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2017 ; 7
(8
): 2747-2755
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Competition and facilitation structure plant communities under nurse tree
canopies in extremely stressful environments
#MMPMID28428865
Al-Namazi AA
; El-Bana MI
; Bonser SP
Ecol Evol
2017[Apr]; 7
(8
): 2747-2755
PMID28428865
show ga
Nurse plant facilitation in stressful environments can produce an environment
with relatively low stress under its canopy. These nurse plants may produce the
conditions promoting intense competition between coexisting species under the
canopy, and canopies may establish stress gradients, where stress increases
toward the edge of the canopy. Competition and facilitation on these stress
gradients may control species distributions in the communities under canopies. We
tested the following predictions: (1) interactions between understory species
shift from competition to facilitation in habitats experiencing increasing stress
from the center to the edge of canopy of a nurse plant, and (2) species
distributions in understory communities are controlled by competitive
interactions at the center of canopy, and facilitation at the edge of the canopy.
We tested these predictions using a neighbor removal experiment under nurse trees
growing in arid environments. Established individuals of each of four of the most
common herbaceous species in the understory were used in the experiment. Two
species were more frequent in the center of the canopy, and two species were more
frequent at the edge of the canopy. Established individuals of each species were
subjected to neighbor removal or control treatments in both canopy center and
edge habitats. We found a shift from competitive to facilitative interactions
from the center to the edge of the canopy. The shift in the effect of neighbors
on the target species can help to explain species distributions in these
canopies. Canopy-dominant species only perform well in the presence of neighbors
in the edge microhabitat. Competition from canopy-dominant species can also limit
the performance of edge-dominant species in the canopy microhabitat. The shift
from competition to facilitation under nurse plant canopies can structure the
understory communities in extremely stressful environments.
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