Competitive reversals and environment-dependent resource partitioning in Erodium
- Resource Type
- Authors
- John W. Menke; Kevin J. Rice
- Source
- Oecologia. 67:430-434
- Subject
- Erodium
Resource (biology)
biology
Ecology
Plant density
Interspecific competition
Erodium botrys
Seasonality
biology.organism_classification
medicine.disease
Agronomy
Erodium brachycarpum
medicine
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Language
- ISSN
- 1432-1939
0029-8549
Effects of drought and varying plant density on the competitive coexistence of two winter annual Erodium species were studied using multiple regression analysis. Significant indications of resource partitioning were detected for interspecific mixtures under spring drought. Competitive superiority also was environment-dependent with E. botrys dominating with drought in autumn, while E. brachycarpum dominated with drought in spring. The results suggest that competitive coexistence in Erodium is promoted by processes both equilibrial (e.g., resource partitioning) and nonequilibrial (e.g. competitive reversals).