10.5061/DRYAD.M0CFXPP4H
Belluau, Michael
0000-0001-6707-546X
University of Quebec at Montreal
Paquette, Alain
University of Quebec at Montreal
Gravel, Dominique
Université de Sherbrooke
Reich, Peter
Western Sydney University
Stefanski, Artur
University of Minnesota
Messier, Christian
Université du Québec en Outaouais
Exotics are more complementary over time in tree biodiversity-ecosystem
functioning experiments
Dryad
dataset
2021
biodiversity experiment
IDENT
apparent competition
Enemy Release Hypothesis
native
FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences
Mitacs Elevate Postdoctoral Fellowship Program*
IT10132
Mitacs Elevate Postdoctoral Fellowship Program
IT10132
2021-07-30T00:00:00Z
2021-07-30T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13118132.v1
178650 bytes
3
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Background and aims The Biodiversity – Ecosystem Functioning (BEF)
literature proposes that ecosystem functioning increases with biodiversity
because of complementarity in resource use among species, associated with
functional diversity. In this study, we challenge the trait-based ecology
framework by comparing congeneric exotic (European) and native (North
American) tree species showing similar resource-use functional trait
values. The trait-based framework suggests that two functionally
equivalent species should play similar roles in a community, resulting in
similar interactions and performances. However, several studies showed
that when growing in mixtures, exotic species that are functionally
equivalent to native species benefitted from enemy-release, resulting in a
reduced apparent competition. We hypothesize that exotic species should be
more productive than native species because the exotic species benefit
from reduced apparent competition due to enemy-release rather than from
possessing more competitive resource-use functional traits. Methods We
study a diversity experiments, part of the International Diversity
Experiment Network with Trees (IDENT), composed of two identical sites,
each with two orthogonal diversity gradients: species richness and
functional diversity. The functional gradient consists of species
combinations of equal richness but increasing functional diversity, using
different combinations of species provenance to assess the relationship
between productivity, functional diversity and species provenance,
independently of species richness. We grew a total of 12 species (six
native, six exotic) in different combinations of one, two and six species
mixtures. The exotic species were selected based on their functional
equivalence to their native congeneric species. Key Results Eight years
after planting, we found that exotic species were more productive than
native species, but only at high functional diversity. Results indicate
that exotic species overall benefit from a reduced apparent competition,
and that exotic-increased productivity at high functional diversity is
consistent with the enemy release hypothesis. Conclusions After eight
years, exotic species were more productive overall than their native
counterparts, but only in the most functionally diverse communities. This
study represents a first step in understanding the relative importance of
complementarity in resource-use and apparent competition in a context of
an exotic tree species invasion.
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