| Research Articles |
|
|
|
|
| Effects of biological soil crusts and drought on emergence and survival of a Patagonian perennial grass in the Monte of Argentina |
| Flavia Alejandra FUNK, Alejandro LOYDI, Guadalupe PETER |
1 Center for Renewable Natural Resources of the Semi-arid Zone, National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Bahía Blanca 8000, Argentina;
2 Río Negro National University, Viedma 8500, Argentina |
|
|
|
Abstract Biological soil crusts are widely distributed in arid and semiarid regions. They have an important ecological role, especially by modifying physical and chemical properties of soils. Biological crusts may also modify seed germination and seedling establishment. The effects vary widely according to the type of crust and the vascular plant species. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of moss-dominated biological soil crusts on the emergence, biomass and survival of Poa ligularis Nees ex Steud. under different irrigation regimes. We collected seeds of P. ligularis and biological soil crusts composed of two species of mosses: Syntrichia princeps (De Not.) Mitt and Ceratodon purpureus (Hedw.) Brid. from an area in the Monte of Argentina. The result showed that seedling emergence of P. ligularis was higher in treatments with bare soil than in soil covered by crusts, and also in those with watering to field capacity. Mean emergence time was higher in treatments with bare soil and watering to field capacity. Seedling biomass also showed significant differences between treatments. These results suggest that biological soil crusts dominated by mosses do not promote P. ligularis emergence, although they would not affect its survival.
|
|
Received: 20 October 2013
Published: 10 December 2014
|
| Fund: This work was supported with grant from National Scientific and Technical Research Council (PIP 112-200801-01046). |
|
Corresponding Authors:
|
|
|
| Aguiar M R, Sala O E. 1997. Seed distribution constrains the dynamics of the Patagonian steppe. Ecology, 78(1): 93–100. Anderson D C, Harper K T, Holmgren R C. 1982. Factors influencing development of cryptogamic soil crusts in Utah deserts. Journal of Range. Management, 35(2): 180–185.Baskin C C, Baskin J M. 1998. Seeds, Ecology, Biogeography, and Evolution of Dormancy and Germination. San Diego: Academic Press, 666.Belnap J, Gardner J S. 1993. Soil microstructure in soils of the Colorado Plateau the role of the cyanobacterium Microcoleus vaginatus. Great Basin Naturalist, 53(1): 40–47.Belnap J. 1994. Potential role of cryptobiotic soil crusts in semiarid rangelands. In: Monsen S B, Kitchen S G. Proceedings Ecology and Management of Arid Rangelands. General Technical Report INT-GTR. Ogden, Utah: USDA Forest Service, 179–185. Belnap J, Harper K T. 1995. Influence of cryptobiotic soil crusts on elemental content of tissue of two desert seed plants. Arid Land Research and Management, 9(2): 107–115.Belnap J, Prasse R, Harper K T. 2001. Influence of biological soil crusts on soil environments and vascular plants. In: Belnap J, Lange O L. Biological Soil Crusts: Structure, Function, and Management. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 281–299.Belnap J. 2003. Biological soil crusts in deserts: a short review of their role in soil fertility, stabilization, and water relations. Algological Studies, 109(1): 113–126.Belnap J. 2006. The potential roles of biological soil crusts in dryland hydrologic cycles. Hydrological Processes, 20(15): 3159–3178. Beymer R J, Klopatek J M. 1992. Effects of grazing on cryptogamic crusts in pinyon-juniper woodlands in Grand Canyon National Park. American Midland Naturalist, 127: 139–148.Bradford K J. 1995. Water relations in seed germination. In: Kiegel