Article
Ecology
Shu Wang, Ragan M. Callaway
Summary: The study reveals that interactions between different plants can influence the growth and plasticity of plants in response to environmental factors, especially in dry conditions, plant interactions may have a positive facilitative effect on plant growth.
Article
Plant Sciences
Amber Stanley, Carlos Martel, Gerardo Arceo-Gomez
Summary: Pollinator-mediated competition and facilitation are important mechanisms shaping coexistence in co-flowering communities, with effects varying depending on geographical location. Evaluating interactions between co-flowering species should consider spatial variation and effects at multiple stages of the pollination process.
Article
Ecology
Xuejun Yang, Lorena Gomez-Aparicio, Christopher J. Lortie, Miguel Verdu, Lohengrin A. Cavieres, Zhenying Huang, Ruiru Gao, Rong Liu, Yonglan Zhao, Johannes H. C. Cornelissen
Summary: This study uses a global database to examine the patterns of plant interactions and their effects on climate. It finds that competition occurs more frequently than facilitation in plant communities worldwide and that plant interactions show weak relationships with latitude and climate. The study highlights competition as a fundamental mechanism structuring plant communities globally.
Article
Ecology
Maral Bashirzadeh, Santiago Soliveres, Mohammad Farzam, Hamid Ejtehadi
Summary: The study found that nurse plants have a positive impact on the taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of alpine communities, as well as the functional and phylogenetic diversity of dryland communities. Nurse plants have the largest effects on biodiversity in moderate environmental conditions, which suggests their potential to protect biodiversity from the impacts of climate change in the future.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Antonio J. Perea, Thorsten Wiegand, Jose L. Garrido, Pedro J. Rey, Julio M. Alcantara
Summary: This study used point pattern analysis to examine the spatial phylogenetic and phenotypic structures of plant communities at different stages. The results showed that there were different patterns between saplings and adult plants, with adult plants exhibiting phylogenetic clustering. There were also differences in neighbor composition between species at different stages. The findings highlight the importance of ontogenetic shifts in plant community assembly processes.
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Naara Ferreira da Silva, Pia Parolin, Maria Teresa Fernandez Piedade, Aline Lopes
Summary: This study investigated the effects of ecological interactions on the biomass of two native tree species in wetlands. The results support the stress-gradient hypothesis, showing that species with low flood tolerance are favored by the presence of other species in flooded environments.
Article
Ecology
Deyi Yin, Scott J. Meiners, Ming Ni, Qing Ye, Fangliang He, Marc W. Cadotte
Summary: Positive interactions are widespread in plant communities and have important effects on species invasions and community dynamics. They are more frequent during early establishment stages and are more common and stronger between native species compared to exotic species. Positive native interactions can protect communities from biological invasions.
Article
Ecology
Yousef Erfanifard, Bartlomiej Kraszewski, Krzysztof Sterenczak
Summary: The study investigated intra- and interspecific interactions in plant communities in semi-arid regions using UAV photogrammetric data, and found that competition among species had a significant impact on growth inhibition. The study demonstrated the efficiency of UAV photogrammetric data in identifying plant individuals and predicting crown area, and highlighted the potential of remote sensing in spatial ecology of vegetation patches in semi-arid environments.
Review
Plant Sciences
Bin J. W. Chen, Shuqing N. Teng, Guang Zheng, Lijuan Cui, Shao-peng Li, Arie Staal, Jan U. H. Eitel, Thomas W. Crowther, Miguel Berdugo, Lidong Mo, Haozhi Ma, Lalasia Bialic-Murphy, Constantin M. Zohner, Daniel S. Maynard, Colin Averill, Jian Zhang, Qiang He, Jochem B. Evers, Niels P. R. Anten, Hezi Yizhaq, Ilan Stavi, Eli Argaman, Uri Basson, Zhiwei Xu, Ming-Juan Zhang, Kechang Niu, Quan-Xing Liu, Chi Xu
Summary: This article explores how remote sensing technologies can be used to infer plant-plant interactions and their roles in shaping plant-based systems at different levels, including individual, community, and landscape. Remote sensing data can detect the key attributes of ecosystems derived from plant-plant interactions. By combining remote sensing techniques with theories, models, experiments, and data analysis algorithms, we can better understand biotic interactions and scale ecological patterns.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Felix de Tombeur, Taina Lemoine, Cyrille Violle, Helene Freville, Sarah J. Thorne, Sue E. Hartley, Hans Lambers, Florian Fort
Summary: The plasticity of leaf silicon in response to abiotic and biotic factors, such as nitrogen addition and intraspecific plant-plant interactions, affects plant defences and stress resistance. The study found that nitrogen addition decreased leaf silicon concentration for most durum wheat genotypes, and plant-plant interactions had varying effects on silicon concentration. Additionally, increased leaf silicon in response to plant-plant interactions was associated with increased plant height. This finding highlights the need to further explore leaf silicon plasticity in understanding plant stress resistance.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Mariem Ben-Said, Juan Carlos Linares, Jose Antonio Carreira, Lahcen Taiqui
