Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of neighboring plants on the growth and reproduction of Deschampsia antarctica in Antarctic tundra

Polar Biology volume 32, pages 1487–1494 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Populations of the two native vascular plant species on the Antarctic Peninsula have increased over the past 40 years. This increase has been attributed to improved reproductive performance resulting from regional warming and increased growing season length. However, little is known of the influence that vascular plants have on the performance of neighboring plants in developing and well-established communities. We compared the aboveground growth and reproduction of Deschampsia antarctica plants growing alone or in close proximity to neighboring plants (D. antarctica, Colobanthus quitensis, or mosses) at a young, recently colonized and an older, well-developed plant community on the Antarctic Peninsula to assess whether neighboring plants had a positive or negative effect on D. antarctica performance, and whether these effects varied from young to old communities. In both communities, tillers on D. antarctica plants near neighbors produced 48–89% fewer leaves and 49–93% fewer tillers than those on D. antarctica plants growing alone. These tillers also had relative growth rates that were 25–66% lower- and tiller-size indices that were 42–87% less than those on plants growing alone. In addition, the biomass of tillers on plants growing near neighbors was 40–91% lower than those on plants growing alone. Leaf and tiller production was generally higher in the older, more developed community than in the younger community. Our findings illustrate that vegetative growth of D. antarctica is reduced when growing in close proximity to neighboring plants, suggesting that negative plant interactions are an important constraint at our field sites.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

References

  • Aguiar MR, Soriano A, Sala OE (1992) Competition and facilitation in the recruitment of seedlings in Patagonian steppe. Funct Ecol 6:66–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arroyo MTK, Cavieres LA, Peñaloza A, Arroyo-Kalin MA (2003) Positive associations between the cushion plant Azorella monantha (Apiaceae) and alpine plant species in the Chilean Patagonian Andes. Plant Ecol 169:121–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradshaw AW (1993) Understanding the fundamentals of succession. In: Miles J, Walton DH (eds) Primary succession on land. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 1–4

    Google Scholar 

  • Brancaleoni L, Strelin J, Gerdol R (2003) Relationships between geomorphology and vegetation patterns in subantarctic and Andean tundra of Tierra del Fuego. Polar Biol 26:404–410

    Google Scholar 

  • Callaway RM (1995) Positive interactions among plants. Bot Rev 61:306–349

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Callaway RM (1997) Positive interactions in plant communities and the individualistic-continuum concept. Oecologia 12:143–149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Callaway RM, Walker LR (1997) Competition and facilitation: a synthetic approach to interaction in plant communities. Ecology 78:1958–1965

    Google Scholar 

  • Callaway RM, Brooker RW, Choler P, Kikvidez Z, Lortie CJ, Michalet R, Paolini L, Pugnaire FI, Newingham B, Aschehoug ET, Armas C, Kikodze D, Cook BJ (2002) Positive interactions among alpine plants increase with stress. Nature 417:844–848

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carlsson BA, Callaghan TV (1991) Positive plant interactions in tundra vegetation and the importance of shelter. J Ecol 79:973–983

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cavieres LA, Arroyo MTK, Peñaloza A, Molina-Montenegro M, Torres C (2002) Nurse effect of Bolax gummifera cushion plants in the alpine vegetation of the Chilean Patagonian Andes. J Veg Sci 13:547–554

    Google Scholar 

  • Cavieres LA, Badano EI, Sierra-Almeida A, Gómez-González S, Molina-Montenegro MA (2006) Positive interactions between alpine plant species and the nurse cushion plant Laretia acaulis do not increase with elevation in the Andes of central Chile. New Phytol 69:59–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cavieres LA, Badano EI, Sierra-Almeida A, Gómez-González S, Molina-Montenegro MA (2007) Microclimatic modifications of cushion plants and their consequences for seedling survival of native and non-native herbaceous species in the high Andes of central Chile. Arct Alp Res 39:229–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapin FS, Walker LR, Fastie CL, Sharman LC (1994) Mechanisms of primary succession following deglaciation at Glacier Bay, Alaska. Ecol Mon 64:149–175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choler P, Michalet R, Callaway RM (2001) Facilitation and competition on gradients in alpine plant communities. Ecology 82:3295–3308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Convey P, Smith RIL (2006) Responses of terrestrial Antarctic ecosystems to climate change. Plant Ecol 182:1–10

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook AJ, Fox AJ, Vaughan DG, Ferrigno JG (2005) Retreating glacier fronts on the Antarctic Peninsula over the past half-century. Science 308:541–544

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Day TA, Ruhland CT, Grobe CW, Xiong F (1999) Growth and reproduction of Antarctic vascular plants in response to warming and UV radiation reductions in the field. Oecologia 119:24–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Day TA, Ruhland CT, Xiong FS (2008) Warming increases aboveground biomass and C stocks in vascular-plant-dominated Antarctic tundra. Global Change Biol 14:1827–1843

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Egerton JJG, Wilson SD (1993) Plant competition over winter in alpine shrubland and grassland, Snowy Mountains, Australia. Arct Alp Res 25:124–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fowbert JA, Smith RIL (1994) Rapid population increases in native vascular plants in the Argentine Islands, Antarctic Peninsula. Arct Alp Res 26:290–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerdol R, Brancaleoni L, Marchesini R, Bragazza L (2002) Nutrient and carbon relations in subalpine dwarf shrubs after neighbor removal or fertilization in northern Italy. Oecologia 130:476–483

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerighausen UTA, Brautigam K, Mustafa O, Peter HU (2003) Expansion of vascular plants on an Antarctic island—a consequence of climate change? In: Huiskes AHL, Gieskes WWC, Rozema J, Schorno RML, van der Vies SM, Wolf WJ (eds) Antarctic biology in a global context. Backhuys, Netherlands, pp 79–83

