Nurse plants promote taxonomic and functional diversity in an arid Mediterranean annual plant community

Jaime Madrigal-González*, Carlos Cano-Barbacil, Jaime Kigel, Pablo Ferrandis, Arantzazu L. Luzuriaga

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Aims: Research in the last decades supports the idea that certain species, namely ‘nurse species’, can enhance ecosystem function and species diversity in their vicinity through amelioration of the abiotic environment. However, few studies have explored whether nurse plants can promote functional diversity at the microhabitat level. Here, we evaluated the hypothesis that nurse plants can increase functional diversity in the beneficiary annual plant assemblage at the microhabitat level. Location: Sayeret Shaked Park, the Negev desert (Israel). Results: The nurse species examined, two shrubs and one large annual, had a negligible or even negative influence on annual above-ground biomass production. Nonetheless, they increased functional diversity in terms of specific leaf area (SLA), maximum plant height (MPH), seed weight (SW), and reproductive ratio (RR) at the microhabitat level. Conclusions: These findings reinforce the idea that, even if there is not a typical nurse syndrome related to enhanced plant performance, nurse plants might induce a portfolio effect on annual plant assemblages by promoting functional diversity in key functional traits associated to plant survival and reproduction under a set of different microhabitat conditions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)658-666
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Vegetation Science
Volume31
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jul 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 International Association for Vegetation Science

Keywords

  • annual plant community assemblage
  • functional diversity
  • functional portfolio
  • maximum plant height
  • plant nurse syndrome
  • reproductive ratio
  • seed mass
  • specific leaf area

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Nurse plants promote taxonomic and functional diversity in an arid Mediterranean annual plant community'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this