Belowground niche partitioning is maintained under extreme drought.

Autor: Weides SE; Plant Ecology Group, Institute of Evolution and Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.; Ecology Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland., Hájek T; Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Průhonice, Czech Republic.; Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic., Liancourt P; Plant Ecology Group, Institute of Evolution and Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.; Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Průhonice, Czech Republic.; Botany Department, State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany., Herberich MM; Institute of Botany, BOKU, Vienna, Austria., Kramp RE; Plant Ecology Group, Institute of Evolution and Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany., Tomiolo S; Plant Ecology Group, Institute of Evolution and Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany., Pacheco-Riaño LC; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway., Tielbörger K; Plant Ecology Group, Institute of Evolution and Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany., Májeková M; Plant Ecology Group, Institute of Evolution and Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Ecology [Ecology] 2024 Jan; Vol. 105 (1), pp. e4198. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Nov 23.
DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4198
Abstrakt: Belowground niche partitioning presents a key mechanism for maintaining species coexistence and diversity. Its importance is currently reinforced by climate change that alters soil hydrological conditions. However, experimental tests examining the magnitude of its change under climate change are scarce. We combined measurements of oxygen stable isotopes to infer plant water-uptake depths and extreme drought manipulation in grasslands. Belowground niche partitioning was evidenced by different water-uptake depths of co-occurring species under ambient and extreme drought conditions despite an increased overlap among species due to a shift to shallower soil layers under drought. A co-occurrence of contrasting strategies related to the change of species water-uptake depth distribution was likely to be key for species to maintain some extent of belowground niche partitioning and could contribute to stabilizing coexistence under drought. Our results suggest that belowground niche partitioning could mitigate negative effects on diversity imposed by extreme drought under future climate.
(© 2023 The Authors. Ecology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Ecological Society of America.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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