The growth responses of coastal dune species are determined by nutrient limitation and sand burial |
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Authors: | Matthew Gilbert Norman Pammenter Brad Ripley |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Botany, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa;(2) School of Biological and Conservation Sciences, Howard College Campus, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4041, South Africa |
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Abstract: | Past work suggests that burial and low nutrient availability limit the growth and zonal distribution of coastal dune plants.
Given the importance of these two factors, there is a surprising lack of field investigations of the interactions between
burial and nutrient availability. This study aims to address this issue by measuring the growth responses of four coastal
dune plant species to these two factors and their interaction. Species that naturally experience either high or low rates
of burial were selected and a factorial burial by nutrient addition experiment was conducted. Growth characteristics were
measured in order to determine which characteristics allow a species to respond to burial. Species that naturally experience
high rates of burial (Arctotheca populifolia and Scaevola plumieri) displayed increased growth when buried, and this response was nutrient-limited. Stable-dune species had either small (Myrica cordifolia, N-fixer) or negligible responses to burial (Metalasia muricata), and were not nutrient-limited. This interspecific difference in response to burial and/or fertiliser is consistent with
the idea that burial maintains the observed zonation of species on coastal dunes. Species that are unable to respond to burial
are prevented from occupying the mobile dunes. Species able to cope with high rates of burial had high nitrogen-use efficiencies
and low dry mass costs of production, explaining their ability to respond to burial under nutrient limitation. The interaction
between burial and nutrient limitation is understudied but vital to understanding the zonation of coastal dune plant species. |
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Keywords: | Stem tissue density Costs of production |
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