Invasibility of a Nutrient-Poor Pasture through Resident and Non-Resident Herbs Is Controlled by Litter, Gap Size and Propagule Pressure

Eckstein, R. Lutz; Ruch, Diana; Otte, Annette; Donath, Tobias W.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0041887

Cited by 22 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…Moderate litter amounts may support vegetation development by improving microsite conditions, that is, attenuating extremes in moisture and temperature (Fowler ; Jensen & Gutekunst ; Eckstein & Donath ; Deutsch, Bork & Willms ; Eckstein et al . ), and thus facilitating the performance of living vegetation (Brooker et al . ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, effects of litter also depend on litter amount (Gross 1984;Wilsey & Polley 2003). Moderate litter amounts may support vegetation development by improving microsite conditions, that is, attenuating extremes in moisture and temperature (Fowler 1986;Jensen & Gutekunst 2003;Eckstein & Donath 2005;Deutsch, Bork & Willms 2010;Eckstein et al 2012), and thus facilitating the performance of living vegetation (Brooker et al 2008). However, facilitative effects are reduced, or even cease, when litter amounts are too high (Goldberg & Werner 1983;Tilman 1993;Foster & Gross 1997Wardle, Bonner & Nicholson 1997;Xiong & Nilsson 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of litter on seedling establishment in natural and semi‐natural grasslands: a meta‐analysis

et al. 2012

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Summary1. Plant litter is a key component in terrestrial ecosystems. It plays a major role in nutrient cycles and community organization. Land use and climate change may change the accumulation of litter in herbaceous ecosystems and affect plant community dynamics. Additionally, the transfer of seeds containing plant material (i.e. litter) is a widespread technique in grassland restoration. 2. Ecosystem responses to litter represent the outcome of interactions, whose sign and strength will depend on many variables (e.g. litter amount, seed size). A previous meta-analysis (from 1999) reported that litter had an overall negative effect on seed germination and seedling establishment in different ecosystems. However, recent studies indicated that this might not be the case in grassland ecosystems. 3. We used 914 data from 46 independent studies to analyse the effects of litter on seedling (i) emergence, (ii) survival and (iii) biomass, employing meta-analytical techniques. Each data set was stratified according to methodology, grassland type, irrigation conditions, litter amount and seed size. 4. We found an overall neutral effect of litter presence on seedling emergence and survival and a positive effect on seedling biomass. However, whereas for field experiments the response remained neutral, it was positive for common garden studies. In glasshouse experiments, litter effects were negative for emergence and positive for biomass. 5. Litter may have a positive effect on seedling recruitment in dry grasslands or under water-limited conditions, or in the presence of low to medium litter amounts (< 500 g m À2 ). However, high litter amounts (> 500 g m À2 ) will inhibit seedling recruitment. Large seeds showed a more positive response to litter presence with respect to seedling emergence and survival, but not concerning biomass. 6. Synthesis. Under dry conditions (e.g. dry grasslands or dry periods) or with low to medium litter amounts, litter presence has a positive effect on seedling establishment. However, climate and land use change may promote litter accumulation and reduce seedling establishment, affecting grasslands composition and ecosystem functions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of litter on seedling establishment in natural and semi‐natural grasslands: a meta‐analysis

et al. 2012

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“…Such gaps are competition free habitat patches which are important especially in the early and most vulnerable stages of plant establishment (Silwertown & Smith 1988;Grime 2001;Hölzel 2005). Small sized gaps often face the problem of fast recolonization by vegetative spreading species, in larger gaps establishment from soil seed bank, seed rain or sowing is possible (Bullock et al 1995;Pywell et al 2007;Eckstein et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Establishment gaps in species-poor grasslands: artificial biodiversity hotspots to support the colonization of target species

