Contribution of co-occurring shrub species to community richness and phylogenetic diversity along an environmental gradient

Pistón, Nuria; Schöb, Christian; Armas, Cristina; Prieto, Iván; Pugnaire, Francisco I.

doi:10.1016/j.ppees.2016.02.002

Cited by 41 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Accordingly, we found that the presence of EEs with different plant forms allows co-occurring species to differentiate their behaviour depending on the nurse species, and increases the number of available niches by providing the opportunity for various types of spatial interactions. Indeed, species may occupy different microhabitats within nurse patches due to a micro-scale environmental heterogeneity that triggers facilitation processes through within-patch niche differentiation [18, 52]. For example, species with SIT 4 are mostly associated with cushion plants, since their short, dense leaves act as a seed trap and the effects of ecosystem amelioration are maximised at the centre of their canopy [22, 41].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To quantify the effect of all EEs on sub-community level species richness, comparing it to species richness on bare soil, we used sample-based rarefaction curves that allowed accounting for differences in sampling effort (different patch size / number of plots) within microhabitats (cushion, shrub, tussock, and bare soil) [18]. With sub-community level we refer to all the species found in relation with a type of EE and those found on bare soil.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Instead, facilitation is expected to be less common when abiotic stress is resource driven, as in arid environments [9, 10]. The nature and intensity of plant-plant interactions can change between apparently similar sites as a result of several factors such as: scale of analysis [11], combination of stressors [2, 7, 12, 13], variations induced by architectural or ontogenetic differences between individuals of interacting species in different populations [14, 15, 16], species-specific interaction due to the interplay between the functional features of nurse and beneficiary species [2, 12, 17, 18], relative tolerance to stress vs. competitive ability of the interacting species [9]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, these studies do not consider, at the scale of plant communities, the whole process of possible patch creation, alternation, coalescence and senescence, by means of the interaction of different ecosystem engineers and the degradation of microhabitat patches, that are key processes of vegetation dynamics in harsh environments [22, 24, 25]. In fact, most ecosystems are structured by multiple foundation species, whose differences in structural and functional morphology influence their impact on the community [17, 18, 26]. In addition, there are some evidences that multiple foundation species give rise to facilitation cascades, in which an independent, stress tolerant foundation species, facilitates a second, dependent foundation species to provide complementary levels of complexity and to enhance stress amelioration [20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…pl., a group of cushion species that inside the dry Puna landscape is fostered by the harshest conditions [32]. Furthermore, in spite of the evidence pointing to the effects of ecosystem engineers on either species richness or species abundance, studies integrating the impacts of these effects on species diversity across different engineer species are lacking [18, 22]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Evidence of Facilitation Cascade Processes as Drivers of Successional Patterns of Ecosystem Engineers at the Upper Altitudinal Limit of the Dry Puna

Malatesta¹,

Tardella²,

Piermarteri³

et al. 2016

PLoS ONE

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Facilitation processes constitute basic elements of vegetation dynamics in harsh systems. Recent studies in tropical alpine environments demonstrated how pioneer plant species defined as “ecosystem engineers” are capable of enhancing landscape-level richness by adding new species to the community through the modification of microhabitats, and also provided hints about the alternation of different ecosystem engineers over time. Nevertheless, most of the existing works analysed different ecosystem engineers separately, without considering the interaction of different ecosystem engineers. Focusing on the altitudinal limit of Peruvian Dry Puna vegetation, we hypothesized that positive interactions structure plant communities by facilitation cascades involving different ecosystem engineers, determining the evolution of the microhabitat patches in terms of abiotic resources and beneficiary species hosted. To analyze successional mechanisms, we used a “space-for-time” substitution to account for changes over time, and analyzed data on soil texture, composition, and temperature, facilitated species and their interaction with nurse species, and surface area of engineered patches by means of chemical analyses, indicator species analysis, and rarefaction curves. A successional process, resulting from the dynamic interaction of different ecosystem engineers, which determined a progressive amelioration of soil conditions (e.g. nitrogen and organic matter content, and temperature), was the main driver of species assemblage at the community scale, enhancing species richness. Cushion plants act as pioneers, by starting the successional processes that continue with shrubs and tussocks. Tussock grasses have sometimes been found to be capable of creating microhabitat patches independently. The dynamics of species assemblage seem to follow the nested assemblage mechanism, in which the first foundation species to colonize a habitat provides a novel substrate for colonization by other foundation species through a facilitation cascade process.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Evidence of Facilitation Cascade Processes as Drivers of Successional Patterns of Ecosystem Engineers at the Upper Altitudinal Limit of the Dry Puna

