Nurse plant size and biotic stress determine quantity and quality of plant facilitation in oak savannas

The nurse plant phenomenon is an important form of facilitative interaction where a “nurse-plant” provides shelter from abiotic or biotic stress to a “beneficiary” plant. However, plant facilitation strongly depends on nurse-plant traits such as size or age. This effect has been mostly attributed to the amelioration of abiotic conditions under larger nurse-plants. However, the effect of nurse-plant size on the overall facilitative process...