Evaluating nurse plants for restoring native woody species to degraded subtropical woodlands
| Autor: | Carla M. D'Antonio, Stephanie G. Yelenik, Nicole DiManno |
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| Rok vydání: | 2015 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Leptocophylla tameiaeia invasive grasses dry subtropical Metrosideros woodland restoration Life on Land media_common.quotation_subject Introduced species Woodland Biology Dodonaea viscosa 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Competition (biology) Invasive species facilitation Nursing Abundance (ecology) Morella faya seedling recruitment Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Nature and Landscape Conservation media_common Original Research Evolutionary Biology Ecology 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology Species diversity food and beverages 15. Life on land succession Habitat competition Woody plant |
| Zdroj: | Ecology and evolution, vol 5, iss 2 Ecology and Evolution |
| Popis: | Harsh habitats dominated by invasive species are difficult to restore. Invasive grasses in arid environments slow succession toward more desired composition, yet grass removal exacerbates high light and temperature, making the use of "nurse plants" an appealing strategy. In this study of degraded subtropical woodlands dominated by alien grasses in Hawai'i, we evaluated whether individuals of two native (Dodonaea viscosa, Leptocophylla tameiameia) and one non-native (Morella faya) woody species (1) act as natural nodes of recruitment for native woody species and (2) can be used to enhance survivorship of outplanted native woody species. To address these questions, we quantified the presence and persistence of seedlings naturally recruiting beneath adult nurse shrubs and compared survival and growth of experimentally outplanted seedlings of seven native woody species under the nurse species compared to intact and cleared alien-grass plots. We found that the two native nurse shrubs recruit their own offspring, but do not act as establishment nodes for other species. Morella faya recruited even fewer seedlings than native shrubs. Thus, outplanting will be necessary to increase abundance and diversity of native woody species. Outplant survival was the highest under shrubs compared to away from them with few differences between nurse species. The worst habitat for native seedling survival and growth was within the unmanaged invasive grass matrix. Although the two native nurse species did not differentially affect outplant survival, D.viscosa is the most widespread and easily propagated and is thus more likely to be useful as an initial nurse species. The outplanted species showed variable responses to nurse habitats that we attribute to resource requirements resulting from their typical successional stage and nitrogen fixation capability. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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