Volume 96 Issue 1 Page 18-34, January 2008
To cite this article: Rob W. Brooker, Fernando T. Maestre, Ragan M. Callaway, Christopher L. Lortie, Lohengrin A. Cavieres, Georges Kunstler, Pierre Liancourt, Katja Tielbörger, Justin M. J. Travis, Fabien Anthelme, Cristina Armas, Lluis Coll, Emmanuel Corcket, Sylvain Delzon, Estelle Forey, Zaal Kikvidze, Johan Olofsson, Francisco Pugnaire, Constanza L. Quiroz, Patrick Saccone, Katja Schiffers, Merav Seifan, Blaize Touzard, Richard Michalet (2008) Facilitation in plant communities: the past, the present, and the future
Journal of Ecology 96 (1) , 18–34 doi:10.1111/j.1365-2745.2007.01295.x
Abstract
ESSAY REVIEW
Facilitation in plant communities: the past, the present, and the future
- Rob W. Brooker 1*1The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeenshire AB15 8QH, UK, *Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: R. Brooker. Tel. +44 (0)1224 498200. E-mail: r.brooker@macaulay.ac.uk.,
- Fernando T. Maestre 22Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología y Geología, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, ESCET, C/ Tulipán s/n, 28933 Móstoles, Spain, ,
- Ragan M. Callaway 33Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA, ,
- Christopher L. Lortie 44Biology Department, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada, ,
- Lohengrin A. Cavieres 55Departamento de Botánica, Universidad de Concepción and Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad (IEB), Concepción, Chile, ,
- Georges Kunstler 66Cemagref – Unité de Recherche Ecosystèmes Montagnards, 2, rue de la Papeterie, B.P. 76, 38402 St-Martin-D’Heres cedex, France, ,
- Pierre Liancourt 77University of Tübingen, Institute for Botany, Plant Ecology Department, Auf der Morgenstelle 1 72076 Tübingen, Germany, ,
- Katja Tielbörger 77University of Tübingen, Institute for Botany, Plant Ecology Department, Auf der Morgenstelle 1 72076 Tübingen, Germany, ,
- Justin M. J. Travis 88School of Biological Sciences, Zoology Building, Tillydrone Avenue, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ, UK, ,
- Fabien Anthelme 99IRD, UMR 1097, 911 avenue Agropolis, 34394 Montpellier cedex 5, France, ,
- Cristina Armas 1010Department of Biology, Box 90338, FFSC, Room 3304, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA, ,
- Lluis Coll 1111Centre Tecnològic Forestal de Catalunya / Forest Technology Centre of Catalonia, Pujada del Seminari s/n, 25280-Solsona, Spain, ,
- Emmanuel Corcket 1212University Bordeaux 1, Community Ecology Group, UMR INRA 1202 BIOGECO, 33405 Talence, France, ,
- Sylvain Delzon 1212University Bordeaux 1, Community Ecology Group, UMR INRA 1202 BIOGECO, 33405 Talence, France, ,
- Estelle Forey 1212University Bordeaux 1, Community Ecology Group, UMR INRA 1202 BIOGECO, 33405 Talence, France, ,
- Zaal Kikvidze 1313Estacion Experimental de Zonas Aridas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, 04001 Almeria, Spain, ,
- Johan Olofsson 1414Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, Sweden, ,
- Francisco Pugnaire 1313Estacion Experimental de Zonas Aridas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, 04001 Almeria, Spain, ,
- Constanza L. Quiroz 55Departamento de Botánica, Universidad de Concepción and Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad (IEB), Concepción, Chile, ,
- Patrick Saccone 66Cemagref – Unité de Recherche Ecosystèmes Montagnards, 2, rue de la Papeterie, B.P. 76, 38402 St-Martin-D’Heres cedex, France, ,
- Katja Schiffers 1515Department of Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation, University of Potsdam, Maulbeerallee 2, 14469 Potsdam, Germany,
- Merav Seifan 77University of Tübingen, Institute for Botany, Plant Ecology Department, Auf der Morgenstelle 1 72076 Tübingen, Germany, ,
- Blaize Touzard 1212University Bordeaux 1, Community Ecology Group, UMR INRA 1202 BIOGECO, 33405 Talence, France, and
- Richard Michalet 1212University Bordeaux 1, Community Ecology Group, UMR INRA 1202 BIOGECO, 33405 Talence, France,
