Testing the stress-gradient hypothesis at the roof of the world: effects of the cushion plant Thylacospermum caespitosum on species assemblages.

Many cushion plants ameliorate the harsh environment they inhabit in alpine ecosystems and act as nurse plants, with significantly more species growing within their canopy than outside. These facilitative interactions seem to increase with the abiotic stress, thus supporting the stress-gradient hypo...

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Autores principales:	Miroslav Dvorský, Jiří Doležal, Martin Kopecký, Zuzana Chlumská, Kateřina Janatková, Jan Altman, Francesco de Bello, Klára Řeháková
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/2a9abe5b77414c5dbbb4465178e58c41
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:2a9abe5b77414c5dbbb4465178e58c412021-11-18T08:02:01ZTesting the stress-gradient hypothesis at the roof of the world: effects of the cushion plant Thylacospermum caespitosum on species assemblages.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0053514https://doaj.org/article/2a9abe5b77414c5dbbb4465178e58c412013-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/23326446/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203Many cushion plants ameliorate the harsh environment they inhabit in alpine ecosystems and act as nurse plants, with significantly more species growing within their canopy than outside. These facilitative interactions seem to increase with the abiotic stress, thus supporting the stress-gradient hypothesis. We tested this prediction by exploring the association pattern of vascular plants with the dominant cushion plant Thylacospermum caespitosum (Caryophyllaceae) in the arid Trans-Himalaya, where vascular plants occur at one of the highest worldwide elevational limits. We compared plant composition between 1112 pair-plots placed both inside cushions and in surrounding open areas, in communities from cold steppes to subnival zones along two elevational gradients (East Karakoram: 4850-5250 m and Little Tibet: 5350-5850 m). We used PERMANOVA to assess differences in species composition, Friedman-based permutation tests to determine individual species habitat preferences, species-area curves to assess whether interactions are size-dependent and competitive intensity and importance indices to evaluate plant-plant interactions. No indications for net facilitation were found along the elevation gradients. The open areas were not only richer in species, but not a single species preferred to grow exclusively inside cushions, while 39-60% of 56 species detected had a significant preference for the habitat outside cushions. Across the entire elevation range of T. caespitosum, the number and abundance of species were greater outside cushions, suggesting that competitive rather than facilitative interactions prevail. This was supported by lower soil nutrient contents inside cushions, indicating a resource preemption, and little thermal amelioration at the extreme end of the elevational gradient. We attribute the negative associations to competition for limited resources, a strong environmental filter in arid high-mountain environment selecting the stress-tolerant species that do not rely on help from other plants during their life cycle and to the fact the cushions do not provide a better microhabitat to grow in.Miroslav DvorskýJiří DoležalMartin KopeckýZuzana ChlumskáKateřina JanatkováJan AltmanFrancesco de BelloKlára ŘehákováPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 8, Iss 1, p e53514 (2013)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Miroslav Dvorský Jiří Doležal Martin Kopecký Zuzana Chlumská Kateřina Janatková Jan Altman Francesco de Bello Klára Řeháková Testing the stress-gradient hypothesis at the roof of the world: effects of the cushion plant Thylacospermum caespitosum on species assemblages.
description	Many cushion plants ameliorate the harsh environment they inhabit in alpine ecosystems and act as nurse plants, with significantly more species growing within their canopy than outside. These facilitative interactions seem to increase with the abiotic stress, thus supporting the stress-gradient hypothesis. We tested this prediction by exploring the association pattern of vascular plants with the dominant cushion plant Thylacospermum caespitosum (Caryophyllaceae) in the arid Trans-Himalaya, where vascular plants occur at one of the highest worldwide elevational limits. We compared plant composition between 1112 pair-plots placed both inside cushions and in surrounding open areas, in communities from cold steppes to subnival zones along two elevational gradients (East Karakoram: 4850-5250 m and Little Tibet: 5350-5850 m). We used PERMANOVA to assess differences in species composition, Friedman-based permutation tests to determine individual species habitat preferences, species-area curves to assess whether interactions are size-dependent and competitive intensity and importance indices to evaluate plant-plant interactions. No indications for net facilitation were found along the elevation gradients. The open areas were not only richer in species, but not a single species preferred to grow exclusively inside cushions, while 39-60% of 56 species detected had a significant preference for the habitat outside cushions. Across the entire elevation range of T. caespitosum, the number and abundance of species were greater outside cushions, suggesting that competitive rather than facilitative interactions prevail. This was supported by lower soil nutrient contents inside cushions, indicating a resource preemption, and little thermal amelioration at the extreme end of the elevational gradient. We attribute the negative associations to competition for limited resources, a strong environmental filter in arid high-mountain environment selecting the stress-tolerant species that do not rely on help from other plants during their life cycle and to the fact the cushions do not provide a better microhabitat to grow in.
format	article
author	Miroslav Dvorský Jiří Doležal Martin Kopecký Zuzana Chlumská Kateřina Janatková Jan Altman Francesco de Bello Klára Řeháková
author_facet	Miroslav Dvorský Jiří Doležal Martin Kopecký Zuzana Chlumská Kateřina Janatková Jan Altman Francesco de Bello Klára Řeháková
author_sort	Miroslav Dvorský
title	Testing the stress-gradient hypothesis at the roof of the world: effects of the cushion plant Thylacospermum caespitosum on species assemblages.
title_short	Testing the stress-gradient hypothesis at the roof of the world: effects of the cushion plant Thylacospermum caespitosum on species assemblages.
title_full	Testing the stress-gradient hypothesis at the roof of the world: effects of the cushion plant Thylacospermum caespitosum on species assemblages.
title_fullStr	Testing the stress-gradient hypothesis at the roof of the world: effects of the cushion plant Thylacospermum caespitosum on species assemblages.
title_full_unstemmed	Testing the stress-gradient hypothesis at the roof of the world: effects of the cushion plant Thylacospermum caespitosum on species assemblages.
title_sort	testing the stress-gradient hypothesis at the roof of the world: effects of the cushion plant thylacospermum caespitosum on species assemblages.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2013
url	https://doaj.org/article/2a9abe5b77414c5dbbb4465178e58c41
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Testing the stress-gradient hypothesis at the roof of the world: effects of the cushion plant Thylacospermum caespitosum on species assemblages.

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