Same nurse but different time: temporal divergence in the facilitation of plant lineages with contrasted functional syndromes
Plant facilitation assembles functionally contrasted communities in dry lands. Nurse plants are often early colonizers with xerophytic traits that were mostly selected during the dry Quaternary (Quaternary syndrome), while beneficiary plants tend to be late‐successional species with mesophytic traits that evolved mainly during the more humid Tertiary (Tertiary syndrome). Integrating plant facilitation within the community assembly theory requires a better understanding of the ontogenetic development of the nursing abilities that benefit functionally contrasted species. We assessed whether the same nurse plant facilitates species with Quaternary and Tertiary syndromes in an ecosystem under severe abiotic stress conditions imposed by aridity and gypsum soil toxicity. We hypothesized that both functional types find suitable microsites for seedling establishment underneath the same nurse but their optimal regeneration niches are temporally segregated along the ontogenetic development of the nurse. We carried out a sowing experiment along a 40‐year ontogenetic gradient of the nurse shrub Ononis tridentata. Seeds from five Tertiary and five Quaternary species were sown and seedling emergence monitored. While the nurse age did not affect the seedling emergence of Quaternary species, it significantly increased that of Tertiary species. These results were corroborated for elder ontogenetic stages in non‐manipulated plants in the field. Juveniles of Quaternary species were able to grow beneath nurse plants along their whole ontogenetic gradient excepting beneath Ononis seedlings, while Tertiary species were only facilitated by mature nurses. Synthesis. Our results show that plant nursing abilities evolve ontogenetically in a different way for beneficiary Quaternary and Tertiary plant lineages. The finding of a plant species that plays a role as key assembler of early‐ and late‐successional species in plant dynamics broadens the scope of facilitation in the community assembly theory.
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British Ecological Society
2016-11
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Subjects: | Abiotic stress, Community assembly, Island of fertility, Ontogenetic gradient, Patchy ecosystem, Plant–plant interactions, Seedling emergence, Soil fertility, |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/182885 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003329 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100007406 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000409 |
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dig-cide-es-10261-1828852020-11-04T13:14:50Z Same nurse but different time: temporal divergence in the facilitation of plant lineages with contrasted functional syndromes Navarro-Cano, J. A. Goberna, M. Valiente-Banuet, Alfonso Verdú, Miguel Fundación BBVA Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España) British Ecological Society Verdú, Miguel [0000-0002-9778-7692] Goberna, M. [0000-0001-5303-3429] Abiotic stress Community assembly Island of fertility Ontogenetic gradient Patchy ecosystem Plant–plant interactions Seedling emergence Soil fertility Plant facilitation assembles functionally contrasted communities in dry lands. Nurse plants are often early colonizers with xerophytic traits that were mostly selected during the dry Quaternary (Quaternary syndrome), while beneficiary plants tend to be late‐successional species with mesophytic traits that evolved mainly during the more humid Tertiary (Tertiary syndrome). Integrating plant facilitation within the community assembly theory requires a better understanding of the ontogenetic development of the nursing abilities that benefit functionally contrasted species. We assessed whether the same nurse plant facilitates species with Quaternary and Tertiary syndromes in an ecosystem under severe abiotic stress conditions imposed by aridity and gypsum soil toxicity. We hypothesized that both functional types find suitable microsites for seedling establishment underneath the same nurse but their optimal regeneration niches are temporally segregated along the ontogenetic development of the nurse. We carried out a sowing experiment along a 40‐year ontogenetic gradient of the nurse shrub Ononis tridentata. Seeds from five Tertiary and five Quaternary species were sown and seedling emergence monitored. While the nurse age did not affect the seedling emergence of Quaternary species, it significantly increased that of Tertiary species. These results were corroborated for elder ontogenetic stages in non‐manipulated plants in the field. Juveniles of Quaternary species were able to grow beneath nurse plants along their whole ontogenetic gradient excepting beneath Ononis seedlings, while Tertiary species were only facilitated by mature nurses. Synthesis. Our results show that plant nursing abilities evolve ontogenetically in a different way for beneficiary Quaternary and Tertiary plant lineages. The finding of a plant species that plays a role as key assembler of early‐ and late‐successional species in plant dynamics broadens the scope of facilitation in the community assembly theory. This study was supported by the BBVA Foundation (Ia Convocatoria de Ayudas de la Fundación BBVA a Proyectos de Investigación: Área de Ecología y Biología de la Conservación), the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (R+D Project CGL2014‐58333‐P) and the Research Grant 4742‐5780 awarded to J.A.N. by the British Ecological Society. MG