Authors
Charlotte Brown, Kenneth J Oppon, James F Cahill Jr
Publication date
2019
Journal
Functional Ecology
Volume
33
Issue
8
Pages
1491-1503
Description
- The size dependence of competitive interactions is starting to be highlighted as an important driver of species diversity within communities; however, it is still unknown whether all species are equally impacted by size‐asymmetric competition and what resources drive it.
- Here, we test species‐specific responses to size‐asymmetric competition under various soil environments by manipulating plant size as well as soil fertility, nutrient heterogeneity and the initial suppression of microbial communities within a three‐species community.
- Competition was primarily size‐asymmetric; however, the degree to which competition was size‐asymmetric was species‐specific, where three out of five soil treatments resulted in size‐asymmetric competition in some species but size‐symmetric competition in others.
- Overall, soil fertility and nutrient heterogeneity altered the degree of size‐asymmetric competition, while the initial …
Scholar articles
C Brown, KJ Oppon, JF Cahill Jr - Functional Ecology, 2019