Influence of scattered Acacia trees on soil nutrient levels in arid Tunisia

Boever, Maarten De; Gabriëls, Donald; Ouessar, Mohamed; Cornelis, Wim

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2015.07.006

Cited by 14 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Higher soil C, N, and P contents under than outside the canopies of the revegetated woody plants (Fig. 4), support the "fertile island" perspective, as reported for other arid and semi-arid areas (Klemmedson and Barth 1975;Throop and Archer 2008;De Boever et al 2015). This suggests that planting A. sibirica and C. korshinskii could improve C, N, and P contents on the Loess Plateau.…”

Section: Influence Of Sampling Position On Soil Nutrient Measurementssupporting

confidence: 79%

“…7), similar to the finding by Purbopuspito and Rees (2002). The effect of woody plants have been reported to be highest in surface horizons, usually 0-5 or 0-10 cm layer (Klemmedson and Barth 1975;De Boever et al 2015), but the differences in our study were larger in the 10-20 than 0-10 cm layer, partly because the severe erosion at our study site, which is in the crisscross zone of wind and water erosion, attenuated the effect of the trees and shrubs on the surface soil. Cheng et al (2013) found that the fine root density (also the error bars) for C. korshinskii was higher in the 10-20 cm depth than the 0-10 cm depth in silty loam soil in the same study area, the Liudaogou watershed.…”

Section: (A) (B) (C)supporting

confidence: 77%

“…The introduction of shrubs or trees to grassland increases the spatial heterogeneity of the soil (Throop and Archer 2008;Wei et al 2013). Fine-scale spatial variations around individual plants in arid and semi-arid areas often produce resource rich and poor patches under and between shrub canopies, respectively, creating fertile islands (Klemmedson and Barth 1975;De Boever et al 2015;Waring et al 2015). Several mechanisms contribute to this phenomenon, including increased litter inputs, root secretions, stem flow, animal excrement, and sedimentation of atmospheric particles (Rong et al 2016); decreased erosion or increased deposition (Field et al 2012); ameliorated microclimate with lower evaporation and temperature (Kidron 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Distribution of soil nutrients under and outside tree/shrub canopies on a revegetated loessial slope

2017

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Studies of soil nutrients in revegetated land have often not provided the sampling positions on a scale of individual trees and shrubs, suggesting that nutrients were assumed to not vary substantially at fine scales. This assumption, however, conflicts with the "fertile island" theory for arid and semi-arid areas. We assessed the importance of sampling position on nutrient contents in 0-100 cm soil profiles by examining differences between soils under and outside the canopies of Armeniaca sibirica and Caragana korshinskii on a slope on the Loess Plateau, China. Soil organic carbon, total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus, ammonium N, and extractable P did not differ significantly under and outside the canopies, except for nitrate N (NO 3 −-N). The differences between these two canopy positions were significantly larger for C. korshinskii than A. sibirica for TP, significantly larger on upper than middle and lower slope sections for TN and NO 3 −-N. The NO 3 −-N content varied with sampling position around individual trees and shrubs, and trail tests about sampling position can be conducted around individual leguminous plants, in flatter areas, and in topsoil.

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Section: Influence Of Sampling Position On Soil Nutrient Measurementssupporting

confidence: 79%

Section: (A) (B) (C)supporting

confidence: 77%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Distribution of soil nutrients under and outside tree/shrub canopies on a revegetated loessial slope

2017

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“…Scattered trees are conspicuous elements in landscapes world‐wide, but are declining due to human activities especially in North America, Central America and Europe (Fischer, Zerger, et al, 2010; Plieninger et al., ). The removal of these scattered tree elements from natural and human‐dominated landscapes has been linked to a potential reduction in both biodiversity and provision of economically relevant ecosystem services, such as shade provision for livestock, pollination, nutrient cycling and pest control (Barton et al., ; De Boever, Gabriels, Ouessar, & Cornelis, ; Fischer, Stott, et al, 2010; Rejžek et al., ). However, until now, the quantification of the possible differences between areas with and without scattered trees has been hampered by the lack of comprehensive analyses on the importance of such trees for different taxonomic groups in different types of landscape (Fischer, Stott, et al, 2010; Maldonado‐López, Cuevas‐Reyes, Stone, Nieves‐Aldrey, & Oyama, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Models in (b) and (d) are simple linear models, whereas models in (a) and (c) are mixed models that also included a random term with the ID of the study. Only models equal or more plausible than the null model are shown (Barton et al, 2016;De Boever, Gabriels, Ouessar, & Cornelis, 2015;Rejžek et al, 2016). However, until now, the quantification of the possible differences between areas with and without scattered trees has been hampered by the lack of comprehensive analyses on the importance of such trees for different taxonomic groups in different types of landscape Maldonado-López, Cuevas-Reyes, Stone, Nieves-Aldrey, & Oyama, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The importance of scattered trees for biodiversity conservation: A global meta‐analysis

