Abstract:
:Increases in woody vegetation and declines in grasses in arid and semi-arid ecosystems have occurred globally since the 1800s, but the mechanisms driving this major land-cover change remain uncertain and controversial. Working in a shrub-encroached grassland in the northern Chihuahuan Desert where grasses and shrubs typically differ in leaf-level nitrogen allocation, photosynthetic pathway, and root distribution, we asked if differences in leaf-level ecophysiology could help explain shrub proliferation. We predicted that the relative performance of grasses and shrubs would vary with soil moisture due to the different morphological and physiological characteristics of the two life-forms. In a 2-year experiment with ambient, reduced, and enhanced precipitation during the monsoon season, respectively, the encroaching C(3) shrub (honey mesquite Prosopis glandulosa) consistently and substantially outperformed the historically dominant C(4) grass (black grama Bouteloua eriopoda) in terms of photosynthetic rates while also maintaining a more favorable leaf water status. These differences persisted across a wide range of soil moisture conditions, across which mesquite photosynthesis was decoupled from leaf water status and moisture in the upper 50 cm of the soil profile. Mesquite's ability to maintain physiologically active leaves for a greater fraction of the growing season than black grama potentially amplifies and extends the importance of physiological differences. These physiological and phenological differences may help account for grass displacement by shrubs in drylands. Furthermore, the greater sensitivity of the grass to low soil moisture suggests that grasslands may be increasingly susceptible to shrub encroachment in the face of the predicted increases in drought intensity and frequency in the desert of the southwestern USA.
journal_name
Oecologiajournal_title
Oecologiaauthors
Throop HL,Reichmann LG,Sala OE,Archer SRdoi
10.1007/s00442-011-2217-4subject
Has Abstractpub_date
2012-06-01 00:00:00pages
373-83issue
2eissn
0029-8549issn
1432-1939journal_volume
169pub_type
杂志文章相关文献
OECOLOGIA文献大全abstract::The goal of this study was to evaluate the contribution of oak trees (Quercus spp.) and their associated mycorrhizal fungi to total community soil respiration in a deciduous forest (Black Rock Forest) and to explore the partitioning of autotrophic and heterotrophic respiration. Trees on twelve 75 × 75-m plots were gir...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/s00442-011-2182-y
更新日期:2012-05-01 00:00:00
abstract::Environmental effects on parents can strongly affect the phenotype of their offspring, which alters the heritability of traits and the offspring's responses to the environment. We examined whether P limitation of the aquatic invertebrate, Daphnia magna, alters the responses of its offspring to inadequate P nutrition. ...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/s00442-009-1517-4
更新日期:2010-04-01 00:00:00
abstract::Two primarily granivorous rodents of Old World deserts,Gerbillus allenbyi (mean adult body mass=26 g) andG. pyramidum (mean adult body mass=40 g), coexist in sandy habitats in the northwestern Negev desert. Both species are burrow dwellers and are nocturnal; however, in their overall distributions,G. pyramidum occurs ...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/BF01875454
更新日期:1992-07-01 00:00:00
abstract::Many small organisms in various life stages can be transported in the digestive system of larger vertebrates, a process known as endozoochory. Potential dispersal distances of these "propagules" are generally calculated after monitoring retrieval in experiments with resting vector animals. We argue that vectors in nat...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/s00442-012-2293-0
更新日期:2012-09-01 00:00:00
abstract::The effects of simulated goose grazing on Phleum pratense plants were tested in an Iceland hayfield during the spring goose staging period (19 April-11 May 1997). Plants in an area exclosed from the influence of grazing and the nutrient effects of goose faeces were subject to the removal of the youngest lamina once, t...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/s004420050574
更新日期:1998-08-01 00:00:00
abstract::Nectar plant utilization by butterflies was compared with the abundance of flowering plants on some SW Swedish meadows. The transportation of pollen grains by individual butterflies was analysed using a scanning electron microscope.For the majority of plant species, butteflies were of minor importance as pollinators. ...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/BF00379789
更新日期:1984-07-01 00:00:00
abstract::A number of studies at large scales have pointed out that abiotic factors and recolonization dynamics appear to be more important than biotic interactions in structuring stream-fish assemblages. In contrast, experimental and field studies at small scales show the importance of competition among stream fishes. However,...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/s00442-004-1578-3