Summary: This study analyzed the fine scale spatial pattern of Moroccan fir and Cedrus atlantica in a mixed forest in northern Morocco, revealing an aggregation of conspecific and heterospecific individuals at small distances up to 2m. Recruitment of A. marocana mainly occurred close to dominant trees of C. atlantica, while C. atlantica dominated in small gaps. The spatial patterns observed suggest attraction mechanisms between the two species.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
David Garcia-Callejas, Ignasi Bartomeus, Oscar Godoy
Summary: Empirical observations in a Mediterranean grassland over five years show that spatial heterogeneity plays a minor role in the relationship between species richness and area, while direct pairwise interactions drive species coexistence. A small set of transient species with small population sizes are consistently found across spatial scales, highlighting the importance of species interactions and stochastic events in coexistence and species-area relationships.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Antonio I. Arroyo, Yolanda Pueyo, Hugo Saiz, Concepcion L. Alados
Summary: This study investigated the impact of plant-plant interactions on diversity in Mediterranean plant communities using a multi-species approach. The results revealed differences in diversity spatial patterns and local structures among different plant communities. Different plant groups played varying roles in shaping diversity spatial patterns and local structures.
BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Meena S. Sritharan, Ben C. Scheele, Wade Blanchard, David B. Lindenmayer
Summary: The study found that rare species are more likely to have positive associations with both rare and common species across different vegetation communities, while common species may have positive or negative associations depending on the vegetation community. In forest environments, rare species are positively associated with species diversity, whereas in woodland environments, they are negatively associated with species diversity but positively associated with species evenness. Rare species with high habitat specificity are more spatially clustered than expected by chance.
Article
Ecology
Ghassen Chaieb, Chedly Abdelly, Richard Michalet
Summary: Facilitation among plants in dry ecosystems is crucial for diversity and ecosystem functioning and stability. However, the importance of facilitation in extremely stressful conditions is highly debated. This study found that shrubs decreased salinity and drought stresses for target species, but there was a collapse of facilitation along salinity gradients, particularly under increasing aridity. The three target species had different responses to neighbors, with the least stress-tolerant species being facilitated and the most stress-tolerant ones being negatively affected.
Article
Soil Science
Katharine E. Ankrom, Andre L. C. Franco, Steven J. Fonte, Laureano A. Gherardi, Cecilia Milano de Tomasel, Carl Wepking, Pingting Guan, Shuyan Cui, Osvaldo E. Sala, Diana H. Wall
Summary: This study used soil nematodes as biological indicators to study the response of grassland ecosystems under different precipitation conditions. The results showed that increasing precipitation led to significant changes in nematode community structure in grassland ecosystems, with unique responses observed in different habitats.
APPLIED SOIL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Luis Weber-Grullon, Laureano Gherardi, William A. Rutherford, Steven R. Archer, Osvaldo E. Sala
Summary: Woody-plant encroachment, driven by factors such as drought, overgrazing, herbivory, and competition, has been affecting the southwestern United States for over a century. This study found that precipitation and herbivory have significant effects on the germination and survival of mesquite, a shrub species encroaching in grasslands and desert areas. The findings highlight the importance of considering both biotic and abiotic drivers in managing shrub encroachment.
ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Andre L. C. Franco, Pingting Guan, Shuyan Cui, Cecilia M. de Tomasel, Laureano A. Gherardi, Osvaldo E. Sala, Diana H. Wall
Summary: Free-living nematodes play a critical role in soil carbon cycling, and changes in precipitation can affect their diversity and C footprint.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jose M. Gomez, Adela Gonzalez-Megias, Eduardo Narbona, Luis Navarro, Francisco Perfectti, Cristina Armas
Summary: The phenotypic plasticity in many flowers allows for rapid exploration of different regions of the floral morphospace. Moricandia arvensis exhibits a greater floral disparity driven by plasticity than that found between species, genera, and tribes, with its novel phenotype moving outside the region occupied by its ancestors and relatives, converging with distant Brassicaceae lineages, and encountering a different pollination niche. This suggests that phenotypic plasticity favors floral divergence and rapid appearance of convergent flowers, facilitating the evolution of generalist pollination systems.
Article
Plant Sciences
Jose Ignacio Querejeta, Ivan Prieto, Cristina Armas, Fernando Casanoves, Joseph S. Dieme, Mayecor Diouf, Harouna Yossi, Bocary Kaya, Francisco Pugnaire, Graciela M. Rusch
Summary: This study investigates the variation in leaf nitrogen per area (N-area) and its relationship with oxygen and carbon isotopic composition in 34 Sahelian woody species, revealing the importance of leaf nitrogen content in determining stomatal conductance and water-use efficiency.
