RESUMEN
Warming and changing water amount can alter the outcome of biotic interactions in native and exotic plants between facilitation and competition. Exotic plants may adapt better to changing environmental conditions, such that they may compete better than native plants. We conducted competition trials for four plant species, two exotic forbs (Centaurea stoebe and Linaria vulgaris) and two grasses (exotic Poa compressa and native Pseudoroegneria spicata), commonly found in Southern interior British Columbia. We compared the effects of warming and changing water on target plant shoot and root biomass, and on pair-wise competitive interactions among all four species. We quantified interactions using the Relative Interaction Intensity index, which has values from -1 (complete competition) to +1 (complete facilitation). C. stoebe biomass was highest under low water and no competition. Facilitation of C. stoebe was found under high water and low temperatures but shifted to competition under low water and/or warming. Competition in L. vulgaris decreased due to reduced water and increased due to warming. Grasses were less competitively suppressed by warming but more competitively suppressed by reduced water input. The response of exotic plants to climate change can differ by plant species, moving in opposite directions for both forbs, but grasses appear to respond similarly. This has consequences for grasses and exotic plants in semi-arid grasslands.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Changes in rainfall and temperature brought about through climate change may affect plant species distribution and community composition of grasslands. The primary objective of this study was to test how manipulation of water and temperature would influence the plasticity of stomatal density and leaf area of bluebunch wheatgrass, Pseudoroegneria spicata. It was hypothesized that: (1) an increased water supply will increase biomass and leaf area and decrease stomatal density, while a reduced water supply will cause the opposite effect; (2) an increase in temperature will reduce biomass and leaf area and increase stomatal density; and (3) the combinations of water and temperature treatments can be aligned along a stress gradient and that stomatal density will be highest at high stress. Methods The three water supply treatments were (1) ambient, (2) increased approx. 30% more than ambient through weekly watering and (3) decreased approx. 30 % less than ambient by rain shades. The two temperature treatments were (1) ambient and (2) increased approx. 1-3 degrees C by using open-top chambers. At the end of the second experimental growing season, above-ground biomass was harvested, oven-dried and weighed, tillers from bluebunch wheatgrass plants sampled, and the abaxial stomatal density and leaf area of tillers were measured. KEY RESULTS: The first hypothesis was partially supported--reducing water supply increased stomatal density, but increasing water supply reduced leaf area. The second hypothesis was rejected. Finally, the third hypothesis could not be fully supported--rather than a linear response there appears to be a parabolic stomatal density response to stress. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the abaxial stomatal density and leaf area of bluebunch wheatgrass were plastic in their response to water and temperature manipulations. Although bluebunch wheatgrass has the potential to adapt to changing climate, the grass is limited in its ability to respond to a combination of reduced water and increased temperature.