Cargando…
Effects of post oak (Quercus stellata) and smooth brome (Bromus inermis) competition on water uptake and root partitioning of eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana)
Eastern redcedar Juniperus virginiana is encroaching into new habitats, which will affect native ecosystems as this species competes with other plants for available resources, including water. We designed a greenhouse experiment to investigate changes in soil moisture content and rooting depths of t...
Autores principales: | , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Public Library of Science
2023
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9891534/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36724141 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280100 |
_version_ | 1784881153347420160 |
---|---|
author | Hamati, Samia Medeiros, Juliana S. Ward, David |
author_facet | Hamati, Samia Medeiros, Juliana S. Ward, David |
author_sort | Hamati, Samia |
collection | PubMed |
description | Eastern redcedar Juniperus virginiana is encroaching into new habitats, which will affect native ecosystems as this species competes with other plants for available resources, including water. We designed a greenhouse experiment to investigate changes in soil moisture content and rooting depths of two-year-old J. virginiana saplings growing with or without competition. We had four competition treatments: 1) none, 2) with a native tree (Quercus stellata), 3) with an invasive grass (Bromus inermis), and 4) with both Q. stellata and B. inermis. We measured soil moisture content over two years as well as root length, total biomass, relative water content, midday water potential, and mortality at the end of the experiment. When J. virginiana and B. inermis grew together, water depletion occurred at both 30–40 cm and 10–20 cm. Combined with root length results, we can infer that J. virginiana most likely took up water from the deeper layers whereas B. inermis used water from the top layers. We found a similar pattern of water depletion and uptake when J. virginiana grew with Q. stellata, indicating that J. virginiana took up water from the deeper layers and Q. stellata used water mostly from the top soil layers. When the three species grew together, we found root overlap between J. virginiana and Q. stellata. Despite the root overlap, our relative water content and water potential indicate that J. virginiana was not water stressed in any of the plant combinations. Regardless, J. virginiana saplings had less total biomass in treatments with B. inermis and we recorded a significantly higher mortality when J. virginiana grew with both competitors. Root overlap and partitioning can affect how J. virginiana perform and adapt to new competitors and can allow their co-existence with grasses and other woody species, which can facilitate J. virginiana encroachment into grasslands and woodlands. Our data also show that competition with both Q. stellata and B. inermis could limit establishment, regardless of water availability. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9891534 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-98915342023-02-02 Effects of post oak (Quercus stellata) and smooth brome (Bromus inermis) competition on water uptake and root partitioning of eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) Hamati, Samia Medeiros, Juliana S. Ward, David PLoS One Research Article Eastern redcedar Juniperus virginiana is encroaching into new habitats, which will affect native ecosystems as this species competes with other plants for available resources, including water. We designed a greenhouse experiment to investigate changes in soil moisture content and rooting depths of two-year-old J. virginiana saplings growing with or without competition. We had four competition treatments: 1) none, 2) with a native tree (Quercus stellata), 3) with an invasive grass (Bromus inermis), and 4) with both Q. stellata and B. inermis. We measured soil moisture content over two years as well as root length, total biomass, relative water content, midday water potential, and mortality at the end of the experiment. When J. virginiana and B. inermis grew together, water depletion occurred at both 30–40 cm and 10–20 cm. Combined with root length results, we can infer that J. virginiana most likely took up water from the deeper layers whereas B. inermis used water from the top layers. We found a similar pattern of water depletion and uptake when J. virginiana grew with Q. stellata, indicating that J. virginiana took up water from the deeper layers and Q. stellata used water mostly from the top soil layers. When the three species grew together, we found root overlap between J. virginiana and Q. stellata. Despite the root overlap, our relative water content and water potential indicate that J. virginiana was not water stressed in any of the plant combinations. Regardless, J. virginiana saplings had less total biomass in treatments with B. inermis and we recorded a significantly higher mortality when J. virginiana grew with both competitors. Root overlap and partitioning can affect how J. virginiana perform and adapt to new competitors and can allow their co-existence with grasses and other woody species, which can facilitate J. virginiana encroachment into grasslands and woodlands. Our data also show that competition with both Q. stellata and B. inermis could limit establishment, regardless of water availability. Public Library of Science 2023-02-01 /pmc/articles/PMC9891534/ /pubmed/36724141 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280100 Text en © 2023 Hamati et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Hamati, Samia Medeiros, Juliana S. Ward, David Effects of post oak (Quercus stellata) and smooth brome (Bromus inermis) competition on water uptake and root partitioning of eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) |
title | Effects of post oak (Quercus stellata) and smooth brome (Bromus inermis) competition on water uptake and root partitioning of eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) |
title_full | Effects of post oak (Quercus stellata) and smooth brome (Bromus inermis) competition on water uptake and root partitioning of eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) |
title_fullStr | Effects of post oak (Quercus stellata) and smooth brome (Bromus inermis) competition on water uptake and root partitioning of eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) |
title_full_unstemmed | Effects of post oak (Quercus stellata) and smooth brome (Bromus inermis) competition on water uptake and root partitioning of eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) |
title_short | Effects of post oak (Quercus stellata) and smooth brome (Bromus inermis) competition on water uptake and root partitioning of eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) |
title_sort | effects of post oak (quercus stellata) and smooth brome (bromus inermis) competition on water uptake and root partitioning of eastern redcedar (juniperus virginiana) |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9891534/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36724141 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280100 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT hamatisamia effectsofpostoakquercusstellataandsmoothbromebromusinermiscompetitiononwateruptakeandrootpartitioningofeasternredcedarjuniperusvirginiana AT medeirosjulianas effectsofpostoakquercusstellataandsmoothbromebromusinermiscompetitiononwateruptakeandrootpartitioningofeasternredcedarjuniperusvirginiana AT warddavid effectsofpostoakquercusstellataandsmoothbromebromusinermiscompetitiononwateruptakeandrootpartitioningofeasternredcedarjuniperusvirginiana |