acknowledges support by the Programa Ramón y Cajal (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad). Suggestions by the Associate Editor and two anonymous referees are gratefully acknowledged. Peer reviewed 2019-05-30T10:59:10Z 2019-05-30T10:59:10Z 2016-11 artículo http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 Functional Ecology 30: 1854–1861 (2016) 0269-8463 http://hdl.handle.net/10261/182885 10.1111/1365-2435.12660 1365-2435 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003329 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100007406 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000409 en #PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE# info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MINECO/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2013-2016/CGL2014‐58333‐P http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12660 Sí none British Ecological Society |
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Abiotic stress Community assembly Island of fertility Ontogenetic gradient Patchy ecosystem Plant–plant interactions Seedling emergence Soil fertility Abiotic stress Community assembly Island of fertility Ontogenetic gradient Patchy ecosystem Plant–plant interactions Seedling emergence Soil fertility |
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Abiotic stress Community assembly Island of fertility Ontogenetic gradient Patchy ecosystem Plant–plant interactions Seedling emergence Soil fertility Abiotic stress Community assembly Island of fertility Ontogenetic gradient Patchy ecosystem Plant–plant interactions Seedling emergence Soil fertility Navarro-Cano, J. A. Goberna, M. Valiente-Banuet, Alfonso Verdú, Miguel Same nurse but different time: temporal divergence in the facilitation of plant lineages with contrasted functional syndromes |
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Plant facilitation assembles functionally contrasted communities in dry lands. Nurse plants are often early colonizers with xerophytic traits that were mostly selected during the dry Quaternary (Quaternary syndrome), while beneficiary plants tend to be late‐successional species with mesophytic traits that evolved mainly during the more humid Tertiary (Tertiary syndrome). Integrating plant facilitation within the community assembly theory requires a better understanding of the ontogenetic development of the nursing abilities that benefit functionally contrasted species.
We assessed whether the same nurse plant facilitates species with Quaternary and Tertiary syndromes in an ecosystem under severe abiotic stress conditions imposed by aridity and gypsum soil toxicity. We hypothesized that both functional types find suitable microsites for seedling establishment underneath the same nurse but their optimal regeneration niches are temporally segregated along the ontogenetic development of the nurse.
We carried out a sowing experiment along a 40‐year ontogenetic gradient of the nurse shrub Ononis tridentata. Seeds from five Tertiary and five Quaternary species were sown and seedling emergence monitored.
While the nurse age did not affect the seedling emergence of Quaternary species, it significantly increased that of Tertiary species. These results were corroborated for elder ontogenetic stages in non‐manipulated plants in the field. Juveniles of Quaternary species were able to grow beneath nurse plants along their whole ontogenetic gradient excepting beneath Ononis seedlings, while Tertiary species were only facilitated by mature nurses.
Synthesis. Our results show that plant nursing abilities evolve ontogenetically in a different way for beneficiary Quaternary and Tertiary plant lineages. The finding of a plant species that plays a role as key assembler of early‐ and late‐successional species in plant dynamics broadens the scope of facilitation in the community assembly theory. |
author2 |
Fundación BBVA |
author_facet |
Fundación BBVA Navarro-Cano, J. A. Goberna, M. Valiente-Banuet, Alfonso Verdú, Miguel |
format |
artículo |
topic_facet |
Abiotic stress Community assembly Island of fertility Ontogenetic gradient Patchy ecosystem Plant–plant interactions Seedling emergence Soil fertility |
author |
Navarro-Cano, J. A. Goberna, M. Valiente-Banuet, Alfonso Verdú, Miguel |
author_sort |
Navarro-Cano, J. A. |
title |
Same nurse but different time: temporal divergence in the facilitation of plant lineages with contrasted functional syndromes |
title_short |
Same nurse but different time: temporal divergence in the facilitation of plant lineages with contrasted functional syndromes |
title_full |
Same nurse but different time: temporal divergence in the facilitation of plant lineages with contrasted functional syndromes |
title_fullStr |
Same nurse but different time: temporal divergence in the facilitation of plant lineages with contrasted functional syndromes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Same nurse but different time: temporal divergence in the facilitation of plant lineages with contrasted functional syndromes |
title_sort |
same nurse but different time: temporal divergence in the facilitation of plant lineages with contrasted functional syndromes |
publisher |
British Ecological Society |
publishDate |
2016-11 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10261/182885 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003329 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100007406 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000409 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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1777665547742216192 |