Environmental responses, not species interactions, determine synchrony of dominant species in semiarid grasslands

Environmental responses, not species interactions, determine species synchrony in natural plant communities

Temporal asynchrony among species helps1 diversity to stabilize ecosystem functioning, but identifying the mechanisms that determine synchrony remains a challenge. Here, we refine and test theory showing that synchrony depends on three factors: species responses to environmental variation, interspecific interactions, and demographic stochasticity. We then conduct simulation experiments with emp...

Evaluation of species diversity and spatial distribution characteristics of five dominant plant species in Hamoon wetlands

This research aimed to investigate plant species diversity and spatial distribution of five dominant species i.e. Phragmites australis, Tamarix meyeri, Aeluropus littoralis, Aeluropus lagopoides and Cynodon dactylon in Hamoon international wetlands in 2015. To this end, a randomize-systematic sampling method was used according to w pattern by four strip transect at 5000 m2 at each station. The ...

Dominant plant species shape soil bacterial community in semiarid sandy land of northern China

Plant species affect soil bacterial diversity and compositions. However, little is known about the role of dominant plant species in shaping the soil bacterial community during the restoration of sandy grasslands in Horqin Sandy Land, northern China. We established a mesocosm pots experiment to investigate short-term responses of soil bacterial diversity and composition, and the related soil pr...

Declining Diversity in Abandoned Grasslands of the Carpathian Mountains: Do Dominant Species Matter?

Traditional haymaking has created exceptionally high levels of plant species diversity in semi-natural grasslands of the Carpathian Mountains (Romania), the maintenance of which is jeopardized by recent abandonment and subsequent vegetation succession. We tested the hypothesis that the different life history strategies of dominant grasses cause different patterns of diversity loss after abandon...

Ecophysiology of Two Native Invasive Woody Species and Two Dominant Warm-Season Grasses in the Semiarid Grasslands of the Nebraska Sandhills