Spatial patterns of species and plant traits in response to 20 years of grazing exclusion in subalpine grassland communities

Deléglise, Claire; Loucougaray, Grégory; Alard, Didier

doi:10.1111/j.1654-1103.2011.01277.x

Cited by 31 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Similar results were obtained in a study examining the effect of phylogenetic distance on the strength of interspecific competition: variation in the intensity of competition was strongly influenced by the monocot-eudicot evolutionary split, with monocots being weaker competitors against forbs and forbs being stronger competitors against monocots (Cahill et al 2008). Significant differences between growth forms have also been identified in the studies examining the strength of microbial feedbacks (Bartelt-Ryser et al 2005;de Kroon et al 2012), the effects of grazing (Deleglise, Loucougaray & Alard 2011), patterns of colonisation and extinction in experimentally established plant communities (Cadotte & Strauss 2011) and the ability of legumes to invade communities containing different growth forms (Turnbull et al 2005). Although the importance of growth form has been demonstrated in many studies, there is still little understanding of the actual traits that contribute to these effects.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plants are least suppressed by their frequent neighbours: the relationship between competitive ability and spatial aggregation patterns

et al. 2013

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Summary1. Previous studies have concluded that spatial aggregation of conspecifics should benefit weak competitors and put stronger competitors at a disadvantage, thus promoting plant species coexistence. However, if competitive ability is viewed as a behavioural trait, it becomes evident that traits determining spatial patterns and competitive ability could co-evolve, resulting in greater dispersal in stronger competitors and reduced competitive ability in spatially aggregated species. 2. To test this prediction, we combined spatial data from a field survey of seven temperate grassland communities with the results of a common-garden competition experiment involving 28 focal species. 3. We found that species exhibiting strong conspecific aggregation and infrequent heterospecific encounters in the field maintained greater growth in competition with conspecifics than with heterospecifics. In contrast, species that mostly encountered heterospecific neighbours in the field achieved greater growth when surrounded by heterospecific than conspecific neighbours, indicating greater competitive ability. The observed patterns of conspecific aggregation were related to variation in clonal dispersal characteristics and there was a direct positive relationship between clonal dispersal distance and competitive ability. 4. Synthesis. Our study demonstrates that viewing competitive ability as a behavioural trait that imposes different costs and benefits on an individual depending on the identity of its neighbours can provide new insights into the long-debated topic of mechanisms promoting plant species coexistence.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plants are least suppressed by their frequent neighbours: the relationship between competitive ability and spatial aggregation patterns

et al. 2013

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“…Among earlier studies focusing on the spatial analysis of functional trait diversity, Deleglise et al (), for the first time, explicitly showed that the intensity and range of spatial autocorrelation (i.e. spatial pattern) in community aggregated trait values differ between grazed and ungrazed habitats of subalpine grasslands, due to competition‐ mediated variation in species density, or to the post‐ grazing creation or disappearance of new vegetation patches and heterogeneity in site conditions.…”

Section: Hypothesized Relevance Of Ecological Processes To Large‐scalmentioning

confidence: 99%

A conceptual framework for the spatial analysis of functional trait diversity

Biswas

Mallik

Braithwaite

et al. 2015

Oikos

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Functional trait diversity is a popular tool in modern ecology, mainly used to infer assembly processes and ecosystem functioning. Patterns of functional trait diversity are shaped by ecological processes such as environmental filtering, species interactions and dispersal that are inherently spatial, and different processes may operate at different spatial scales. Adding a spatial dimension to the analysis of functional trait diversity may thus increase our ability to infer community assembly processes and to predict change in assembly processes following disturbance or land‐use change. Richness, evenness and divergence of functional traits are commonly used indices of functional trait diversity that are known to respond differently to large‐scale filters related to environmental heterogeneity and dispersal and fine‐scale filters related to species interactions (competition). Recent developments in spatial statistics make it possible to separately quantify large‐scale patterns (variation in local means) and fine‐scale patterns (variation around local means) by decomposing overall spatial autocorrelation quantified by Moran's coefficient into its positive and negative components using Moran eigenvector maps (MEM). We thus propose to identify the spatial signature of multiple ecological processes that are potentially acting at different spatial scales by contrasting positive and negative components of spatial autocorrelation for each of the three indices of functional trait diversity. We illustrate this approach with a case study from riparian plant communities, where we test the effects of disturbance on spatial patterns of functional trait diversity. The fine‐scale pattern of all three indices was increased in the disturbed versus control habitat, suggesting an increase in local scale competition and an overall increase in unexplained variance in the post‐disturbance versus control community. Further research using simulation modeling should focus on establishing the proposed link between community assembly rules and spatial patterns of functional trait diversity to maximize our ability to infer multiple processes from spatial community structure.

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“…In fact, grazing reduces species height and lateral spread differences (Deléglise et al. ) and, consequently, the ability of species to compete for light and space. Nevertheless, plant communities are affected by both equalizing and stabilizing mechanisms (Chesson ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grazing exclusion unleashes competitive plant responses in Iberian Atlantic mountain grasslands

Odriozola

García‐Baquero

Fortin

et al. 2016

Applied Vegetation Science

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Questions Does the absence of equalizing mechanisms after cessation of grazing unleash strong above‐ground competitors to create large patches in the community? Do these competitive intraspecific aggregations displace and exclude other species, thereby reducing species diversity? Location Atlantic grasslands, Aralar Natural Park, Basque Country, Northern Iberian Peninsula. Methods Large herbivores were experimentally excluded from three sites (50 m × 50 m exclusion fences) during 9 yr in a productive semi‐natural grassland system with a long history of grazing, using adjacent grazed plots as experimental controls. Sampling was carried out by systematically placing 100 quadrats (0.5 m × 0.5 m) in each of the six plots. Floristic composition and abundance, as well as eight hydrological and chemical soil properties, were measured in each quadrat. The spatial structures created by competitive species were analysed using RDA in conjunction with Moran's eigenvector maps, and soil variables were simultaneously included in the analyses, thus disentangling the structures likely created by niche effects. Competitive exclusion was further determined using linear regressions between species richness and abundance of competitive species. Results Grazing exclusion unleashed competitive species such as Festuca microphylla and Agrostis capillaris, which became dominant in the exclusion plots and created large spatial patches. Furthermore, a negative linear relationship, consistent across exclusion plots, was observed between species richness and abundance of competitive species, indicating that strong above‐ground competitors outcompeted other species when herbivores were excluded. However, the outcome of grazing exclusion across sites depended to some extent on local environmental conditions (niche effects). Conclusions This work confirms that the powerful equalizing mechanism of disturbance by herbivores is crucial for species co‐existence in productive grasslands. However, important differences observed in environmental effects across sites suggest that, even in highly productive grasslands, plant traits and local environmental characteristics (niche effects) do matter for species co‐existence.

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Spatial patterns of species and plant traits in response to 20 years of grazing exclusion in subalpine grassland communities

Cited by 31 publications

References 65 publications

Plants are least suppressed by their frequent neighbours: the relationship between competitive ability and spatial aggregation patterns

Plants are least suppressed by their frequent neighbours: the relationship between competitive ability and spatial aggregation patterns

A conceptual framework for the spatial analysis of functional trait diversity

Grazing exclusion unleashes competitive plant responses in Iberian Atlantic mountain grasslands

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