%0 Journal Article
%T Efficient Microsite Exploitation in an Annual Grass Species Leads to Dominance and Inter©\specific Competition in Semiarid Communities on Biocrust
%J The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America - Wiley Online Library
%D 2019
%R https://doi.org/10.1002/bes2.1476
%X In semiarid annual plant communities growing on biocrust in the Northern Negev desert of Israel, microsite availability limits recruitment of many species; however, the dominant grass, Stipa capensis has overcome this limitation and may suppress the recruitment of others. I tested these hypotheses using seed and plant data from a field experiment. Mowing the herbaceous intershrub vegetation on biocrust in spring 2006 reduced seed and plant density of S. capensis in the following spring, reflecting seed©\limited recruitment. Its reduced density¡ªbut not its biomass¡ªincreased plant and species density of other species, by release of inter©\specific competition for microsites. (Photo credits: B. Boeken) (Photo credits: B. Boeken) (Photo credits: B. Boeken) These photographs illustrate the article ¡°Competition for microsites during recruitment in semiarid annual plant communities¡± by Bertrand R. Boeken published in Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.248
%U https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/bes2.1476