Plant Ecology

, Volume 217, Issue 11, pp 1315–1329 | Cite as

A cost–benefit model for plant–plant interactions: a density-series tool to detect facilitation

  • Christopher J. Lortie
  • Alessandro Filazzola
  • Clive Welham
  • Roy Turkington
Article
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

Generally, only the net outcome of plant–plant interactions is measured in population and community ecology research, with few attempts to determine the relative importance of negative (competition) and positive (facilitation) interactions between subordinate species. Changes in the intensity of interactions along gradients, between life-stages, or with changing densities, and the use of selective removals enhance our capacity to infer positive and negative interactions. However, the most powerful examples at least in detecting facilitation typically involve measuring changes with or without a nurse-plant or benefactor species and often involve only a very limited numbers of species. In plant competition studies, however, greater number of species are commonly tested and density-dependent series are not an uncommon tool to test for net negative interactions. Here, we develop a cost–benefit model that can be used to comprehensively calculate the average expected net gain per individual at every point in a density series provided several response variables are recorded at each density. The utility of this model is demonstrated using both hypothetical data and several empirical data sets, and it is used to infer either both positive and negative net effects. Expected net gain can also serve as an accurate estimate of mean fitness per individual at a given density provided appropriate performance measures were recorded within the primary study. Within a single density series, both facilitation and competition can occur and were detectable using this method. This approach emphasizes the current view that both negative and positive interactions play a role in shaping plant communities. Furthermore, it is evident that facilitation can be detected using the manipulative density series typically associated with competition studies and not just using the typical target nurse-plant methodology. Finally, this method is a significant advance over the current practice of tallying up single responses within a study to estimate outcomes by providing a single, synthetic measure of the net gain or cost of interactions.

Keywords

Cost–benefit Density dependence Multiplicative model Plant interactions Seeds 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

Research was supported by an NSERC postgraduate scholarship and a fellowship from the Blaustein Center for Scientific Cooperation to CJL and an NSERC operating grant to RT. This is a publication of the Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology. We wish to extend special thanks to one referee in particular that provided numerous extremely useful ideas to the implications and interpretation of this model.

Supplementary material

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  • Christopher J. Lortie
    • 1
    • 2
  • Alessandro Filazzola
    • 2
  • Clive Welham
    • 1
  • Roy Turkington
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of BotanyUniversity of British ColumbiaVancouverCanada
  2. 2.Department of BiologyYork UniversityTorontoCanada

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