    Google Scholar 

  • Grobe CW, Ruhland CT, Day TA (1997) A new population of Colobanthus quitensis near Arthur Harbor, Antarctica: Correlating recruitment with warmer summer temperatures. Arct Alp Res 29:217–221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobbie SE, Shevtsova A, Chapin S (1999) Plant responses to species removal and experimental warming in Alaskan tussock tundra. Oikos 84:417–434

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones GA, Henry GHR (2003) Primary plant succession on recently deglaciated terrain in the Canadian High Arctic. J Biogeogr 30:277–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGraw JB, Garbutt K (1990) Demographic growth analysis. Ecology 71:1199–1204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moen J (1993) Positive versus negative interactions in a high alpine block field: germination of Oxyria digyna seeds in a Ranunculus glacialis community. Arct Alp Res 25:201–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nuñez CI, Aizen MA, Ezcurra C (1999) Species associations and nurse plant effects in patches of high-Andean vegetation. J Veg Sci 10:357–364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olofsson J, Moen J, Oksanen L (1999) On the balance between positive and negative plant interactions in harsh environments. Oikos 86:539–543

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park JH, Day TA, Strauss S, Ruhland CT (2007) Biogeochemical pools and fluxes of carbon and nitrogen in a maritime tundra near penguin colonies along the Antarctic Peninsula. Polar Biol 30:199–207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parnikoza I, Convey P, Dykyy I, Trokhymets V, Milinevsky G, Tyschenko O, Inozemtesva D, Kozeretska I (2009) Current status of the Antarctic herb tundra formation in the Central Argentine Islands. Glob Change Biol. doi:10.11/j1365-2486.2009.01906

  • Ruhland CT, Xiong FS, Clark WD, Day TA (2005) The influence of ultraviolet-B radiation on growth, hydroxycinnamic acids and flavonoids of Deschampsia antarctica during springtime ozone depletion in Antarctica. Photochem Photobiol 81:1086–1093

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Smith RIL (1994) Vascular plants as bioindicators of regional warming in Antarctica. Oecologia 99:322–328

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith RIL (1996) Terrestrial and freshwater biotic components of the western Antarctic Peninsula. In: Ross RM, Hoffman EE, Quetin LB (eds) Foundations for ecological research west of the Antarctic Peninsula (Antarctic Research Series, vol 70). American Geophysical Union, Washington, pp 15–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith RIL, Poncet S (1987) Deschampsia antarctica and Colobanthus quitensis in the Terra Firma Islands. Br Antarct Surv Bull 74:31–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith RC, Ainley D, Baker K, Domack E, Emslie S, Fraser B, Kennett J, Laventer A, Mosely-Thompson E, Stammerjohn S, Vernet M (1999) Marine ecosystem sensitivity to climate change. Bioscience 49:393–404

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sonesson M, Callaghan TV (1991) Strategies of survival in plants of Fennoscandian tundra. Arctic 44:95–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Statistix (1996) Statistics for windows. User’s Manual. Analytical Software, Tallahassee

  • Theodose TA, Bowman WD (1997) The influence of interspecific competition on the distribution of an alpine graminoid: Evidence for the importance of plant competition in an extreme environment. Oikos 79:101–114

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Turner J, Colwell SR, Marshall GJ, Lachlan-Cope TA, Carleton AM, Jones PD, Lagun V, Reid PA, Iagovkina S (2005) Antarctic climate change during the last 50 years. Int J Climatol 25:204–279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vaughn DG, Marchall GJ, Connolley WM, King JC, Mulvaney R (2001) Devil in the detail. Science 293:1777–1779

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vaughn DG, Marchall GJ, Connolley WM, Pakinson C, Mulvaney R, Hodgson DA, King JC, Pudsey CJ, Turner J (2003) Recent rapid regional climate warming on the Antarctic Peninsula. Clim Change 60:243–274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker LR, Chapin FS (1987) Interactions among processes controlling succession. Oikos 50:131–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker LR, Zasada JC, Chapin FS (1986) The role of life history processes in primary succession on an Alaskan floodplain. Ecology 67:1243–1253

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson SD (1993) Competition and resource availability in heath and grassland in the Snowy Mountains of Australia. J Ecol 81:445–451

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson SD (1999) Plant interactions during secondary succession. In: Walker LR (ed) Ecosystems of disturbed ground (ecosystems of the world). Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 611–632

    Google Scholar 

  • Xiong FS, Ruhland CT, Day TA (1999) Photosynthetic temperature response of the Antarctic vascular plants Colobanthus quitensis and Deschampsia antarctica. Physiol Plant 106:276–286

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xiong FS, Mueller EC, Day TA (2000) Photosynthetic and respiratory acclimation and growth response of Antarctic vascular plants to contrasting temperature regimes. Am J Bot 87:700–710

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs (grant # OPP-0230579) and a Summer Research Grant to CTR from The College of Graduate Studies and Research at MNSU. We especially thank Caroline De Van for her assistance in the field. We also thank the science and support personnel at Palmer Station for their help. Logistical support was provided by Raytheon Polar Services Company.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Minnesota State University, Trafton Sciences Center S-242, Mankato, MN, 56001, USA

    Matthew A. Krna & Christopher T. Ruhland

  2. School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287-4501, USA

    Thomas A. Day

Authors
  1. Matthew A. Krna
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Thomas A. Day
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Christopher T. Ruhland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christopher T. Ruhland.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Krna, M.A., Day, T.A. & Ruhland, C.T. Effects of neighboring plants on the growth and reproduction of Deschampsia antarctica in Antarctic tundra. Polar Biol 32, 1487–1494 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-009-0646-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-009-0646-x

Keywords

search

Navigation