Article
Ecology
Courtney M. Currier, Osvaldo E. Sala
Summary: Plant growth cycles are influenced by environmental factors, with precipitation being a major driver of phenological change in drylands. Temperature has a modest effect on plant phenology compared to precipitation.
Article
Ecology
Eli R. Perez-Ruiz, Enrique R. Vivoni, Osvaldo E. Sala
Summary: This study investigated the seasonal variability and controls on net ecosystem production using 10 years of data in a mixed shrubland watershed of the Chihuahuan Desert. The findings revealed that excess water during the wet season can sustain annual ecosystem productivity by impacting subsequent dry season carbon uptake.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Renee F. Brown, Osvaldo E. Sala, Robert L. Sinsabaugh, Scott L. Collins
Summary: Drylands are characterized by a pulse dynamics framework where episodic rain events trigger biological activity and resource availability. However, little is known about how changes in rainfall patterns may affect plant available nitrogen. Field-based experiments in a Chihuahuan Desert grassland showed that nitrogen availability did not pulse following rain events and large infrequent events resulted in significantly less plant available nitrogen. Overall, nitrogen availability increased over the growing season, especially following small frequent rain events.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-BIOGEOSCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Nicolas Louw, Laureano A. Gherardi, Osvaldo E. Sala, Y. Anny Chung
Summary: This study investigates the effects of long-term increased precipitation variability and host type on soil fungal diversity and community composition in a dryland ecosystem. The results show that soil fungal alpha diversity and community composition are strongly influenced by host type and sampling year, and increased precipitation variability may result in a slight decrease in soil fungal evenness.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Miguel Verdu, Jose L. Garrido, Julio M. Alcantara, Alicia Montesinos-Navarro, Salomon Aguilar, Marcelo A. Aizen, Ali A. Al-Namazi, Mohamed Alifriqui, David Allen, Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira, Cristina Armas, Jesus M. Bastida, Tono Bellido, Giuliano Bonanomi, Gustavo B. Paterno, Herbert Briceno, Ricardo A. C. de Oliveira, Josefina G. Campoy, Ghassen Chaieb, Chengjin Chu, Sarah E. Collins, Richard Condit, Elena Constantinou, Cihan U. Degirmenci, Leo Delalandre, Milen Duarte, Michel Faife, Fatih Fazlioglu, Edwino S. Fernando, Joel Flores, Hilda Flores-Olvera, Ecaterina Fodor, Gislene Ganade, Maria Begona Garcia, Patricio Garcia-Fayos, Sabrina S. Gavini, Marta Goberna, Lorena Gomez-Aparicio, Enrique Gonzalez-Pendas, Ana Gonzalez-Robles, Stephen P. Hubbell, Kahraman Ipekdal, Maria J. Jorquera, Zaal Kikvidze, Pinar Kutkut, Alicia Ledo, Sandra Lendinez, Buhang Li, Hanlun Liu, Francisco Lloret, Ramiro P. Lopez, Alvaro Lopez-Garcia, Christopher J. Lortie, Gianalberto Losapio, James A. Lutz, Arantzazu L. Luzuriaga, Frantisek Malis, Esteban Manrique, Antonio J. Manzaneda, Vinicius Marcilio-Silva, Richard Michalet, Rafael Molina-Venegas, Jose Antonio Navarro-Cano, Vojtech Novotny, Jens M. Olesen, Juan P. Ortiz-Brunel, Maria Pajares-Murgo, Nikolas Parissis, Geoffrey Parker, Antonio J. Perea, Vidal Perez-Hernandez, Maria Angeles Perez-Navarro, Nuria Piston, Elisa Pizarro-Carbonell, Ivan Prieto, Jorge Prieto-Rubio, Francisco Pugnaire, Nelson Ramirez, Ruben Retuerto, Pedro J. Rey, Daniel A. Rodriguez Ginart, Mariana Rodriguez-Sanchez, Ricardo Sanchez-Martin, Christian Schob, Cagatay Tavsanoglu, Giorgi Tedoradze, Amanda Tercero-Araque, Katja Tielboerger, Blaise Touzard, Irem Tufekcioglu, Sevda Turkis, Francisco M. Usero, Nurbahar Usta, Alfonso Valiente-Banuet, Alexia Vargas-Colin, Ioannis Vogiatzakis, Regino Zamora
Summary: Plant recruitment interactions shape plant community composition, diversity, and structure. Modeling and analyzing the community-level structure of plant recruitment interactions as a complex network can provide relevant information on ecological and evolutionary processes. This data set includes 143 plant recruitment networks across five continents, providing valuable information for testing ecological, biogeographical, and evolutionary hypotheses related to plant recruitment interactions.
