Phylogenetic plant community structure along elevation is lineage specific
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Date
2013
Authors
Ndiribe, C.
Pellissier, L.
Antonelli, S.
Dubuis, A.
Pottier, J.
Vittoz, P.
Guisan, A.
Salamin, N.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Abstract
The trend of closely related taxa to retain similar environmental preferences
mediated by inherited traits suggests that several patterns observed at the community
scale originate from longer evolutionary processes. While the effects of
phylogenetic relatedness have been previously studied within a single genus or
family, lineage-specific effects on the ecological processes governing community
assembly have rarely been studied for entire communities or flora. Here, we
measured how community phylogenetic structure varies across a wide elevation
gradient for plant lineages represented by 35 families, using a co-occurrence
index and net relatedness index (NRI). We propose a framework that analyses
each lineage separately and reveals the trend of ecological assembly at tree
nodes. We found prevailing phylogenetic clustering for more ancient nodes and
overdispersion in more recent tree nodes. Closely related species may thus rapidly
evolve new environmental tolerances to radiate into distinct communities,
while older lineages likely retain inherent environmental tolerances to occupy
communities in similar environments, either through efficient dispersal mechanisms
or the exclusion of older lineages with more divergent environmental tolerances.
Our study illustrates the importance of disentangling the patterns of
community assembly among lineages to better interpret the ecological role of
traits. It also sheds light on studies reporting absence of phylogenetic signal,
and opens new perspectives on the analysis of niche and trait conservatism
across lineages.
Description
Keywords
Community structure, elevation gradient, mountain plants, phylogenetic clustering, phylogenetic overdispersion.
Citation
Ndiribe, C., Pellissier, L., Antonelli, S., Dubuis, A., Pottier, J., Vittoz, P., Guisan, A. and Salamin, N., 2013. Phylogenetic plant community structure along elevation is lineage specific. Ecology and evolution, 3(15), pp.4925-4939.