Biocrusts Influence Vascular Plant Community Development, Promoting Native Plant Dominance

作者：Matthew A. Bowker, Kyle D. Doherty, Anita J. Antoninka, Philip W. Ramsey, Mary Ellyn DuPre, Rebecca A. Durham · 发表于：Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.3389/fevo.2022.840324 · 被引用次数：37 · 研究领域：Biocrusts and Microbial Ecology、Lichen and fungal ecology、Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Interactions

The soil and its biota can shape the development of colonizing vascular plant communities. Because they occupy soil surfaces where most seeds disperse to, biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are uniquely positioned to influence vascular plant communities established by direct seeding, e.g., for restoration. We created mesocosms of soil overtopped by intact biocrust transplants from the field, varying in key community attributes: total cover, species richness, and proportional cover of mosses relative to lichens. We seeded the same diverse mixture of vascular plants into all mesocosms, including desired native species and problematic exotic invasive species. We tracked plant community development for two full growing seasons, both under ambient outdoor conditions and with supplemental irrigation to remove the influence of water limitation. Under ambient conditions, we found that total biocrust cover suppressed exotic plant emergence and biocrust richness slightly promoted native emergence ( r = −0.23 to −0.39) but had weaker and less consistent effects on cover of either native or exotic plants ( r ≤ |0.25|). Early emergence events were generally strong drivers of vascular plant recruitment ( r = 0.17–0.78) and continued to influence community composition after 2 years, suggesting a priority effect. Biocrust cover also promoted final plant biomass under ambient conditions ( r = 0.17–0.33) but did not influence the total cumulative number of native species ( r ≤ |0.07|) nor the ...