Prevedello

Almeida‐Gomes

Lindenmayer

2017

Journal of Applied Ecology

125

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Scattered trees are thought to be keystone structures for biodiversity in landscapes world‐wide. However, such trees have been largely neglected by researchers and their importance for biodiversity remains unclear. We completed a global meta‐analysis to quantify relationships between scattered trees and the species richness, abundance and composition of vertebrates, arthropods and plants. First, we tested whether areas near scattered trees support higher levels of species richness and abundance than nearby open areas. Second, we compared levels of species richness and abundance in matrix areas with scattered trees and areas embedded within nearby habitat patches. We also compared the composition of biological communities inhabiting habitat patches, open areas and areas with scattered trees. A total of 62 studies contained suitable data for our quantitative analyses. The local abundance of arthropods, vertebrates and woody plants was 60%–430% greater and overall species richness was 50%–100% higher in areas with scattered trees than in open areas. Conversely, for herbaceous plants, there was no consistent relationship between species abundance and the occurrence of scattered trees, although species richness was, on average, 43% lower. The abundance and richness of all taxonomic groups was similar in matrix areas supporting scattered trees and habitat patches, although the species richness of epiphytes was, on average, 50% higher in habitat patches. Communities inhabiting habitat patches were more similar in composition to the communities inhabiting areas with scattered trees, and less similar to the communities of open areas. Synthesis and applications. Areas with scattered trees support greater levels of biodiversity than open areas, as well as communities that are more similar to those inhabiting habitat patches. Scattered trees can be regarded as keystone structures for vertebrates, arthropods and terrestrial plants in landscapes world‐wide. The maintenance of scattered trees may be compatible with livestock grazing in some agricultural landscapes. Greater management effort and targeted, long‐term policies are needed to retain or re‐establish scattered trees in many farming landscapes in both forest and non‐forest biomes around the world.

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Orthophosphate fluxes in scattered trees from fragmented Andean landscapes highlight a biogeochemical role of foliar traits in pioneer species

2023

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Highly diverse neotropical ecosystems exhibit a natural limitation of phosphorus in the soil, sufficient to limit productivity and structure. This is more pronounced in Andean ecosystems, with high forest fragmentation and forest loss rates aggravating the effect. Previous studies have highlighted the importance of precipitation and its interaction with the canopy on nutrient inputs into forests. However, few studies have quantified the potential effects of structural and morphological tree diversity on the dynamics of phosphorous inputs on these ecosystems. In this study, we determined the association between 12 morphological plant functional traits and the movement of water‐driven orthophosphate from the canopy into the soil in 20 individuals of five tree species, on single individuals scattered across a human‐disturbed montane landscape in the Colombian Andes: Croton magdalenensis, Andesanthus lepidotus, Vismia baccifera and Quercus humboldtii and a commonly planted exotic species Eucalyptus globulus. We quantified PO4‐P concentrations in precipitation, throughfall and stemflow in all trees for 14 isolated rainfall events. In general, our results show a general enrichment of PO4‐P concentration in the net precipitation after passing through tree canopies. One particular species, C. magdalenensis, an ecological pioneer, had notably higher values of PO4‐P concentration. This condition relates, potentially, to a particularly higher epiphyte load, high leaf area and high trichome density. This condition potentially facilitates biogeochemical exchange and improves ecological functions associated with early stages of forest recovery (where pioneer species dominate forest composition). Our results are particularly relevant given that the highest contributions of PO4‐P to the soil occur in native species, which become key structures in the recovery of fragmented Andean ecosystems.

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Influence of scattered Acacia trees on soil nutrient levels in arid Tunisia

Cited by 14 publications

References 51 publications

Distribution of soil nutrients under and outside tree/shrub canopies on a revegetated loessial slope

Distribution of soil nutrients under and outside tree/shrub canopies on a revegetated loessial slope

The importance of scattered trees for biodiversity conservation: A global meta‐analysis

Orthophosphate fluxes in scattered trees from fragmented Andean landscapes highlight a biogeochemical role of foliar traits in pioneer species

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