CLONAL INTEGRATION AND THE EXPANSION OF<i>PHRAGMITES AUSTRALIS</i>

Amsberry, Lindsay K.; Baker, Michael A.; Ewanchuk, Patrick J.; Bertness, Mark D.

doi:10.1890/1051-0761(2000)010[1110:ciateo]2.0.co;2

Cited by 199 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Competitive interactions and clonal expansion into less favorable habitats have been implicated as potential mechanisms that may promote the proliferation of clonal species (Amsberry et al, 2000;Pennings & Callaway, 2000;Saitoh et al, 2002;Stuefer et al, 2009;Tomimatsu et al, 2014). However, genet demography has rarely been investigated in relation to spatially heterogeneous environments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The widespread success and dominance of clonal plants may at least partly be due to their ability of genets (i.e., a genetic individual arising from seed) to forage for resources such as light, water, and nutrients in patchy environments in terms of resource supply and to share acquired resources among connected ramets (i.e., individual shoots) (Alpert & Stuefer, 1997;Hutchings & Wijesinghe, 1997;de Kroon & Hutchings, 1995). Foraging and clonal integration can alleviate local deficiency of resources and therefore benefit whole genets in heterogeneous habitats (Amsberry, Baker, Ewanchuk, & Bertness, 2000;Pennings & Callaway, 2000;Roiloa, Alpert, Tharayil, Hancock, & Bhowmik, 2007;Saitoh, Seiwa, & Nishiwaki, 2002). Some species have even been shown to grow more vigorously when the same quantity of resources is supplied heterogeneously than homogeneously (Birch & Hutchings, 1994;Day, John, & Hutchings, 2003;He, Alpert, Yu, Zhang, & Dong, 2011;Song et al, 2013;Wang, Lei, Li, & Yu, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Genet dynamics of a regenerating dwarf bamboo population across heterogeneous light environments in a temperate forest understorey

Matsuo

Tomimatsu

Sangetsu

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Despite the advantage of plant clonality in patchy environments, studies focusing on genet demography in relation to spatially heterogeneous environments remain scarce. Regeneration of bamboos in forest understoreys after synchronous die‐off provides an opportunity for assessing how they come to proliferate across heterogeneous light environments. In a Japanese forest, we examined genet demography of a population of Sasa kurilensis over a 7‐year period starting 10 years after die‐off, shortly after which some genets began spreading horizontally by rhizomes. The aboveground biomass was estimated, and genets were discriminated in 9‐m2 plots placed under both canopy gaps and closed canopies. Overall, the results suggest that the survival and spread of more productive genets and the spatial expansion of genets into closed canopies underlie the proliferation of S. kurilensis. Compared to canopy gaps, the recovery rate of biomass was much slower under closed canopies for the first 10 years after the die‐off, but became accelerated during the next 7 years. Genet survival was greater for more productive genets (with greater initial number of culms), and the spaces occupied by genets that died were often colonized afterward by clonal growth of surviving genets. The number of genets decreased under canopy gaps due to greater mortality, but increased under closed canopies where greater number of genets colonized clonally from outside the plots than genets died. The colonizing genets were more productive (having larger culms) than those originally germinated within the plots, and the contribution of colonizing genets to the biomass was greater under closed canopies. Our study emphasizes the importance of investigating genet dynamics over relevant spatiotemporal scales to reveal processes underlying the success of clonal plants in heterogeneous habitats.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genet dynamics of a regenerating dwarf bamboo population across heterogeneous light environments in a temperate forest understorey

Matsuo

Tomimatsu

Sangetsu

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Recent work in southern New England, however, has shown that through clonal integration Phragmites can invade marshes exposed to fullstrength seawater (25). To test the hypothesis that shoreline development is stimulating the current expansion of Phragmites into New England salt marshes, we surveyed 30 marshes in Narragansett Bay exposed to full-strength seawater for Phragmites dominance and shoreline development.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…In contrast, marshes with more than 50% of their border developed had most of their terrestrial border invaded by Phragmites. Because Phragmites has a tall, dense above-ground canopy, it is a dominant competitor for light (23,25), and nutrient enrichment associated with shoreline development may be responsible for giving Phragmites the competitive advantage over traditional high-marsh vegetation under high-nitrogen conditions. To determine how much of the strong influence of shoreline development on Phragmites invasion can be attributed to increasing nitrogen supplies, we examined the relationship between our site-specific estimate of nitrogen availability and Phragmites dominance at our 14 original study sites.…”

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confidence: 99%

Anthropogenic modification of New England salt marsh landscapes

Bertness

Ewanchuk

Silliman

2002

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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335

