scholarly journals Do successive climate extremes weaken the resistance of plant communities? An experimental study using plant assemblages

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 9149-9177 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. E. Dreesen ◽  
H. J. De Boeck ◽  
I. A. Janssens ◽  
I. Nijs
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Extreme Event ◽  
Recovery Period ◽  
Climate Extremes ◽  
Experimental Plant ◽  
Herbaceous Plant ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Plant Assemblages ◽  
Effects Of Drought ◽  
Heat Extremes

Abstract. The probability that plant communities undergo successive climate extremes increases under climate change. Exposure to an extreme event might elicit acclimatory responses and thereby greater resistance to a subsequent event, but might also reduce resistance if the recovery period is too short or resilience too low. Using experimental plant assemblages, we compared the effects of two successive extremes (either two drought extremes, two heat extremes or two drought + heat extremes) to those of assemblages being exposed only to the second extreme. Additionally, the recovery period between the successive extremes was varied (2, 3.5 or 6 weeks). Among the different types of climate extremes, combined drought + heat extremes induced substantial leaf and plant mortality, while the effects of drought and heat extremes were smaller. Preceding drought + heat extremes lowered the resistance in terms of leaf survival to a subsequent drought + heat extreme if the recovery period was 2 weeks, even though the leaves had completely recovered during that interval. No reduced resistance to subsequent extremes was recorded with longer recovery times or with drought or heat extremes. Despite mortality on the short term, the drought + heat and the heat extremes increased the end-of-season aboveground biomass, independent of the number of events or the recovery period. These results show that the effect of a preceding extreme event disappears quite quickly, but that recurrent climate extremes with short time intervals can weaken the resistance of herbaceous plant assemblages. This can however be compensated afterwards through rapid recovery and secondary, positive effects in the longer term.

scholarly journals Do successive climate extremes weaken the resistance of plant communities? An experimental study using plant assemblages

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. E. Dreesen ◽  
H. J. De Boeck ◽  
I. A. Janssens ◽  
I. Nijs
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Extreme Event ◽  
Recovery Period ◽  
Climate Extremes ◽  
Herbaceous Plant ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Plant Assemblages ◽  
Heat Extremes

Abstract. The probability that plant communities undergo successive climate extremes increases under climate change. Exposure to an extreme event might elicit acclimatory responses and thereby greater resistance to a subsequent event, but might also reduce resistance if the recovery period is too short or resilience too low. Using experimental herbaceous plant assemblages, we compared the effects of two successive extremes occurring in one growing season (either two drought extremes, two heat extremes or two drought + heat extremes) to those of assemblages being exposed only to the second extreme. Additionally, the recovery period between the successive extremes was varied (2, 3.5 or 6 weeks). Among the different types of climate extremes, combined heat + drought extremes induced substantial leaf mortality and plant senescence, while the effects of drought and heat extremes were smaller. Preceding drought + heat extremes lowered the resistance in terms of leaf survival to a subsequent drought + heat extreme if the recovery period was two weeks, even though the leaves had completely recovered during that interval. No reduced resistance to subsequent extremes was recorded with longer recovery times or with drought or heat extremes. Despite the substantial mortality on the short term, the drought + heat and the heat extremes increased the end-of-season aboveground biomass independent of the number of extreme events or the duration of the recovery period. These results show that recurrent climate extremes with short time intervals can weaken the resistance of herbaceous plant assemblages. This negative effect in the short term can, however, be compensated in the longer term through rapid recovery and secondary positive effects.

scholarly journals Recovery dynamics and invasibility of herbaceous plant communities after exposure to fifty-year climate extremes in different seasons

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 15851-15877
Author(s):  
F. E. Dreesen ◽  
H. J. De Boeck ◽  
I. A. Janssens ◽  
I. Nijs
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Extreme Event ◽  
Climate Extremes ◽  
Community Response ◽  
Herbaceous Plant ◽  
Heat Extremes ◽  
One Year ◽  
Recovery Dynamics ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Heat Events

Abstract. Disturbance events such as climatic extremes may enhance the invasibility of plant communities, through the creation of gaps and the associated local increase in available resources. In this study, experimental herbaceous communities consisting of three species were subjected to 50 yr extreme drought and/or heat events, in spring, summer or autumn. In the year of the induced extremes, species mortality and end-of-season biomass were examined. In two subsequent years without further disturbances, establishment of new species was recorded. The drought and drought + heat extremes in summer and autumn induced greater plant mortality compared with the heat extremes in those seasons and compared with all extremes applied in spring, in all three originally planted species. Recovery in terms of biomass towards the end of the growing season, however, was species-specific. The dominant species, the nitrogen fixer Trifolium repens, recovered poorly from the drought and drought + heat extremes which governed the community response. Community biomass, which was heavily affected by the drought and especially by the drought + heat events in summer and autumn, reached control values already one year later. Invasibility was increased in the communities that underwent the drought + heat extremes in the first year following the extreme events, but no longer in the second year. During the two years of invasion, the community composition changed, but independently of the type and impact of the extreme event. In short, the extreme climate events greatly affected the survival and productivity of the species, modified the species composition and dominance patterns, and increased the invasibility of our plant communities. However, none of these community properties seemed to be affected in the long term, as the induced responses faded out after one or two years.

scholarly journals Whole-system responses of experimental plant communities to climate extremes imposed in different seasons

2010 ◽  
Vol 189 (3) ◽  
pp. 806-817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans J. De Boeck ◽  
Freja E. Dreesen ◽  
Ivan A. Janssens ◽  
Ivan Nijs
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Climate Extremes ◽  
Experimental Plant ◽  
Different Seasons

scholarly journals Neighborhood matters: high phylogenetic diversity of experimental plant assemblages improves community performance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rocío Chaves ◽  
Pablo Ferrandis ◽  
Adrián Escudero ◽  
Arantzazu L. Luzuriaga
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Phylogenetic Diversity ◽  
Species Coexistence ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Positive Interactions ◽  
Experimental Plant ◽  
Large Species ◽  
Plant Survival ◽  
Niche Complementarity ◽  
Plant Assemblages

Abstract Background and AimsAlthough the role played by phylogeny in the assembly of plant communities remains as a priority to complete the theory of species coexistence, experimental evidence is lacking. It is still unclear to what extent phylogenetic diversity is a driver or a consequence of species assembly processes. We experimentally explored how phylogenetic diversity can drive the community level responses to drought conditions in annual plant communities. To this end, we manipulated the phylogenetic diversity of the species assemblages and the water availability in a common garden experiment with two treatments: average natural rainfall and drought.MethodsWe recorded plant survival and the numbers of flowering and fruiting plants per species in each assemblage. High phylogenetic diversity favored species coexistence over time with higher plant survival and more flowering and fruiting plants, especially under severe drought.Key Results. Our results demonstrate the existence of niche complementarity and the convergence of water economy strategies as major mechanisms for promoting species coexistence in plant assemblages in semiarid Mediterranean habitats.ConclusionsOur findings point to high phylogenetic diversity among neighboring plants as a plausible feature underpinning the recent “united we stand” framework, which states that diffuse positive interactions may promote mechanisms for the persistence of rare species in the community. We suggest that the large species number in the regional species pool may be the consequence of assembly processes occurring at small spatial scales, because the success of each species in terms of surviving and producing offspring was greater when the phylogenetic diversity was higher. Our study is a step forward to understand how phylogenetic relatedness is connected to the mechanisms determining the maintenance of biodiversity.

scholarly journals Recovery dynamics and invasibility of herbaceous plant communities after exposure to experimental climate extremes

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. 583-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Freja E. Dreesen ◽  
Hans J. De Boeck ◽  
Joanna A. Horemans ◽  
Ivan A. Janssens ◽  
Ivan Nijs
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Climate Extremes ◽  
Herbaceous Plant ◽  
Recovery Dynamics

Specific features of soils and herbaceous plant communities in industrially polluted areas of the Middle Urals

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. V. Zhuikova ◽  
E. V. Meling ◽  
S. Yu. Kaigorodova ◽  
V. S. Bezel’ ◽  
V. A. Gordeeva
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Middle Urals ◽  
Herbaceous Plant ◽  
The Middle Urals

scholarly journals Non-linear effects of drought under shade: reconciling physiological and ecological models in plant communities

Oecologia ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 169 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milena Holmgren ◽  
Lorena Gómez-Aparicio ◽  
José Luis Quero ◽  
Fernando Valladares
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Ecological Models ◽  
Non Linear ◽  
Linear Effects ◽  
Effects Of Drought

scholarly journals Knockdown of 60S Ribosomal Protein L14-2 Reveals Their Potential Regulatory Roles in Enhancing Drought and Salt Tolerance in Cotton

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret shiraku ◽  
Richard Odongo Magwanga ◽  
Xiaoyan Cai ◽  
Joy Nyangasi Kirungu ◽  
Yanchao Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Salt Stress ◽  
Ribosomal Protein ◽  
Candidate Gene ◽  
Regulatory Elements ◽  
Stress Conditions ◽  
Stress Factors ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Drought And Salt Tolerance ◽  
Drought And Salt Stresses ◽  
Effects Of Drought

Abstract BackgroundCotton is an important economic crop and the primary source of natural fiber. The effects of drought and salt stresses threaten strong fiber and large quantity production. However, due to the ever-changing climatic conditions, plants have evolved various mechanisms to cope with the effects of various stress factors. One of the plant's transcription factors with positive effects in alleviating effects of drought and salt stresses is the Ribosomal protein Large (RPL) gene families. This has prompted the functional characterization of the RPL14B gene previously identified in the QTL region as a candidate gene that responds to stress and initiates mechanisms that enhance stress tolerance. ResultsComprehensive identification and functional analysis were conducted in this study, in which 26, 8, and 5 proteins containing the RPL14B domain were identified in G. hirsutum, G. raimondii, and G. arboreum, respectively. Moreover, Cis-regulatory elements associated with the RPL genes were identified. The Myb binding sites (MBS), Myb, Abscisic acid-responsive element (ABRE), CAAT-box, TATA box, TGACG-motif, and CGTCA-motif responsive to Meja, and TCA- motif responsive to salicylic acid were identified. Validation of the candidate gene through virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) revealed that the Gh_D01G0234 (RPL14B) knockdown significantly affected the cotton seedling's performance under drought/ salt stress conditions as evidenced by a significant reduction in various morphological and physiological traits. Moreover, antioxidant enzyme levels were significantly reduced in VIGS-plants, with substantially higher oxidant enzyme levels, as evidenced by the higher concentration level of Malondialdehyde (MDA). ConclusionThe results revealed the potential role of the gene, and it can be further exploited to breed climate-smart cotton varieties resilient to drought and salt stress conditions

scholarly journals A signal of competitive dominance in mid-latitude herbaceous plant communities

Authorea ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Capitan ◽  
Sara Cuenda ◽  
Alejandro Ordonez ◽  
David Alonso
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Herbaceous Plant
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