Effects of biotic interactions on tropical tree performance depend on abiotic conditions

Muscarella, Robert; Messier, Julie; Condit, Richard; Hubbell, Stephen P.; Svenning, Jens‐Christian

doi:10.1002/ecy.2537

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 88 publications

(227 reference statements)

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“…The stress-gradient hypothesis (Bertness & Callaway, 1994) postulates that positive interactions will be predominant in communities exposed to harsher environmental conditions, while negative interactions will be more typical of communities under mild environmental conditions. This hypothesis has been corroborated by a wide range of studies on plant communities (Casalini & Bisigato, 2018;Kjaer et al, 2018;Muscarella et al, 2018 et al, 2014). However, although neighbour facilitation is probably an important mechanism among poikilohydric organisms (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…Biotic interactions play an important role in maintaining biodiversity (Bascompte & Jordano, 2007;Muscarella et al, 2018), and neighbour interactions are among the main forces shaping plant communities (Gavini et al, 2019;Grant et al, 2014). These interactions are one of the forces shaping spatial patterns, and analysing such patterns can be a powerful approach to deduce the processes determining community structure (Alados et al, 2017;Dale, 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Life on a leaf: The development of spatial structure in epiphyll communities

et al. 2021

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1. The spatial structure of biotic communities can be shaped by niche-based or stochastic processes, and the importance of both can change through time. Nichebased processes include neighbour interactions, which can change in intensity and quality as communities develop in dependence of environmental conditions. Epiphylls, miniature communities of liverworts, lichens, algae and fungi on leaves, develop only in relatively moist forests, but their leaf-surface habitat is still characterized by moisture stress, especially in more exposed parts of the forest. As neighbours may alleviate moisture stress, we expected that in forest gaps (dryer, brighter), epiphyll communities would show more positive neighbour interactions, resulting in more clustered spatial patterns, than in closed forest, in accordance with the stress-gradient hypothesis.2. To understand how the processes shaping epiphyll communities change through time and differ between gaps and closed forest, we examined the fine-scale spatial structure within and between epiphyll functional groups (algae, fungi, lichens and liverworts) during 12 months on 60 leaves across 12 sites in a tropical rainforest in Panama. We analysed changes in spatial positions and spatial associations within and between functional groups using spatial point pattern analysis based on repeated photography. Epiphyll densities increased through time for most epiphyll functional groups.However, although epiphyll groups changed their positions through time, the general types of spatial patterns remained similar for most groups: only lichen patterns shifted from mostly random to mostly aggregated through time. We found only random and aggregated spatial patterns within groups, while among groups we additionally found segregated spatial associations, but no consistent temporal trend. Patterns did not differ between gaps and closed forest, thus not supporting the stress-gradient hypothesis. 4. Synthesis. Our results only weakly support the assumption that communityshaping processes change from neutral to niche-based as communities develop. We do provide empirical evidence that epiphyll communities are dynamic

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life on a leaf: The development of spatial structure in epiphyll communities

et al. 2021

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“…Furthermore, available space and resources for each individual as well as intra- and interspecific interactions to some extent can be reflected by stem abundance in communities ( Fortunel et al, 2018 ). For example, high stem abundance was observed to have increased competition for light and space among individuals ( Muscarella et al, 2018 ). In addition, the more individuals hypothesis ( Gaston, 2000 ) also demonstrated that stem abundance can promote species richness ( Madrigal-González et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species Diversity Regulates Ecological Strategy Spectra of Forest Vegetation Across Different Climatic Zones

et al. 2022

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Ecological strategy is the tactics employed by species in adapting to abiotic and biotic conditions. The ecological strategy spectrum is defined as the relative proportion of species in different ecological strategy types within a community. Determinants of ecological strategy spectrum of plant community explored by most previous studies are about abiotic factors. Yet, the roles of biotic factors in driving variations of ecological strategy spectra of forest communities across different geographic regions remains unknown. In this study, we established 200 0.04-ha forest dynamics plots (FDPs) and measured three-leaf functional traits of tree and shrub species in four forest vegetation types across four climatic zones. Based on Grime’s competitor, stress-tolerator, ruderal (CSR) triangular framework, and the StrateFy method, we categorized species into four ecological strategy groups (i.e., C-, S-, Int-, and R-groups) and related the ecological spectra of the forests to three species diversity indices [i.e., species richness, Shannon-Wiener index, and stem density (stem abundance)]. Linear regression, redundancy analysis, and variance partition analysis were utilized for assessing the roles of species diversity in regulating ecological strategy spectra of forest communities across different climatic zones. We found that the proportion of species in the C- and Int-groups increased, while the proportion of species in the S-group decreased, with the increase of three indices of species diversity. Among the three species diversity indices, stem abundance played the most important role in driving variations in ecological strategy spectra of forests across different climatic zones. Our finding highlights the necessity of accounting for biotic factors, especially stem abundance, in modeling or predicting the geographical distributions of plant species with varied ecological adaptation strategies to future environmental changes.

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“…The causes, however, cannot be discerned from this study. Biotic interactions, e.g., interand intraspecific neighborhood interactions through natural enemies, can mediate site-to-site variation in functional diversity (Lasky et al, 2014;Muscarella et al, 2018Muscarella et al, , 2016. Whether neighborhood interactions differ between fragments and contiguous forests remains poorly explored (Krishnadas et al, 2018a).…”

Section: Trait Covariance In Fragmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate and habitat loss interactively restructure trait composition and covariance across a human-modified landscape

Krishnadas

2021

Preprint

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Species traits influence their response to environmental conditions and the match between phenotypes and environment mediates spatial changes in species composition. These trait-environment linkages can be disrupted in human-modified landscapes. Human land-use creates habitat fragments where dispersal limitation or edge effects can exclude species that may otherwise suit a given macro-scale environment. Furthermore, stressful micro-environments in fragments may limit viable trait combinations resulting in stronger trait covariance compared to contiguous forest, especially in harsher macroenvironments. In a wet tropical forest landscape in the Western Ghats Biodiversity Hotspot of peninsular India, I compared fragments with adjacent contiguous forest for signatures of trait-mediated assembly of tree communities along macroenvironmental gradients. Using four key plant traits—seed size, specific leaf area (SLA), wood density, and maximum height—I evaluated changes in trait-mediated abundances and trait covariance across environmental gradients. Trait-mediated abundances primarily changed along the elevation gradient in contiguous forest, smaller-seeded, shorter, thinner-leaved species increased at higher elevations. In fragments, higher SLA species increased in more seasonal climate and decreased with higher precipitation, and larger seeds decreased at warmer sites. However, traits only weakly predicted abundances and only contiguous forests experienced significant compositional change via traits, driven by trait syndromes varying along a composite environmental gradient defined by elevation, water deficit, and soil C:N ratio. Covariance of seed size and maximum height along gradients of precipitation and temperature revealed divergent constraints on viable phenotypes in fragments and contiguous forest. Notably, local biotic conditions (functional diversity) had stronger effects than environment in explaining trait covariance. Overall, the results imply that trait syndromes and trait covariance, rather than single traits, determine the phenotypes best suited to different macroenvironmental conditions and should inform management or restoration goals in fragments.

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Effects of biotic interactions on tropical tree performance depend on abiotic conditions

Cited by 13 publications

References 88 publications

Life on a leaf: The development of spatial structure in epiphyll communities

Life on a leaf: The development of spatial structure in epiphyll communities

Species Diversity Regulates Ecological Strategy Spectra of Forest Vegetation Across Different Climatic Zones

Climate and habitat loss interactively restructure trait composition and covariance across a human-modified landscape

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