Salinity and disturbance mediate direct and indirect plant-plant interactions in an assembled marsh community

Direct and indirect plant-plant interactions play important roles in structuring plant communities, but the relative importance of physical stress and biological disturbance in mediating competitive outcomes remains debated. We conducted two common garden experiments to examine the influence of salinity and disturbance (sediment accretion and clipping) on competitive interactions among three native sedges (Scirpus mariqueter, Scirpus triqueter, and Carex scabrifolia) in the Yangtze estuary. In both experiments, the relative competitive abilities of these plants shifted among different treatments. Competition importance rather than intensity significantly decreased with increasing stress. At the community level, competition importance showed reduced variation along the stress gradient in the disturbance experiment. Notably, the performance of these sedges in three-species mixtures could not be predicted by their competitive relationships in two-species mixtures, which was an indication of indirect interactions. Salinity, disturbance and indirect interactions all affected the competitive dynamics of these sedges, which could explain their different performances and natural distributions in the Yangtze estuary. Our findings of the complex effects of physical factors and multi-species interactions, as well as the different patterns of competition importance along stress gradients at the species level and the community level can improve our understanding of plant community organization in salt marshes and other ecosystems with sharp environmental gradients.