Energy balance and temperature relations of <i>Azorella compacta</i>, a high‐elevation cushion plant of the central Andes

Kleier, Catherine; Rundel, Philip W.

doi:10.1111/j.1438-8677.2008.00115.x

Cited by 36 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(31 reference statements)

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“…Some alpine cushion species exhibit strong physiological tolerance to moisture (Terashima et al. ) and temperature stress (Kleier and Rundel ) but it is possible that our responses are the combined effects of stress and competition with neighboring plants, as well as plants living in between cushion branches (Choler et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil moisture mediates alpine life form and community productivity responses to warming

Winkler

Chapin

Kueppers

2016

Ecology

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Climate change is expected to alter primary production and community composition in alpine ecosystems, but the direction and magnitude of change is debated. Warmer, wetter growing seasons may increase productivity; however, in the absence of additional precipitation, increased temperatures may decrease soil moisture, thereby diminishing any positive effect of warming. Since plant species show individual responses to environmental change, responses may depend on community composition and vary across life form or functional groups. We warmed an alpine plant community at Niwot Ridge, Colorado continuously for four years to test whether warming increases or decreases productivity of life form groups and the whole community. We provided supplemental water to a subset of plots to alleviate the drying effect of warming. We measured annual above-ground productivity and soil temperature and moisture, from which we calculated soil degree days and adequate soil moisture days. Using an information-theoretic approach, we observed that positive productivity responses to warming at the community level occur only when warming is combined with supplemental watering; otherwise we observed decreased productivity. Watering also increased community productivity in the absence of warming. Forbs accounted for the majority of the productivity at the site and drove the contingent community response to warming, while cushions drove the generally positive response to watering and graminoids muted the community response. Warming advanced snowmelt and increased soil degree days, while watering increased adequate soil moisture days. Heated and watered plots had more adequate soil moisture days than heated plots. Overall, measured changes in soil temperature and moisture in response to treatments were consistent with expected productivity responses. We found that available soil moisture largely determines the responses of this forbdominated alpine community to simulated climate warming.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil moisture mediates alpine life form and community productivity responses to warming

Winkler

Chapin

Kueppers

2016

Ecology

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“…Alpine cushions in general can act as heat traps maintaining temperatures up to 15°K warmer than ambient air while simultaneously serving as moisture traps rarely experiencing less than −0.6 MPa [22]. Other studies have shown that Azorella compacta , a tropical alpine cushion plant, has reduced oscillations in internal temperature relative to surface temperature and greater water potentials than alpine mat forming species [62]. Badano et al (2010) also found that Azorella monantha (a similar cushion forming species) buffered extreme temperatures and increased soil moisture.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Alpine Cushion Plant Silene acaulis as Foundation Species: A Bug’s-Eye View to Facilitation and Microclimate

Molenda

Reid²,

Lortie³

2012

PLoS ONE

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Alpine ecosystems are important globally with high levels of endemic and rare species. Given that they will be highly impacted by climate change, understanding biotic factors that maintain diversity is critical. Silene acaulis is a common alpine nurse plant shown to positively influence the diversity and abundance of organisms–predominantly other plant species. The hypothesis that cushion or nurse plants in general are important to multiple trophic levels has been proposed but rarely tested. Alpine arthropod diversity is also largely understudied worldwide, and the plant-arthropod interactions reported are mostly negative, that is,. herbivory. Plant and arthropod diversity and abundance were sampled on S. acaulis and at paired adjacent microsites with other non-cushion forming vegetation present on Whistler Mountain, B.C., Canada to examine the relative trophic effects of cushion plants. Plant species richness and abundance but not Simpson’s diversity index was higher on cushion microsites relative to other vegetation. Arthropod richness, abundance, and diversity were all higher on cushion microsites relative to other vegetated sites. On a microclimatic scale, S. acaulis ameliorated stressful conditions for plants and invertebrates living inside it, but the highest levels of arthropod diversity were observed on cushions with tall plant growth. Hence, alpine cushion plants can be foundation species not only for other plant species but other trophic levels, and these impacts are expressed through both direct and indirect effects associated with altered environmental conditions and localized productivity. Whilst this case study tests a limited subset of the membership of alpine animal communities, it clearly demonstrates that cushion-forming plant species are an important consideration in understanding resilience to global changes for many organisms in addition to other plants.

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“…pl. [37], but little is known about the role played by Pycnophyllum sp. pl., a group of cushion species that inside the dry Puna landscape is fostered by the harshest conditions [32].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence of Facilitation Cascade Processes as Drivers of Successional Patterns of Ecosystem Engineers at the Upper Altitudinal Limit of the Dry Puna

Malatesta¹,

Tardella²,

Piermarteri³

et al. 2016

PLoS ONE

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Facilitation processes constitute basic elements of vegetation dynamics in harsh systems. Recent studies in tropical alpine environments demonstrated how pioneer plant species defined as “ecosystem engineers” are capable of enhancing landscape-level richness by adding new species to the community through the modification of microhabitats, and also provided hints about the alternation of different ecosystem engineers over time. Nevertheless, most of the existing works analysed different ecosystem engineers separately, without considering the interaction of different ecosystem engineers. Focusing on the altitudinal limit of Peruvian Dry Puna vegetation, we hypothesized that positive interactions structure plant communities by facilitation cascades involving different ecosystem engineers, determining the evolution of the microhabitat patches in terms of abiotic resources and beneficiary species hosted. To analyze successional mechanisms, we used a “space-for-time” substitution to account for changes over time, and analyzed data on soil texture, composition, and temperature, facilitated species and their interaction with nurse species, and surface area of engineered patches by means of chemical analyses, indicator species analysis, and rarefaction curves. A successional process, resulting from the dynamic interaction of different ecosystem engineers, which determined a progressive amelioration of soil conditions (e.g. nitrogen and organic matter content, and temperature), was the main driver of species assemblage at the community scale, enhancing species richness. Cushion plants act as pioneers, by starting the successional processes that continue with shrubs and tussocks. Tussock grasses have sometimes been found to be capable of creating microhabitat patches independently. The dynamics of species assemblage seem to follow the nested assemblage mechanism, in which the first foundation species to colonize a habitat provides a novel substrate for colonization by other foundation species through a facilitation cascade process.

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Energy balance and temperature relations of Azorella compacta, a high‐elevation cushion plant of the central Andes

Cited by 36 publications

References 30 publications

Soil moisture mediates alpine life form and community productivity responses to warming

Soil moisture mediates alpine life form and community productivity responses to warming

The Alpine Cushion Plant Silene acaulis as Foundation Species: A Bug’s-Eye View to Facilitation and Microclimate

Evidence of Facilitation Cascade Processes as Drivers of Successional Patterns of Ecosystem Engineers at the Upper Altitudinal Limit of the Dry Puna

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