Open AccessBiome boundary maintained by intense belowground resource competition in world’s thinnest-rooted plant community
Author(s) -
Mingzhen Lu,
William J. Bond,
Efrat Sheffer,
Michael D. Cramer,
Adam G. West,
Nicky Allsopp,
Edmund C. February,
S.B.M. Chimphango,
Zeqing Ma,
Jasper A. Slingsby,
Lars O. Hedin
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2117514119
Subject(s) - biome , competition (biology) , ecology , biology , plant ecology , ecosystem , biodiversity , plant community , resistance (ecology) , vegetation (pathology) , species richness , medicine , pathology
Significance The distribution and stability of biomes are critical for understanding, modeling, and managing the land biosphere. While studies have emphasized abiotic factors such as climate, geology, or fire regimes, we here identify a biological mechanism—plant–plant competition for belowground resources—as critical for maintaining the boundary between the Fynbos and Afrotemperate Forest biomes in South Africa. We demonstrate an apparent general mechanism in which local competition triggers a biome-scale feedback between plant traits and soil resources, which, in turn, stabilizes the biome boundary by allowing plants to maintain their own preferred soil conditions. Our findings are of general importance for understanding the organization of biodiversity across landscapes, for managing alien plant invasions, and for modeling the future of biome boundaries.