Dwarf shrubs are stronger competitors than graminoid species at high nutrient supply in peat bogs

Kool, Ada; Heijmans, M.M.P.D.

doi:10.1007/s11258-009-9574-7

Cited by 20 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Contrary to short-term experimental studies (Aerts et al 1992;Berendse et al 2001;Wiedermann et al 2007;Kool & Heijmans 2009;Breeuwer et al 2010), we have not found any statistically significant change in total cover of dwarf shrubs, even if frequency of some dwarf shrub species such as Calluna vulgaris, Vaccinium myrtillus and Oxycoccus palustris agg. (in the Hrubý Jeseník Mountains) and Empetrum nigrum (in the Jizerské hory Mountains) changed.…”

Section: Changes In Particular Species Frequencies and The Possible Rcontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…Growth of Sphagnum species is supported by increasing CO 2 concentrations (Mitchell et al 2002) and a high water level ), but vascular plants benefit from increasing temperature (Weltzin et al 2000;Gunnarsson et al 2004) and a water level decline (Bragazza 2006a;Gerdol et al 2008). Further, N addition enhances biomass of vascular plants, especially ericoid dwarf shrubs (Kool & Heijmans 2009;Breeuwer et al 2010), which produce more easily decomposable litter than bryophytes Heijmans et al 2001) and compete asymmetrically with Sphagna for light (Malmer et al 2003;Bubier et al 2007). A slightly increased N concentration enhances Sphagnum production, whereas a strongly increased N concentration reduces Sphagnum production through vascular plant competition (Gunnarsson & Rydin 2000;Berendse et al 2001;Gerdol et al 2007).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Long-term vegetation changes in bogs exposed to high atmospheric deposition, aerial liming and climate fluctuation

Hájková

Hájek

Rybníček

et al. 2011

Journal of Vegetation Science

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Questions: Is vegetation composition of ombrotrophic bogs with an undisturbed water regime resistant or sensitive to ongoing high atmospheric deposition and climatic changes? Location: The Sudeten Mountains (Czech Republic). Methods: Species composition of bryophytes and vascular plants was sampled in 25 permanent plots in suboceanic bogs of the Jizerské hory Mountains and in 26 permanent plots in subcontinental bogs of the Hrubý Jeseník Mountains. The permanent plots were established and first sampled in 1991. These plots were re‐sampled after 14 and 17 years, respectively. We also used historical vegetation plots (1947–1949; 1980) from the same localities in order to reveal possible changes that might start earlier. Water chemistry was analysed annually, usually three times a year. Compositional changes were analysed by PERMANOVA, β‐diversity changes by PERMDISP and other changes by t‐test and Fisher's exact test. Results: At the community level, no statistically significant changes were detected in permanent plots (PERMANOVA, PERMDISP), either in hollows or in hummocks, but the vegetation composition changed between the oldest (historical) and the newest data sets. At the level of functional groups, cover of Cyperaceae significantly decreased and cover of other herbs (excluding graminoids) and Sphagna increased in the Hrubý Jeseník Mountains, whereas no changes were detected in the Jizerské hory Mountains. Cover of ericoid dwarf shrubs has not changed in either area. At the level of particular species, the frequency of Sphagnum magellanicum, Carex limosa, Scheuchzeria palustris and Vaccinium myrtillus decreased, while the frequency of Straminergon stramineum, Sphagnum recurvum agg., Eriophorum angustifolium and Luzula sylvatica increased. These changes were more evident when recent and historical data were compared. Conclusions: When water regime is not affected, the bog vegetation seems to be rather resistant to high atmospheric deposition and climate fluctuation. A significant change of the species composition occurs only in the long‐term perspective. Particular species could, however, decrease or increase their frequencies more rapidly. For some of these species a positive or negative response to nitrogen availability was also found in other studies, whereas for other species further research is needed in order to separate the effects of atmospheric deposition and internal ecosystem dynamics.

