No abstract

Plant-plant interactions are key processes shaping plant communities, but methods are lacking to accurately capture the spatial dimension of these processes. Isoscapes, i.e. spatially continuous observations of variations in stable isotope ratios, provide innovative methods to trace the spatial dimension of ecological processes at continental to global scales. Herein, we test the usefulness of nitrogen isoscapes (δ(15) N) for quantifying alterations in community functioning following exotic plant invasion. Nitrogen introduced by an exotic N(2) -fixing acacia could be accurately traced through the ecosystem and into the surrounding native vegetation by combining native species foliar δ(15) N with spatial information regarding plant location using geostatistical methods. The area impacted by N-addition was at least 3.5-fold greater than the physical area covered by the invader. Thus, downscaling isoscapes to the community level opens new frontiers in quantifying the spatial dimension of functional changes associated with invasion and in resolving the spatial component of within-community interactions.

Oligotrophic ecosystems, previously considered to be more resilient to invasive plants, are now recognised to be highly vulnerable to invasions. In these systems, woody legumes show belowground ecosystem engineering characteristics that enable invasion, however, the underlying processes are not well understood. Using a Portuguese primary dune ecosystem as an oligotrophic model system, belowground biomass pools, turnover rates and stoichiometry of a native (Stauracanthus spectabilis) and an invasive legume (Acacia longifolia) were compared and related to changes in the foliage of the surrounding native (Corema album) vegetation.We hypothesized that the invasive legume requires less phosphorus per unit of biomass produced and exhibits an enhanced nutrient turnover compared to the native vegetation, which could drive invasion by inducing a systemic N/P imbalance.Compared with the native legumes, A. longifolia plants had larger canopies, higher SOM levels and lower tissue P concentrations. These attributes were strongly related to legume influence as measured by increased foliar N content and less depleted d 15 N signatures in the surrounding C. album vegetation. Furthermore, higher root N concentration and increased nutrient turnover in the rhizosphere of the invader were associated with depleted foliar P in C. album.Our results emphasize that while A. longifolia itself maintains an efficient phosphorus use in biomass production, at the same time it exerts a strong impact on the N/P balance of the native system. Moreover, this study highlights the engineering of a belowground structure of roots and rhizosphere as a crucial driver for invasion, due to its central role in nutrient turnover. These findings provide new evidence that, under nutrient-limited conditions, considering co-limitation and nutrient cycling in oligotrophic systems is essential to understand the engineering character of invasive woody legumes.

Hyperspectral remote sensing is an effective tool to discriminate plant species, providing vast potential to trace plant invasions for ecological assessments. However, necessary baseline information for the use of remote sensing data is missing for many high-impact invaders. Furthermore, the identification of the suitable classification algorithms and spectral regions for successfully classifying species remains an open field of research. Here, we tested the separability of the invasive tree Acacia longifolia from adjacent exotic and native vegetation in a Natura 2000 protected Mediterranean dune ecosystem. We used continuous visible, near-infrared and short wave infrared (VNIR-SWIR) data as well as vegetation indices at the leaf and canopy level for classification, comparing five different classification algorithms. We were able to successfully distinguish A. longifolia from surrounding vegetation based on vegetation indices. At the leaf level, radial-basis function kernel Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Random Forest (RF) achieved both a high Sensitivity (SVM: 0.83, RF: 0.78) and a high Positive Predicted Value (PPV) (0.86, 0.83). At the canopy level, RF was the classifier with an optimal balance of Sensitivity (0.75) and PPV (0.75). The most relevant vegetation indices were linked to the biochemical parameters chlorophyll, water, nitrogen, and cellulose as well as vegetation cover, which is in line with biochemical and ecophysiological properties reported for A. longifolia. Our results highlight the potential to use remote sensing as a tool for an early detection of A. longifolia in Mediterranean coastal ecosystems.

Interactions of plants with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) may range along a broad continuum from strong mutualism to parasitism, with mycorrhizal benefits received by the plant being determined by climatic and edaphic conditions affecting the balance between carbon costs vs. nutritional benefits. Thus, environmental conditions promoting either parasitism or mutualism can influence the mycorrhizal growth dependency (MGD) of a plant and in consequence may play an important role in plant-plant interactions. In a multifactorial field experiment we aimed at disentangling the effects of environmental and edaphic conditions, namely the availability of light, phosphorus and nitrogen, and the implications for competitive interactions between Hieracium pilosella and Corynephorus canescens for the outcome of the AMF symbiosis. Both species were planted in single, intraspecific and interspecific combinations using a target-neighbor approach with six treatments distributed along a gradient simulating conditions for the interaction between plants and AMF ranking from mutualistic to parasitic. Across all treatments we found mycorrhizal association of H. pilosella being consistently mutualistic, while pronounced parasitism was observed in C. canescens, indicating that environmental and edaphic conditions did not markedly affect the cost:benefit ratio of the mycorrhizal symbiosis in both species. Competitive interactions between both species were strongly affected by AMF, with the impact of AMF on competition being modulated by colonization. Biomass in both species was lowest when grown in interspecific competition, with colonization being increased in the less mycotrophic C. canescens, while decreased in the obligate mycotrophic H. pilosella. Although parasitism-promoting conditions negatively affected MGD in C. canescens, these effects were small as compared to growth decreases related to increased colonization levels in this species. Thus, the lack of plant control over mycorrhizal colonization was identified as a possible key factor for the outcome of competition, while environmental and edaphic conditions affecting the mutualism-parasitism continuum appeared to be of minor importance.

