Plant–soil feedbacks contribute to coexistence when considering multispecies assemblages over a soil depth gradient

IF 4.4 2区 环境科学与生态学 Q1 ECOLOGY
Ecology Pub Date : 2025-03-10 DOI:10.1002/ecy.70052
Carlos Martorell, Alejandra Martínez-Blancas
{"title":"Plant–soil feedbacks contribute to coexistence when considering multispecies assemblages over a soil depth gradient","authors":"Carlos Martorell,&nbsp;Alejandra Martínez-Blancas","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70052","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Plant–soil feedbacks (PSFs) may determine plant–species coexistence. They may stabilize coexistence, but frequently destabilize it by increasing fitness differences between species. Most studies focus on pairwise models in greenhouses. Thus, whether PSFs favor or deter coexistence is still unclear, especially in multispecies field contexts. We analyzed pairwise and multispecies coexistence over a hydric gradient in a semiarid grassland. Using PSF strength estimates between 17 species, we measured stability and fitness differences between all species pairs, and built all possible multispecies communities to test computationally whether they were stabilized by PSFs. We analyzed whether coexistence probability diminishes with species richness, as previously hypothesized. Because PSFs change with environmental conditions, we investigated their contribution to overall diversity maintenance over the hydric gradient. Strong PSF increased fitness differences, hindering pairwise coexistence. As expected, the probability that an assemblage was stable diminished with its richness, with the largest stable community containing 12 of the 17 species. However, all species coexisted with others in at least one assemblage, highlighting the importance of multispecies analyses. Positive PSFs promoted coexistence in pairwise analyses, but were associated with species-poor communities. Contrastingly, negative PSFs predominated in species-rich associations, perhaps due to indirect positive interactions (an “enemy of my enemy is my friend” scenario) that are known to maintain diversity in this grassland. Changes in the density of different species over the hydric gradient predicted from PSF-stabilized communities matched observations in nature. This seems to promote species turnover and thus coexistence along the gradient. As such, the interplay between environmental conditions and PSFs may be an important driver of diversity. Our results emphasize the need to move beyond pairwise coexistence models. In multispecies systems, crucial indirect interactions may arise. The interplay between environment and PSF under field conditions may provide important insights into coexistence in nature.</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"106 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.70052","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ecology","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.70052","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ECOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

Plant–soil feedbacks (PSFs) may determine plant–species coexistence. They may stabilize coexistence, but frequently destabilize it by increasing fitness differences between species. Most studies focus on pairwise models in greenhouses. Thus, whether PSFs favor or deter coexistence is still unclear, especially in multispecies field contexts. We analyzed pairwise and multispecies coexistence over a hydric gradient in a semiarid grassland. Using PSF strength estimates between 17 species, we measured stability and fitness differences between all species pairs, and built all possible multispecies communities to test computationally whether they were stabilized by PSFs. We analyzed whether coexistence probability diminishes with species richness, as previously hypothesized. Because PSFs change with environmental conditions, we investigated their contribution to overall diversity maintenance over the hydric gradient. Strong PSF increased fitness differences, hindering pairwise coexistence. As expected, the probability that an assemblage was stable diminished with its richness, with the largest stable community containing 12 of the 17 species. However, all species coexisted with others in at least one assemblage, highlighting the importance of multispecies analyses. Positive PSFs promoted coexistence in pairwise analyses, but were associated with species-poor communities. Contrastingly, negative PSFs predominated in species-rich associations, perhaps due to indirect positive interactions (an “enemy of my enemy is my friend” scenario) that are known to maintain diversity in this grassland. Changes in the density of different species over the hydric gradient predicted from PSF-stabilized communities matched observations in nature. This seems to promote species turnover and thus coexistence along the gradient. As such, the interplay between environmental conditions and PSFs may be an important driver of diversity. Our results emphasize the need to move beyond pairwise coexistence models. In multispecies systems, crucial indirect interactions may arise. The interplay between environment and PSF under field conditions may provide important insights into coexistence in nature.

Abstract Image

求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
Ecology
Ecology 环境科学-生态学
CiteScore
8.30
自引率
2.10%
发文量
332
审稿时长
3 months
期刊介绍: Ecology publishes articles that report on the basic elements of ecological research. Emphasis is placed on concise, clear articles documenting important ecological phenomena. The journal publishes a broad array of research that includes a rapidly expanding envelope of subject matter, techniques, approaches, and concepts: paleoecology through present-day phenomena; evolutionary, population, physiological, community, and ecosystem ecology, as well as biogeochemistry; inclusive of descriptive, comparative, experimental, mathematical, statistical, and interdisciplinary approaches.
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信