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Mutual positive effects between shrubs in an arid ecosystem

One-way facilitation in plants has been found in many harsh environments and their role as structural forces governing species composition in plant communities is now well established. However, reciprocal positive effects benefiting two interacting species have seldom been reported and, in recent re...

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Autores principales: Tirado, Reyes, Bråthen, Kari Anne, Pugnaire, Francisco I.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4588512/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26419958
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep14710
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author Tirado, Reyes
Bråthen, Kari Anne
Pugnaire, Francisco I.
author_facet Tirado, Reyes
Bråthen, Kari Anne
Pugnaire, Francisco I.
author_sort Tirado, Reyes
collection PubMed
description One-way facilitation in plants has been found in many harsh environments and their role as structural forces governing species composition in plant communities is now well established. However, reciprocal positive effects benefiting two interacting species have seldom been reported and, in recent reviews, conceptually considered merely as facilitation when in fact there is room for adaptive strategies and evolutionary responses. We tested the existence of such reciprocal positive effects in an arid environment in SE Spain using spatial pattern analysis, a species removal experiment, and a natural experiment. We found that the spatial association between Maytenus senegalensis and Whitania frutescens, two shrub species of roughly similar size intimately interacting in our community, resulted in mutual benefit for both species. Benefits included improved water relations and nutritional status and protection against browsing, and did occur despite simultaneous competition for resources. Our data suggest two-way facilitation or, rather, a facultative mutualism among higher plant species, a process often overlooked which could be a main driver of plant community dynamics allowing for evolutionary processes.
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spelling pubmed-45885122015-10-13 Mutual positive effects between shrubs in an arid ecosystem Tirado, Reyes Bråthen, Kari Anne Pugnaire, Francisco I. Sci Rep Article One-way facilitation in plants has been found in many harsh environments and their role as structural forces governing species composition in plant communities is now well established. However, reciprocal positive effects benefiting two interacting species have seldom been reported and, in recent reviews, conceptually considered merely as facilitation when in fact there is room for adaptive strategies and evolutionary responses. We tested the existence of such reciprocal positive effects in an arid environment in SE Spain using spatial pattern analysis, a species removal experiment, and a natural experiment. We found that the spatial association between Maytenus senegalensis and Whitania frutescens, two shrub species of roughly similar size intimately interacting in our community, resulted in mutual benefit for both species. Benefits included improved water relations and nutritional status and protection against browsing, and did occur despite simultaneous competition for resources. Our data suggest two-way facilitation or, rather, a facultative mutualism among higher plant species, a process often overlooked which could be a main driver of plant community dynamics allowing for evolutionary processes. Nature Publishing Group 2015-09-30 /pmc/articles/PMC4588512/ /pubmed/26419958 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep14710 Text en Copyright © 2015, Macmillan Publishers Limited http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
spellingShingle Article
Tirado, Reyes
Bråthen, Kari Anne
Pugnaire, Francisco I.
Mutual positive effects between shrubs in an arid ecosystem
title Mutual positive effects between shrubs in an arid ecosystem
title_full Mutual positive effects between shrubs in an arid ecosystem
title_fullStr Mutual positive effects between shrubs in an arid ecosystem
title_full_unstemmed Mutual positive effects between shrubs in an arid ecosystem
title_short Mutual positive effects between shrubs in an arid ecosystem
title_sort mutual positive effects between shrubs in an arid ecosystem
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4588512/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26419958
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep14710
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