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Modelling of co-occurrence patterns of grassland species: reciprocal shifting between competition and facilitation

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Abstract

In plant community, competition and facilitation are widely studied themes across the globe however, their reciprocal shifting, if existed, requires more empirical efforts. In this study, temporal behaviour of co-occurrence patterns with relation to the nature and magnitude of deterministic control of soil, plant community and site quality factors were evaluated in grassland species of Indian arid zone. In this study, co-occurrence patterns during the three seasonal events were detected by using quantitative variable (relative importance value). Results revealed that competition among individuals was the major process during resource condition (rain) that shifted to facilitation during stress condition (summer). Soil organic carbon—soil phosphorus, diversity (Shannon index, evenness)—dominance (Simpson index), community maturity index—bare surface area were identified as major switch on and off points for such shifting, while soil moisture and grazing intensity were non-significant for such patterns. Results demonstrate that grassland species of the Indian arid region requires experimental quantification for the upper limits of significant exploratory variables.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the Head, Department of Botany, UGC-CAS and DST-FIST for facilities and the first author gratefully acknowledges CAZRI for permission.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India

    Manish Mathur

  2. Botany Department, JNV University, Jodhpur, India

    S. Sundaramoorthy

Authors
  1. Manish Mathur
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  2. S. Sundaramoorthy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Manish Mathur.

Appendices

Appendix 1

See Tables 4, 5 and 6.

Table 4 Relative importance value of species recorded during pulse-events
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Table 5 Relative importance value of species recorded during inter-pulse-events
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Table 6 Relative importance value of species recorded during non-pulse-events
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Appendix 2

Impact of soil factors on the co-occurrence parameters

  1. 1.

    Soil pH (C score = − 15.99 + 2.617 × soil pH, R2 = 0.99 ± 0.065).

  2. 2.

    Soil P (C score = 0.77 + 0.085 × soil P, R2 = 0.99 ± 0.074).

  3. 3.

    Soil organic carbon (C score = 0.609 + 0.010 × soil organic carbon, R2 = 0.990 ± 0.30).

  4. 4.

    Electric conductivity (C score = 8.847 + − 75.172 electric conductivity + 229.34 electric conductivity2, R2 = 1.0 ± 0.0).

  5. 5.

    Soil pH (checkerboard score = − 4418.17 + 1065.84 soil pH +− 61.55 × soil pH2, R2 = 1.0 ± 0.0).

  6. 6.

    Soil organic carbon (checkerboard = − 235.20 + 1.804 × SOC +− 0.0019 × SOC2, R2 = 1.00 ± 0.0).

  7. 7.

    Electric conductivity (checkerboard = 18.100e^ (8.34 × electric conductivity, R2 = 0. 99 ± 0.81).

  8. 8.

    Soil pH (combo = − 91.35 + 25.04 × soil pH + − 1.50 × soil pH2, R2 = 1.00 ± 0.00).

  9. 9.

    Soil P (combo observed = 8.040 + 0.158 × soil P + − 0.001 soil P2, R2 = 1.00 ± 0.00).

  10. 10.

    Soil electric conductivity (combo = 8.88 + 14.50 × electric conductivity, R2 = 0.99 ± 0.045).

Impact of community factors on the co-occurrence parameters

  1. 11.

    Shannon and Weaver Index (C-score observed = 1.00 × 2.69Shannon and Weaver Index, R2 = 0.97 ± 0.476).

  2. 12.

    Shannon and Weaver Index (checkerboard score = − 93.70 + 158 × Shannon and Weaver Index, R2 = 0.990 ± 12.96).

  3. 13.

    Shannon and Weaver Index (combo = 8.55 + 2.53 × Shannon and Weaver Index, R2 = 0.99 ± 0.05).

  4. 14.

    Simpson Index of dominance (C score = 8.128 + − 11.616 × Simpson’s Index, R2 = 0.98 ± 0.33).

  5. 15.

    Simpson Index of dominance (checkerboard = 293.36 + − 493.64 × Simpson’s Index, R2 = 0.99 ± 0.46).

  6. 16.

    Simpson Index of dominance (combo = 14.70 + − 7.76 × Simpson Index, R2 = 0.99 ± 0.16).

  7. 17.

    Evenness (C-score = − 1.981 + 3.83 × evenness, R2 = 0.987 ± 0.35).

  8. 18.

    Evenness (Checkerboard score = − 136.48 + 163.23 × evenness, R2 = 0.99 ± 0.025).

Impact of site quality parameters

  1. 19.

    Community Maturity Index (C score = − 14.614 + 0.260 × CMI, R 2 = 0.99 ± 0.025).

  2. 20.

    Community Maturity Index (checkerboard score = − 3537.04 + − 0.44 × CMI +− 0.547 × CMI2, R2 = 1.0 ± 0.00).

  3. 21.

    Community Maturity Index (combo = − 73.10 + 2.18 × CMI +− 0.01 × CMI2, R2 = 1.00 ± 0.00).

  4. 22.

    Biomass contribution of the climax species (C score = 0.067 + 1.029 × biomass contribution of climax species (%), R2 = 0.99 ± 0.09).

  5. 23.

    Biomass contribution of the climax species (checkerboard score = − 43.58 + 42.37 × biomass contribution of climax species (%), R2 0.979 ± 18.50).

  6. 24.

    Biomass contribution of the climax species (combo = 5.54 + 2.69 × biomass contribution of climax species (%) +− 0.24 × biomass contribution of climax species (%)2, R2 = 1.00 ± 0.00).

  7. 25.

    RIV of climax species (C score = 1.971 + 0.0921 × RIV of climax species, R2 = 0.988 ± 0.33).

  8. 26.

    Percent bare surface area (C score = − 6.25 +13.69 × bare surface area + − 3.86 × bare surface area2, R2 = 1.00 ± 0.00).

  9. 27.

    RIV (checkerboard score = − 47.27 + 11.78 × RIV of climax species +− 0.14 RIV of climax species2, R2 = 1. 00 ± 0.00).

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Mathur, M., Sundaramoorthy, S. Modelling of co-occurrence patterns of grassland species: reciprocal shifting between competition and facilitation. Trop Ecol 60, 219–229 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42965-019-00024-1

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