Linking remote sensing methodology to stable isotope ecology provides a promising approach to study ecological processes from small to large spatial scales. Here, we show that δ15N can be detected in fresh leaf reflectance spectra of field samples along a spatial gradient of increasing nitrogen input from an N2-fixing invasive species. However, in field data it is unclear whether δ15N directly influences leaf reflectance spectra or if the relationship is based on covariation between δ15N and foliar nitrogen content or other leaf properties. Using a 15N-labeling approach, we experimentally varied δ15N independently of any other leaf properties in three plant species across different leaf developmental and physiological states. δ15N could successfully be modeled by means of partial least squares (PLSs) regressions, using leaf reflectance spectra as predictor variables. PLS models explained 53–73% of the variation in δ15N within species. Several wavelength regions important for predicting δ15N were consistent across species and could furthermore be related to known absorption features of N-containing molecular bonds. By eliminating covariation with other leaf properties as an explanation for the relationship between reflectance and δ15N, our results demonstrate that 15N itself has an inherent effect on leaf reflectance spectra. Thus, our study substantiates the use of spectroscopic measurements to retrieve isotopic signatures for ecological studies and encourages future development. Furthermore, our results highlight the great potential of optical measurements for up-scaling isotope ecology to larger spatial scales.

Environmental heterogeneity and plant-plant interactions are key factors shaping plant communities. However, the spatial dimension of plant-plant interactions has seldom been addressed in field studies. This is at least partially rooted in a lack of methods that can accurately resolve functional processes in a spatially explicit manner. Isoscapes, that is, spatially explicit representations of stable isotope data, provide a versatile means to trace functional changes on spatial scales, for example, related to N-cycling (foliar δN) and water use efficiency (WUE, foliar δC). In a case study in a nutrient-depleted Mediterranean dune ecosystem, we analysed the spatial impact of the invasive N-fixing Acacia longifolia on three native species of different functional types using δN and δC isoscapes and spatial autocorrelation analyses. Isoscapes revealed strong spatial patterns in δN and δC with pronounced species-specific differences, demonstrating distinct spatial ranges of plant-plant interactions. A coniferous tree and an ericaceous dwarf shrub showed significant enrichment in δN within a range of 5-8 m surrounding the canopy of A. longifolia, indicating input of N originating from symbiotic N-fixation by the invader. In the dwarf shrub, which was most responsive to invader influence, enrichment in δC additionally demonstrated spatially explicit changes to WUE, while a native N-fixer was unresponsive to the presence of the invader. Furthermore, δN and δC isoscapes yielded different patterns, indicating that plant-plant interactions can have distinct spatial distributions and ranges based on the process measured. Additionally, the magnitude of the effect differed between field situations with high and low invasion pressure. This study highlights that the spatial scale must be accounted for when assessing the effects and outcome of species interactions. Functional tracers such as stable isotopes enable us to quantify spatial ranges of plant-plant interactions, providing empirical data that can help to better understand and predict complex species interactions in multifaceted natural environments.

A b s t r a c tThe REFLEX 2012 campaign was initiated as part of a training course on the organization of an airborne campaign to support advancement of the understanding of land-atmosphere interaction processes. This article describes the campaign, its objectives and observations, remote as well as in situ. The observations took place at the experimental Las Tiesas farm in an agricultural area in the south of Spain. During the period of ten days, measurements were made to capture the main processes controlling the local and regional land-atmosphere exchanges. Apart from multi-temporal, multi-directional and multi-spatial space-borne and airborne observations, measurements of the local meteorology, energy fluxes, soil temperature profiles, soil moisture profiles, surface temperature, canopy structure as well as leaf-level measurements were carried out. Additional thermo-dynamical monitoring took place at selected sites. REFLEX 2012 CAMPAIGN 1467After presenting the different types of measurements, some examples are given to illustrate the potential of the observations made.