Batatasin‐III and the allelopathic capacity of <i>Empetrum nigrum</i>

González, Victoria T.; Junttila, Olavi; Lindgård, Bente; Reiersen, Rigmor; Trošt, Kajetan; Bråthen, Kari Anne

doi:10.1111/njb.00559

Cited by 26 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…which inhibits alpine species from growing at lower elevations (see Nilsson 1994;Tybirk et al 2000;Eskelinen et al 2009;Aerts 2010;Eskelinen 2010;Pellissier et al 2010;González et al 2014). As tall and/or densely-growing species under certain circumstances, these three dominant species may also facilitate other species (expanding their local distribution and increasing fine-scale species richness) by providing shelter, ameliorating micro-climatic conditions, trapping protective snow in winter or inhibiting soil movement.…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrasting effects of biotic interactions on richness and distribution of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens in an arctic–alpine landscape

et al. 2015

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Biotic interactions may strongly affect the distribution of individual species and the resulting patterns of species richness. However, the impacts can vary depending on the species or taxa examined, suggesting that the influences of interactions on species distributions and diversity are not always straightforward and can be taxon-contingent. The aim of this study was therefore to examine how the importance of biotic interactions varies within a community. We incorporated three biotic predictors (cover of the dominant vascular species) into two correlative species richness modelling frameworks to predict spatial variation in the number of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens in arctic-alpine Fennoscandia, in N Europe. In addition, predictions based on single-species distribution models were used to determine the nature of the impact (negative vs. positive outcome) of the three dominant species on individual vascular plant, bryophyte and lichen species. Our results suggest that biotic variables can be as important as abiotic variables, but their relative contributions in explaining the richness of sub-dominant species varies among dominant species, species group and the modelling framework implemented. Similarly, the impacts of biotic interactions on individual species varied among the three species groups and dominant species, with the observed patterns partly reflecting species' biogeographic range. Our study provides additional support for the importance of biotic interactions in modifying arctic-alpine biodiversity patterns, and highlights that the impacts of interactions are not constant across taxa or biotic drivers. The influence of biotic interactions, including the taxon-contingency and range-based impacts, should therefore be accounted for when developing biodiversity forecasts.

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Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrasting effects of biotic interactions on richness and distribution of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens in an arctic–alpine landscape

et al. 2015

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“…; Aerts ; Bråthen, Fodstad & Gallet ; Mod, le Roux & Luoto ; González et al . ) that has negative effects on species richness in the tundra (Pellissier et al . ; Bråthen & Ravolainen ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A portfolio effect of shrub canopy height on species richness in both stressful and competitive environments

Bråthen

Lortie

2015

Functional Ecology

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Summary1. Facilitating effects of benefactor plants on plant species richness have been commonly tested in stressful habitats because competitive effects are assumed to predominate in more productive habitats. Here, we examine this assumption by testing whether benefactor plants can nonetheless be facilitating in competitive environments. 2. We provide a conceptual framework describing how a trait of benefactor plants, canopy height of shrubs, can have a portfolio of facilitative effects on species richness in more competitive environments, and we provide an empirical assessment of this portfolio effect in tundra plant communities. 3. Across tundra plant communities representing an extensive gradient in aboveground live biomass ranging from 11 to above 800 grams per m 2 , we found that species richness exhibited a humped-back relationship. Increasing canopy height of shrubs to a maximum height of what defines the dwarf shrub tundra, that is 40 cm, consistently and significantly increased species richness along the entire biomass gradient tested. 4. The positive effect of shrub canopy height was not confounded with herbivore intensity, competitive interference or abiotic factors such as bedrock-weathered mineral availability, moisture availability or temperature. However, we cannot rule out that the general presence of large mammalian herbivory may have been central to the positive effect of shrub canopy height in reducing herbivore impacts on species richness. 5. In this study, conceptual and empirical evidence support that increasing canopy height of shrubs facilitates species richness regardless of relative abiotic stress levels within tundra ecosystems. We propose that positive interactions can play an important ecological role in systems where competitive effects are observed or assumed. For tundra plant communities where climate change is currently causing encroachment of shrub species, the effects of increasing canopy height may have unprecedented effects on plant species richness.

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“…; Aerts ; Bråthen, Fodstad & Gallet ; González et al . ) that has negative effects on species richness in tundra (Pellissier et al . ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Niche construction by growth forms is as strong a predictor of species diversity as environmental gradients

Bråthen

Ravolainen

2015

Journal of Ecology

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Summary1. We present a conceptual framework that describes how species belonging to a growth form collectively can be niche constructors (i.e. modify niches) and affect species diversity in plant communities. We use an empirical assessment of tundra plant communities to illustrate the framework's utility. In doing so, we make a first investigation of collective niche construction in ecological communities. 2. In tundra plant communities, growth forms differently affect ecosystem process rates and cause environmental modifications; thus, growth forms are strong candidates for being niche constructors. To assess the impact of growth form niche construction on plant species diversity, we excluded the species of the growth form applied as niche constructor when estimating the community species diversity. 3. We assessed niche construction in 70 tundra meadow communities and 1450 randomly selected tundra plant communities that are distributed along ecological gradients in temperature, resource availability, competitive interference and herbivory. These gradients allowed us to concomitantly assess to what extent the niche construction is independent of environmental conditions. 4. Growth forms varied from strong positive to neutral predictors of both species richness and Simpson index in the order of forbs, grasses, sedges, deciduous shrubs and evergreen shrubs, suggesting that growth forms have important roles as niche constructors in tundra plant communities. Also, the environmental conditions were strong predictors of species diversity, but they did not interact with or confound the effects of growth forms. 5. Forbs and grasses were the least abundant growth forms, yet they were the strongest positive predictors of species diversity. Therefore, our results suggest a particular niche-constructing role of these growth forms for enhancing species diversity in tundra plant communities. 6. Synthesis. In this study, we provide conceptual and empirical evidence for collective niche construction as a powerful ecological process that affects species diversity and that can act independently of environmental conditions. Species sharing a single trait or species belonging to a growth form can act as collective niche constructors, and as exemplified for growth forms in this study, be important predictors of species diversity in ecological communities.

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Batatasin‐III and the allelopathic capacity of Empetrum nigrum

Cited by 26 publications

References 37 publications

Contrasting effects of biotic interactions on richness and distribution of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens in an arctic–alpine landscape

Contrasting effects of biotic interactions on richness and distribution of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens in an arctic–alpine landscape

A portfolio effect of shrub canopy height on species richness in both stressful and competitive environments

Niche construction by growth forms is as strong a predictor of species diversity as environmental gradients

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