Competition between Sphagnum fuscum and Drosera rotundifolia: A Case of Ecosystem Engineering

Svensson, Brita M.

doi:10.2307/3545649

Cited by 65 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Rapid transitions from open treeless mires to mire woodlands have been reported in paleoecological studies (see references in : Frankl and Schmeidl 2000;Ohlson et al 2001). However, the reverse transition from mire woodland to treeless mire can also occur (Clymo and Hayward 1982;Svensson 1995;Van Breemen 1995;Ohlson et al 2001). These transitions in microforms and vegetation also result in rapid changes in decomposition rates and carbon sequestration, stressing the urgent need for a better understanding of environmental thresholds in peatlands, and the way its surface structure and vegetation respond to climatic changes (Belyea and Malmer 2004).…”

Section: Catastrophic Shifts In Peatlandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Focusing our current study on bogs, both the hollow-species of Sphagnum, from here referred to as Sphagnum, (Clymo and Hayward 1982;Svensson 1995;Van Breemen 1995) and vascular plants (most research focusing on Pinus sylvestris; Frankl and Schmeidl 2000;Ohlson et al 2001) actively modify their habitat and thereby bog hydrology and peat accumulation. Therefore, we will now summarize findings in literature providing a more detailed overview of the habitat modification by these two functional groups.…”

Section: Vegetation Patterning In Peatlandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Linking habitat modification to catastrophic shifts and vegetation patterns in bogs

et al. 2007

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Paleoecological studies indicate that peatland ecosystems may exhibit bistability. This would mean that these systems are resilient to gradual changes in climate, until environmental thresholds are passed. Then, ecosystem stability is lost and rapid shifts in surface and vegetation structure at landscape scale occur. Another remarkable feature is the commonly observed self-organized spatial vegetation patterning, such as string-flark and maze patterns. Bistability and spatial selforganization may be mechanistically linked, the crucial mechanism being scale-dependent (locally positive and longer-range negative) feedback between vegetation and the peatland environment. Focusing on bogs, a previous model study shows that nutrient accumulation by vascular plants can induce such scale-dependent feedback driving pattern formation. However, stability of bog microforms such as hummocks and hollows has been attributed to different local interactions between Sphagnum, vascular plants, and the bog environment. Here we analyze both local and longer-range interactions in bogs to investigate the possible contribution of these different interactions to vegetation patterning and stability. This is done by a literature review, and subsequently these findings are incorporated in the original model. When Sphagnum and encompassing local interactions are included in this model, the boundaries between vegetation types become sharper and also the parameter region of bistability drastically increases. These results imply that vegetation patterning and stability of bogs could be synergistically governed by local and longerrange interactions. Studying the relative effect of these interactions is therefore suggested to be an important component of future predictions on the response of peatland ecosystems to climatic changes.

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Section: Catastrophic Shifts In Peatlandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Vegetation Patterning In Peatlandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking habitat modification to catastrophic shifts and vegetation patterns in bogs

et al. 2007

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“…Many studies add prey to traps and measure plant responses (see Ellison, 2006 for a review of these studies); however, that the plant was not catching that number of prey may itself be significant. Similarly root N additions, e.g., Svensson (1995), are often unrealistic, being less frequent, more regular and at higher concentrations than atmospheric deposition in situ. To our knowledge only one study (Millett et al 2012b) has provided any in situ evidence of decreased reliance on prey-derived nutrients when root nutrient availability is increased.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is important because the ecological and evolutionary advantage of carnivory 4 should be related to the degree to which prey-derived nutrients replace root-derived nutrients. Svensson (1995), are often unrealistic, being less frequent, more regular and at higher concentrations than atmospheric deposition in situ. To our knowledge only one study (Millett et al 2012b) has provided any in situ evidence of decreased reliance on prey-derived nutrients when root nutrient availability is increased.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrogen deposition and prey nitrogen uptake control the nutrition of the carnivorous plant Drosera rotundifolia

