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Behroozian M, Pierce S, Ejtehadi H, Memariani F, Rafiee F, Joharchi MR. Relative contributions of taxonomic and functional diversity to the assembly of plant communities hosting endemic Dianthus species in a mountain steppe. Sci Rep 2024; 14:5471. [PMID: 38443610 PMCID: PMC10915155 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-56099-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/01/2024] [Indexed: 03/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Plant community assembly is the outcome of long-term evolutionary events (evident as taxonomic diversity; TD) and immediate adaptive fitness (functional diversity; FD); a balance expected to shift in favour of FD in 'harsh' habitats under intense selection pressures. We compared TD and FD responses along climatic and edaphic gradients for communities of two species (Dianthus pseudocrinitus and D. polylepis) endemic to the montane steppes of the Khorassan-Kopet Dagh floristic province, NE Iran. 75 plots at 15 sites were used to relate TD and FD to environmental gradients. In general, greater TD was associated with variation in soil factors (potassium, lime, organic matter contents), whereas FD was constrained by aridity (drought adaptation). Crucially, even plant communities hosting different subspecies of D. polylepis responded differently to aridity: D. polylepis subsp. binaludensis communities included a variety of broadly stress-tolerant taxa with no clear environmental response, but TD of D. polylepis subsp. polylepis communities was directly related to precipitation, with consistently low FD reflecting a few highly specialized stress-tolerators. Integrating taxonomic and functional diversity metrics is essential to understand the communities hosting even extremely closely related taxa, which respond idiosyncratically to climate and soil gradients.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Simon Pierce
- Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (DiSAA), University of Milan, Via G. Celoria 2, 20133, Milan, Italy
| | - Hamid Ejtehadi
- Quantitative Plant Ecology and Biodiversity Research Laboratory, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Farshid Memariani
- Herbarium FUMH, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
- Department of Range and Watershed Management, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Fahime Rafiee
- Quantitative Plant Ecology and Biodiversity Research Laboratory, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
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Zheng J, Arif M, He X, Ding D, Zhang S, Ni X, Li C. Plant community assembly is jointly shaped by environmental and dispersal filtering along elevation gradients in a semiarid area, China. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022; 13:1041742. [PMID: 36507391 PMCID: PMC9732563 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1041742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2022] [Accepted: 11/14/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Environmental filtering (EF) and dispersal filtering (DF) are widely known to shape plant community assembly. Particularly in arid and semi-arid mountainous regions, however, it remains unclear whether EF or DF dominate in the community assembly of different life forms or how they interact along elevational gradients. This research aims to reveal how different ecological processes influence herbaceous and woody community assembly and how they respond to various environmental drivers and elevational gradients. Here we integrated taxonomic diversity (TD), phylogenetic diversity (PD), and ecological drivers across an elevational gradient of 1,420 m in the Helan Mountain Nature Reserve, in typical arid and semi-arid areas of China. This study showed that the TD and PD of herbaceous communities significantly increase linearly with changing elevation gradients, while woody 'TD' showed a unimodal pattern, and there was little relationship between woody 'PD' and elevation. Herbaceous species exhibited significant phylogenetic clustering at low elevations, where they were influenced by climate, aspect, and tree cover. However, woody species exhibited random patterns across elevations. Herbaceous and woody species' taxonomic and phylogenetic beta diversity is governed primarily by spatial turnover rather than nestedness. Spatial turnover is caused primarily by EF and DF's combined influence, but their relative importance differs between herbaceous and woody communities. Therefore, we conclude that the responses of herbaceous and woody plants along elevation gradients in the Helan Mountains are decoupled due to their different adaptation strategies to climate factors in the drylands. These findings are important for understanding the assembly mechanisms driving plant communities in dryland under the context of dramatic increases in drought driven by climate warming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Eco-Environments in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), Chongqing Key Laboratory of Plant Ecology and Resources Research in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Muhammad Arif
- Key Laboratory of Eco-Environments in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), Chongqing Key Laboratory of Plant Ecology and Resources Research in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Biological Science Research Center, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Xinrui He
- Key Laboratory of Eco-Environments in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), Chongqing Key Laboratory of Plant Ecology and Resources Research in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Dongdong Ding
- Key Laboratory of Eco-Environments in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), Chongqing Key Laboratory of Plant Ecology and Resources Research in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Songlin Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Eco-Environments in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), Chongqing Key Laboratory of Plant Ecology and Resources Research in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Xilu Ni
- State Key Laboratory of Seedling Bioengineering, Ningxia Forestry Institute, Yinchuan, China
| | - Changxiao Li
- Key Laboratory of Eco-Environments in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), Chongqing Key Laboratory of Plant Ecology and Resources Research in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
- Biological Science Research Center, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
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3
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Kusumoto B, Kubota Y, Shiono T, Villalobos F. Biogeographical origin effects on exotic plants colonization in the insular flora of Japan. Biol Invasions 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10530-021-02550-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Chao A, Henderson PA, Chiu C, Moyes F, Hu K, Dornelas M, Magurran AE. Measuring temporal change in alpha diversity: A framework integrating taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional diversity and the
iNEXT.3D
standardization. Methods Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/2041-210x.13682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Anne Chao
- Institute of Statistics National Tsing Hua University Hsin‐Chu Taiwan
| | | | - Chun‐Huo Chiu
- Department of Agronomy National Taiwan University Taipei Taiwan
| | - Faye Moyes
- Centre for Biological Diversity and Scottish Oceans Institute, School of Biology University of St Andrews St Andrews Fife UK
| | - Kai‐Hsiang Hu
- Institute of Statistics National Tsing Hua University Hsin‐Chu Taiwan
| | - Maria Dornelas
- Centre for Biological Diversity and Scottish Oceans Institute, School of Biology University of St Andrews St Andrews Fife UK
| | - Anne E. Magurran
- Centre for Biological Diversity and Scottish Oceans Institute, School of Biology University of St Andrews St Andrews Fife UK
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Krishna M, Winternitz J, Garkoti SC, Penuelas J. Functional leaf traits indicate phylogenetic signals in forests across an elevational gradient in the central Himalaya. JOURNAL OF PLANT RESEARCH 2021; 134:753-764. [PMID: 33837511 DOI: 10.1007/s10265-021-01289-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2020] [Accepted: 03/25/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Traits are the primary attributes that distinguish a species niche. Species and higher taxa are part of a structured phylogeny, and variation in plant traits depends on lineage as well as on environmental conditions. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate linkages between taxonomic identity, shared ancestry, and environment for understanding the variation in leaf traits. We investigated the evolutionary relationships, based on multiple gene sequences among 26 plant species sampled along an elevational gradient from 650 to 3600 m a.s.l. in the central Himalaya. We tested for the phylogenetic signal based on three different measures in 10 leaf traits having a significant association with the resource acquisition-conservation trade-offs axis and influencing plant growth, development, and ecological performance. We further assessed the role of elevation and growth forms as the potential drivers of leaf traits variation while controlling for phylogeny. 5 out of 10 leaf traits showed significant phylogenetic signal. Plant species clustered more often by growth forms at the tips of the phylogeny indicating multiple instances of independent evolution. Evergreen taxa showed niche separation with deciduous and incorporated larger trait variation. Trait variations were guided by both growth forms and elevation when accounted for phylogeny. Growth form has a higher contribution to trait variation compared to elevation. Trade-offs were detected between resource conservation and resource acquisition machinery traits (that would maximise carbon gain), differing between growth forms and along elevation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mayank Krishna
- School of Environmental sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi, 110067, India
| | - Jamie Winternitz
- Department of Animal, Behaviour Bielefeld University, Morgenbreede 45, 33615, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Satish Chandra Garkoti
- School of Environmental sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi, 110067, India.
| | - Josep Penuelas
- Global Ecology Unit, CSIC, CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Bellaterra, Catalonia, 08913, Spain
- CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Catalonia, 08913, Spain
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Wang H, Fu H, Wen Z, Yuan C, Zhang X, Ni L, Cao T. Seasonal patterns of taxonomic and functional beta diversity in submerged macrophytes at a fine scale. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:9827-9836. [PMID: 34306665 PMCID: PMC8293774 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2021] [Revised: 05/30/2021] [Accepted: 06/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Spatiotemporal variation in community composition is of considerable interest in ecology. However, few studies have focused on seasonal variation patterns in taxonomic and functional community composition at the fine scale. As such, we conducted seasonal high-density sampling of the submerged macrophyte community in Hongshan Bay of Erhai Lake in China and used the generalized dissimilarity model (GDM) to evaluate the effects of environmental factors and geographic distance on taxonomic and functional beta diversity as well as corresponding turnover and nestedness components. At the fine scale, taxonomic turnover and nestedness as well as functional turnover and nestedness showed comparable contributions to corresponding taxonomic and functional beta diversity, with different importance across seasons. All taxonomic and functional dissimilarity metrics showed seasonal variation. Of note, taxonomic beta diversity was highest in summer and lowest in winter, while functional beta diversity showed the opposite pattern. Taxonomic and functional turnover showed similar change patterns as taxonomic and functional beta diversity. Taxonomic nestedness was low in summer and high in winter. Functional nestedness was also lower in summer. These results suggest that under extreme environmental conditions, both turnover and nestedness can exist at the fine scale and seasonal community composition patterns in submerged macrophytes should be considered. Future investigations on community assembly mechanisms should pay greater attention to long-term dynamic characteristics and functional information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hao Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and BiotechnologyInstitute of HydrobiologyChinese Academy of SciencesWuhanChina
- University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Hui Fu
- Ecology DepartmentCollege of Bioscience & BiotechnologyHunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Rural Ecosystem Health in Dongting Lake AreaHunan Agricultural UniversityChangshaChina
| | - Zihao Wen
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and BiotechnologyInstitute of HydrobiologyChinese Academy of SciencesWuhanChina
- University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Changbo Yuan
