Monitoring the Development of Nurse Plant Species to Improve the Performances of Reforestation Programs in Mediterranean Areas

Association of three succulent plant species with woody canopy in the mixed bushveld, South Africa

Koedoe ◽

10.4102/koedoe.v41i2.254 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 41 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

I. Thrash

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Plant Species ◽

Arid Areas ◽

Nurse Plant ◽

Succulent Plant ◽

Two Phases ◽

Possible Cause ◽

Study Species

Succulents are an important component of the mixed bushveld. Although the nurse plant syndrome is known from arid areas, association of succulents with woody canopy has ot been studied in non-arid areas. The study was done in two phases, the first being to confirm the existence of an association and the second being to investigate a possible cause of the association. The three species studied were all significantly associated with woody canopy. All of the relatively small (0-1 m) Euphorbia ingens plants and most of the relatively small (0-0.5m) Aloe marlothii and Opuntia vulgaris plants encountered were beneath woody canopy. There was a very strong significant association between being damaged by fire and growing between woody canopies for all three species. Fires are likely to be lethal to any plants of the study species that are shorter than about 1 m. In any area where fires are frequent there are likely to be fewer young plants of the study species between woody canopies than there will be within the protection of a bush clump.

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The role of hydraulic lift on seedling establishment under a nurse plant species in a semi-arid environment

Perspectives in Plant Ecology Evolution and Systematics ◽

10.1016/j.ppees.2011.05.002 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 181-187 ◽

Cited By ~ 54

Author(s):

Iván Prieto ◽

Francisco M. Padilla ◽

Cristina Armas ◽

Francisco I. Pugnaire

Keyword(s):

Plant Species ◽

Seedling Establishment ◽

Arid Environment ◽

Hydraulic Lift ◽

Nurse Plant ◽

Semi Arid

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Slope orientation enhances the nurse effect of a paramo shrub, Hypericum irazuense (Hypericaceae) in Costa Rica

Journal of Tropical Ecology ◽

10.1017/s0266467409005999 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 25 (3) ◽

pp. 331-335 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Alejandro G. Farji-Brener ◽

Federico A. Chinchilla ◽

Ainhoa Magrach ◽

Víctor Romero ◽

Marcos Ríos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Plant Species ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Nurse Plant ◽

Positive Interaction ◽

Nurse Plants ◽

Nurse Effect ◽

The One ◽

The Impact ◽

Environmental Mitigation ◽

Occurrence Of Species

The nurse effect is a positive interaction in which one plant (the nurse) provides conditions that enhance the establishment and growth of another plant species (Callaway 1995). Increased environmental severity appeared to increase the strength of nurse effects (Brooker et al. 2008, Lortie & Callaway 2006). On the one hand, the impact of the nurse effect depends on the magnitude of the environmental changes exerted by the nurse plant. On the other hand, the impact could depend on the number of plant species in the regional pool that respond to such changes. For example, better conditions beneath the crowns of nurse plants might allow the occurrence of species that are sensitive to environmental stress and that occur infrequently in open areas. Thus, if a nurse plant modulates environmental conditions that are critical for the persistence of other plant species, it seems likely that such nurse plants would have greater effects in stressful habitats, where they cause relatively larger environmental mitigation (Badano et al. 2006, Callaway et al. 2002).

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