Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning
EU Network of Excellence

 
Main Menu

· Home
· Contacts
· Data Systems
· Documents
· FAQ
· Links
· MarBEF Open Archive
· Network Description
· Outreach
· Photo Gallery
· Quality Assurance
· Register of Resources
· Research Projects
· Rules and Guidelines
· Training
· Wiki
· Worldconference

 

Register of Resources (RoR)

 People  |  Datasets  |  Literature  |  Institutes  |  Projects 

[ report an error in this record ]basket (0): add | show Print this page

Environmental determinism versus biotic stochasticity in the appearance of plant species in salt-marsh succession
Erfanzadeh, R.; Pétillon, J.; Maelfait, J.-P.; Hoffmann, M. (2010). Environmental determinism versus biotic stochasticity in the appearance of plant species in salt-marsh succession. Plant Ecol. Evol. 143(1): 43-50. http://dx.doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.2010.422
In: Plant Ecology and Evolution. Nationale Plantentuin van België: Meise. ISSN 2032-3913; e-ISSN 2032-3921
Peer reviewed article  

Available in  Authors 

Author keywords
    annuals; determinism; salt marsh; stochasticity; succession

Authors  Top 
  • Erfanzadeh, R.
  • Pétillon, J.
  • Maelfait, J.-P.
  • Hoffmann, M.

Abstract
    Background and aims – It is generally accepted that in terrestrial ecosystems the occurrence and abundance of plant species in late successional stages can be predicted accurately from prevailing soil conditions, whereas in early succession their presence is much more influenced by chance events (e.g. propagule availability). Late successional vegetation stages would therefore be deterministically structured, while early succession would be dominated by more stochastic features. To test this hypothesis in salt marsh conditions, we compared the effect of abiotic environmental factors on vegetation composition and probability of occurrence of individual species in two adjacent salt marshes, differing in age (i.e. successional stage).Material and methods – In 2002, a new salt marsh was created on substrate devoid of plant diaspores in the nature reserve The IJzermonding (Nieuwpoort, Belgium). From 2002 onwards, primary colonization started on that sterile substrate by hydrochoric seed dispersal, induced by tidal water currents from an adjacent 5 ha relic of the old salt marsh. In 2005, three years after the start of the colonization process of the new salt marsh, vegetation and three abiotic environmental factors (soil texture, salinity and elevation) were recorded in a set of 155 relevés on the new and old salt marsh.Key results – In contrast to the general observation in other terrestrial ecosystems, the vegetation composition of the early successional stage of the new salt marsh appeared to be at least as much determined by the combined effect of the measured abiotic factors as that of the old salt marsh. As revealed by logistic regression the presence/absence of perennial species as well as annual species of the young salt marsh could be well predicted by the measured abiotic variables. For the old salt marsh this also held for the perennial species, but not for the annual species. The stochastic appearance of gaps in the perennial vegetation cover appeared to be important for the establishment of annuals in the older salt marsh.Conclusion – In the case of salt marsh succession, the generally accepted hypothesis of early successional stochasticity dominance versus late successional environmental determinism must be rejected.

All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy Top | Authors 


If any information here appears to be incorrect, please contact us
Back to Register of Resources
 
Quick links

MarBEF WIKI

Erasmus Mundus Master of Science in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation (EMBC)
Outreach

Science
Responsive Mode Programme (RMP) - Marie Nordstrom, copyright Aspden Rebecca

WoRMS
part of WoRMS logo

ERMS 2.0
Epinephelus marginatus Picture: JG Harmelin

EurOBIS

Geographic System

Datasets

 


Web site hosted and maintained by Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) - Contact data-at-marbef.org