J, Galili G. Seed Development and Germination. New York: Marcel Dekker Incorporation, 351–396.Bran D, Ayesa J, López C. 2000. Rio Negro ecological regions. Technical Communication N°59, Natural Resources Research Area, INTA EEA S. C. de Bariloche.Burmeier S, Eckstein R L, Otte A, et al. 2010. Desiccation cracks act as natural seed traps in flood-meadow systems. Plant and Soil, 333(1–2): 351–364.Callaway R M, Walker L R. 1997. Competition and facilitation: a synthetic approach to interactions in plant communities. Ecology, 78(7): 1958–1965.Carleton T J. 1990. Variation in terricolous bryophyte and macrolichen vegetation along primary gradients in Canadian boreal forests. Journal of Vegetation Science, 1(5): 585–584.Correa M N. 1978. Patagonian Flora. INTA Scientific Collection, Part III Volume VIII. Buenos Aires: National Institute of Agricultural Technology.Dadlich K S, Varma A K, Venkataraman G S. 1969. The effect of Ca-lothrix inoculation on vegetable crops. Plant and Soil, 31(2): 377–379. DeFalco L A, Detling J K, Tracy C R, et al. 2001. Physiological variation among native and exotic winter annual plants associated with mi-crobiotic crusts in the Mojave Desert. Plant and Soil, 234(1): 1–14. Deines L, Rosentreter R, Eldridge D J, et al. 2007. Germination and seedling establishment of two annual grasses on lichen-dominated biological soil crusts. Plant and Soil, 295(1–2): 23–35.During H J, Van Tooren B F. 1990. Bryophyte interactions with other plants. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 104(1–3): 79–89.Eldridge D J, Semple W S, Koen T B. 2000. Dynamics of cryptogamic soil crusts in a derived grassland in south-eastern Australia. Austral Ecology, 25(2): 232–240.Evans R D, Johansen J R. 1999. Microbiotic crusts and ecosystem processes. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences, 18 (2): 183–225.Gallego L, Distel R A, Camina R, et al. 2004. Soil phytoliths as evidence for species replacement in grazed rangelands of central Argentina. Ecography, 27(6): 725–732.Graetz R D, Tongway D J. 1986. Influence of grazing management on vegetation, soil structure and nutrient distribution and the infiltration of applies rainfall in a semiarid chenopod shrubland. Austral Ecology, 11(4): 347–360.Harper K T, St. Clair L L. 1985. Cryptogamic soil crusts on arid and semiarid rangelands in Utah: effects on seedling establishment and soil stability. Final Report Bureau of Land Management, Utah State Office, Salt Lake City. Harper K T, Pendleton R L. 1993. Cyanobacteria and cyanolichens can they enhance availability of essential minerals for higher plants? Great Basin Naturalist, 53 (1): 59–72.Hawkes C V. 2003. Nitrogen cycling mediated by biological soil crusts and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Ecology, 84(6): 1553–1562.Jafari M, Tavili A, Zargham N, et al. 2004. Comparing some properties of crusted and uncrusted soils in Alagol Region of Iran. Pakistan Journal of Nutrition, 3(5): 273–277.Jeffries D L, Klopatek J M. 1987. Effects of grazing on the vegetation of the blackbrush association. Journal of Range Management, 40: 390–392.Jeschke M, Kiehl K. 2008. Effects of a dense moss layer on germination and establishment of vascular plants in newly created calcareous grasslands. Flora, 203(7): 557–566.Johansen J R. 1993. Cryrtogamic crusts of semiarid and arid lands of North America. Journal of Phycology, 29: 140–147. Kaltenecker J H, Wicklow-Howard M, Pellant M. 1999. Biological soil crusts: natural barriers to Bromus tectorum L. establishment in the northern Great Basin, USA. In: Eldridge D, Freudenberger D. Proceeding VI International Rangeland Congress. Queensland, Qld. The Congress, 109–111.Kleiner E F, Harper K T. 1972. Environment and community