Resilience of beach grasses along a biogeomorphic successive gradient:Resource availability vs. clonal integration

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Resilience of beach grasses along a biogeomorphic successive gradient: resource availability vs. clonal integration

Coastal ecosystems are often formed through two-way interactions between plants and their physical landscape. By expanding clonally, landscape-forming plants can colonize bare unmodified environments and stimulate vegetation–landform feedback interactions. Yet, to what degree these plants rely on clonal integration for overcoming physical stress during biogeomorphological succession remains unknown. Here, we investigated the importance of clonal integration and resource availability on the resilience of two European beach grasses (i.e. Elytrigia juncea and Ammophila arenaria) over a natural biogeomorphic dune gradient from beach (unmodified system) to foredune (biologically modified system). We found plant resilience, as measured by its ability to recover and expand following disturbance (i.e. plant clipping), to be independent on the presence of rhizomal connections between plant parts. Instead, resource availability over the gradient largely determined plant resilience. The pioneer species, Elytrigia, demonstrated a high resilience to physical stress, independent of its position on the biogeomorphic gradient (beach or embryonic dune). In contrast, the later successional species (Ammophila) proved to be highly resilient on the lower end of its distribution (embryonic dune), but it did not fully recover on the foredunes, most likely as a result of nutrient deprivation. We argue that in homogenously resource-poor environments as our beach system, overall resource availability, instead of translocation through a clonal network, determines the resilience of plant species. Hence, the formation of high coastal dunes may increase the resistance of beach grasses to the physical stresses of coastal flooding, but the reduced marine nutrient input may negatively affect the resilience of plants

Resilience of beach grasses along a biogeomorphic successive gradient: resource availability vs. clonal integration

Coastal ecosystems are often formed through two-way interactions between plants and their physical landscape. By expanding clonally, landscape-forming plants can colonize bare unmodified environments and stimulate vegetation–landform feedback interactions. Yet, to what degree these plants rely on clonal integration for overcoming physical stress during biogeomorphological succession remains unknown. Here, we investigated the importance of clonal integration and resource availability on the resilience of two European beach grasses (i.e. Elytrigia juncea and Ammophila arenaria) over a natural biogeomorphic dune gradient from beach (unmodified system) to foredune (biologically modified system). We found plant resilience, as measured by its ability to recover and expand following disturbance (i.e. plant clipping), to be independent on the presence of rhizomal connections between plant parts. Instead, resource availability over the gradient largely determined plant resilience. The pioneer species, Elytrigia, demonstrated a high resilience to physical stress, independent of its position on the biogeomorphic gradient (beach or embryonic dune). In contrast, the later successional species (Ammophila) proved to be highly resilient on the lower end of its distribution (embryonic dune), but it did not fully recover on the foredunes, most likely as a result of nutrient deprivation. We argue that in homogenously resource-poor environments as our beach system, overall resource availability, instead of translocation through a clonal network, determines the resilience of plant species. Hence, the formation of high coastal dunes may increase the resistance of beach grasses to the physical stresses of coastal flooding, but the reduced marine nutrient input may negatively affect the resilience of plants

Data from: Resilience of beach grasses along a biogeomorphic successive gradient: resource availability versus clonal integration

Data from: Resilience of beach grasses along a biogeomorphic successive gradient: resource availability versus clonal integration. Oecologia Here, we report on the effects of clonal integration and resource availability on the resilience of two common European dune building grasses (Ammophila arenaria & Elytrigia juncea). This dataset contains data from a field experiment we conducted on the west Frysian barrier island of Schiermonnikoog in the spring and summer of 2017. Full methodology on the experimental set-up can be found in the linked paper. Dataset includes measurements on the regrowth potential of patches of both Ammophila arenaria & Elytrigia juncea after clipping all shoots. In addition we report the soil and plant tissue nutrient levels of all experimental plots

Data from: Loss of spatial structure after temporary herbivore absence in a high-productivity reed marsh

Data from: Loss of spatial structure after temporary herbivore absence in a high-productivity reed marsh. Journal of Applied Ecology. Here, we experimentally tested how the release from grazing by greylag geese (Anser anser) affects spatial vegetation structure in a highly productive, brackish marsh in which dense reed (Phragmites australis) stands and bare roosting areas co-exist. Next, we assessed the resilience of the change in vegetation patterning by re-introducing the geese after a two-year exclosure period. The experiment was conducted on the West-Frisian barrier island of Schiermonnikoog in the years 2014 to 2017. The full methodology can be found in the linked paper. This dataset contains the vegetation biomass and surface elevation along transects in our experimental plots over the three-year experimental period