Community assembly in a modular organism: the impact of environmental filtering on bryozoan colony form and polymorphism

Schack, Carolann; Gordon, Dennis P.; Ryan, Ken G.

doi:10.1002/ecy.3106

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…To assess whether some plant species have a higher chance of being transported by particular waterfowl species, we used RLQ (Dolédec et al, 1996) and fourth-corner analyses (Dray et al, 2014). RLQ has traditionally been recommended to evaluate univariate relationships between environmental variables and species functional traits (Almeida et al, 2018;Schack et al, 2020;Silva J. L. A. et al, 2021). We have utilized the method to look instead at the relationships between waterfowl species traits (substituting environmental variables) and plant species functional traits.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional Traits Drive Dispersal Interactions Between European Waterfowl and Seeds

et al. 2022

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Endozoochory by waterfowl is important for a broad range of angiosperms, most of which lack a fleshy fruit. This dispersal function contributes to the formation and maintenance of plant communities and may allow range shifts for plant species under global change. However, our current understanding of what seed or plant traits are important for this dispersal mechanism, and how they relate to variation in waterbird traits, is extremely limited. We addressed this question using a unique dataset identifying the plant species whose seeds are ingested by 31 different waterfowl species in Europe. We used RLQ and fourth-corner analyses to explore relationships between (1) bird morphological and foraging strategy traits, and (2) plant traits related to seed morphology, environmental preferences, and growth form. We then used Generalized Additive Models to identify relationships between plant/seed traits and the number of waterfowl species that disperse them. Although many waterfowl feed intentionally on seeds, available seed trait data provided little explanation for patterns compared to plant traits such as Ellenberg indicators of habitat preference and life form. Geese were associated with terrestrial plants, ingesting seeds as they graze on land. Diving ducks were associated with strictly aquatic plants, ingesting seeds as they feed at greater depths. Dabbling ducks ingest seeds from plants with high light and temperature requirements, especially shoreline and ruderal species growing in or around the dynamic and shallow microhabitats favored by these birds. Overall, the number of waterfowl vector species (up to 13 per plant species) increases for plants with greater soil moisture requirements and salinity tolerance, reflecting the inclination of most waterfowl species to feed in coastal wetlands. Our findings underline the importance of waterfowl dispersal for plants that are not strictly aquatic, as well as for plants associated with high salinities. Furthermore, our results reveal a soil moisture gradient that drives seed-bird interactions, in line with differences between waterfowl groups in their microhabitat preferences along the land-water continuum. This study provides an important advance in our understanding of the interactions that define plant dispersal in wetlands and their surroundings, and of what plants might be affected by ongoing changes in the distributions of waterfowl species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional Traits Drive Dispersal Interactions Between European Waterfowl and Seeds

et al. 2022

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“…colonial or erect) differed between the two regions. Planktotrophic (feeding) larvae are capable of re-settling to avoid non-optimal substrate [71], colonial forms are associated with high overgrowth abilities [72], and erect forms can provide better feeding performance [73]. Therefore, trait divergence observed later in development likely resulted from competitive dynamics and a mix of common and distinct trait mechanisms that define competitive abilities at each region.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biotic interactions shape trait assembly of marine communities across time and latitude

López

Freestone

2022

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Assembly processes are highly dynamic with biotic filters operating more intensely at local scales, yet the strength of biotic interactions can vary across time and latitude. Predation, for example, can be stronger at lower latitudes, while competition can intensify at later stages of assembly due to resource limitation. Since biotic filters act upon functional traits of organisms, we explored trait-mediated community assembly in diverse marine assemblages from four regions along the Pacific coast of North and Central America. Using predator exclusion experiments and two assembly stages, we tested the hypotheses that non-random trait patterns would emerge during late assembly at all regions due to competition and at lower latitude regions regardless of assembly stage due to predation. As expected, trait divergence occurred in late assembly but only at higher latitude regions, while in tropical Panama, relaxed predation caused trait divergence during late assembly. Moreover, colonizing trait strategies were common during early assembly while competitive strategies were favoured during late assembly at higher latitude regions. Predation-resistant traits were only favoured in Panama during both assembly stages. Our large-scale manipulative study demonstrates that different biotic interactions across time and latitude can have important consequences for trait assembly.

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“…Although some studies have described significant trait–environment relationships in marine species (Beukhof et al, 2019; Fernandez, Collins, Gittenberger, et al, 2020; Jansen et al, 2018; McClain et al, 2020; Mindel et al, 2016; Schack et al, 2020), few have also addressed the contribution of evolutionary history to trait biogeography in the marine environment (McLean et al, 2021). By jointly analysing spatial, environmental, trait and phylogenetic data of the species, we aim to test trait–environment relationships in hydroids across large spatial and environmental gradients and to evaluate associations between traits, environmental variables, space and phylogeny.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies show significant trait–environment relationships in marine species (Fernandez, Collins, Gittenberger, et al, 2020; Jansen et al, 2018; McClain et al, 2020; Mindel et al, 2016). A study of trait–environment relationships in bryozoans found that colony shape varies with depth and substrate and that polymorphism varies with depth and oxygen levels (Schack et al, 2020). Likewise, life‐history traits of marine fish, such as body length and growth, respond strongly to the environment (Beukhof et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trait–environment relationships of hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) across large spatial and environmental gradients in the Atlantic Ocean

Fernandez

Jaimes‐Becerra

Marques

2023

Global Ecol Biogeogr

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Aim The aim was to test trait–environment relationships in hydroids across large spatial and environmental gradients and to evaluate associations between traits, environmental variables, space and phylogeny. Location Atlantic Ocean and adjacent polar seas. Time period Present day. Major taxa studied Hydrozoa. Methods Trait–environment relationships and their spatial and phylogenetic contexts were assessed in hydroids by using a combination of a fourth‐corner test and extended‐RLQ approach, in a multivariate ordination method that uses five matrices: (1) species across sites, (2) environmental data across sites, (3) traits across species, (4) latitude and longitude for each site, and (5) phylogenetic distance among species. We based our analyses on 3680 records of 431 species distributed at 1440 sites, 16 species traits, nine environmental variables and a phylogenetic tree of the studied species. Results Hydroid traits are significantly correlated with environmental variables and geographical space, and hydroid phylogeny is correlated with the environment and geographical space. More evidently, we observed an increased presence of larger species (taller, more branched, with greater base diameter and polysiphonic) at sites richer in nitrate and silicate, with higher dissolved oxygen, lower temperatures, lower salinities and lower current velocities. The observation of phylogenetically related species with similar traits and distributions corroborates that historical processes interact with the environment in determining community assembly and explaining patterns of distribution of species traits. Main conclusions Several environmental variables combined affect the distribution of hydroid traits, which are also influenced by spatial and historical factors. In the first analysis of its kind for hydrozoans, we have provided an overview of how hydroids are distributed across environments according to their traits and revealed the spatial and phylogenetic components of these trait–environment relationships.

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Community assembly in a modular organism: the impact of environmental filtering on bryozoan colony form and polymorphism

Cited by 11 publications

References 68 publications

Functional Traits Drive Dispersal Interactions Between European Waterfowl and Seeds

Functional Traits Drive Dispersal Interactions Between European Waterfowl and Seeds

Biotic interactions shape trait assembly of marine communities across time and latitude

Trait–environment relationships of hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) across large spatial and environmental gradients in the Atlantic Ocean

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