- 1The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeenshire AB15 8QH, UK, 2Área de Biodiversidad y Conservación, Departamento de Biología y Geología, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, ESCET, C/ Tulipán s/n, 28933 Móstoles, Spain, 3Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA, 4Biology Department, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada, 5Departamento de Botánica, Universidad de Concepción and Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad (IEB), Concepción, Chile, 6Cemagref – Unité de Recherche Ecosystèmes Montagnards, 2, rue de la Papeterie, B.P. 76, 38402 St-Martin-D’Heres cedex, France, 7University of Tübingen, Institute for Botany, Plant Ecology Department, Auf der Morgenstelle 1 72076 Tübingen, Germany, 8School of Biological Sciences, Zoology Building, Tillydrone Avenue, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ, UK, 9IRD, UMR 1097, 911 avenue Agropolis, 34394 Montpellier cedex 5, France, 10Department of Biology, Box 90338, FFSC, Room 3304, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA, 11Centre Tecnològic Forestal de Catalunya / Forest Technology Centre of Catalonia, Pujada del Seminari s/n, 25280-Solsona, Spain, 12University Bordeaux 1, Community Ecology Group, UMR INRA 1202 BIOGECO, 33405 Talence, France, 13Estacion Experimental de Zonas Aridas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, 04001 Almeria, Spain, 14Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, Sweden, 15Department of Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation, University of Potsdam, Maulbeerallee 2, 14469 Potsdam, Germany
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: R. Brooker. Tel. +44 (0)1224 498200. E-mail: r.brooker@macaulay.ac.uk. Key-words: competition, disturbance, ecological theory, environmental change, environmental gradients, facilitation, plant communities, positive plant interactions, review, stress
| 1. | Once neglected, the role of facilitative interactions in plant communities has received considerable attention in the last two decades, and is now widely recognized. It is timely to consider the progress made by research in this field. |
| 2. | We review the development of plant facilitation research, focusing on the history of the field, the relationship between plant–plant interactions and environmental severity gradients, and attempts to integrate facilitation into mainstream ecological theory. We then consider future directions for facilitation research. |
| 3. | With respect to our fundamental understanding of plant facilitation, clarification of the relationship between interactions and environmental gradients is central for further progress, and necessitates the design and implementation of experiments that move beyond the clear limitations of previous studies. |
| 4. | There is substantial scope for exploring indirect facilitative effects in plant communities, including their impacts on diversity and evolution, and future studies should connect the degree of non-transitivity in plant competitive networks to community diversity and facilitative promotion of species coexistence, and explore how the role of indirect facilitation varies with environmental severity. |
| 5. | Certain ecological modelling approaches (e.g. individual-based modelling), although thus far largely neglected, provide highly useful tools for exploring these fundamental processes. |
| 6. | Evolutionary responses might result from facilitative interactions, and consideration of facilitation might lead to re-assessment of the evolution of plant growth forms. |
| 7. | Improved understanding of facilitation processes has direct relevance for the development of tools for ecosystem restoration, and for improving our understanding of the response of plant species and communities to environmental change drivers. |
| 8. | Attempts to apply our developing ecological knowledge would benefit from explicit recognition of the potential role of facilitative plant–plant interactions in the design and interpretation of studies from the fields of restoration and global change ecology. |
| 9. | Synthesis: Plant facilitation research provides new insights into classic ecological theory and pressing environmental issues. Awareness and understanding of facilitation should be part of the basic ecological knowledge of all plant ecologists. |
- Alfonso Valiente-Banuet and Miguel Verdú. (2008) Temporal shifts from facilitation to competition occur between closely related taxa. Journal of Ecology 96:3, 489–494
- Rob W. Brooker and Zaal Kikividze. Importance: an overlooked concept in plant interaction research. Journal of Ecology doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2745.2008.01373.x
- Anu Eskelinen. (2008) Herbivore and neighbour effects on tundra plants depend on species identity, nutrient availability and local environmental conditions. Journal of Ecology 96:1, 155–165
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