Kiss

Deák

Tóthmérész³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Sowing of grass seed mixtures is a feasible and cost-effective method for landscape-scale grassland restoration. However, sowing only grasses usually leads to species-poor and dense grass sward, where the establishment of target forbs is hampered both by microsite and propagule limitation. To overcome these limitations and increase the diversity of species-poor sown grasslands we developed a novel method by creating 'establishment gaps'. We used tillage to open gaps of 1 m 2 , 4 m 2 and 16 m 2 size in the dense grass sward of six species-poor sown grasslands in the Great Hungarian Plain. We sowed high-diversity seed mixtures of 35 native species into all gaps. We analyzed vegetation development during the first five years after setting up the trial. We also studied the colonization dynamics of the sown species along four 20-m transects around each gap, resulting in a total of 1440 plots of 1 m 2 size that were studied. Our results indicated that most of the sown species were able to establish permanently in the establishment gaps. The total cover and the cover of perennial sown species increased independently of gap size. Meanwhile the cover of short-lived sown species 2 decreased during the five years. There was only a moderate level of weed abundance in the gaps, and weed cover decreased over the years. The sown target species started to colonize the species-poor grasslands surrounding the establishment gaps within five years. The highest number of species and individuals dispersed from the 4 m 2 -sized gaps, as they had a more stable development than small gaps and were exposed to lower grazing pressure than large ones. Implications for practice Establishment gaps are widely applicable tools to increase the diversity of speciespoor grasslands. Gaps of 4 m 2 represent a more feasible solution compared to larger openings also for the farmers, because there is only a moderate level of weed encroachment and smaller soil disturbance occurs during their creation.  We recommend sowing high-diversity seed mixtures containing both short-lived species that can establish in the first year and perennial species, which guarantee a high cover of target species later on.  Gaps sown with high-diversity seed mixture are highly resistant to unfavorable climatic conditions: increasing grass abundance in dry years does not hamper the recovery of target grassland species in the following years.

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“…), low plant propagule pressure (seed production) and high species richness with a long history of adaptation, are factors that enhance community stability (Eckstein et al. ; Frankow‐Lindberg ). However, according to the fluctuating resource availability hypothesis (Davis et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In highlands, prevailing stressful conditions (cold climate, nutrient constraints, etc. ), low plant propagule pressure (seed production) and high species richness with a long history of adaptation, are factors that enhance community stability (Eckstein et al 2012;Frankow-Lindberg 2012). However, according to the fluctuating resource availability hypothesis (Davis et al 2000), disturbances that raise unexploited resources may leave plant communities prone to changes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutrient pulses after prescribed winter fires and preferential patterns of N uptake may contribute to the expansion of Brachypodium pinnatum (L.) P. Beauv. in highland grasslands

Canals¹,

Pedro²,

Rupérez³

et al. 2014

Applied Vegetation Science

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Question Do prescribed winter fires – authorized to prevent shrub encroachment and control necromass accumulation in protected grassland communities – promote significant changes in soils and in the pool of nutrients available to plants? Does Brachypodium pinnatum, an expanding native grass, take better advantage of the most dynamic nutrient pulse, that of N, than other dominant native grasses? Location Aezkoa commons, western Pyrenees. Methods We scheduled experimental winter burnings in three semi‐natural grasslands with incipient shrub encroachment and tracked the short‐term physical–chemical changes produced in the soil. During the peak biomass period, we performed a stable isotope field experiment in order to follow the fate of three different chemical forms of labelled N (15NO3−, 15NH4+ and 13C2‐15N‐glycine) in 48 undisturbed stands of B. pinnatum and Festuca gr. rubra. Results The soil pools of available phosphorus, potassium and ammonium significantly increased after the fire. Four months later, a pulse of nitrate was also recorded. The isotopic labelling experiment revealed that, although the three forms of N were absorbed by the grasses, significant differences in 15N tissue enrichment appeared after 48 h. Altogether, the results indicated a higher response of B. pinnatum to the NH4+ pulse than F. rubra, although the latter was able to absorb intact glycine, unlike B. pinnatum. Conclusions Controlled winter burnings, despite being low intensity, cause a significant release of the main nutrients associated with plant growth. This makes the plant community more susceptible to floristic changes. The field experiment suggests that B. pinnatum may make better use of the post‐fire NH4+ pulse than F. rubra. This preferential uptake, together with other competing mechanisms of the species, may trigger the expansion of B. pinnatum in burned areas.

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Invasibility of a Nutrient-Poor Pasture through Resident and Non-Resident Herbs Is Controlled by Litter, Gap Size and Propagule Pressure

Cited by 22 publications

References 48 publications

Effects of litter on seedling establishment in natural and semi‐natural grasslands: a meta‐analysis

Effects of litter on seedling establishment in natural and semi‐natural grasslands: a meta‐analysis

Establishment gaps in species-poor grasslands: artificial biodiversity hotspots to support the colonization of target species

Nutrient pulses after prescribed winter fires and preferential patterns of N uptake may contribute to the expansion of Brachypodium pinnatum (L.) P. Beauv. in highland grasslands

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