It is well established that aboveground-belowground interactions moderate ecosystem
functioning. The direct and indirect effects of plants on belowground communities have been …

Introduction Shrub promotes the survival, growth and reproduction of understory species by
buffering the environmental extremes and improving limited resources (ie, facilitation effect) …

Multiple effects, operating either on the long-term (soil-engineering effects) or on the short-
term during plant life (microclimate modification or resources pre-emption), can act …

Competition and facilitation among plants are an important part of the mechanisms
regulating the responses of species, communities, and ecosystems to environmental …

Biodiversity is essential for the provision of multiple ecosystem functions simultaneously
(ecosystem multifunctionality EMF). Yet, it remains unclear whether and how dominant plant …

Abstract Changes in precipitation regimes and nitrogen deposition levels due to global
change are altering terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. Most attempts at understanding how …

In alpine systems, cushion plants act as foundation species by ameliorating local
environmental conditions. Empirical studies indicate that contrasting phenotypes of alpine …

Methods We used a two-layer “zone-of-influence” model to explore the effects of competitive
size-asymmetry and facilitation on size inequality along stress gradients. Results Stress …

Question Graminoid/shrubland communities include groups of forbs (herbaceous dicots) that
differ in their traits, and in their direct and indirect responses to dominant neighbours …

Questions Plant communities have been shown to include several functional groups of
species that may have contrasting responses to the effects of dominant neighbours …