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and BiotechnologyInstitute of HydrobiologyChinese Academy of SciencesWuhanChina
- University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Xiaolin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and BiotechnologyInstitute of HydrobiologyChinese Academy of SciencesWuhanChina
| | - Leyi Ni
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and BiotechnologyInstitute of HydrobiologyChinese Academy of SciencesWuhanChina
| | - Te Cao
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and BiotechnologyInstitute of HydrobiologyChinese Academy of SciencesWuhanChina
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7
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He X, Brown C, Lin L. Relative importance of deterministic and stochastic processes for beta diversity of bird assemblages in Yunnan, China. Ecosphere 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Xuelian He
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden Chinese Academy of Sciences Kunming650223China
- National Forest Ecosystem Research Station at Xishuangbanna Menglun Mengla Yunnan666303China
| | - Calum Brown
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK‐IFU) Garmisch‐Partenkirchen Germany
| | - Luxiang Lin
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden Chinese Academy of Sciences Kunming650223China
- National Forest Ecosystem Research Station at Xishuangbanna Menglun Mengla Yunnan666303China
- Southeast Asia Biodiversity Research Institute Chinese Academy of Sciences Menglun Mengla Yunnan666303China
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Phylogenetic and Functional Traits Verify the Combined Effect of Deterministic and Stochastic Processes in the Community Assembly of Temperate Forests along an Elevational Gradient. FORESTS 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/f12050591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Explaining community assembly mechanisms along elevational gradients dominated by deterministic processes or stochastic processes is a pressing challenge. Many studies suggest that phylogenetic and functional diversity are significant indicators of the process. In this study, we analyzed the structure and beta diversity of phylogenetic and functional traits along an elevational gradient and discussed the effects of environmental and spatial factors. We found that the phylogenetic and functional traits showed inconsistent changes, and their variations were closely related to the abiotic environment. The results suggested that the community assembly of woody plants was obviously affected by the combined effect of deterministic processes and the stochastic hypothesis (primarily by the latter). Phylogenetic and functional traits had a certain relationship but changed according to different rules. These results enhance our understanding of the assembly mechanism of forest communities by considering both phylogenetic and functional traits.
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Contrasting Environmental Drivers Determine Biodiversity Patterns in Epiphytic Lichen Communities along a European Gradient. Microorganisms 2020; 8:microorganisms8121913. [PMID: 33271812 PMCID: PMC7760525 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms8121913] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2020] [Revised: 11/29/2020] [Accepted: 11/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Assessing the ecological impacts of environmental change on biological communities requires knowledge of the factors driving the spatial patterns of the three diversity facets along extensive environmental gradients. We quantified the taxonomic (TD), functional (FD), and phylogenetic diversity (PD) of lichen epiphytic communities in 23 beech forests along Europe to examine their response to environmental variation (climate, habitat quality, spatial predictors) at a continental geographic scale. We selected six traits related to the climatic conditions in forest ecosystems, the water-use strategy and the nutrient uptake, and we built a phylogenetic tree based on four molecular markers. FD and climate determined TD and PD, with spatial variables also affecting PD. The three diversity facets were primarily shaped by distinct critical predictors, with the temperature diurnal range affecting FD and PD, and precipitation of the wettest month determining TD. Our results emphasize the value of FD for explaining part of TD and PD variation in lichen communities at a broad geographic scale, while highlighting that these diversity facets provide complementary information about the communities’ response under changing environmental conditions. Furthermore, traits such as growth form, photobiont type, and reproductive strategy mediated the response of lichen communities to abiotic factors emerging as useful indicators of macroclimatic variations.
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Plant-plant interactions influence phylogenetic diversity at multiple spatial scales in a semi-arid mountain rangeland. Oecologia 2019; 189:745-755. [PMID: 30783773 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-019-04345-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2018] [Accepted: 01/28/2019] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Molecular phylogenies are increasingly used to understand how biotic interactions and environment shape phylogenetic community structure (PCS). However, we do not understand the effects of plant-plant interactions and environment on PCS and phylogenetic diversity across spatial scales, particularly in rangelands. Here, we ask: (1) do plant-plant interactions and environment affect PCS and phylogenetic diversity differently across the three spatial scales of the patch, the community, and the habitat? (2) What are the impacts of dominant cushion-nurse plants on the phylogenetic structure of plant communities? We assessed the PCS of semi-arid plant communities along an elevation gradient at the patch, community and habitat scales. Then, we assessed co-occurrence patterns along two sample slopes. Our results indicated important roles for biotic interactions and environmental filtering in determining phylogenetic diversity, with biotic interactions, in particular, having a stronger tendency to increase phylogenetic diversity. This is most likely due to the asymmetrical effects of nurse plants across the three spatial scales on our two different slopes. The impact of biotic interactions caused non-random phylogenetic patterns in more severe environments. In conclusion, biotic interactions influence phylogenetic diversity by altering PCS across aspects and along elevation gradients.
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