Microenvironment filtering and plant competition jointly structure trait distributions across co-occurring individuals

The prevailing role of environmental filtering in community assembly has been widely corroborated at large spatial scales. However, how environmental filtering and plant competition collectively determine trait distributions among coexisting individuals at within-community scales remains an unresolv...

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Autores principales:	Mingshan Xu, Li-Ting Zheng, Dong He, Han Y.H. Chen, En-Rong Yan
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Elsevier 2021
Materias:	Community assembly Competitive exclusion Convergence and divergence Microenvironments Trait dispersions Within-community scales Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/6d74b264c27641378bc5b7a16f7f79fb
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:6d74b264c27641378bc5b7a16f7f79fb2021-12-01T04:55:15ZMicroenvironment filtering and plant competition jointly structure trait distributions across co-occurring individuals1470-160X10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107893https://doaj.org/article/6d74b264c27641378bc5b7a16f7f79fb2021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X21005586https://doaj.org/toc/1470-160XThe prevailing role of environmental filtering in community assembly has been widely corroborated at large spatial scales. However, how environmental filtering and plant competition collectively determine trait distributions among coexisting individuals at within-community scales remains an unresolved question. We measured four leaf and wood traits of 2700 co-occurring plants and soil physicochemical and topographic variables across individual locations within a 1 ha subtropical forest in eastern China. Multiple linear regression and variance partitioning analyses were conducted to test the relative effects of microenvironment properties and plant competition on trait distributions (e.g., mean, range, variance, skewness, and kurtosis) at four within-community spatial scales. The joint explanatory power of microenvironment properties and plant competition on trait distributions significantly enhanced with increase of spatial scales. The relative effects of plant competition on trait distributions were more pronounced at smaller scales, and the relative effects of microenvironment properties on trait distributions were remarkable at larger scales. Plant competition at smaller scales and microenvironment filtering at larger scales generated both convergence and divergence of four functional traits. Fertile soils selected for plants with large leaf area and high leaf phosphorus but low nitrogen contents and wood density. Steep and convex locations supported plants with large leaf area and low leaf nitrogen and phosphorus contents, and low wood density. Wet soils supported plants with high leaf nitrogen content and wood density, and low leaf phosphorus content. Acidic soils selected for plants with small leaves and high leaf nitrogen and phosphorus contents. These results provide strong evidence that relative to plant competition, microenvironment filtering is also a predominant driver of individual-level functional diversity and species assemblages at within-community scales. Our study highlights that simultaneously accounting for the consequences of microenvironment heterogeneity and plant competition on trait distributions is crucial for better understanding community assembly of locally co-occurring individuals.Mingshan XuLi-Ting ZhengDong HeHan Y.H. ChenEn-Rong YanElsevierarticleCommunity assemblyCompetitive exclusionConvergence and divergenceMicroenvironmentsTrait dispersionsWithin-community scalesEcologyQH540-549.5ENEcological Indicators, Vol 129, Iss , Pp 107893- (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Community assembly Competitive exclusion Convergence and divergence Microenvironments Trait dispersions Within-community scales Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	Community assembly Competitive exclusion Convergence and divergence Microenvironments Trait dispersions Within-community scales Ecology QH540-549.5 Mingshan Xu Li-Ting Zheng Dong He Han Y.H. Chen En-Rong Yan Microenvironment filtering and plant competition jointly structure trait distributions across co-occurring individuals
description	The prevailing role of environmental filtering in community assembly has been widely corroborated at large spatial scales. However, how environmental filtering and plant competition collectively determine trait distributions among coexisting individuals at within-community scales remains an unresolved question. We measured four leaf and wood traits of 2700 co-occurring plants and soil physicochemical and topographic variables across individual locations within a 1 ha subtropical forest in eastern China. Multiple linear regression and variance partitioning analyses were conducted to test the relative effects of microenvironment properties and plant competition on trait distributions (e.g., mean, range, variance, skewness, and kurtosis) at four within-community spatial scales. The joint explanatory power of microenvironment properties and plant competition on trait distributions significantly enhanced with increase of spatial scales. The relative effects of plant competition on trait distributions were more pronounced at smaller scales, and the relative effects of microenvironment properties on trait distributions were remarkable at larger scales. Plant competition at smaller scales and microenvironment filtering at larger scales generated both convergence and divergence of four functional traits. Fertile soils selected for plants with large leaf area and high leaf phosphorus but low nitrogen contents and wood density. Steep and convex locations supported plants with large leaf area and low leaf nitrogen and phosphorus contents, and low wood density. Wet soils supported plants with high leaf nitrogen content and wood density, and low leaf phosphorus content. Acidic soils selected for plants with small leaves and high leaf nitrogen and phosphorus contents. These results provide strong evidence that relative to plant competition, microenvironment filtering is also a predominant driver of individual-level functional diversity and species assemblages at within-community scales. Our study highlights that simultaneously accounting for the consequences of microenvironment heterogeneity and plant competition on trait distributions is crucial for better understanding community assembly of locally co-occurring individuals.
format	article
author	Mingshan Xu Li-Ting Zheng Dong He Han Y.H. Chen En-Rong Yan
author_facet	Mingshan Xu Li-Ting Zheng Dong He Han Y.H. Chen En-Rong Yan
author_sort	Mingshan Xu
title	Microenvironment filtering and plant competition jointly structure trait distributions across co-occurring individuals
title_short	Microenvironment filtering and plant competition jointly structure trait distributions across co-occurring individuals
title_full	Microenvironment filtering and plant competition jointly structure trait distributions across co-occurring individuals
title_fullStr	Microenvironment filtering and plant competition jointly structure trait distributions across co-occurring individuals
title_full_unstemmed	Microenvironment filtering and plant competition jointly structure trait distributions across co-occurring individuals
title_sort	microenvironment filtering and plant competition jointly structure trait distributions across co-occurring individuals
publisher	Elsevier
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/6d74b264c27641378bc5b7a16f7f79fb
work_keys_str_mv	AT mingshanxu microenvironmentfilteringandplantcompetitionjointlystructuretraitdistributionsacrosscooccurringindividuals AT litingzheng microenvironmentfilteringandplantcompetitionjointlystructuretraitdistributionsacrosscooccurringindividuals AT donghe microenvironmentfilteringandplantcompetitionjointlystructuretraitdistributionsacrosscooccurringindividuals AT hanyhchen microenvironmentfilteringandplantcompetitionjointlystructuretraitdistributionsacrosscooccurringindividuals AT enrongyan microenvironmentfilteringandplantcompetitionjointlystructuretraitdistributionsacrosscooccurringindividuals
_version_	1718405666391982080

Microenvironment filtering and plant competition jointly structure trait distributions across co-occurring individuals

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