Journal ArticleDOI
Belowground zone of influence in a tussock grass species
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In this article, the authors investigated the belowground zone of influence of Stipa tenacissima, a tussock-forming grass which is the dominant species in many semiarid communities of the western Mediterranean Basin.Abstract:
Belowground plant competition is strong and mediated by resource depletion as well as by high variety of exudates. Both factors contribute to active root segregation, affecting neighbours’ growth. In field and greenhouse experiments we investigated the belowground zone of influence of Stipa tenacissima, a tussock-forming grass which is the dominant species in many semiarid communities of the western Mediterranean Basin. Sometimes tussocks show a fringe nearly devoid of annual plants, most likely caused by competition or interference. Fringe size was a function of water availability, so that the more water available the smaller the fringe and vice-versa. Aboveground mass of annual plants was higher in gaps than in the fringe, but root mass was higher in the fringe. More species emerged in soils from gaps than in soils from the fringe, and productivity was ten times higher in soils from gaps than in soils from the fringe. Growth of barley plants was inhibited in the vicinity of S. tenacissima tussocks. S. tenacissima produced a belowground zone of influence around the tussock through resource depletion, particularly water, but also likely through root exudates. Both mechanisms might inhibit the establishment of other annual and grass species within the fringe. Fringe area has important effects for plant establishment, influencing population and community dynamics in these semiarid environments.read more
Citations
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Water release through plant roots: new insights into its consequences at the plant and ecosystem level.
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Allelopathy and Exotic Plant Invasion: From Molecules and Genes to Species Interactions
Isabel Aguilera,J. Melero,A. Nunez-Roldan,B. Sanchez,J. M. Seigneurin,B. Guilbert,M. J. Bourgeat +6 more
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Assemblage of a Semi-Arid Annual Plant Community: Abiotic and Biotic Filters Act Hierarchically
TL;DR: Light is shed on the processes determining the assembly of annual communities and the importance of Biological Soil Crusts and of interactions among annual plants on the final outcome of the species assembly is highlighted.
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Asymmetric and frequency-dependent pollinator-mediated interactions may influence competitive displacement in two vernal pool plants
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that pollinator-mediated competition may discourage establishment of L. d.
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Maintaining distances with the engineer: patterns of coexistence in plant communities beyond the patch-bare dichotomy.
TL;DR: A new point-raster approach of spatial pattern analysis was applied to a Mediterranean high mountain grassland to show how Festuca curvifolia patches affect the local distribution of coexisting species, suggesting the existence of a fine-scale effect of F. curvifolia for most species promoting coexistence through a mechanism the authors call 'facilitation in the halo'.
References
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Book
Plant Physiological Ecology
TL;DR: This textbook is notable in emphasizing that the mechanisms underlying plant physiological ecology can be found at the levels of biochemistry, biophysics, molecular biology and whole-plant physiology, well-suited to assess the costs, benefits and consequences of modifying plants for human needs, and to evaluate the role of plants in ecosystems.
Journal ArticleDOI
Plant competition underground
TL;DR: Competitive ability in belowground competition is correlated with such attributes as root density, surface area, and plasticity either in root growth or in the properties of enzymes involved in nutrient uptake.
Journal ArticleDOI
Allelopathy and Exotic Plant Invasion: From Molecules and Genes to Species Interactions
TL;DR: Evidence that Centaurea maculosa (spotted knapweed), an invasive species in the western United States, displaces native plant species by exuding the phytotoxin (–)-catechin from its roots is presented and support a “novel weapons hypothesis” for invasive success.
Journal ArticleDOI
Plant Physiological Ecology-Field Methods and Instrumentation.
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Morphological plasticity in clonal plants: the foraging concept reconsidered.
H. de Kroon,Michael J. Hutchings +1 more
TL;DR: It is suggested that it is the highly plastic changes in the morphology of individual ramets that enable effective exploitation of local concentrations of essential resources once they have been located.
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