Extrafloral nectaries can occur in both vegetative and reproductive plant structures. In many Rubiaceae species in the Brazilian Cerrado, after corolla abscission, the floral nectary continues to secret nectar throughout fruit development originating post-floral pericarpial nectaries which commonly attract many ant species. The occurrence of such nectar secreting structures might be strategic f...

• We studied the relationships of plant and AMF (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi) species richness and community composition to each other and gradients in soil texture, nutrient content, and light availability in three oak savannas in southern Wisconsin, USA. • Sixty-three samples were analysed for plant and AMF composition along sun–shade and sand–loam gradients. Samples consisted of plant commu...

In an experiment that directly manipulated grassland plant species richness and composition, decreased plant species richness (‘‘diversity’’) increased pathogen load (the percentage of leaf area infected by species-specific foliar pathogens across the plant community) in 1998. Pathogen load was almost three times greater in the average monoculture than in the average plot planted with 24 grassl...

Genetic variation in plants has broad implications for both the ecology and evolution of species interactions. We addressed how a diverse community of arthropod species covary in abundance among plant genotypes of a native herbaceous plant (Oenothera biennis ), and if these effects scale-up to shape the composition, diversity, and total abundance of arthropods over the entire lifetime of plants...

Invertebrate herbivores are ubiquitous in most terrestrial ecosystems, and theory predicts that their impact on plant community biomass should depend on diversity and productivity of the associated plant communities. To elucidate general patterns in the relationship between invertebrate herbivory, plant diversity, and productivity, we carried out a long-term herbivore exclusion experiment at mu...

1. A plant that causes specific changes to soil biota may either positively or negatively affect the performance of the plant that subsequently grows in that location. These effects, known as plant–soil feedback, can affect plant species diversity at multiple spatial scales. 2. It has been hypothesized that positive plant–soil feedback reduces alpha (local) diversity by allowing dominance by ea...

Understanding the factors that influence the distribution of understory vegetation is important for biological conservation and forest management. We compared understory species composition by multi-response permutation procedure and indicator species analysis between plots dominated by Qinghai spruce (Picea crassifolia Kom.) and Qilian juniper (Sabina przewalskii Kom.) in coniferous forests of...

An intense debate exists on the effects of post-fire salvage logging on plant community regeneration, but scant data are available derived from experimental studies. We analyzed the effects of salvage logging on plant community regeneration in terms of species richness, diversity, cover, and composition by experimentally managing a burnt forest on a Mediterranean mountain (Sierra Nevada, S Spai...

Globally, grassland soils, if managed properly, are important for the sake of carbon sequestration. The quality and quantity of soil organic carbon is probably influenced by vegetation traits such as composition and plant species. We determined the influence of vegetation composition and co-dominant species on soil organic carbon in two Prangus uloptera stands. The stands situated at close prox...

Field studies in Amazonia have found a relationship at continental scales between soil fertility and broad trends in forest structure and function. Little is known at regional scales, however, about how discrete patterns in forest structure or functional attributes map onto underlying edaphic or geological patterns. We collected airborne LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data and VSWIR (Visib...