Malatesta¹,

Tardella²,

Piermarteri³

et al. 2016

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Plant–plant interactions determine natural restoration of plant biodiversity over time, in a degraded mined land

Bashirzadeh

Shefferson

Farzam

2022

Ecology and Evolution

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Restoration of degraded environments is essential to mitigate adverse impacts of human activities on ecosystems. Plant–plant interactions may provide effective means for restoring degraded arid lands, but little is understood about these impacts. In this regard, we analyzed the effects of two dominant nurse plants (i.e., Artemisia sieberi and Stipa arabica ) on taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity across different ages of land abandonment (i.e., control, recent, and old ages) in a limestone mine site in Iran. In addition, we considered two spatial scales: i) the plot scale (i.e., under 1m2 plots) and ii) the vegetation‐patch scale (i.e., under the canopies of nurse plants), to assess nurse plant effects, land abandonment ages, and their relative importance on biodiversity facets by performing Kruskal–Wallis H test and variation partitioning analysis. Our results indicated an increase in taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity at the plot scale, when considering the presence of nurse plants under old ages of land abandonment. Such significant differences were consistent with the positive effects of Artemisia patches on taxonomic diversity and Stipa patches on functional and phylogenetic diversity. In addition, we found a larger contribution from nurse plants than land abandonment age on biodiversity variation at both spatial scales studied. Therefore, these results indicate the importance of plant–plant interactions in restoring vegetation, with their effects on the presence of beneficiary species and their functional and phylogenetic relatedness depending on the nurse life forms under the stress‐gradient hypothesis.

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Richness, phylogenetic diversity, and abundance all have positive effects on invader performance in an arid ecosystem

et al. 2020

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In search of generalities in biological invasions, it is sometimes forgotten that invader success can be a function of both the diversity of the invaded community and the relatedness of the invader relative to community residents. Both qualities are likely to be especially important in stressful ecosystems, and identifying the species and community attributes that influence biological invasions can help direct management efforts in a sensitive ecosystem like those in arid regions. Pink Morning Glory, Ipomoea carnea Jaq. (Family: Convolvulaceae), is an annual vine native to Central and South America and is invasive in Egypt. We examined the performance of I. carnea at different densities in assembled communities of Egyptian annual native species. The native plant communities were manipulated to represent gradients of species richness and phylogenetic diversity and relatedness to I. carnea. We quantified the performance of I. carnea in these communities and examined the contribution of resident species richness, phylogenetic diversity, and phylogenetic relatedness to invader resistance. Our findings revealed that there was a positive relationship between invader performance and its mean phylogenetic distance to the resident species. Furthermore, species‐rich communities with more distantly related species positively contributed to invader performance in contrast to the classic biotic resistance hypothesis. Beyond these positive relationships, a positive density‐dependent effect of I. carnea on its performance was observed. We conclude that facilitative interactions are potentially important drivers promoting the successful invasion of the nonnative species I. carnea in water‐limited and harsh ecosystems. These results suggest that perhaps contrary to understanding from temperate systems, communities with a higher diversity of species could be more likely to be invaded by arid‐adapted species that are distantly related to natives. Thus, policy and management in arid regions should carefully consider reviewing the importation of nonnative species that are phylogenetically distinct and adapted to arid conditions and prioritizing their control once they are established.

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Contribution of co-occurring shrub species to community richness and phylogenetic diversity along an environmental gradient

Abstract: species may host unique communities, thereby affecting the structure and composition of the whole community. Abbreviations:RII = Relative Interaction Index (effect of the interaction on richness and abundance) .

Cited by 41 publications

References 63 publications

Evidence of Facilitation Cascade Processes as Drivers of Successional Patterns of Ecosystem Engineers at the Upper Altitudinal Limit of the Dry Puna

Evidence of Facilitation Cascade Processes as Drivers of Successional Patterns of Ecosystem Engineers at the Upper Altitudinal Limit of the Dry Puna

Plant–plant interactions determine natural restoration of plant biodiversity over time, in a degraded mined land

Richness, phylogenetic diversity, and abundance all have positive effects on invader performance in an arid ecosystem

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