更新日期:2004-07-01 00:00:00
abstract::This study examined the effects of elevated CO2 on secondary metabolites for saplings of tropical trees. In the first experiment, nine species of trees were grown in the ground in open-top chambers in central Panama at ambient and elevated CO2 (about twice ambient). On average, leaf phenolic contents were 48% higher u...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/s00442-002-1005-6
更新日期:2002-09-01 00:00:00
abstract::The absence of essential biochemical nutrients, such as polyunsaturated fatty acids or sterols, has been considered as a mechanism determining trophic interactions between the herbivore Daphnia and its phytoplankton food source. Here, we experimentally quantify the sensitivity of two Daphnia species to decreasing amou...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/s00442-005-0090-8
更新日期:2005-07-01 00:00:00
abstract::The distribution and movements of two stoat populations were studied by capture-recapture and tracking in the Swiss Jura Mountains. On the Brévine area in summer 1977 the population was at a high density phase and evenly distributed. A well established intrasexual territorial system was observed, with a high degree of...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/BF00388075
更新日期:1983-08-01 00:00:00
abstract::The effect of tree canopy, understory, herbivores, and litter depth on seedling establishment, survival, and reproduction of the alien grass, Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass), was examined in a series of experiments in four forest habitat types in western North America. Higher recruitment, survival, and reproduction on cl...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/BF00328170
更新日期:1990-10-01 00:00:00
abstract::Only heavy insects and those that fly quickly can pass through a spider's web. When an insect is entangled in a web, permanent activity is the best way of getting free. Small wings are conducive to a successful escape, as is a special surface structure of the wings (scales, hairs, lipoid surface). The autotomy of legs...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/BF00389023
更新日期:1982-06-01 00:00:00
abstract::Genetic introgression has been suggested as a management tool for mitigating detrimental effects of inbreeding depression, but the role of introgression in species conservation has been controversial, partly because population-level impacts of genetic introgressions are not well understood. Concerns about potential in...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/s00442-011-2083-0
更新日期:2012-01-01 00:00:00
abstract::The photosynthetic pathways of 42 species of the genusEuphorbia growing wild, naturalized or cultivated in Egypt were investigated. The criteria used included the δ13C- and δD-values and Kranz anatomy of the leaves. There is a relationship between the photosynthetic pathway and the ecological conditions in the habitat...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/BF00320421
更新日期:1991-09-01 00:00:00
abstract::Seasonal measurements of microclimatic conditions were compared to seasonal indices of leaf structural components and plant water relations in Prosopis glandulosa var. torryana. P. glandulosa had two short periods of leaf production which resulted in two distinct even aged cohorts of leaves. The two leaf cohorts (summ...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/BF00399043
更新日期:1986-04-01 00:00:00
abstract::Inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi is known to increase the species diversity of plant communities. One mechanism that can increase the likelihood of species co-existence, and thus species diversity, is a trade-off between competitive ability and the magnitude of plant growth response to AM fungal inoc...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/s00442-016-3771-6
更新日期:2017-02-01 00:00:00
abstract::During the inventory of ant heaps of the group Formica rufa, performed in the years 1972-73 in the Wielkopolski National Park near Poznań, it was found that the vegetal cover composition, determining to a large extent phytosociologic associations, is likely not so important to ants as the dominant stand. First of all,...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/BF00368854
更新日期:1976-06-01 00:00:00
abstract::A key question in savanna ecology is how trees and grasses coexist under N limitation. We used N stable isotopes and N content to study N source partitioning across seasons from trees and associated grasses in a semi-arid savanna. We also used (15)N tracer additions to investigate possible redistribution of N by trees...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/s00442-013-2848-8
更新日期:2014-04-01 00:00:00
