Resource-based niches provide a basis for plant species diversity and dominance in arctic tundra.
Nature
; 415(6867): 68-71, 2002 Jan 03.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-11780117
ABSTRACT
Ecologists have long been intrigued by the ways co-occurring species divide limiting resources. Such resource partitioning, or niche differentiation, may promote species diversity by reducing competition. Although resource partitioning is an important determinant of species diversity and composition in animal communities, its importance in structuring plant communities has been difficult to resolve. This is due mainly to difficulties in studying how plants compete for below-ground resources. Here we provide evidence from a 15N-tracer field experiment showing that plant species in a nitrogen-limited, arctic tundra community were differentiated in timing, depth and chemical form of nitrogen uptake, and that species dominance was strongly correlated with uptake of the most available soil nitrogen forms. That is, the most productive species used the most abundant nitrogen forms, and less productive species used less abundant forms. To our knowledge, this is the first documentation that the composition of a plant community is related to partitioning of differentially available forms of a single limiting resource.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Ecossistema
/
Fenômenos Fisiológicos Vegetais
/
Evolução Biológica
/
Nitrogênio
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Nature
Ano de publicação:
2002
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos