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The Role of Soil Nutrients in Boundaries between Mangrove and Herbaceous Assemblages in a Tropical Estuary
Author(s) -
Ribeiro Jose Pedro N.,
Tiberio Fernanda C. S.,
Oliveira Alexandre A.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
biotropica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.813
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1744-7429
pISSN - 0006-3606
DOI - 10.1111/btp.12251
Subject(s) - mangrove , herbaceous plant , nutrient , soil nutrients , estuary , tropics , environmental science , ecology , agronomy , geography , biology , agroforestry
We aimed to determine the role of soil nutrients in the herbaceous‐tree boundary in a tropical mangrove forest. We assembled plots in this boundary such that each was initially covered by ~50% of each life form. We added NPK to three of the plots monthly and monitored them, along with the control plots, for 18 mo. In plots with added NPK , mangrove branches grew over and shaded the herbaceous plants, resulting in the presence of mostly bare soil. The mangrove trees eventually covered ~80% of the experimental plots, but the proportion of cover in the control plots remained unaltered. We conclude that soil nutrient level modulates the mangrove‐herbaceous plant interaction in steps, and from a given level there is a shift in the dominant life form. This mechanism leads to a sharp transition over a smooth nutritional gradient.