Plant nurse effects rely on combined hydrological and ecological components in a semiarid ecosystem

Autor: María de la Luz Giner, Antonio I. Arroyo, Concepción L. Alados, Raquel Charte, David Moret-Fernández, Sonia Kéfi, Yolanda Pueyo, Hugo Saiz, Ángel de Frutos
Přispěvatelé: Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España), European Commission, Gobierno de Aragón, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (España), Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (España), Instituto Pirenaico de Ecologìa = Pyrenean Institute of Ecology [Zaragoza] (IPE - CSIC), Departamento de Suelo y Agua, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Pomology Department, Estación Experimental de Aula Dei, Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (UMR ISEM), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de recherche pour le développement [IRD] : UR226-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Ecosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution [Rennes] (ECOBIO), Université de Rennes (UR)-Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Rennes (OSUR), Université de Rennes (UR)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), CGL2011-27259, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, European Social Fund, Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, 2012/GA-LC-074, Aragon regional government, AP-2012-4126, FPU, Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología (CSIC), École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de recherche pour le développement [IRD] : UR226, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Rennes (OSUR)-Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Rennes 1 (UR1), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)
Rok vydání: 2016
Předmět:
Zdroj: Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
instname
Zaguán. Repositorio Digital de la Universidad de Zaragoza
Ecosphere
Ecosphere, 2016, 7 (10), pp.e01514. ⟨10.1002/ecs2.1514⟩
Ecosphere, Ecological Society of America, 2016, 7 (10), pp.e01514. ⟨10.1002/ecs2.1514⟩
ISSN: 2150-8925
Popis: 19 Pags.- 4 Tabls.- 4 Figs. The Journal Ecosphere is an ESA Open Access Journal (http://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)2150-8925) and this is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Plant establishment in semiarid ecosystems is affected by the limited spatial and temporal availability of resources and adequate microsites provided by nurse plants. There has been little research on plant establishment in these ecosystems that consider both the ecological roles of different plant types and the abiotic properties of their microsites. Such studies could provide important insights about the functioning of semiarid ecosystems. Here, we investigated the links between the patterns of plant establishment and the hydrological and microsite properties of shrubs and grasses in a semiarid ecosystem northeastern Spain. For ecological experiments, we measured the spatial patterns of the establishment of shrubs and grasses in eight 6 × 6 m2 quadrats over 2 years; we also sowed seeds of Salsola vermiculata (a dominant shrub) and Lygeum spartum (the dominant perennial grass) under adult shrubs (S. vermiculata) and grasses (L. spartum) and in bare soil and then examined seedling germination, survival, and growth over 4 years. For hydrological experiments, we analyzed soil water content under the two codominant shrubs (S. vermiculata and Artemisia herba-alba), the dominant perennial grass (L. spartum), and in bare soil over 18 months; we also measured water infiltration and solar radiation at the same four microsites to identify the hydrological processes responsible for the observed ecohydrological patterns. The three potential nurse plants greatly improved the hydrological and microsite conditions. They increased soil water content after rainfall relative to bare soil. Moreover, S. vermiculata and L. spartum slowed the drying process. However, only S. vermiculata acted as a nurse plant. It improved plant density, diversity, performance, and survival during the whole study period. L. spartum facilitated plant establishment during early stages, but interfered with seedling performance and survival during later stages, probably because of the increasing competition for water with seedlings. A. herba-alba did not facilitate plant establishment at any stage, most likely because of water scarcity during prolonged dry periods and its allelopathic effects. We conclude that the ecological role of a plant cannot be directly inferred from its hydrological or microsite properties. Long-term ecohydrological studies are required to understand the role of nurse plants on seedling establishment.
This study was supported by research projects CGL2012-37508 and CGL2011-27259 (funded by MINECO and FEDER), and GA-LC-020/2010 and 2012/GA-LC-074 (funded by the Aragon regional government). AF and HS were supported by a JAE-DOC postdoctoral contract and a JAE-PRE predoctoral contract, respectively, from CSIC and Fondo Social Europeo. AIA was supported by a FPU grant (reference AP-2012-4126) from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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