by annual energy and water trends, seasonality and extreme environmental factors, had significant effects on cushion plant diversity patterns but limited effects on the phylogenetic community structure, suggesting that climatic features indeed promote the formation of cushion plants. Because cushion plants play vital roles in alpine ecosystems, our findings not only promote our understanding of the evolution and formation of alpine cushion plant diversity but also provide an indispensable foundation for future studies on cushion plant functions and thus alpine ecosystem sustainability in the entire QTP region.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ya-Zhou Zhang
- Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Li-Shen Qian
- Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- School of Life Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan, China
| | - Xu-Fang Chen
- Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Lu Sun
- Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Hang Sun
- Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China
| | - Jian-Guo Chen
- Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Gefei Z, Zhao W, Xiaofen W. The importance of facilitation on community assembly disappears under severe drought stress. Funct Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.14043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Zhang Gefei
- Linze Inland River Basin Research Station Northwest Institute of Eco‐Environment and Resources Chinese Academy of Sciences CN‐730000 Lanzhou China
| | - Wenzhi Zhao
- Linze Inland River Basin Research Station Northwest Institute of Eco‐Environment and Resources Chinese Academy of Sciences CN‐730000 Lanzhou China
| | - Wang Xiaofen
- Prata cultural College Gansu Agricultural University CN‐730000 Lanzhou China
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Douda J, Doudová J, Holeštová A, Boublík K, Havrdová A, Slezák M. Interplay of above‐ and belowground resource limitations: a competition–facilitation shift maintains species coexistence. OIKOS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.08356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jan Douda
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech Univ. of Life Sciences Prague Prague Czech Republic
| | - Jana Doudová
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech Univ. of Life Sciences Prague Prague Czech Republic
| | - Anežka Holeštová
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech Univ. of Life Sciences Prague Prague Czech Republic
| | - Karel Boublík
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech Univ. of Life Sciences Prague Prague Czech Republic
| | - Alena Havrdová
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech Univ. of Life Sciences Prague Prague Czech Republic
| | - Michal Slezák
- Inst. of Forest Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences Zvolen Slovakia
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Wang X, Michalet R, Meng L, Zhou X, Chen S, Du G, Xiao S. Direct and indirect facilitation affect community productivity through changes in functional diversity in an alpine system. ANNALS OF BOTANY 2021; 127:241-249. [PMID: 32940643 PMCID: PMC7789107 DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcaa170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2020] [Accepted: 09/16/2020] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS Facilitation is an important ecological process for plant community structure and functional composition. Although direct facilitation has accrued most of the evidence so far, indirect facilitation is ubiquitous in nature and it has an enormous potential to explain community structuring. In this study, we assess the effect of direct and indirect facilitation on community productivity via taxonomic and functional diversity. METHODS In an alpine community on the Tibetan Plateau, we manipulated the presence of the shrub Dasiphora fruticosa and graminoids in a fenced meadow and a grazed meadow to quantify the effects of direct and indirect facilitation. We measured four plant traits: height, lateral spread, specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf dry matter content (LDMC) of forbs; calculated two metrics of functional diversity [range of trait and community-weighted mean (CWM) of trait]; and assessed the responses of functional diversity to shrub facilitation. We used structural equation modelling to explore how shrubs directly and indirectly drove community productivity via taxonomic diversity and functional diversity. KEY RESULTS We found stronger effects from herbivore-mediated indirect facilitation than direct facilitation on productivity and taxonomic diversity, regardless of the presence of graminoids. For functional diversity, the range and CWM of height and SLA, rather than lateral spread and LDMC, generally increased due to direct and indirect facilitation. Moreover, we found that the range of traits played a primary role over taxonomic diversity and CWM of traits in terms of shrub effects on community productivity. CONCLUSIONS Our study reveals that the mechanism of shrub direct and indirect facilitation of community productivity in this alpine community is expanding the realized niche (i.e. expanding range of traits). Our findings indicate that facilitators might increase trait dispersion in the local community, which could alleviate the effect of environmental filters on trait values in harsh environments, thereby contributing to ecosystem functioning.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xiangtai Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland and Agro-ecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
| | | | - Lihua Meng
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland and Agro-ecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
| | - Xianhui Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland and Agro-ecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
| | - Shuyan Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland and Agro-ecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
| | - Guozhen Du
