Effects of 'target' plant species body size on neighbourhood species richness and composition in old-field vegetation.

ABSTRACT: Competition is generally regarded as an important force in organizing the structure of vegetation, and evidence from several experimental studies of species mixtures suggests that larger mature plant size elicits a competitive advantage. However, these findings are at odds with the fact that large and small plant species generally coexist, and relatively smaller species are more common in virtually all plant communities. Here, we use replicates of ten relatively large old-field plant species to explore the competitive impact of target individual size on their surrounding neighbourhoods compared to nearby neighbourhoods of the same size that are not centred by a large target individual. While target individuals of the largest of our test species, Centaurea jacea L., had a strong impact on n

SUBMITTER: Schamp BS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3862571 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature