Multispecies coexistence of trees in tropical forests: spatial signals of topographic niche differentiation increase with environmental heterogeneity

Brown, Calum; Burslem, David F. R. P.; Illian, Janine B.; Bao, Lijun; Brockelman, Warren Y.; Cao, Min; Chang, Li‐Wan; Dattaraja, H. S.; Davies, Stuart J.; Gunatilleke, C. V. S.; Gunatilleke, I. A. U. N.; Huang, Jihong; Kassim, Abd Rahman; LaFrankie, James V.; Lian, Juyu; Lin, Luxiang; Ma, Keping; Mi, Xiangcheng; Nathalang, Anuttara; Noor, Supardi; Ong, Perry S.; Sukumar, Raman; Su, Sheng‐Hsin; Sun, I‐Fang; Suresh, H. S.; Tan, Sylvester; Thompson, Jill; Uriarte, María; Valencia, Renato; Yap, Sandra L.; Ye, W.; Law, Richard

doi:10.1098/rspb.2013.0502

Cited by 98 publications

(106 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Environmental heterogeneity, which manifests in difference in environmental conditions among sites, can lead to niche differentiation [43], and consequently to segregated co-occurrence patterns [44]. A positive relationship between environmental heterogeneity and the prevalence of segregated co-occurrence patterns was reported before [27].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complex relationships between species niches and environmental heterogeneity affect species co-occurrence patterns in modelled and real communities

Bar‐Massada

2015

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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ResearchCite this article: Bar-Massada A. 2015 Complex relationships between species niches and environmental heterogeneity affect species co-occurrence patterns in modelled and real communities. Proc. R. Soc. Species co-occurrence analysis is commonly used to assess how interspecific interactions dictate community assembly. Non-random co-occurrences, however, may also emerge from niche differences as well as environmental heterogeneity. The relationships between species co-occurrence patterns, environmental heterogeneity and species niches are not fully understood, due to complex interactions among them. To analyse the relationships among these patterns and processes, I developed synthetic community models and analysed a large dataset of tree species across the conterminous United States. Niche overlap and environmental heterogeneity had significant and contrasting effects on species co-occurrence patterns, in both modelled and real communities. Niche breadth, in turn, affected the effect sizes of both variables on species cooccurrence patterns. The effect of niche breadth on the relationship between co-occurrence and niche overlap was markedly consistent between modelled and real communities, while its effect on the relationship between co-occurrence and environmental heterogeneity was mostly consistent between real and modelled data. The results of this analysis highlight the complex and interactive effects of species niche overlap, niche breadth and environmental heterogeneity on species co-occurrence patterns. Therefore, inferring ecological processes from co-occurrence patterns without accounting for these fundamental characteristics of species and environments may lead to biased conclusions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complex relationships between species niches and environmental heterogeneity affect species co-occurrence patterns in modelled and real communities

Bar‐Massada

2015

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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“…,b; Brown et al. ), suggesting scale dependency in niche partitioning related to edaphic conditions. Our results also hint at an interaction between soil type and rainfall.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…,b; Brown et al. ). Furthermore, plants exhibit functional differences in response to temperature (Moles et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental gradients structure tropical tree assemblages at the regional scale

Krishnadas

Kumar

Comita

2016

J Vegetation Science

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Questions Environmental filtering and niche differences influence assembly of tree communities at multiple spatial scales. At regional scales, determining the environmental variables that primarily influence compositional variation in species assemblages reveals ecologically relevant habitat types for conservation. Strength of species’ association with these habitats and differences in species occurrence along environmental gradients lend credence to niche‐based assembly and help estimate responses of tree communities to natural or human‐mediated environmental change. Location Western Ghats, India. Methods We analysed an openly available data set of ca. 62 000 trees (>10 cm DBH) in 96 1‐ha plots across a 22 000 km2 landscape, using multivariate regression trees (MRT) to identify compositional groups related to combinations of temperature, rainfall and soil type. Next, we conducted indicator species analysis to assess species associations with habitats. We then compared species richness and diversity among habitats. Finally, to discern niche overlap we assessed pair‐wise differences between species in their abundance distributions along environmental gradients. Results Environmental gradients clearly influenced landscape‐scale tree assemblages in this region. Nine ecological habitat types were identified: annual rainfall was the most important variable driving compositional differences, followed by temperature, seasonality and soils. Approximately 17% of 398 species tested were associated with single habitats. Number of species associations and local diversity varied significantly among habitats. Between 29 and 50% of species pairs showed significant differences in their distributions along environmental gradients considered. Conclusions Relating compositionally defined tree assemblages to combinations of abiotic variables allows ecologically robust recognition of habitat types for conservation planning. Compositional differences structured by annual rainfall and temperature suggests that climate change can impact species persistence and tree community composition in the Western Ghats. Specifically, future research should assess drought response of forests by examining recruitment and survival of species in different combinations of rainfall, temperature and human disturbances.

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“…These are the same basic variables used by other studies that reported compelling effects of habitat characteristics on tree species' distributions (Harms et al 2001, Bohlman et al 2008, Bagchi et al 2011, Brown et al 2013, Ledo et al 2013. For habitat specialization, we used a set of topographical variables: elevation, slope, curvature, and aspect per 20 3 20 m quadrats throughout the plot.…”

Section: Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disturbance and clonal reproduction determine liana distribution and maintain liana diversity in a tropical forest

Ledo

Schnitzer

2014

Ecology

116

145

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Negative density dependence (NDD) and habitat specialization have received strong empirical support as mechanisms that explain tree species diversity maintenance and distribution in tropical forests. In contrast, disturbance appears to play only a minor role. Previous studies have rarely examined the relative strengths of these diversity maintenance mechanisms concurrently, and few studies have included plant groups other than trees. Here we used a large, spatially explicit data set from Barro Colorado Island, Panama (BCI) to test whether liana and tree species distribution patterns are most consistent with NDD, habitat specialization, or disturbance. We found compelling evidence that trees responded to habitat specialization and NDD; however, only disturbance explained the distribution of the majority of liana species and maintained liana diversity. Lianas appear to respond to disturbance with high vegetative (clonal) reproduction, and liana species' ability to produce clonal stems following disturbance results in a clumped spatial distribution. Thus, clonal reproduction following disturbance explains local liana spatial distribution and diversity maintenance on BCI, whereas negative density dependence and habitat specialization, two prominent mechanisms contributing to tree species diversity and distribution, do not.

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Multispecies coexistence of trees in tropical forests: spatial signals of topographic niche differentiation increase with environmental heterogeneity

Cited by 98 publications

References 53 publications

Complex relationships between species niches and environmental heterogeneity affect species co-occurrence patterns in modelled and real communities

Complex relationships between species niches and environmental heterogeneity affect species co-occurrence patterns in modelled and real communities

Environmental gradients structure tropical tree assemblages at the regional scale

Disturbance and clonal reproduction determine liana distribution and maintain liana diversity in a tropical forest

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