Abstract
PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Phenology, the seasonal timing of development, can alter biotic interactions. Emergence from dormant or quiescent stages often occurs earlier when neighbors are present, which may reduce the neighbors' competitive effects. Delayed emergence in response to neighbors also has been observed, but the potential benefits of such delays are unclear. Further, emergence time may respond to neighbors experienced by parents, which may predict future competition in offspring. METHODS: In the annual plant Arabidopsis thaliana (Brassicaceae), we quantified seed germination responses to neighbors in parental and offspring (seed) environments. To examine how observed changes in germination affect interactions with neighbors, we performed an outdoor experiment using neighbors of different sizes to represent different germination times. KEY RESULTS: Seeds were more likely to germinate if their parent had neighbors, but they were less likely to germinate if they themselves experienced a neighbor cue (canopy). As seeds lost dormancy over time, they gained the ability to germinate under a canopy, which suggests that they germinate later in the presence of neighbors. Neighbors of both sizes reduced growth, survival to reproduction, fecundity, and total fitness, but large neighbors increased seedling survival. Smaller neighbors provided no such benefit and had stronger negative effects. CONCLUSIONS: Delayed germination in response to neighbors can reduce negative interactions and promote positive ones if it occurs late enough to expose seedlings to larger neighbors. By altering relative phenologies and, in turn, the outcomes of biotic interactions, phenological responses to environmental change may influence species interactions and community dynamics.
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Claims 10
Claim · model-written summary
Seeds were more likely to germinate when parents had neighbors.
- Taxon
- Arabidopsis thaliana
Arabidopsis thalianae1 - Treatment
- parent had neighborse0
- Interactor
- neighborse0other
- Outcome
- germinatee0
- Direction
- more likelye0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Seeds were more likely to germinate if their parent had neighbors”
e1“Arabidopsis thaliana (Brassicaceae)”
Claim · model-written summary
Seeds were less likely to germinate when they experienced a canopy neighbor cue.
- Taxon
- Arabidopsis thalianaArabidopsis thalianae1
- Treatment
- neighbor cue (canopy)e0
- Interactor
- neighbore0other
- Outcome
- germinatee0
- Direction
- less likelye0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“but they were less likely to germinate if they themselves experienced a neighbor cue (canopy).”
e1“Arabidopsis thaliana (Brassicaceae)”
Claim · model-written summary
Seeds gained canopy germination ability as dormancy declined, suggesting later germination with neighbors.
- Taxon
- Arabidopsis thalianaArabidopsis thalianae1
- Interactor
- neighborse0other
- Outcome
- ability to germinate under a canopye0
- Qualifier
- As seeds lost dormancy over timee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“As seeds lost dormancy over time, they gained the ability to germinate under a canopy, which suggests that they germinate later in the presence of neighbors.”
e1“Arabidopsis thaliana (Brassicaceae)”
Claim · model-written summary
Large neighbors reduced growth, survival to reproduction and fecundity.
- Taxon
- Arabidopsis thalianaArabidopsis thalianae1
- Treatment
- large neighborse0
- Interactor
- neighborse0other
- Outcome
- growth, survival to reproduction, fecunditye0
- Direction
- reducede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Neighbors of both sizes reduced growth, survival to reproduction, fecundity, and total fitness, but large neighbors increased seedling survival.”
e1“Arabidopsis thaliana (Brassicaceae)”
Claim · model-written summary
Small neighbors reduced growth, survival to reproduction and fecundity.
- Taxon
- Arabidopsis thalianaArabidopsis thalianae1
- Treatment
- Smaller neighborse2
- Interactor
- neighborse2other
- Outcome
- growth, survival to reproduction, fecunditye0
- Direction
- reducede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Neighbors of both sizes reduced growth, survival to reproduction, fecundity, and total fitness”
e2“Smaller neighbors provided no such benefit and had stronger negative effects.”
e1“Arabidopsis thaliana (Brassicaceae)”
Claim · model-written summary
Large neighbors reduced total fitness.
- Taxon
- Arabidopsis thalianaArabidopsis thalianae1
- Treatment
- large neighborse0
- Interactor
- neighborse0other
- Outcome
- total fitnesse0
- Direction
- reducede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Neighbors of both sizes reduced growth, survival to reproduction, fecundity, and total fitness, but large neighbors increased seedling survival.”
e1“Arabidopsis thaliana (Brassicaceae)”
Claim · model-written summary
Small neighbors reduced total fitness.
- Taxon
- Arabidopsis thalianaArabidopsis thalianae1
- Treatment
- Smaller neighborse2
- Interactor
- neighborse2other
- Outcome
- total fitnesse0
- Direction
- reducede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Neighbors of both sizes reduced growth, survival to reproduction, fecundity, and total fitness”
e2“Smaller neighbors provided no such benefit and had stronger negative effects.”
e1“Arabidopsis thaliana (Brassicaceae)”
Claim · model-written summary
Large neighbors increased seedling survival.
- Taxon
- Arabidopsis thalianaArabidopsis thalianae1
- Treatment
- large neighborse0
- Interactor
- neighborse0other
- Outcome
- seedling survivale0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“large neighbors increased seedling survival.”
e1“Arabidopsis thaliana (Brassicaceae)”
Claim · model-written summary
Smaller neighbors gave no seedling survival benefit and had stronger negative effects.
- Taxon
- Arabidopsis thalianaArabidopsis thalianae1
- Treatment
- Smaller neighborse0
- Interactor
- neighborse0other
- Outcome
- negative effectse0
- Direction
- strongere0
- Qualifier
- provided no such benefite0
- Comparator
- large neighborse2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Smaller neighbors provided no such benefit and had stronger negative effects.”
e2“large neighbors increased seedling survival.”
e1“Arabidopsis thaliana (Brassicaceae)”
Claim · model-written summary
Delayed germination can reduce negative and promote positive neighbor interactions if seedlings encounter larger neighbors.
- Taxon
- Arabidopsis thalianaArabidopsis thalianae1
- Interactor
- neighborse0other
- Outcome
- reduce negative interactions and promote positive onese0
- Qualifier
- if it occurs late enough to expose seedlings to larger neighborse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Delayed germination in response to neighbors can reduce negative interactions and promote positive ones if it occurs late enough to expose seedlings to larger neighbors.”
e1“Arabidopsis thaliana (Brassicaceae)”
The same questions in other papers
competition · growth · Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress)Positive and negative results
1 in the opposite direction
- negative
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.