Spatial patterns of shrub encroachment in neighbouring grassland communities in the Pyrenees: Floristic composition heterogeneity drives shrub proliferation rates

Plant Ecology

Volumn 211, Issue 2, 2010, Pages 267-278

  Montané, Francesc ^a   Casals, Pere ^a   Taull, Marc ^a   Lambert, Bernard ^b   Dale, Mark R T ^c  

^a CENTRE TECNOLÒGIC FORESTAL DE CATALUNYA   (Spain)

^b Bureau Commun Agricole (SIME SUAMME) rue de la Gare   (France)

^c UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA   (Canada)

Author keywords

Cytisus balansae Vegetation dynamics Floristic similarity Spatial associations Patch size Scale of pattern

Indexed keywords

FLORISTICS; GRASS; GRASSLAND; HETEROGENEITY; PATCH SIZE; PRESCRIBED BURNING; SHRUB; SPATIAL ANALYSIS; VEGETATION DYNAMICS;

PYRENEES;

AGROSTIS; AGROSTIS CAPILLARIS; CYTISUS; CYTISUS BALANSAE; FESTUCA ESKIA; POACEAE;

EID: 78650708508     PISSN: 13850237     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s11258-010-9788-8     Document Type: Article

References (63)

1. Alpert P, Bone E, Holzapfel C (2000) Invasiveness, invisibility and the role of environmental stress in the spread of non-native plants. Perspect Plant Ecol Evol Syst 3:52-66.
2. Anthelme F, Villaret J-C, Brun J-J (2007) Shrub encroachment in the Alps gives rise to the convergence of sub-alpine communities on a regional scale. J Veg Sci 18:355-362.
3. Bakker ES, Olff H, Vandenberghe C, De Maeyer K, Smit R, Gleichman JM, Vera WM (2004) Ecological anachronisms in the recruitment of temperate light-demanding tree species in wooded pastures. J Appl Ecol 41:571-582.
4. Baraza E, Zamora R, Hódar JA (2006) Conditional outcomes in plant-herbivore interactions: neighbours matter. Oikos 113:148-156.
5. Batllori E, Gutierrez E (2008) Regional tree line dynamics in response to global change in the Pyrenees. J Ecol 96: 1275-1288.
6. Bertness MD, Callaway R (1994) Positive interactions in communities. Trends Ecol Evol 9:191-193.
7. Braun-Blanquet J (1948) La végétation alpine des Pyrénées Orientales, étude de phyto-sociologie comparée. CSIC, Barcelona.
8. Brooker RW, Maestre FT, Callaway RM, Lortie CL, Cavieres LA, Kunstler G, Liancourt P, Tielborger K, Travis JMJ, Anthelme F, Armas C, Coll L, Corcket E, Delzon S, Forey E, Kikvidze Z, Olofsson J, Pugnaire F, Quiroz CL, Saccone P, Schiffers K, Seifan M, Touzard B, Michalet R. (2008) Facilitation in plant communities: the past, the present and the future. J Ecol 96:18-34.
9. Brown JR, Archer S (1999) Shrub invasion of grassland: recruitment is continuous and not regulated by herbaceous biomass or density. Ecology 80:2385-2396.
10. Burke IC, Lauenroth WK, Vinton MA, Hook PB, Kelly RH, Epstein HE, Aguiar MR, Robles MD, Aguilera MO, Murphy KL, Gill RA (1998) Plant-soil interactions in temperate grasslands. Biogeochemistry 42:121-143
11. Callaway RM, Kikvidze Z, Kikodze D (2000) Facilitation by unpalatable weeds may conserve plant diversity in over-grazed meadows in the Caucasus Mountains. Oikos 89: 275-282.
12. Camarero JJ, Gutierrez E (2004) Pace and pattern of recent treeline dynamics: response of ecotones to climatic variability in the Spanish Pyrenees. Climatic Change 63: 181-200.
13. Castro J, Zamora R, Hódar JA, Gómez JM (2004) Seedling establishment of a boreal tree species (Pinus sylvestris) at its southernmost distribution limit: consequences of being in a marginal Mediterranean habitat. J Ecol 92:266-277.
14. Connell JH, Slatyer RO (1977) Mechanisms of succession in natural communities and their role in community stability and organization. Am Nat 111:1119-1144.
15. Crawley MJ (2007) The R book. Wiley, New York.
16. Dale MRT (1999) Spatial pattern analysis in plant ecology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
17. Dale MRT, Fortin M-J (2002) Spatial autocorrelation and statistical tests in ecology. Ecoscience 9:162-167.
18. Day KJ, John EA, Hutchings MJ (2003) The effects of spatially heterogeneous nutrient supply on yield, intensity of competition and root placement patterns in Briza media and F. ovina. Funct Ecol 17:454-463.
19. Debussche M, Escarré J, Lepart J (1980) Changes in mediterranean shrub communities with Cytisus purgans and Genista scorpius. Vegetatio 43:73-82.
20. Etienne M (1989) Non destructive methods for evaluating shrub biomass: a review. Acta Oecol 10:115-128.
21. Fortin M-J, Dale MRT (2005) Spatial analysis. A guide for ecologists. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
22. Fortin M-J, Jacquez GM (2000) Randomization tests and spatially autocorrelated data. Bull Ecol Soc Am 81:201-205.
23. Galiano EF (1982) Détection et mesure de l'hétérogénéite spatiale des espèces dans les pâturages. Acta Oecol 3: 269-278.
24. Gill DS, Marks PL (1991) Tree and shrub seedling colonization of old fields in central New York. Ecol Monogr 61:183-205.
25. Gracia M, Montané F, Piqué J, Retana J (2007) Overstory structure and topographic gradients determining diversity and abundance of understory shrub species in temperate forests in central Pyrenees (NE Spain). For Ecol Manag 242:391-397.
26. Gross N, Suding KN, Lavorel S (2007) Leaf dry matter content and lateral spread predict response to land use change for six subalpine grassland species. J Veg Sci 18:289-300.
27. Hill MO (1973) The intensity of spatial pattern in plant communities. J Ecol 61:225-235.
28. Hooper DU, Vitousek PM (1997) The effects of plant composition and diversity on ecosystem processes. Science 277:1302-1305.
29. Hovstad KA, Ohlson M (2008) Physical and chemical effects of litter on plant establishment in semi-natural grasslands. Plant Ecol 196:251-260.
30. Jackson RB, Canadell J, Ehleringer JR, Mooney HA, Sala OE, Schulze ED (1996) A global analysis of root distributions for terrestrial biomes. Oecologia 108:389-411.
31. Jeltsch F, Milton SJ, Dean WRJ, Van Rooyen N (1997) Analysing shrub encroachment in the Southern Kalahari: a grid-based modelling approach. J Appl Ecol 34:1497-1508.
32. Jongman RHG, ter Braak CJF, van Tongeren OFR (1987) Data analysis in community and landscape ecology. Pudoc, Wageningen.
33. Kent M, Coker P (1992) Vegetation description and analysis. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
34. Kolb A, Alpert P, Enters D, Holzapfel C (2002) Patterns of invasion within a grassland community. J Ecol 90:871-881.
35. Krahulec F, Skalova H, Herben T, Hadincova V, Wildova R, Pechackova S (2001) Vegetation changes following sheep grazing in abandoned mountain meadows. Appl Veg Sci 4:97-102.
36. Legendre P, Fortin M-J (1989) Spatial pattern and ecological analysis. Vegetatio 80:107-138.
37. Legendre P, Legendre L (1998) Numerical ecology, 2nd edn. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
38. Molinillo M, Lasanta T, García Ruíz JM (1997) Managing mountainous degraded landscapes after farmland abandonment in the central Spanish Pyrenees. Environ Manage 21:587-598.
39. Montané F, Rovira P, Casals P (2007) Shrub encroachment into mesic mountain grasslands in the Iberian Peninsula: effects of plant quality and temperature on soil C and N stocks. Global Biogeochem Cycles 21:GB4016.
40. Montané F, Casals P, Taull M, Lambert B, Dale MRT (2009) Spatial patterns of shrub cover after different fire disturbances in the Pyrenees. Ann For Sci 66:612.
41. Neeman G, Lahav H, Izhaki I (1992) Spatial pattern of seedlings 1 year after fire in a mediterranean pine forest. Oecologia 91:365-370.
