caa a22 4500 467885214 CHVBK 20180406152732.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170328e20060201xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10021-004-0079-x doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10021-004-0079-x Linking Community and Ecosystem Processes: The Role of Minor Species [Elektronische Daten] [Bertrand Boeken, Moshe Shachak] The link between species and ecosystem functioning is a central issue in ecology. In natural plant communities, the dominant species determine most of the productivity-related processes but what is the function of minor species? A recent hypothesis suggests that after disturbance, minor species facilitate the recruitment and abundance of dominants during re-colonization, thus indirectly determining ecosystem function. We tested this hypothesis using a long-term dataset of annual plant communities in a semiarid shrubland by comparing plant density and biomass from plots in which all vegetation had been removed; plots from which only the dominant (the annual grass Stipa capensis) had been removed, and control plots. In the absence of vegetation, the dominant failed to re-establish during the following growing season. After being removed the dominant re-established similarly to the controls. An ant exclosure experiment excluded the possibility that this was due to seed predation. In an experiment with individual dispersal units of S. capensis, we demonstrated the mechanism by which minor species can control the dominant's abundance. Minor species indirectly govern ecosystem processes by providing structures facilitating seed soil penetration and thus recruitment of the dominant. Springer Science+Business Media, Inc., 2006 semiarid shrubland nationallicence annual plants nationallicence filtering hypothesis nationallicence removal experiments nationallicence plant recruitment nationallicence soil penetration nationallicence dead annuals nationallicence Boeken Bertrand The Wyler Department of Dryland Agriculture, Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boker Campus, 84990, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel aut Shachak Moshe The Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boker Campus, 84990, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel aut Ecosystems Springer-Verlag; www.springer-ny.com 9/1(2006-02-01), 119-127 1432-9840 9:1<119 2006 9 10021 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-004-0079-x text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-004-0079-x text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Boeken Bertrand The Wyler Department of Dryland Agriculture, Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boker Campus, 84990, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Shachak Moshe The Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boker Campus, 84990, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Ecosystems Springer-Verlag; www.springer-ny.com 9/1(2006-02-01), 119-127 1432-9840 9:1<119 2006 9 10021 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer