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Resource competition and allelopathy in two peat mosses: implication for niche differentiation

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Abstract

Aims

Separating the effect of resource competition from allelopathy in plants is challenging and it has never been attempted in closely related co-occurring bryophytes. In peatlands, peat mosses (Sphagnum spp.) show niche differentiation along water table level (WTL) gradient. Our aim was to evaluate whether the hummock species, S. magellanicum would be a winner at low WTL due to its allelopathic advantage and the hollow species, S. angustifolium would win by virtue of its superior competitive ability but not of allelopathy at high WTL due to dilution of its allelochemicals.

Methods

We used a nested, field experimental design, with two WTL treatments—low WTL (hummock habitat) and high WTL (hollow habitat)—and three different inter-specific interactions: 1) monoculture; 2) mixed culture without activated charcoal; and 3) mixed culture with activated charcoal added to the neighbor. We measured growth and biochemical traits of the two species and compared the index of relative neighbor effect on each other.

Results

We discovered a trade-off between biomass production (competitive outcome) and phenolic content (allelopathy) in these species. At low WTL, allelopathy of the hummock species is the main mechanism to suppress the hollow species, whereas at high WTL, competition is the main driver to suppress the hummock species.

Conclusions

Competitive advantage in Sphagnum is mediated by both resource competition and allelopathy of the co-occurring species through niche differentiation along a WTL gradient. Unlike vascular plants, Sphagnum mosses can serve as excellent model organisms in studying allelopathic interaction since they bypass the complexity of plant-soil interactions.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (No. 41871046 and 41471043), the National Key Research and Development Project (No. 2016YFA0602301 and No. 2016YFC0500407) and Jilin Provincial Science and Technology Development Project (20190101025JH). Håkan Rydin commented on the manuscript. Azim Mallik contributed to this paper during his tenure as a Visiting Professor at the School of Geographical Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Geographical Processes and Ecological Security in Changbai Mountains, Ministry of Education, School of Geographical Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Renmin 5268, Changchun, 130024, China

    Chao Liu, Zhao-Jun Bu, Xue-Feng Hu & Zicheng Yu

  2. Department of Plant Sciences, Université Laval, 2425, rue de l’Agriculture, Québec, Canada

    Chao Liu & Line Rochefort

  3. State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Vegetation Restoration, Institute for Peat and Mire Research, Northeast Normal University, Renmin 5268, Changchun, 130024, China

    Chao Liu, Zhao-Jun Bu, Xue-Feng Hu & Zicheng Yu

  4. Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory for Wetland Ecological Processes and Environmental Change in the Changbai Mountains, Renmin 5268, Changchun, 130024, China

    Zhao-Jun Bu & Xue-Feng Hu

  5. Department of Biology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, P7B 5E1, Canada

    Azim Mallik

  6. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, 18015, USA

    Zicheng Yu

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  1. Chao Liu
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Correspondence to Zhao-Jun Bu.

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Liu, C., Bu, ZJ., Mallik, A. et al. Resource competition and allelopathy in two peat mosses: implication for niche differentiation. Plant Soil 446, 229–242 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-019-04350-0

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