Article
Ecology
Jose M. Gomez, Adela Gonzalez-Megias, Cristina Armas, Eduardo Narbona, Luis Navarro, Francisco Perfectti
Summary: Plasticity can have direct effects on the interactions between species, by expanding or shifting interaction niches, and ultimately modifying the structure and functionality of ecological networks. This causal pathway may explain how interaction niches evolve quickly in response to rapid environmental changes and is important for understanding the impact of global change on ecological interactions.
Article
Ecology
Richard Michalet, Gianalberto Losapio, Zaal Kikvidze, Rob W. Brooker, Bradley J. Butterfield, Ragan M. Callaway, Lohengrin A. Cavieres, Christopher J. Lortie, Francisco Pugnaire, Christian Schob
Summary: Plant interactions in extreme environments can be studied using paired and random sampling methods, but these methods may be affected by habitat-sharing effects. This study compared the results of the two methods in different levels of environmental heterogeneity and stress. The findings showed that the paired and random sampling methods provided similar results in homogeneous spaces, but the pairwise method yielded higher facilitation estimates than the random method in decreasing abundance gradients. The spatial associations between beneficiary and nurse species varied with increasing stress levels, and there were no differences in results between the two methods at different stress levels in some sites. However, weakly significant differences were found in the Italian site, which were unlikely due to habitat-sharing effects. Overall, the paired sampling method is important in understanding plant interactions in spatially conspicuous environments.
POPULATION ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Soil Science
Francisco I. Pugnaire, Karoline H. Aares, Mohamed Alifriqui, Kari Anne Brathen, Christian Kindler, Christian Schob, Esteban Manrique
Summary: Climate change and associated environmental alterations can disrupt the connection between plants and soil microbial communities, impacting processes like litter decomposition which influence nutrient and carbon cycling in ecosystems. Microbial decomposers may specialize in decomposing litter from their own community, known as the home field advantage hypothesis.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Francisco M. Usero, Jose A. Morillo, Cristina Armas, Marisa Gallardo, Rodney B. Thompson, Francisco I. Pugnaire
Summary: This study examined the impact of three crop management systems on tomato production and soil microbial communities. Results showed that adding organic matter significantly increased soil nitrogen content, respiration, and altered the composition of soil prokaryotic and fungal communities. Furthermore, the addition of organic matter reduced the presence and abundance of potential fungal pathogens, resulting in higher crop yields. These findings highlight the importance of organic matter management in developing sustainable agriculture.
SPANISH JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Liliane b. Zani, Ian d. Duarte, Antelmo ralph Falqueto, Francisco ignacio Pugnaire, Luis fernando t. de Menezes
Summary: Climate change has caused shifts in phenology in various species, but the interpretation of these shifts remains unclear without a yardstick. In this study, the effects of climate change on Allagoptera arenaria were assessed using open top chambers (OTCs) and rain gutters to mimic expected temperature and rainfall changes. The results showed that temperature increases may shorten the reproductive cycle of A. arenaria.
ANAIS DA ACADEMIA BRASILEIRA DE CIENCIAS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Narendra Nelli, Diana Francis, Ricardo Fonseca, Olivier Masson, Mamadou Sow, Emmanuel Bosc
Summary: This study investigates the changes in the atmospheric electric field (Ez) during foggy conditions in the hyperarid region of the United Arab Emirates. The results show that as fog persists, Ez becomes more variable due to the absorption and redistribution of charges by the fog, which alters the ion balance and affects electrical conductivity in the atmosphere.
JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS
(2024)
Article
Ecology
Ezra Hadad, Amir Balaban, Jakub Z. Kosicki, Reuven Yosef
Summary: This study investigated whether the prey of striped hyenas has adapted to the change in the natural environment caused by human activities, particularly artificial light at night (ALAN). The results showed that ALAN had no impact on the diet or den distribution of the hyenas in central Israel. The study also found that domestic animals were the most common prey, and there were also some vegetative species in their diet. Overall, the feeding behavior of striped hyenas is influenced by geographical region, habitat, and human activities.
JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS
(2024)
Article
Ecology
Rahim Najafi Tireh Shabankareh, Pardis Ziaee, Mohammad Javad Abedini
Summary: This study evaluated the IMERG satellite-based precipitation product in the Fars province of Iran using daily rain gauges as reference data. The results showed that the product tends to overestimate light rainfall and underestimate heavy rainfall, with the best performance in the 40-80 mm/day range. The accuracy of the product varies by month and is less biased in months with milder temperatures. Additionally, there was a higher correlation in mid-elevated areas, positive bias in low-elevated areas, and negative bias in high-elevated areas. Longer time scales showed considerable improvement in the IMERG estimates.
JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS
(2024)