Millett

Foot

Svensson

2015

Science of The Total Environment

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2 AbstractNitrogen (N) deposition has important negative impacts on natural and semi-natural ecosystems, impacting on biotic interactions across trophic levels. Low-nutrient systems are particularly sensitive to changes in N inputs and are therefore more vulnerable to N deposition. Carnivorous plants are often part of these ecosystems partly because of the additional nutrients obtained from prey. We studied the impact of N deposition on the nutrition of the carnivorous plant Drosera rotundifolia growing on 16 ombrotrophic bogs across Europe. We measured tissue N, phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) concentrations and prey and root N uptake using a natural abundance stable isotope approach. Our aim was to test the impact of N deposition on D.rotundifolia prey and root N uptake, and nutrient stoichiometry. Drosera rotundifolia root N uptake was strongly affected by N deposition, possibly resulting in reduced N limitation. The contribution of prey N to the N contained in D. rotundifolia ranged from 20 to 60%. N deposition reduced the maximum amount of N derived from prey, but this varied below this maximum. Drosera rotundifolia tissue N concentrations were a product of both root N availability and prey N uptake. Increased prey N uptake was correlated with increased tissue P concentrations indicating uptake of P from prey. N deposition therefore reduced the strength of a carnivorous plant-prey interaction, resulting in a reduction in nutrient transfer between trophic levels. We suggest that N deposition has a negative impact on D. rotundifolia and that responses to N deposition might be strongly site specific.Key words: atmospheric nitrogen deposition; carnivorous plants; Drosera rotundifolia; plantinsect interactions; round-leaved sundew; stable isotopes 3 IntroductionAtmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition is a globally important pollutant (Galloway et al. 2008;Bobbink et al. 2010), which has significant local and regional impacts on ecosystems (Bobbink et al. 2010). N deposition increases N availability which can have direct impacts on individual plants (Tomassen et al. 2003;van Heerwaarden et al. 2003) and can also impact species interactions across trophic levels (Tylianakis et al. 2008). Understanding these impacts is crucial because they can result in altered species abundance, plant community composition Carnivorous plants supplement nutrients obtained through root uptake by capturing, digesting and assimilating the nutrients in animal prey, usually arthropods (Juniper et al. 1989).The uptake of prey nutrients uncouples growth and reproduction from root nutrient availability and enables carnivorous plants to successfully compete with non-carnivorous plants ( Karlsson et al. 1996) when N availability is low. The value of the captured prey is dependent on root nutrient availability; responses to prey addition are normally reduced or absent in more nutrient replete plants (Ellison 2006). Carnivorous plants can also forage for prey, reducing investment in prey capture when the value of that prey is reduced Thorén et a...

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“…In Sphagnum-dominated peatlands Sphagnum growth and production are key variables in the interactions between vascular plants and mosses and for the function of the ecosystem as carbon sequesters (Malmer et al ., 1994;Svensson, 1995;van Breemen, 1995;Berendse et al ., 2001;Ohlson et al ., 2001). Sphagnum has the ability to engineer its environment, making it acid and nutrient poor, while promoting a high water table with accompanying anoxic conditions (van Breemen, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Growth, production and interspecific competition in Sphagnum: effects of temperature, nitrogen and sulphur treatments on a boreal mire

2004

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Summary• Growth and production of Sphagnum balticum and interspecific competition between S. balticum and either Sphagnum lindbergii or transplanted Sphagnum papillosum , were studied in a 4-yr field experiment in a poor fen.• Temperature and influxes of nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S) were manipulated in a factorial design. The mean daily air temperature was increased by 3.6 ° C with glasshouse enclosures. Nitrogen loads were increased 15-fold and S loads seven-fold compared with the natural loads up to influxes observed during the 1980s in southwestern Sweden.• Production of S. balticum decreased with increasing temperature and N-influx. The N treatment significantly reduced the incremental length of S. balticum , and this reduction was reinforced with time (24% in the first year to 51% in the final year). The area covered by S. lindbergii changed with time in all treatments and S. papillosum area increased significantly in the temperature-treated plots.• Growth, production and competitive patterns change if the environmental conditions change. Increased N deposition and raised temperature may transform mires currently dominated by Sphagnum into vascular-plant-dominated mires.

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Competition between Sphagnum fuscum and Drosera rotundifolia: A Case of Ecosystem Engineering

Cited by 65 publications

References 30 publications

Linking habitat modification to catastrophic shifts and vegetation patterns in bogs

Linking habitat modification to catastrophic shifts and vegetation patterns in bogs

Nitrogen deposition and prey nitrogen uptake control the nutrition of the carnivorous plant Drosera rotundifolia

Growth, production and interspecific competition in Sphagnum: effects of temperature, nitrogen and sulphur treatments on a boreal mire

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