Nurse species and indirect facilitation through grazing drive plant community functional traits in tropical alpine peatlands.

ABSTRACT: Facilitation among plants mediated by grazers occurs when an unpalatable plant extends its protection against grazing to another plant. This type of indirect facilitation impacts species coexistence and ecosystem functioning in a large array of ecosystems worldwide. It has nonetheless generally been understudied so far in comparison with the role played by direct facilitation among plants. We aimed at providing original data on indirect facilitation at the community scale to determine the extent to which indirect facilitation mediated by grazers can shape plant communities. Such experimental data are expected to contribute to refining the conceptual framework on plant-plant-herbivore interactions in stressful environments. We set up a 2-year grazing exclusion experiment in tropical alpine

SUBMITTER: Danet A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5743694 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature