Facilitation in plant communities: the past, the present, and the future

Question

1. What are the future works in this paper?

2. What is the promising question for community ecology research?

3. What is the role of facilitation in the evolution of plant strategies?

4. What are the characteristics of plants that may create such species-specific interactions?

Accepted Answer

These short reviews highlight ongoing and new areas of debate, and illustrate the 13 significant potential for future research into plant facilitation.. In this section the authors 14 discuss what they consider to be some of the most interesting topics for future research 15 and, where possible, the approaches by which they could be taken forward.. Future studies, using artificial manipulations of diversity or modelling 19 approaches ( see Development of models incorporating plant facilitation ) should: i ) 20 attempt to assess the conditions under which the authors might expect the greatest level of 21 non-transitivity within plant communities ; ii ) connect the degree of non-transitivity in 22 plant competitive networks to community diversity and facilitative promotion of 23 species co-existence ; iii ) explore how the role of non-transitivity and indirect 24 facilitation varies along gradients both of diversity and system productivity, and in 25 relation to direct facilitative effects ; iv ) explore, perhaps through multi-species 1 evolutionary modelling, the potential for indirect facilitative effects to drive or limit 2 niche differentiation, and how such processes might vary along gradients of diversity 3 and environmental severity.. As stated by Brooker & 14 Callaghan ( 1998 ) “ It may be the case that the authors already have evidence of the 15 evolutionary impact of positive plant-plant interactions, but have never examined it in 16 the light of this possible interpretation ”.

Accepted Answer

20 21 The issue of the changes in the relative importance of interactions along severity 22 gradients is one of the most promising for community ecology research.

Accepted Answer

If strong benefits from facilitation act as 5 selective forces against large competitive effects they might have a key role in 6 explaining patterns of plant strategies, which are commonly interpreted independently 7 of the role of facilitation.

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Plant characteristics other than resource uptake 16 ability may create such species-specific interactions, and thus non-transitive 17 interaction networks and indirect interactions (Pagès et al.

Accepted Answer

If the existence of multiple interaction mechanisms among coexisting species 21 increases the potential for strong indirect interactions, indirect facilitation should be 22 more common in communities where several limiting factors co-occur with similar 23 strengths, whereas in environments with one dominant limiting factor, such as xeric, 24 N-poor, or low light conditions, indirect facilitation should be less important.

Accepted Answer

4 the majority of studies that address the use of nurse plants for restoration in arid 5 systems are usually conducted over shorter time frames, i.e. fewer than two growing 6 seasons (e.g. Maestre et al.

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It may have the potential to sustain the coexistence of 4 high species diversity by reducing the potential for competitive exclusion (Czaran et 5 al. 2002; Laird & Schamp 2006) and may be the dominant facilitative process in more 6 productive environments (given the predicted reduction in direct facilitative effects).

Accepted Answer

Clarification of the relationship between interactions and environmental 16 gradients is central for further progress, and necessitates the design and 17 implementation of more complex experiments than undertaken to date.

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There is also 18 substantial scope for exploring indirect facilitative effects, including their impacts on 19 diversity and evolution, and future studies should attempt to connect the degree of 20 non-transitivity in plant competitive networks to community diversity and facilitative 21 promotion of species co-existence, perhaps exploring how the role of indirect 22 facilitation varies along environmental gradients.

Accepted Answer

In their simple model it would seem 24 likely that selection might favour dispersal kernels in the facilitated species that map 25onto those of the facilitator, for example through the evolutionary convergence of 1 dispersal agents, while conversely in the facilitating species selection might favour 2 dispersal kernels leading to the establishment of plants that can escape the negative 3 consequences of competition from the facilitated (Fig. 4a), unless the level of 4 competition is itself reduced (Fig. 4b).

Accepted Answer

As with restoration ecology, simply recognising the potential role of 17 facilitation, and including it within both experimental designs and the interpretation of 18 ecosystem responses, could provide us with valuable insights into facilitation both as 19 a mediator of global change and a fundamental ecological process.

Accepted Answer

Given the temporal variability in facilitative interactions in these systems (Tielbörger 8 & Kadmon 2000; Miriti 2006), this may be an insufficient period over which to assess 9 whether nurse plants have a net beneficial effect, and longer-term studies are clearly 10 needed.

Facilitation in plant communities: the past, the present, and the future

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Most frequently asked questions

1. What are the future works in this paper?

2. What is the promising question for community ecology research?

3. What is the role of facilitation in the evolution of plant strategies?

4. What are the characteristics of plants that may create such species-specific interactions?

5. What is the role of indirect facilitation in the evolution of the plant?

6. How many years are used for reforestation in arid systems?

7. What is the role of indirect facilitation in the coexistence of 4 species?

8. What is the importance of the study of the relationship between interactions and environmental gradients?

9. How does the author think the role of indirect facilitation in plant interactions is influenced by environmental?

10. How likely is it that selection might favour dispersal kernels in the facilitated species?

11. What is the role of facilitation in the study of ecological change?

12. What is the time to assess whether nurse plants have a net beneficial effect?

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References

Global biodiversity scenarios for the year 2100.

Effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning: a consensus of current knowledge

Evidence for the existence of three primary strategies in plants and its relevance to ecological and evolutionary theory

Mechanisms of succession in natural communities and their role in community stability and organization

Positive interactions in communities.

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