Facilitation and competition deconstructed: a mechanistic modelling approach to the stress gradient hypothesis applied to drylands.

ABSTRACT: Facilitative interactions among species are key in plant communities. While experimental tests support the Stress Gradient Hypothesis (SGH) as an association between facilitation and stress, whether the shape of net effects along stress gradients can be predicted is controversial, with no available mathematical modelling approaches. We proposed a novel test, using a modification of the R* model to study how negative and positive partial effects of plant interactions in drylands combine along two common stress gradients. We modelled different interactions: competition for water and light, amelioration of soil infiltration and/or grazing protection, obtaining that intensity and importance of facilitation did not generally increase along stress gradients, being dependent on the interaction ty

SUBMITTER: Diaz-Sierra R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10810957 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature