cE3c - Center for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE - Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal.
cE3c - Center for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE - Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal.
Curr Biol. 2024 Nov 4;34(21):4884-4893.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.09.011. Epub 2024 Oct 1.
Maritime Antarctica's harsh abiotic conditions forged simple terrestrial ecosystems, mostly constituted of bryophytes, lichens, and vascular plants. Though biotic interactions are, together with abiotic factors, thought to help shape this ecosystem, influencing species' distribution and, indirectly, mediating their response to climate, the importance of these interactions is still fairly unknown. We modeled current and future abundance patterns of bryophytes, lichens, and vascular plants, accounting for biotic interactions and abiotic drivers, along a climatic gradient in maritime Antarctica. The influence of regional climate and other drivers was modeled using structural equation models, with and without biotic interactions. Models with biotic interactions performed better; the one offering higher ecological support was used to estimate current and future spatial distributions of vegetation. Results suggest that plants are confined to lower elevations, negatively impacting bryophytes and lichens, whereas at higher elevations both climate and other drivers influence bryophytes and lichens. Our findings strongly support the use of biotic interactions to predict the spatial distribution of Antarctic vegetation.
海洋南极洲恶劣的非生物条件塑造了简单的陆地生态系统，主要由苔藓植物、地衣和维管植物组成。尽管生物相互作用以及非生物因素被认为有助于塑造这个生态系统，影响物种的分布，并间接地调节它们对气候的反应，但这些相互作用的重要性仍然知之甚少。我们沿着南极洲海洋的气候梯度，对苔藓植物、地衣和维管植物的当前和未来丰度模式进行建模，考虑了生物相互作用和非生物驱动因素。使用结构方程模型来模拟区域气候和其他驱动因素的影响，包括和不包括生物相互作用。具有生物相互作用的模型表现更好；使用提供更高生态支持的模型来估计植被的当前和未来空间分布。结果表明，植物被限制在较低的海拔，对苔藓植物和地衣产生负面影响，而在较高的海拔，气候和其他驱动因素都影响苔藓植物和地衣。我们的研究结果强烈支持使用生物相互作用来预测南极植被的空间分布。
