Is the change of plant–plant interactions with abiotic stress predictable? A meta‐analysis of field results in arid environments

1 Theoretical models have predicted that the relative importance of facilitation and competition will vary inversely across gradients of abiotic stress, with facilitation being the dominant interaction under high abiotic stress conditions. A critical reappraisal of current theoretical models is needed because experimental studies both support and refute their predictions. 2 A quantitative meta-analysis of field and common garden studies evaluating the effect of abiotic stress (low vs. high) on the net outcome of plant–plant interactions in arid and semi-arid environments was performed to evaluate the degree of empirical support for these models. We created four separate data sets corresponding to the…

• UD
  U.S. Department of Agriculture
• CM
  Carnegie Mellon University
• ES
  European Social Fund