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Slope orientation enhances the nurse effect of a paramo shrub, Hypericum irazuense (Hypericaceae) in Costa Rica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

Alejandro G. Farji-Brener ,
Federico A. Chinchilla ,
Ainhoa Magrach ,
Víctor Romero ,
Marcos Ríos ,
Marianela Velilla ,
José Manuel Serrano  and
Sabrina Amador-Vargas
Alejandro G. Farji-Brener*
Affiliation:
Lab. Ecotono, CRUB-UNCOma, INIBIOMA-Conicet. Pasaje Gutierrez 1125, (8400) Bariloche, Argentina
Federico A. Chinchilla
Affiliation:
Estación Biológica Monteverde, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Ainhoa Magrach
Affiliation:
Facultad de Biología, Depto. De Biología Celular y Ecología, Univ. de Santiago de Compostela, España
Víctor Romero
Affiliation:
Lab. De Ecología Evolutiva, Universidad Simón Bolivar, Caracas, Venezuela
Marcos Ríos
Affiliation:
Universidad de la Amazonía Peruana, Iquitos, Perú
Marianela Velilla
Affiliation:
Guido Spano 2820, Asunción, Paraguay
José Manuel Serrano
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ecología AC, Xalapa, Veracruz, México
Sabrina Amador-Vargas
Affiliation:
Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica
*
1Corresponding author. Email: alefarji@crub.uncoma.edu.ar; alefarji@yahoo.com
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Extract

The nurse effect is a positive interaction in which one plant (the nurse) provides conditions that enhance the establishment and growth of another plant species (Callaway 1995). Increased environmental severity appeared to increase the strength of nurse effects (Brooker et al. 2008, Lortie & Callaway 2006). On the one hand, the impact of the nurse effect depends on the magnitude of the environmental changes exerted by the nurse plant. On the other hand, the impact could depend on the number of plant species in the regional pool that respond to such changes. For example, better conditions beneath the crowns of nurse plants might allow the occurrence of species that are sensitive to environmental stress and that occur infrequently in open areas. Thus, if a nurse plant modulates environmental conditions that are critical for the persistence of other plant species, it seems likely that such nurse plants would have greater effects in stressful habitats, where they cause relatively larger environmental mitigation (Badano et al. 2006, Callaway et al. 2002).

Keywords

environmental stressfacilitative interactionsnurse plantsplant richness
Type
Short Communication
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 25 , Issue 3 , May 2009 , pp. 331 - 335
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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