Nurse effect of Bolax gummifera cushion plants in the alpine vegetation of the Chilean Patagonian Andes
Abstract. It has been proposed that in the harsh arctic and alpine climate zones, small microtopographic variations that can generate more benign conditions than in the surrounding environment could be perceived as safe sites for seedling recruitment. Cushion plants can modify wind pattern, temperat...
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crwiley:10.1111/j.1654-1103.2002.tb02081.x 2024-09-09T19:26:42+00:00 Nurse effect of Bolax gummifera cushion plants in the alpine vegetation of the Chilean Patagonian Andes Cavieres, Lohengrin Arroyo, Mary T.K. Peñaloza, Alejandro Molina‐Montenegro, Marco Torres, Cristian 2002 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2002.tb02081.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1654-1103.2002.tb02081.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2002.tb02081.x en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Journal of Vegetation Science volume 13, issue 4, page 547-554 ISSN 1100-9233 1654-1103 journal-article 2002 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2002.tb02081.x 2024-08-09T04:30:25Z Abstract. It has been proposed that in the harsh arctic and alpine climate zones, small microtopographic variations that can generate more benign conditions than in the surrounding environment could be perceived as safe sites for seedling recruitment. Cushion plants can modify wind pattern, temperature and water availability. Such modifications imply that cushion plants could act as ‘nurse plants’ facilitating the recruitment of other species in the community. This effect should be more evident under stressful conditions. We tested these hypotheses comparing the number of species that grow inside and outside Bolax gummifera cushions at two elevations (700 and 900 m a.s.l.) in the Patagonian Andes of Chile (50°S). At both elevations, and in equivalent areas, the number of species was registered within and outside cushions. A total of 36 and 27 plant species were recorded either within or outside B. gummifera cushions at 700 and 900 m a.s.l., respectively. At 700 m a.s.l., 33 species were recorded growing within cushions and 29 outside them, while at 900 m a.s.l. these numbers were 24 and 13 respectively. At both elevations there were significantly more species growing within than outside cushions, and the proportion of species growing within cushions increased with elevation. Thus there is a nurse effect of cushion plants and it is more evident at higher elevations. Shelter from wind and increased soil water availability seem to be the factors that increase plant recruitment within cushions. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Wiley Online Library Arctic Journal of Vegetation Science 13 4 547 554 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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English |
description |
Abstract. It has been proposed that in the harsh arctic and alpine climate zones, small microtopographic variations that can generate more benign conditions than in the surrounding environment could be perceived as safe sites for seedling recruitment. Cushion plants can modify wind pattern, temperature and water availability. Such modifications imply that cushion plants could act as ‘nurse plants’ facilitating the recruitment of other species in the community. This effect should be more evident under stressful conditions. We tested these hypotheses comparing the number of species that grow inside and outside Bolax gummifera cushions at two elevations (700 and 900 m a.s.l.) in the Patagonian Andes of Chile (50°S). At both elevations, and in equivalent areas, the number of species was registered within and outside cushions. A total of 36 and 27 plant species were recorded either within or outside B. gummifera cushions at 700 and 900 m a.s.l., respectively. At 700 m a.s.l., 33 species were recorded growing within cushions and 29 outside them, while at 900 m a.s.l. these numbers were 24 and 13 respectively. At both elevations there were significantly more species growing within than outside cushions, and the proportion of species growing within cushions increased with elevation. Thus there is a nurse effect of cushion plants and it is more evident at higher elevations. Shelter from wind and increased soil water availability seem to be the factors that increase plant recruitment within cushions. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cavieres, Lohengrin Arroyo, Mary T.K. Peñaloza, Alejandro Molina‐Montenegro, Marco Torres, Cristian |
spellingShingle |
Cavieres, Lohengrin Arroyo, Mary T.K. Peñaloza, Alejandro Molina‐Montenegro, Marco Torres, Cristian Nurse effect of Bolax gummifera cushion plants in the alpine vegetation of the Chilean Patagonian Andes |
author_facet |
Cavieres, Lohengrin Arroyo, Mary T.K. Peñaloza, Alejandro Molina‐Montenegro, Marco Torres, Cristian |
author_sort |
Cavieres, Lohengrin |
title |
Nurse effect of Bolax gummifera cushion plants in the alpine vegetation of the Chilean Patagonian Andes |
title_short |
Nurse effect of Bolax gummifera cushion plants in the alpine vegetation of the Chilean Patagonian Andes |
title_full |
Nurse effect of Bolax gummifera cushion plants in the alpine vegetation of the Chilean Patagonian Andes |
title_fullStr |
Nurse effect of Bolax gummifera cushion plants in the alpine vegetation of the Chilean Patagonian Andes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Nurse effect of Bolax gummifera cushion plants in the alpine vegetation of the Chilean Patagonian Andes |
title_sort |
nurse effect of bolax gummifera cushion plants in the alpine vegetation of the chilean patagonian andes |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2002 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2002.tb02081.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1654-1103.2002.tb02081.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2002.tb02081.x |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Journal of Vegetation Science volume 13, issue 4, page 547-554 ISSN 1100-9233 1654-1103 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2002.tb02081.x |
container_title |
Journal of Vegetation Science |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
547 |
op_container_end_page |
554 |
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1809896254031790080 |