abstract::Stratospheric ozone depletion has caused ground-level ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation to rise in temperate latitudes of both hemispheres. Because the effects of enhanced UV-B radiation on the nutrition of food consumed by mammalian herbivores are unknown, we measured nutritional and chemical constituents of 18 forages ...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/s00442-008-0978-1
更新日期:2008-05-01 00:00:00
abstract::Despite the abundance of studies on competitive interactions, relatively few experiments have been used to fit explicit competition models and estimate competition coefficients. Such estimates are valuable for making contact between theoretical and empirical studies, which tend to measure competition in different unit...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/s004420050894
更新日期:1999-09-01 00:00:00
abstract::Seed number per pod is negatively skewed in Leucaena leucocephala. Post-fertilisation abortion of pods does not completely explain the skewed distribution. It is shown that a pre-fertilisation regulation effectively restricts the formation of pods with less than a certain number of seeds. The regulation is rendered th...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/BF00379905
更新日期:1986-11-01 00:00:00
abstract::A 9-year study of the structure of assemblages of fish on 20 coral patch reefs, based on 20 non-manipulative censuses, revealed a total of 141 species from 34 families, although 40 species accounted for over 95% of sightings of fish. The average patch reef was 8.5 m2 in surface area, and supported 125 fish of 20 speci...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/BF00326094
更新日期:1994-06-01 00:00:00
abstract::Body size at metamorphosis is a critical trait in the life history of amphibians. Despite the wide-spread use of amphibians as experimental model organisms, there is a limited understanding of how multiple abiotic and biotic factors affect the variation in metamorphic traits under natural conditions. The aim of our st...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/s00442-010-1586-4
更新日期:2010-07-01 00:00:00
abstract::Two general approaches have usually been taken towards understanding the distributions and dynamics of localised species in heterogeneous landscapes, namely habitat characterisation and metapopulation dynamics. We show how habitat and metapopulation dynamics interact to generate a highly localised distribution of a bu...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/s004420050957
更新日期:1999-12-01 00:00:00
abstract::Understanding how communities respond to extreme climatic events is important for predicting the impact of climate change on biodiversity. The plant vigor and stress hypotheses provide a theoretical framework for understanding how arthropods respond to stress, but are rarely tested at the community level. Following a ...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/s00442-010-1684-3
更新日期:2010-11-01 00:00:00
abstract::The optimal strategy in the design of nature reserves is investigated by means of the theory of island biogeography. Some previous results are revised. A new form of the incidence functions is presented. Their merit is that they do not ignore the minimum area requirements, they are more flexible, and in a number of in...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/BF00388085
更新日期:1983-08-01 00:00:00
abstract::Plant roots transfer water between soil layers of different water potential thereby significantly affecting the distribution and availability of water in the soil profile. We used a modification of the heat pulse method to measure sap flow in roots of Grevillea robusta and Eucalyptus camaldulensis and demonstrated a r...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/s004420050521
更新日期:1998-07-01 00:00:00
abstract::Twenty nine harpacticoid copepods are new to Bermuda and significant changes are noted in the distribution records of several species. Six temporary groups are organized to separate the copepods on their apparent zoogeographical ranges: (1) cosmopolitan, (2) warm temperate-tropical, (3) North Atlantic, (4) North Atlan...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/BF00815503
更新日期:1970-12-01 00:00:00
abstract::Carotenoids are antioxidant pigments involved in several physiological processes and signalling in animals that cannot synthesise them and therefore must acquire them from food. We experimentally investigated the effects of carotenoid availability in the diet during egg laying on antioxidant deposition in egg yolk and...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/s00442-005-0048-x
更新日期:2005-06-01 00:00:00
abstract::I suggest that between-community variations in diversity patterns during succession in plant communities are due to the effects of selection on life history strategies under different disturbance regimes. Natural disturbances to plant communities are simultaneously a source of mortality for some individuals and a sour...
journal_title:Oecologia
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1007/BF00346960
更新日期:1980-07-01 00:00:00