Experimental assessment of biotic and abiotic filters driving community composition.

ABSTRACT: Species occurrence in a site can be limited by both the abiotic environment and biotic interactions. These two factors operate in concert, but their relative importance is often unclear. By experimentally introducing seeds or plants into competition-free gaps or into the intact vegetation, we can disentangle the biotic and abiotic effects on plant establishment. We established a seed-sowing/transplant experiment in three different meadows. Species were introduced, as seeds and pregrown transplants, into competition-free gaps and the intact vegetation. They included 12 resident plants from the locality and 18 species typical for different habitats. Last two years, gaps were overgrown with vegetation from surrounding plants and we observed the competitive exclusion of our focal plants. We co

SUBMITTER: Svamberkova E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7391324 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature