Population variation affects interactions between two California salt marsh plant species more than precipitation

Noto, Akana E.; Shurin, Jonathan B.

doi:10.1007/s00442-015-3473-5

Cited by 3 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 33 publications

(36 reference statements)

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“…planiculumis density ratio of 2:2 or 1:3). As predicted by Maestre et al [13], plant-plant interactions will shift from competition to facilitation with increased abiotic stress for plant-plant combinations with dissimilar competitive abilities and stress tolerances, and this shift has been observed in previous studies [6, 22, 45–46]. However, the facilitative effects disappeared with increasing numbers of S .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

“…Most tests of the SGH have focused on interactions between a single pair or a few pairs of species at a planting density ratio of 1:1 [19–22]. However, the individual plants were grown with different numbers of neighbouring species in natural habitats, and a species growing in a stressful environment may have a neighbour that exhibits different interaction strengths that may partly depend on the planting ratio.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Does salt stress affect the interspecific interaction between regionally dominant Suaeda salsa and Scirpus planiculumis?

Zhou

Pan

et al. 2017

PLoS ONE

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Plant-plant interactions that change along environmental gradients can be affected by different combinations of environmental characteristics, such as the species and planting density ratios. Suaeda salsa and Scirpus planiculumis are regionally dominant species in the Shuangtai estuarine wetland. Compared with non-clonal S. salsa, clonal S. planiculumis has competitive advantages because of its morphological plasticity. However, salt-tolerant S. salsa may grow faster than S. planiculumis in saline-alkali estuary soil. Whether the interactions between these two species along salinity gradients are affected by the level of salt stress and mixed planting density ratio remains unclear. Thus, to test the effects of salt stress and planting density ratios on the interactions between S. planiculumis and S. salsa in the late growing season, we conducted a greenhouse experiment consisting of 3 salinity levels (0, 8 and 15ppt) and 5 planting density ratios. Our results showed that the promotion of S. salsa growth and inhibition of S. planiculumis growth at low salinity levels (8 ppt) did not alter the interactions between the two species. Facilitation of S. salsa occurred at high salinity levels, and the magnitude of this net outcome decreased with increases in the proportion of S. salsa. These results suggest that competition and facilitation processes not only depend on the combinations of different life-history characteristics of species but also on the planting density ratio. These findings may contribute to the understanding of the responses of estuarine wetland plant-plant interactions to human modifications of estuarine salinity.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does salt stress affect the interspecific interaction between regionally dominant Suaeda salsa and Scirpus planiculumis?

Zhou

Pan

et al. 2017

PLoS ONE

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show abstract

“…Populations may differ as a result of adaptation to local conditions which can affect the strength and direction of their interactions (Espeland & Rice, ). In a previous study, we found that source population affected interaction strength between S. pacifica and J. carnosa more than precipitation (Noto & Shurin, ). The present study included those two species and took place at the six sites from which plants were collected in the previous study, suggesting that variation among populations could also play a role in this experiment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…This may be why facilitation occurred only at the first sampling date when modification of the microclimate was likely most important as environmental conditions were most stressful due to the sudden loss of plant cover. A common garden experiment also found that J. carnosa facilitated growth of S. pacifica (Noto & Shurin, ). Thus, in addition to facilitation by dominant species, this study shows that subordinate species can also exert positive effects on performance of the dominant species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Interactions among salt marsh plants vary geographically but not latitudinally along the California coast

Noto

Shurin

2017

Ecology and Evolution

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The strength of species interactions often varies geographically and locally with environmental conditions. Competitive interactions are predicted to be stronger in benign environments while facilitation is expected to be stronger in harsh ones. We tested these ideas with an aboveground neighbor removal experiment at six salt marshes along the California coast. We determined the effect of removals of either the dominant species, Salicornia pacifica, or the subordinate species on plant cover, aboveground biomass and community composition, as well as soil salinity and moisture. We found that S. pacifica consistently competed with the subordinate species and that the strength of competition varied among sites. In contrast with other studies showing that dominant species facilitate subordinates by moderating physical stress, here the subordinate species facilitated S. pacifica shortly after removal treatments were imposed, but the effect disappeared over time. Contrary to expectations based on patterns observed in east coast salt marshes, we did not see patterns in species interactions in relation to latitude, climate, or soil edaphic characteristics. Our results suggest that variation in interactions among salt marsh plants may be influenced by local‐scale site differences such as nutrients more than broad latitudinal gradients.

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“…For instance, succulents, which are well adapted to drought and salinity, were most common in the southwest. Species or populations that are well adapted to stressful rainfall conditions may not be as strongly affected by variable precipitation patterns and may display different patterns of diversity, stability and species interactions (Pennings et al , Noto and Shurin ). We may even expect to see nonlinear relationships between rainfall and community dynamics as the dominant plant type shifts among sites.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mean conditions predict salt marsh plant community diversity and stability better than environmental variability

Noto

Shurin

2017

Oikos

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Environmental variability and the frequency of extreme events are predicted to increase in future climate scenarios; however, the role of fluctuations in shaping community composition, diversity and stability is not well understood. Identifying current patterns of association between measures of community stability and climatic means and variability will help elucidate the ways in which altered variability and mean conditions may change communities in the future. Salt marshes provide essential ecosystem services and are increasingly threatened by sea‐level rise, land‐use change, eutrophication and predator loss, yet the effects of temporal environmental variation on salt marshes remain unknown. We synthesized long‐term plant community monitoring data from 11 sites on both coasts of the United States. We used an information‐theoretic approach and linear models to determine the associations among long‐term mean conditions, interannual environmental variability, and plant community stability and diversity. We found that salt marsh community stability and diversity were more strongly related to long‐term means of temperature and precipitation than to interannual variation. Warm and wet environments had fewer species and less turnover among years. Our results suggest that communities in cool, dry environments may be more resilient to climate warming due to greater species richness and turnover. Mean conditions are sufficient to predict contemporary patterns of salt marsh plant community dynamics, but environmental variability may have stronger impacts as it increases with climate change.

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Population variation affects interactions between two California salt marsh plant species more than precipitation

Cited by 3 publications

References 33 publications

Does salt stress affect the interspecific interaction between regionally dominant Suaeda salsa and Scirpus planiculumis?

Does salt stress affect the interspecific interaction between regionally dominant Suaeda salsa and Scirpus planiculumis?

Interactions among salt marsh plants vary geographically but not latitudinally along the California coast

Mean conditions predict salt marsh plant community diversity and stability better than environmental variability

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