42. Newingham BA, Boquien G, Choler P, Callaway RM (2005) Effects of F. paniculata on the compensatory growth response of Centaurea uniflora in the French Alps. Plant Ecol 176:237-244.
43. O'Neill RV, Hunsaker CT, Timmins SP, Jackson BL, Jones KB, Riitters KH, Wickham JD (1996) Scale problems in reporting landscape pattern at the regional scale. Land-scape Ecol 11:169-180.
44. O'Neill RV, Riitters KH, Wickham JD, Jones KB (1999) Landscape pattern metrics and regional assessment. Ecosystem Health 5:225-233.
45. Økland RH (2007) Wise use of statistical tools in ecological field studies. Folia Geobot 42:123-140.
46. Olff H, Vera FWM, Bokdam J, Bakker ES, Gleichman JM, de Maeyer KD, Smit R (1999) Shifting mosaics in grazed woodlands driven by the alternation of plant facilitation and competition. Plant Biol 1:127-137.
47. Palmier C, Tosca C, Vignes D (1990) Importance de l'enracinement sur les conditions de concurrence des groupe-ments prairiaux de l'étage subalpin des Pyrénées Centrales. Botanica-Pirenaico Cantabrica; Monografías del Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología 5:415-430.
48. Pasche F, Armand M, Gouaux P, Lamaze T, Pornon A (2004) Are meadows with high ecological and patrimonial value endangered by heathland invasion in the French central Pyrenees? Biol Conserv 118:101-108.
49. Pornon A, Escaravage N, Lamaze T (2007) Complementary in mineral nitrogen use among dominant plant species in a subalpine community. Am J Bot 94:1778-1785.
50. R Development Core Team (2009) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. http://www.R-project.org.
51. Rigolot E, Lambert B, Pons P, Prodon R (2002) Management of a mountain rangeland combining periodic prescribed burnings with grazing: impact on vegetation. In: Trabaud L, Prodon R (eds) Fire and biological processes. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, The Netherlands, pp 325-337.
52. Rosenberg MS (2008) PASSaGE. Pattern analysis, spatial statistics, and geographic exegesis. Version 2. http://www. passagesoftware.net/url/e-link.
53. Roura-Pascual N, Pons P, Etienne M, Lambert B (2005) Transformation of a rural landscape in the Eastern Pyrennes between 1953 and 2000. Mt Res Dev 25:252-261.
54. Rozas V (2003) Regeneration patterns, dendroecology, and forest-use history in an old-growth beech-oak lowland forest in Northern Spain. For Ecol Manag 182:175-194.
55. Sanz-Elorza M, Dana ED, González A, Sobrino E (2003) Changes in the high-mountain vegetation of the central Iberian Peninsula as a probable sign of global warming. Ann Bot 92:273-280.
56. Sebastià MT (2004) Role of topography and soils in grassland structuring at the landscape and community scales. Basic Appl Ecol 5:331-346.
57. Smit C, Béguin D, Buttler A, Muller-Schärer H (2005) Safe sites for tree regeneration in wooded pastures: a case of associational resistance? J Veg Sci 16:209-214.
58. Smit C, Den Ouden J, Muller-Schärer H (2006) Unpalatable plants facilitate tree sapling survival in wooded pastures. J Appl Ecol 43:305-312.
59. Sousa WP (1984) The role of disturbance in natural communities. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 15:353-391.
60. Viard-Crétat F, Gallet C, Lefebvre M, Lavorel S (2009) A leachate a day keeps the seedlings away: mowing and the inhibitory effects of F. paniculata in subalpine grasslands. Ann Bot 103:1271-1278.
61. Wiens JA (1989) Spatial scaling in ecology. Funct Ecol 3:385-397.
62. Xiong S, Nilsson C (1999) The effects of plant litter on vegetation: a meta-analysis. J Ecol 87:984-994.
63. Yarranton GA, Morrison RG (1974) Spatial dynamics of a primary succession: nucleation. J Ecol 62:417-428.