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland and Agro-ecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
| | - Sa Xiao
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland and Agro-ecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
van der Merwe S, Greve M, Olivier B, le Roux PC. Testing the role of functional trait expression in plant–plant facilitation. Funct Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13681] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Michelle Greve
- Department of Plant and Soil Sciences University of Pretoria Pretoria South Africa
| | - Bernard Olivier
- Department of Plant and Soil Sciences University of Pretoria Pretoria South Africa
| | - Peter C. le Roux
- Department of Plant and Soil Sciences University of Pretoria Pretoria South Africa
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Zhao RM, Zhang H, An LZ. Spatial patterns and interspecific relationships of two dominant cushion plants at three elevations on the Kunlun Mountain, China. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2020; 27:17339-17349. [PMID: 32157543 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-020-08324-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2017] [Accepted: 03/04/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
One of the most important ecological processes is the formation of interspecific relationships in relation to spatial patterns among alpine cushion plants in extreme environmental habitats. However, such relationships remain poorly understood. Here, we examined the spatial patterns of alpine cushion plants along an altitudinal gradient of environmental severity and the interspecific relationship between two cushion species (Thylacospermum caespitosum and Androsace tangulashanensis) on the eastern Kunlun Mountain of China. Our results showed that the two species were highly aggregated within a distance of 2.5-5 m at the mid (S2) altitude, whereas they were randomly distributed at the low (S1) and high (S3) altitudes. A positive spatial interaction between the two species was observed over shorter distances at the mid (S2) altitude, and the spatial patterns were related to the size of individuals of the two species. Moreover, the impact of A. tangulashanensis on T. caespitosum (RIIT. caespitosum) was negative in all the study plots, and a positive impact of T. caespitosum on A. tangulashanensis (RIIA. tangulashanensis) was only observed at the mid (S2) altitude. Together, these results demonstrated that the spatial patterns of these two cushions varied with environmental severity, since the outcome of the interactions were different, to some extent, at the three altitudes. Plant size is the main factor affecting the spatial correlation and interspecific relationship between two cushions. Therefore, its potential influence should be considered when discussing interspecific relationships among cushions and their community construction at small scales in alpine ecosystems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rui-Ming Zhao
- College of Agronomy, Gansu Agricultural University, No. 1 Yingmen Village, Anning District, Lanzhou, 730070, Gansu, China.
| | - Hua Zhang
- MOE Key Laboratory of Cell Activities and Stress Adaptations, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Tianshui South Road 222, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu, China
| | - Li-Zhe An
- MOE Key Laboratory of Cell Activities and Stress Adaptations, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Tianshui South Road 222, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu, China.
- Beijing Forestry University, No. 35 Tsinghua East Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100083, China.
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Abstract
Gametophytic apomixis is a way of asexual plant reproduction by seeds. It should be advantageous under stressful high altitude or latitude environment where short growing seasons, low temperatures, low pollinator activity or unstable weather may hamper sexual reproduction. However, this hypothesis remains largely untested. Here, we assess the reproductive mode in 257 species belonging to 45 families from the world’s broadest alpine belt (2800–6150 m) in NW Himalayas using flow cytometric seed screen. We found only 12 apomictic species, including several members of Poaceae (Festuca, Poa and Stipa), Rosaceae (Potentilla) and Ranunculaceae (Halerpestes, Ranunculus), which are families typical for high apomict frequency. However, several apomictic species were newly discovered, including the first known apomictic species from the family Biebersteiniaceae (Biebersteinia odora), and first apomicts from the genera Stipa (Stipa splendens) and Halerpestes (Halerpestes lancifolia). Apomicts showed no preference for higher elevations, even in these extreme Himalayan alpine habitats. Additional trait-based analyses revealed that apomicts differed from sexuals in comprising more rhizomatous graminoids and forbs, higher soil moisture demands, sharing the syndrome of dominant species with broad geographical and elevation ranges typical for the late-successional habitats. Apomicts differ from non-apomicts in greater ability of clonal propagation and preference for wetter, more productive habitats.
Collapse
|
10
|
Meineri E, Klanderud K, Guittar J, Goldberg DE, Vandvik V. Functional traits, not productivity, predict alpine plant community openness to seedling recruitment under climatic warming. OIKOS 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.06243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Eric Meineri
- Aix Marseille Univ., Univ. of Avignon, CNRS, IRD, IMBE Marseille France
| | - Kari Klanderud
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian Univ. of Life Sciences, Ås Norway
| | - John Guittar
- Kellogg Biological Station, Dept of Integrative Biology, Michigan State Univ Hickory Corners MI USA
| | - Deborah E. Goldberg
- Dept of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Univ. of Michigan Ann Arbor MI USA
| | - Vigdis Vandvik
- Dept of Biological Sciences and Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Univ. of Bergen Bergen Norway
| |
Collapse
|