TY - JOUR T1 - Phenotypic variation in nurse traits and community feedbacks define an alpine community. JF - Ecology letters Y1 - 2011 A1 - Michalet,Richard A1 - Xiao,Sa A1 - Touzard,Blaise A1 - David S Smith A1 - Cavieres,Lohengrin A A1 - Callaway,Ragan M A1 - Whitham,Thomas G KW - arizona KW - Ecosystem KW - Genotype KW - Geum KW - Models, Biological KW - Phenotype KW - Plant Leaves KW - Plant Roots KW - Plant Stems KW - Population Dynamics KW - Selection, Genetic AB -

Much is known about facilitation, but virtually nothing about the underlying genetic and evolutionary consequences of this important interaction. We assessed the potential of phenotypic differences in facilitative effects of a foundation species to determine the composition of an Alpine community in Arizona. Two phenotypes of Geum rossii occur along a gradient of disturbance, with 'tight' competitive cushions in stable conditions and 'loose' facilitative cushions in disturbed conditions. A common-garden study suggested that field-based traits may have a genetic basis. Field experiments showed that the reproductive fitness of G. rossii cushions decreased with increasing facilitation. Finally, using a dual-lattice model we showed that including the cost and benefit of facilitation may contribute to the co-occurrence of genotypes with contrasting facilitative effects. Our results indicate that changes in community composition due to phenotypic differences in facilitative effects of a foundation species may in turn affect selective pressures on the foundation species.

VL - 14 SN - 1461-023X UR - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&DbFrom=pubmed&Cmd=Link&LinkName=pubmed_pubmed&LinkReadableName=Related%20Articles&IdsFromResult=21366815&ordinalpos=3&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSumhttp://www.ncbi. IS - 5 ER -