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Section: Changes In Particular Species Frequencies and The Possible Rcontrasting

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Long-term vegetation changes in bogs exposed to high atmospheric deposition, aerial liming and climate fluctuation

Hájková

Hájek

Rybníček

et al. 2011

Journal of Vegetation Science

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“…Many studies have shown that environmental conditions can change inter-specific interactions [3], [4], [6], [18], [34]–[36]. Our study also showed that nitrogen level changed the interactions between the two species.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

“…The interactions between Spartina anglica and Puccinella maritima were facilitative in low nutrient conditions, but not in high nutrient conditions [4]. The ericoid species Calluna vulgaris and Vaccinium oxycoccus were stronger competitors than the graminoid species Eriophorum vaginatum and Rhynchospora alba at high nutrient levels in peat bogs, but not at low nutrient conditions [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Nitrogen Level Changes the Interactions between a Native (Scirpus triqueter) and an Exotic Species (Spartina anglica) in Coastal China

et al. 2011

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The exotic species Spartina anglica, introduced from Europe in 1963, has been experiencing a decline in the past decade in coastal China, but the reasons for the decline are still not clear. It is hypothesized that competition with the native species Scirpus triqueter may have played an important role in the decline due to niche overlap in the field. We measured biomass, leaf number and area, asexual reproduction and relative neighborhood effect (RNE) of the two species in both monoculture and mixture under three nitrogen levels (control, low and high). S. anglica showed significantly lower biomass accumulation, leaf number and asexual reproduction in mixture than in monoculture. The inter- and intra-specific RNE of S. anglica were all positive, and the inter-specific RNE was significantly higher than the intra-specific RNE in the control. For S. triqueter, inter- and intra-specific RNE were negative at the high nitrogen level but positive in the control and at the low nitrogen level. This indicates that S. triqueter exerted an asymmetric competitive advantage over S. anglica in the control and low nitrogen conditions; however, S. anglica facilitated growth of S. triqueter in high nitrogen conditions. Nitrogen level changed the interactions between the two species because S. triqueter better tolerated low nitrogen. Since S. anglica is increasingly confined to upper, more nitrogen-limited marsh areas in coastal China, increased competition from S. triqueter may help explain its decline.

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“…Apart from having better access to atmospheric nutrients, ericoids could also be better competitors than graminoids in peatlands (Ward and others 2009). In a competition experiment where the species had equal access to the supplied nutrients, two dwarf shrub species were better competitors than two cooccurring graminoid species at increasing N and P supply (Kool and Heijmans 2009). Phosphorus also seems to play an important role.…”

Section: Response Of Vascular Plantsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Field Simulation of Global Change: Transplanting Northern Bog Mesocosms Southward

et al. 2010

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A large proportion of northern peatlands consists of Sphagnum-dominated ombrotrophic bogs. In these bogs, peat mosses (Sphagnum) and vascular plants occur in an apparent stable equilibrium, thereby sustaining the carbon sink function of the bog ecosystem. How global warming and increased nitrogen (N) deposition will affect the species composition in bog vegetation is still unclear. We performed a transplantation experiment in which mesocosms with intact vegetation were transplanted southward from north Sweden to northeast Germany along a transect of four bog sites, in which both temperature and N deposition increased. In addition, we monitored undisturbed vegetation in control plots at the four sites of the latitudinal gradient. Four growing seasons after transplantation, ericaceous dwarf shrubs had become much more abundant when transplanted to the warmest site which also had highest N deposition. As a result ericoid aboveground biomass in the transplanted mesocosms increased most at the southernmost site, this site also had highest ericoid biomass in the undisturbed vegetation. The two dominant Sphagnum species showed opposing responses when transplanted southward; Sphagnum balticum height increment decreased, whereas S. fuscum height increment increased when transplanted southward. Sphagnum production did not differ significantly among the transplanted mesocosms, but was lowest in the southernmost control plots. The dwarf shrub expansion and increased N concentrations in plant tissues we observed, point in the direction of a positive feedback toward vascular plant-dominance suppressing peat-forming Sphagnum in the long term. However, our data also indicate that precipitation and phosphorus availability influence the competitive balance between Sphagnum, dwarf shrubs and graminoids.

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Dwarf shrubs are stronger competitors than graminoid species at high nutrient supply in peat bogs

Cited by 20 publications

References 34 publications

Long-term vegetation changes in bogs exposed to high atmospheric deposition, aerial liming and climate fluctuation

Long-term vegetation changes in bogs exposed to high atmospheric deposition, aerial liming and climate fluctuation

Nitrogen Level Changes the Interactions between a Native (Scirpus triqueter) and an Exotic Species (Spartina anglica) in Coastal China

Field Simulation of Global Change: Transplanting Northern Bog Mesocosms Southward

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