Abstract
Shrubs are the major components of vegetation in arid and semi-arid areas, and play a pivotal role in maintaining ecosystem stability and function. The nurse effects of shrubs can help with the regeneration of native target plant species by alleviating the adverse influences that limit their growth and reproduction in degraded habitats. We summarized the main research results and application of shrub nurse effects in the last 20 years. We discussed several facilitation mechanisms of nurse shrubs, including microhabitat amelioration, fertile island formation, defense and resistance against herbivores, introduction of beneficial microorganism and propagule propagation or preservation, as well as changes in the patterns of interspecific competitive networks. Key factors affecting nurse effects were analyzed, including abiotic environments, biological disturbances, plant life history as well as growth and reproductive strategies. Prospects for future research were also considered from the aspects of improving theore-tical mechanisms of nurse effects by shrubs and building models involved in multiple plant species interaction affec-ted by multifactors.
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