Density-Dependent Plant-Plant Interactions Triggered by Grazing.

ABSTRACT: Plant species performance in rangelands highly depends on the effect of grazing and also on the occurrence of unpalatable benefactor species that can act as biotic refuges protecting neighboring plants from herbivores. The balance between facilitation and competition may changes with the benefactor density. Despite the high number of studies on the role of biotic refuges, the density dependent effects of unpalatable herbaceous plants on the performance of other species, and on the habitat heterogeneity of rangelands are still unclear. Therefore, we performed a study to test the following hypotheses: (i) Performances of understory species follow a humped-back relationship along the density gradient of the unpalatable benefactor species. (ii) Small-scale heterogeneity of the vegetation decre

SUBMITTER: Kelemen A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6624794 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature