Plant–soil interactions in metal contaminated soils

The legacy of industrialization has left many soils contaminated. However, soil organisms and plant communities can thrive in spite of metal contamination and, in some cases, metabolize and help in remediation. The responses of plants and soil organisms to contamination are mutually dependent and dynamic. Plant–soil feedbacks are central to the development of any terrestrial community; they are ongoing in both contaminated and healthy soils. However, the theory that governs plant–soil feedbacks in healthy soils needs to be studied in contaminated soils. In healthy soils, negative feedbacks (i.e. pathogens) play a central role in shaping plant community structure. However to our knowledge, the nature of feedback relationships has never been addressed in contaminated soils. Here we review literature that supports a plant–soil feedback approach to understanding the ecology of metal-contaminated soil. Further, we discuss the idea that within these soils, the role of positive as opposed to negative plant–soil feedbacks may be more important. Testing this idea in a rigorous way in any ecosystem is challenging, and metal contamination imposes an additional abiotic constraint. We discuss research goals and experimental approaches to study plant–soil interactions applicable to metal-contaminated soils; these insights can be extended to other contaminated environments and restoration efforts.     

我国生态农业历史中利用植物辅助效应的实践

我国有着悠久的生态农业历史,农、林生态系统中的植物种间关系被关注最多。种间关系主要有3种,即竞争、辅助和中性。过去,竞争关系是被研究最多的一种。近20年来,辅助关系逐渐受到重视并被引入主流生态学理论中。本文分析了这些经验记载的生态学机理,其中描述最多的是植物幼苗的遮阴以及土壤养分的改良(豆科植物固氮作用)。此外,在缓冲极端温度(夏季高温以及冬季低温)、减少杂草竞争、防止动物捕食、减少水分胁迫等方面也有少量记录。我国古代不仅有利用两种植物种间辅助效应的丰富记载,还有利用多种植物综合和复合的种间辅助关系,以及植物与动物之间的复杂关系构建生态系统的记载。特别是华南地区具有利用多种植物与动物间关系来构建基塘生态系统、复合果园生态系统、茶园生态系统等方面传统经验的记载。深入挖掘我国传统植物间辅助效应的记载,并对其进行科学研究,是生态学中非常有价值的课题。因此,本文从社会-生态记忆的角度,对古代文献中关于植物间辅助效应的记载进行梳理与分析,希望引起学界同仁对这些传统经验的重视,并在此基础上通过现代生态学的实验方法验证这些记载的真实性与适用性,为生态恢复、生态农业、现代林业及生态系统管理等提供有益的借鉴。     

Abiotic conditions and plant cover differentially affect microbial biomass and community composition on dune gradients

Dune systems are characterized by strong gradients of physical stress, with blowing sand and salt spray decreasing with distance from the ocean, and soil nutrients increasing. In this study we ask how soil microbial community composition and biomass change along transects away from the ocean, and whether these changes are regulated by abiotic stress or by resource availability. We collected bulk soil from under three plant species representative of the dune front, back, and flat: Ammophila breviligulata, Rosa rugosa, and Myrica pensylvanica. The biomass and composition of microbial communities were examined using phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis under patches of dominant vegetation, and in paired bare plots. We found that microbial biomass was strongly correlated with soil C, and thus the presence of vegetation. Community composition, on the other hand, varied with abiotic stresses, especially soil salinity. These variables in turn depended on distance from the shore, and were ameliorated in some cases by vegetation. These findings demonstrate that biomass and community composition are influenced by different environmental variables. Thus, relationships between biomass and composition are unlikely to be readily predicted on the basis of a single resource.     

Aspen canopy removal and root trenching effects on understory vegetation

Effects of aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) canopy removal and root trenching on understory vegetation were examined at Parkland and Boreal sites in Alberta, Canada to provide a better understanding of the ecological basis of agroforestry systems suitable for north temperate and boreal areas. The greatest changes in understory production (ANPP) were in response to canopy removal with less consistent changes from reduction of root effects. Root trenching did not influence ANPP at the parkland site, but did at the boreal site where it interacted with canopy removal. During severe drought, ANPP under a full canopy at the parkland site increased and may relate to paradoxical understory resource increases during drought. At the parkland site there was a shift away from forb and shrub production under a full canopy towards a greater proportion of graminoids with complete or partial canopy removal. At the boreal site, partial canopy removal resulted in more shrubs and greater production from graminoid species relative to complete overstory removal but only with root trenching using a barrier. Trends in the relative yields of understory species and the cover of plant groups generally followed the patterns observed in ANPP. Leaf litter decreased with the level of canopy removal and may have factored in greater moisture conservation under aspen. Understory production gains with a partial canopy may be attributed to favourable microclimatic conditions of a closed forest retained by the partial aspen cover, while simultaneously increasing PAR penetration. Soil resources were important to ANPP and cover, particularly among forbs, however, when root trenching was significant, it generally coincided with increases in PAR.     

Restoring dry Afromontane forest using bird and nurse plant effects: Direct sowing of Olea europaea ssp. cuspidata seeds

To identify the perspectives of seed sowing for reforestation of degraded dry Afromontane savanna in exclosures in northern Ethiopia, seeds of a fleshy-fruited, secondary climax tree, Olea europaea ssp. cuspidata, were placed under two pioneer shrub species (Euclea racemosa and Acacia etbaica) and in open microhabitats. Seed removal and germination rates were examined. The effects of bird ingestion, manual pulp removal and mechanical endocarp treatments on germination rates were also studied.

Pulp removal promoted seed germination, in particular in seeds without endocarp manipulation. Seed removal, presumably by rodents, was concentrated in narrow strips along linear soil conservation structures, and not different between shrubs and open microhabitats. In the absence of water stress, humus types did not have a significant effect on germination rates. Under field conditions however, germination was higher under Euclea canopies. The observed facilitative effect of Euclea shrubs on germination may be attributed to moisture retention effects, related to the deep humus layer and canopy architecture, preventing desiccation and promoting imbibition of seeds. When readily available Olea seeds are not used for seedling production, direct sowing of seeds in the humus under dense Euclea shrubs could offer a cheap complement to planting of nursery-raised seedlings for forest restoration projects in recovering Afromontane savanna.     

Conserving the benefits of predator biodiversity

Organisms at higher trophic levels often face a disproportionate risk of local or regional extinction, while at the same time many ecosystems are being invaded by non-native predators. Global environmental change fosters both processes, further altering predator biodiversity. Thus, there has been growing interest in how predator species richness impacts ecosystem functioning. Manipulative experiments have revealed that complementarity and sampling effects, two mechanisms commonly found to underlie diversity effects at other trophic levels, also commonly impact the relationship between predator diversity and prey suppression. Intraguild predation and non-consumptive (behaviorally-mediated) effects on prey, two mechanisms without direct analogs among plants, also strongly impact predator-diversity effects. Predator diversity studies are particularly relevant to conservation because they focus on the trophic group that is most prone to extinction, and because they nearly always measure diversity effects that span several trophic levels. Predator invasions may partly offset species-richness losses to extinction, but because invasive predators typically reach much higher densities and exert stronger impacts on prey than do native species, and because they also displace ecologically-similar native predators, invasion is likely to disrupt natural predator function. A framework for predicting which predator-diversity mechanisms are likely to operate in a given community, and experiments that span more realistic spatiotemporal scales and include large vertebrate predators, are needed to improve the relevance of predator-diversity experiments to conservation decision-making in the future.     

Changes in limiting resources determine spatio-temporal variability in tree–grass interactions

Changing biotic and abiotic stress mediate in plant–plant interactions resulting in positive to neutral or negative effects, and these effects can change with gradients of stress or through plant dynamics. Here we studied the variability in annual grass production and composition induced by gradients of intercepted light by trees in years of contrasting precipitation in Mediterranean holm oak open woodlands. Although trees reduce the light radiance received by the pasture community, the presence of trees generally had a positive effect on pasture production in average climatic years where soil fertility was low. However, the interaction changed with increasing abiotic water stress. In a dry year, the increase in fertility could not be utilized and the effect of the crown was neutral. The effect of shade turned out to be beneficial for growth, contrary to the situation in an average climatic year. Light insolation was positive for legume biomass. There was high variability in functional components over the course of the growing period and from 1 year to another. Under low levels of other biotic stresses such as livestock grazing or root competition, the limiting factor among light, soil moisture or soil nutrients may determine whether facilitation or competition occurs.     

Regeneration of Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine (Pinus aristata) and limber pine (Pinus flexilis) three decades after stand-replacing fires

Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine (Pinus aristata) and limber pine (Pinus flexilis) are important high-elevation pines of the southern Rockies that are forecast to decline due to the recent spread of white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola) into this region. Proactive management strategies to promote the evolution of rust resistance and maintain ecosystem function require an improved understanding of the role of disturbance on the population dynamics of both species and environmental conditions that favor seedling establishment. We examined patterns of bristlecone and limber pine regeneration across the perimeters of three, 29-year-old, high-severity burns in northern, central, and southern Colorado: Ouzel, Badger Mountain, and Maes Creek, respectively. Both species exhibited a very protracted regeneration response to these fires. Bristlecone pine regeneration was concentrated near burn edges and beneath surviving seed sources. This spatial pattern is consistent with limitations incurred by wind-dispersal, also borne out by the low occurrence of seedling clusters. Relative to unburned stands, the absolute abundance of bristlecone pine generally increased only on plots retaining some surviving trees. Limber pine regeneration pattern varied between sites: high in the burn interior at Ouzel, concentrated at burn edges at Badger, and mostly in unburned stands at Maes. Clark’s Nutcracker dispersal of limber pine in each study area was indicated by high seedling distance from possible seed sources and high frequencies of clustered stems. Except at Ouzel, the absolute abundance of limber pine decreased in burns. Across sites, establishment by both species was boosted by nearby nurse objects (rocks, fallen logs, and standing tree trunks), a relationship that extended out at least as far as the closest three such objects, usually found within 50 cm. Fire decreased the frequency of Pedicularis but increased Castilleja and Ribes species (alternate hosts of white pine blister rust), though only one species, R. cereum, was positively associated with either pine species. We conclude that regeneration of bristlecone and limber pine may benefit from natural disturbance or proactive management creating appropriately sized openings and microtopographic structure (e.g., abundant fallen logs); however, beneficial responses may require many decades to be achieved.     

Facilitation by two exotic Acacia: Acacia auriculiformis and Acacia mangium as nurse plants in South China

Because of their high growth rate and tolerance to bare soil, two exotic Acacia species, Acacia auriculiformis and Acacia mangium, have been commonly planted in degraded areas of South China. With their large canopies and ability to fix nitrogen, the two Acacia species have also been considered to act as nurse plants for understory plants. The current study clarified the nursing effects of the Acacia species by comparing microclimate characteristics and physiological traits of native plant seedlings at three sites: under the canopies of the each Acacia species and on bare land (open site). Although the sites were not replicated, the results indicated that adult trees of both Acacia species can facilitate native species, but that A. mangium has greater facilitating effects due to greater temperature buffering, radiation reduction, and nutrient amelioration. In response to facilitation, three species (Castanopsis hystrix, Michelia macclurei, and Manglietia glauca) with different shade-tolerant traits growing under Acacia canopies expressed distinct adaptations. For the three species, the chlorophyll fluorescence curves of rETR and ΔF/Fm′ were higher under A. auriculiformis and on the open site than under A. mangium. The maximum quantum yield in PSII(Fv/Fm) in diurnal changes of the three species showed that all the Fv/Fm values were between 0.70 and 0.84 and that the Fv/Fm values were mostly higher under A. mangium than on the open site or under A. auriculiformis. Total chlorophyll content and both chlorophyll a and b contents in the three species were higher under the Acacia species than on the open site, while chlorophyll a/b ratio was higher on the open site. In contrast, the carotenoid content in C. hystrix and M. macclurei was lower under the two Acacia species than on the open site, while the opposite was true for M. glauca. The results demonstrate that the adaptation of the understory species to abiotic environmental factors is not restricted to a single mechanism but apparently involves a group of interrelated, adaptive suites. And also these adaptations were species-specific and especially related to their shade tolerance.     

Does intercropping winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) with red fescue (Festuca rubra) as a cover crop improve agronomic and environmental performance? A modeling approach

The introduction of a living cover crop during a cash crop growth cycle (relay intercropping) and its maintenance after the cash crop harvest may help to preserve biodiversity, increase soil organic matter content and carbon sequestration and provide other ecosystem services, such as natural pest regulation or nutrient recycling, by increasing useful biotic interactions within the agroecosystem. We studied the impact of various approaches to manage a red fescue cover crop in a winter wheat crop in terms of light, water and nitrogen competition, using the STICS crop model adapted for intercropping. The STICS model for wheat/fescue intercropping was first evaluated on two years of experimental data obtained in the field. It gave satisfactory statistical results for the prediction of dry matter, leaf area index (LAI) and nitrogen accumulation in the two species, and for nitrogen and water dynamics in the soil. By simulating unmeasured variables, such as transpiration, the model improves our understanding of the performance of the intercrop in the field. For example, we showed that the intercropping system was more efficient that wheat grown as a sole crop, in terms of nitrogen accumulation and decreasing soil nitrogen levels before the leaching period. However, it also resulted in lower wheat yields. We then used the STICS model to compare four intercropping management scenarios differing in terms of the date of red fescue emergence, over 35 climatic years. We found that, in most climatic scenarios, the emergence of the fescue crop during the late tillering phase of the wheat crop gave the best compromise between wheat yield overall nitrogen accumulation and radiation interception.