273

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Salt marshes play a critical role in the ecology and geology of wave-protected shorelines in the Western Atlantic, but as many as 80% of the marshes that once occurred in New England have already been lost to human development. Here we present data that suggest that the remaining salt marshes in southern New England are being rapidly degraded by shoreline development and eutrophication. On the seaward border of these marshes, nitrogen eutrophication stimulated by local shoreline development is shifting the competitive balance among marsh plants by releasing plants from nutrient competition. This shift is leading to the displacement of natural high marsh plants by low marsh cordgrass. On the terrestrial border of these same marshes, shoreline development is also precipitating the invasion of the common reed, Phragmites, by means of nitrogen eutrophication caused by the removal of the woody vegetation buffer between terrestrial and salt marsh communities. As a consequence of these human impacts, traditional salt marsh plant communities and the plants and animals that are dependent on these habitats are being displaced by monocultures of weedy species. E lucidating the causes and consequences of human modification of natural ecosystems is one of the most pressing ecological issues of our times (1). Although the direct impacts of habitat destruction are usually obvious, the indirect effects of many human activities, such as nitrogen loading, have been more difficult to detect, but are likely just as pervasive and critical to understand (2). In this paper, we show how a mechanistic understanding of the organization of salt marsh communities reveals that these ecologically and economically important habitats (3) are currently being dramatically degraded by localized shoreline development and human-induced nitrogen enrichment.Salt marshes have attracted the attention of scientists because their simple structure makes them amenable for studying the mechanisms that generate ecosystem and community patterns (4-6). New England salt marsh plant communities have a striking vertical zonation (Fig. 1) that has long interested researchers (7, 8). The cordgrass Spartina alterniflora dominates low marsh elevations that are flooded daily by tides as a dense, clonally propagated monoculture. On the seaward border of the high marsh, cordgrass is replaced by marsh hay, Spartina patens, whereas the terrestrial border of the high marsh is dominated by a monoculture of the black rush, Juncus gerardi. A band of the shrub Iva frutescens typically demarcates the terrestrial border of these marshes. A number of less-abundant halophytic forbs commonly coexist with the high-marsh dominants (9).This striking spatial segregation of plants in salt marshes is the product of both plant competition and the strong, physical gradients characteristic of these habitats. Physical stress on plants in salt marshes (e.g., water-logging and salinity) generally decreases with increasing tidal height (10, 11), and there is an inverse relationship between the ...

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“…Salt marshes are relatively rarely reported to be dominated by non-native species, and the vast majority of existing studies on non-native species describe a few fast-growing angiosperms, in particular Phragmites australis or various Spartina species (e.g., Daehler and Strong 1996;Benoit and Askins 1999;Amsberry et al 2000;Hedge and Kriwoken 2000;Able and Ragan 2003;Chambers et al 2003;Nieva et al 2003;Silliman and Bertness 2004;Bart et al 2006;Brusati and Grosholz 2006;Neira et al 2006;Brusati and Grosholz 2007;Chen et al 2007;Cottet et al 2007). In contrast, we are not aware of studies that describe non-native macroalgae in marshes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution and ecological role of the non-native macroalga Gracilaria vermiculophylla in Virginia salt marshes

et al. 2009

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Intertidal salt marshes are considered harsh habitats where relatively few stress-resistant species survive. Most studies on non-native species in marshes describe terrestrial angiosperms. We document that a non-native marine macroalga, Gracilaria vermiculophylla, is abundant throughout Virginia's Atlantic coastline. We sampled eight marshes, characterized by low slopes and by the presence of the tube-building polychaete Diopatra cuprea on adjacent mudflats, which have been shown previously to be associated with G. vermiculophylla. G. vermiculophylla was found in 71% of the sampled quadrats on the border between the mudflat and tall Spartina alterniflora, 51% within the tall S. alterniflora zone, and 12% further inland. We also tagged G. vermiculophylla from two habitats: (1) unattached G. vermiculophylla within marshes and (2) G. vermiculophylla 'incorporated' onto D. cuprea tubes on the adjacent mudflats. Of the incorporated thalli, 3-9% ended up in the marsh, demonstrating connectivity between habitats. In addition, 21% of unattached thalli remained for 2 weeks within the marsh, suggesting that entanglement around marsh plants reduces tidal drift. Growth experiments in mesh bags indicate that most of the G. vermiculophylla transferred from the lagoon to the marsh decomposed there, potentially enhancing local nutrient levels. Finally, we document that G. vermiculophylla in marshes had a reduced associated flora and fauna compared to G. vermiculophylla on the adjacent Diopatra mudflats. In conclusion, unattached G. vermiculophylla is abundant along marsh borders in the tall S. alterniflora zone in Virginia, and we hypothesize that this non-native species has significant impacts in terms of marsh habitat complexity, species abundance and diversity, nutrient dynamics, productivity, and trophic interactions.

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CLONAL INTEGRATION AND THE EXPANSION OFPHRAGMITES AUSTRALIS

Cited by 199 publications

References 35 publications

Genet dynamics of a regenerating dwarf bamboo population across heterogeneous light environments in a temperate forest understorey

Genet dynamics of a regenerating dwarf bamboo population across heterogeneous light environments in a temperate forest understorey

Anthropogenic modification of New England salt marsh landscapes

Distribution and ecological role of the non-native macroalga Gracilaria vermiculophylla in Virginia salt marshes

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