How to design trait-based analyses of community assembly mechanisms: Insights and guidelines from a literature review

Perronne, Rémi; Munoz, François; Borgy, Benjamin; Reboud, Xavier; Gaba, Sabrina

doi:10.1016/j.ppees.2017.01.004

Cited by 64 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 132 publications

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“…types of phylogenetic and functional distances, structural versus ultrametric type of tree, resolution of the tree, continuous and categorical traits), and how the scale and the composition of reference pools (nature and uncertainty of regional abundance data, inclusion or not of rare species) can affect correct inference of underlying ecological processes. Therefore, ecolottery offers options to test theoretical hypotheses on the role of entangled processes, as well as a benchmark for estimating uncertainty in hypothesis testing depending on methodological choices (Perronne, Munoz, Borgy, Reboud, & Gaba, ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

ecolottery: Simulating and assessing community assembly with environmental filtering and neutral dynamics inR

et al. 2017

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We introduce the R package ecolottery dedicated to quick and efficient simulation of communities undergoing local neutral dynamics with environmentally filtered immigration from a reference species pool (spatially implicit model). The package includes an Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) tool to estimate the parameters of these processes. We present the rationale of the approach and show examples of simulations and ABC analysis. The species in the reference pool differ in their abundances and trait values. Environmental filtering weights the probability of immigration success depending on trait values, while the descendants of established immigrants undergo neutral stochastic drift. The reference pool can be defined in a flexible way as representing, e.g. the composition of a broad biogeographical region, or available dispersers around local communities. The package provides a process‐based alternative to the use of randomization‐based null models. The package proposes a coalescent‐based simulation algorithm that presents significant advantages over alternative algorithms. It does not require simulating community dynamics from an initial state forward in time but does still allow measurement of the influence of environmental filtering. Because of its high calculation speed, this approach allows simulating many communities within a reasonable amount of time. Diverse patterns of taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic compositions can be generated. The package can be used to explore the outcome of ecological and evolutionary processes playing at local and regional scales, and to estimate the parameters of these processes based on observed patterns.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

ecolottery: Simulating and assessing community assembly with environmental filtering and neutral dynamics inR

et al. 2017

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“…Despite this range reduction, we found a global divergence (higher CWV) of strategies along to the WES in the wet landscape compared to community level randomization of traits values. Competitive interactions and resulting niche differentiation could thus play a role in driving community assembly in areas with higher precipitation (Perronne et al., ). Although we found a significant shift in mean trait values for the WES along the topographic wetness gradient, the variation was weaker than in the dry landscape, and there was no variation of mean wood density along the gradient.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Understanding how the functional composition of communities responds to multiscale drivers remains a key challenge in ecology (de Bello et al., ; Kraft & Ackerly, ; Messier, McGill, Enquist, & Lechowicz, ; Perronne, Munoz, Borgy, Reboud, & Gaba, ). Water availability is of major importance for plant ecology (Allen et al., ; Anderegg et al., ; Sevanto, Mcdowell, Dickman, Pangle, & Pockman, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional rainfall and local topography jointly drive tree community assembly in lowland tropical forests of New Caledonia

Blanchard

Munoz

Ibanez

et al. 2019

J Vegetation Science

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Aim To understand how variations in precipitation and topographic wetness influence tree community assembly at both regional and landscape scales in tropical forests. Location New Caledonia (SW Pacific). Methods We sampled 40 tree communities in 0.04‐ha plots laid along topographic gradients within two landscapes with contrasting precipitation. Within a dry (<1,400 mm/year) and a wet (>2,500 mm/year) landscape we used the Topographic Wetness Index (TWI) to sample communities in topographic position with low (e.g., ridges) and high (e.g., valleys) water accumulation. For each sampled species, we measured five functional traits involved in drought resistance and resource acquisition (wood density, leaf area, leaf specific area, leaf dry matter content, and leaf thickness). We first examined trait covariation across species. We then analysed how the functional composition of communities varied between landscapes (according to precipitation) and within landscapes (according to TWI), using trait‐based statistics and null models. Results We identified two ecological trade‐offs driving trait variation across species: (i) one opposing high hydraulic efficiency to drought resistance, related to a wood economic spectrum; and (ii) the other opposing resource acquisition to resource conservation, related to a leaf economic spectrum. Across landscapes, species with drought resistance strategies were favoured at lower precipitation. Within landscapes, drought resistant species were selected under low TWI in the dry landscape, while low TWI increased the abundance of species with conservative strategies in the wet landscape. Conclusions Precipitation and topography jointly shape the functional composition of tree communities. At low precipitation, hydric constraints prevailed on ridges and upslopes by filtering drought resistant strategies along the wood economic spectrum. Contrastingly, higher precipitation relaxed the hydric constraints and resource availability became a primary driver of changing strategies along the leaf economic spectrum. Thus, the landscape scale influence of topography on processes driving community assembly and functional composition critically depends on the regional climatic context.

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“…This result indicated that a strong selection for VH (trait convergence) occurred at both high and low elevations, but for opposite sizes (i.e., small at high elevation, tall at low elevation). Dominance of the best competitors for light in productive habitats is often reported (Perronne, Munoz, Borgy, Reboud, & Gaba, ), and the advantage of short stature in the alpine/nival belt (high elevation) to allow thermic decoupling from atmospheric conditions is well‐documented (Körner, ). For SLA, the primary influence of elevation on habitat filtering was for selecting high SLA species towards lower elevations and low SLA species towards higher elevations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disentangling the processes driving plant assemblages in mountain grasslands across spatial scales and environmental gradients

et al. 2018

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Habitat filtering and limiting similarity are well‐documented ecological assembly processes that hierarchically filter species across spatial scales, from a regional pool to local assemblages. However, information on the effects of fine‐scale spatial partitioning of species, working as an additional mechanism of coexistence, on community patterns is much scarcer. In this study, we quantified the importance of fine‐scale spatial partitioning, relative to habitat filtering and limiting similarity in structuring grassland communities in the western Swiss Alps. To do so, 298 vegetation plots (2 m × 2 m) each with five nested subplots (20 cm × 20 cm) were used for trait‐based assembly tests (i.e., comparisons with several alternative null expectations), examining the observed plot and subplot level α‐diversity (indicating habitat filtering and limiting similarity) and the among‐subplot β‐diversity of traits (indicating fine‐scale spatial partitioning). We further assessed variations in the detected signatures of these assembly processes along a set of environmental gradients. We found habitat filtering was the dominating assembly process at the plot level with diminished effect at the subplot level, whereas limiting similarity prevailed at the subplot level with weaker average effect at the plot level. Plot‐level limiting similarity was positively correlated with fine‐scale partitioning, suggesting that the trait divergence resulted from a combination of competitive exclusion between functionally similar species and environmental micro‐heterogeneities. Overall, signatures of assembly processes only marginally changed along environmental gradients, but the observed trends were more prominent at the plot than at the subplot scale. Synthesis. Our study emphasises the importance of considering multiple assembly processes and traits simultaneously across spatial scales and environmental gradients to understand the complex drivers of plant community composition.

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How to design trait-based analyses of community assembly mechanisms: Insights and guidelines from a literature review

Cited by 64 publications

References 132 publications

ecolottery: Simulating and assessing community assembly with environmental filtering and neutral dynamics inR

ecolottery: Simulating and assessing community assembly with environmental filtering and neutral dynamics inR

Regional rainfall and local topography jointly drive tree community assembly in lowland tropical forests of New Caledonia

Disentangling the processes driving plant assemblages in mountain grasslands across spatial scales and environmental gradients

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