organiza-tion in grasslands of Canyonlands National Park. Ecology, 53: 229– 309.Kleiner E F, Harper K T. 1977. Soil properties in relation to cryptogamic groundcover in Canyonlands National Park. Journal of Range Management, 30 (3): 202–205.Ladyman J A R, Muldavin E. 1994. A study of the terricolous cryptogam and other ground cover in low disturbance pinyon-juniper woodlands in New Mexico. USDA Forest Service, Albuquerque, NM. Langhans T M, Storm C, Schwabe A. 2009. Biological soil crusts and their microenvironment: Impact on emergence, survival and estab-lishment of seedlings. Flora, 204(2): 157–168.Larsen K D. 1995. Effects of microbiotic crusts on the germination and establishment of three range grasses. Ph.D. Thesis, Boise: Boise State University.Lesica P, Shelly J S. 1992. Effects of cryptogamic soil crust on the population dynamics of Arabis fecunda (Brassicaceae). American Midland Naturalist, 128: 53–60.Li X R, Song W M, Gao Y P, et al. 2008. Effects of crust and shrub patches on runoff, sedimentation, and related nutrient (C, N) redis-tribution in the desertified steppe zone of the Tengger Desert, Northern China. Geomorphology, 96(1): 221–232.Maestre F T, Bowker M A, Cantón Y, et al. 2011. Ecology and functional roles of biological soil crusts in semi-arid ecosystems of Spain. Journal of Arid Environments, 75(12): 1282–1291.Pendleton R L, Warren S D. 1995. Effects of cryptobiotic soil crusts and VA mycorrhizal inoculation on growth of five rangeland plant spe-cies. In: West N E. Fifth International Range Congress. Salt Lake City: Society for Range Management, 436–437.Peter G, Funk F A, Torres Robles S S. 2013. Responses of vegetation to different land-use histories involving grazing and fire in the North-east Patagonian Monte, Argentina. The Rangeland Journal, 35 (3): 273–283.Prasse R, Bornkamm R. 2000. Effect of microbiotic soil surface crusts on emergence of vascular plants. Plant Ecology, 150(1–2): 65–75.R Development Core Team. 2009. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Com-puting. Savory A. 1988. Holistic Resource Management. Covelo: Island Press, 564.Sedia E G, Ehrenfeld J G. 2003. Lichens and mosses promote alternate stable plant communities in the New Jersey Pinelands. Oikos, 100(3): 447–458.Serpe M D, Orm J M, Barkes T, et al. 2006. Germination and seed water status of four grasses on moss-dominated biological soil crusts from arid lands. Plant Ecology, 185(1): 163–178.Serpe M D, Zimmerman S J, Deines L, et al. 2008. Seed water status and root tip characteristics of two annual grasses on lichen-dominated biological soil crusts. Plant and Soil, 303(1–2): 191–205. Verrecchia E, Yair A, Kidron G J, et al. 1995. Physical properties of the psammophile cryptogamic crust and their consequences to the water regime of sandy soils, northwestern Negev Desert, Israel. Journal of Arid Environments, 29(4): 427–437. Warren S D. 2001. Influence of biological soil crusts on arid land hy-drology and soil stability. In: Belnap J, Lange O L. Biological Soil Crusts: Structure, Function, and Management. Berlin: Springer, 349–362.West N E. 1990. Structure and function of microphytic soil crusts in wildland ecosystems of arid to semi-arid regions. Advances in Eco-logical Research, 20: 179– 223.Zamfir M. 2000. Effects of bryophytes and lichens on seedling emer-gence of alvar plants: evidence from greenhouse experiments. Oikos, 88(3): 603–611.Zhang Y M, Wang H L, Wang X Q, et al. 2006. The microsturcture of microbiotic crust and its influence on wind erosion for a sandy soil surface in the Gurbantunggut Desert of Northwestern China. Ge-oderma, 132(3): 441–449. |
|
Viewed |
|
|
|
Full text
|
|
|
|
|
Abstract
|
|
|
|
|
Cited |
|
|
|
|
| |
Shared |
|
|
|
|
| |
Discussed |
|
|
|
|
