caa a22 4500 60552775X CHVBK 20210128100809.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20150801xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10531-015-0910-z doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10531-015-0910-z Shrub facilitation is an important driver of alpine plant community diversity and functional composition [Elektronische Daten] [Mark Ballantyne, Catherine Pickering] Facilitation often occurs in environments where extreme climatic factors favour positive rather than negative species interactions. This includes larger ‘nurse' cushion plants in some alpine environments that shelter other species from abiotic filters such as abrasive winds and low temperatures. This type of facilitation can contribute to higher alpha (within habitat), beta (between habitats) and gamma diversity (across the community), by facilitating species with less stress tolerant but more competitive functional traits otherwise excluded from these communities. We assess whether shrubs play a similar role in facilitation, using the dominant prostrate shrub Epacris gunnii in a high conservation value plant community along the highest ridgeline in the Australian Alps. Differences in alpha and beta diversity, species and functional composition were compared in and out of shrubs using point sampling and quadrats. Shrub habitat enhanced alpha (species richness per plot) and beta diversity resulting in greater gamma diversity for the community as a whole, with twice as many species associated with the shrub than open quadrats. There were also differences in functional composition with vegetation in shrub quadrats being taller with larger leaves. It seems that E. gunnii creates micro-refugia that assist in the range expansion of more productive but less stress-tolerant species, including some endemics, in the community. Alpine shrubs can therefore occupy a similar facilitative role to that of cushion plants in alpine plant communities and therefore may also be important drivers of diversity and functional composition. Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht, 2015 Nurse plants nationallicence Functional traits nationallicence Habitat segregation nationallicence Microhabitats nationallicence Ballantyne Mark Griffith School of Environment, Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Parklands Drive, Southport, 4222, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia aut Pickering Catherine Griffith School of Environment, Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Parklands Drive, Southport, 4222, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia aut Biodiversity and Conservation Springer Netherlands 24/8(2015-08-01), 1859-1875 0960-3115 24:8<1859 2015 24 10531 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-015-0910-z text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-015-0910-z text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Ballantyne Mark Griffith School of Environment, Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Parklands Drive, Southport, 4222, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Pickering Catherine Griffith School of Environment, Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Parklands Drive, Southport, 4222, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Biodiversity and Conservation Springer Netherlands 24/8(2015-08-01), 1859-1875 0960-3115 24:8<1859 2015 24 10531