Facilitation in communities: underlying mechanisms, community and ecosystem implications

Michalet, Richard; Pugnaire, Francisco I.

doi:10.1111/1365-2435.12602

Cited by 109 publications

(100 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…For example, Schöb, Prieto, Armas, and Pugnaire () found a cost to A. tetraquetra for hosting subordinate species which increased with increasing subordinate cover. This suggests that costs and benefits of foundation species are not only species‐specific but likely depend on traits of both foundation and subordinated species (Michalet & Pugnaire, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The balance of canopy and soil effects determines intraspecific differences in foundation species’ effects on associated plants

et al. 2018

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The impact of plant–plant interactions on species diversity patterns has been broadly addressed in stressful environments, such as alpine ecosystems, where foundation species promote species richness by creating habitat for other species. However, foundation species with contrasting phenotypes might modify the microhabitat differently, which would alter the subordinate community composition, and coincide with distinct feedback effects of those subordinate species on the foundation species. However, the precise interaction mechanisms that facilitate species are not fully understood, especially the relative contribution of above‐ and below‐ground compartments of foundation species to subordinate species and the potential feedbacks they receive. We explored whether two contrasted canopy phenotypes (tight and loose) of the shrub Cytisus galianoi differed in their effects on the microhabitat and on subordinate plant community composition in a dry subalpine system. We also experimentally distinguished the relative contribution of above‐ (canopy) and below‐ground (soil) effects of C. galianoi on the most frequent subordinate species, Festuca indigesta, as well as the reciprocal effects of F. indigesta on C. galianoi. We performed observational and manipulative experiments to assess the influence of phenotypic differences of the shrub on understorey microhabitat and subordinate plant community composition. Reciprocal effects were assessed by removing either F. indigesta from the understorey of the two shrub phenotypes or the C. galianoi canopy from the immediate vicinity of F. indigesta. The two C. galianoi phenotypes differed in mean values of functional traits (like stem density or plant height), modified their understorey microhabitats differently and hosted distinct subordinate communities. Loose phenotypes had more positive effects on community composition and diversity than tight phenotypes. In addition, tight phenotypes simultaneously showed both more positive above‐ground and more negative below‐ground effects on F. indigesta than loose phenotypes. There were no significant feedback effects of F. indigesta on C. galianoi. The two phenotypes of the foundation species C. galianoi showed contrasting effects on the subordinate plant community: Compared to the tight phenotype, the loose phenotype had higher associated species diversity and reduced reciprocal interaction intensities above‐ and below‐ground with the subordinate species F. indigesta. This highlights the impact of phenotypic variation for plant interactions and community‐level diversity. A http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13139/suppinfo is available for this article.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The balance of canopy and soil effects determines intraspecific differences in foundation species’ effects on associated plants

et al. 2018

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“…Interestingly, for both species richness and abundance we found a unimodal relationship between RII and temperature stress and a linear curve along the drought gradient, the former supporting the collapse of facilitation model (Michalet et al , , Holmgren and Scheffer ) and the latter supporting the Stress gradient hypothesis (SGH, Bertness and Callaway ). Contrasting response curves along environmental gradients have been found in plant–plant interaction experiments and these discrepancies have induced an important and still not solved debate in the literature (Maestre et al , Callaway , He and Bertness , Soliveres and Maestre , Michalet et al , Michalet and Pugnaire , Liancourt et al ). The most accepted explanation is that unimodal curves should be more frequent along resource or disturbance gradients, due to the switchback of competition in resource‐poor conditions or to the collapse of facilitation in highly disturbed conditions, respectively, whereas linear increases in facilitation should be more frequent along non‐resource gradients such as temperature gradients (Michalet , Maestre et al , Michalet et al ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenotypic effects of the nurse Thylacospermum caespitosum on dependent plant species along regional climate stress gradients

Jiang

Michalet

Chen

et al. 2017

Oikos

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Contrasting phenotypes of alpine cushion species have been recurrently described in several mountain ranges along small‐scale topography gradients, with tight competitive phenotypes in stressful convex topography and loose facilitative phenotypes in sheltered concave topography. The consistency of phenotypic effects along large‐scale climate stress gradients have been proposed as a test of the likely genetic bases of the differences observed at small‐scale. Inversely, plastic phenotypic effects are more likely to vanish at some points along climate stress gradients. We tested this hypothesis for two phenotypes of the alpine cushion species Thylacospermum caespitosum at four points along regional gradients of cold and drought stress in northwest China. We measured the traits of the two cushion phenotypes and quantified their associated plant communities and environmental variables along the regional temperature and aridity gradients. Cushion height, convexity and stem density overall showed significant effect of phenotypes. Difference in tightness of cushions between phenotypes was consistent across climate conditions, whereas differences in cushion convexity and height between phenotypes increased with increasing cold stress. Phenotypic effects on species richness and abundance were consistent along both climate gradients but not effects on species composition, while there were no phenotypic effects on environmental variables. Additionally, RII (relative interaction index) curves were linear along the drought gradient but unimodal along the temperature gradient, likely due to the occurrence of contrasting species pools at the different sites. We conclude that the consistency of phenotypic effects of T. caespitosum was high for species richness and abundance and mainly explained by differences in interference mediated by likely heritable differences in cushion tightness. Additionally, our study shows that the shapes of the relationship between plant responses to neighbours and environmental stresses are not necessarily driven by niche‐based deterministic factors.

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“…Fortunately, this disparity is diminishing within some fields of ecology (e.g. Michalet & Pugnaire, ; Simberloff & Von Holle, ). Due to bigheaded carps' ability to exploit large portions of zooplankton production (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The facilitation of the native bluegill sunfish by the invasive bighead carp

Collins¹,

Nelson

DeBoom

et al. 2017

Freshwater Biology

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Communities of organisms are shaped by a complex suite of positive and negative species interactions. Ecological phenomena like biological invasions typically evoke notions of negative effects on native communities. Yet, negative effects within specific food‐web components can also have positive feedbacks that manifest elsewhere within the food web. We designed an experiment to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of invasive bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis: Cyprinidae) on planktonic and benthic invertebrates and the growth and survival of juvenile bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus: Centrarchidae). Our experiment indicated that the presence of bighead carp indirectly facilitated bluegill growth and survival. The underlying processes driving predator–predator facilitation stemmed from a combination of indirect interactions occurring through invertebrates in planktonic and vegetated habitats. Individual bluegill consumed more cladocerans and predatory macroinvertebrates in the presence of bighead carp. The presence of bighead carp appears to have indirectly influenced interactions among cladocerans, invertebrate predators, and bluegill. Understanding the cumulative direct and indirect effects of bigheaded carp on aquatic ecosystems requires the documentation of both negative and positive effects. Although one taxon benefitted from the presence of an invader, our findings demonstrate that this response occurred because bigheaded carp caused imbalances within the food web. We urge that future studies consider a priori how positive and negative interspecific interactions shape the structure of food webs.

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Facilitation in communities: underlying mechanisms, community and ecosystem implications

Cited by 109 publications

References 89 publications

The balance of canopy and soil effects determines intraspecific differences in foundation species’ effects on associated plants

The balance of canopy and soil effects determines intraspecific differences in foundation species’ effects on associated plants

Phenotypic effects of the nurse Thylacospermum caespitosum on dependent plant species along regional climate stress gradients

The facilitation of the native bluegill sunfish by the invasive bighead carp

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