Soil niche of rain forest plant lineages: Implications for dominance on a global scale

Abstract

Aim Why some lineages are species‐rich and widespread, while others are species‐poor and localized, is a fundamental question in evolutionary biology and ecology. Diversification and range expansion relate to lineage‐specific niche characters, but this link has seldom been quantified across multiple lineages and environments. This study explored the link between local dominance and soil niche in rain forest plants, and tested the hypothesis that local soil niche patterns can be used to predict the global diversity and occupancy of equal‐aged plant lineages. Location The study was carried out in Brunei Darussalam (Borneo) and projected worldwide. Methods Our approach involved the subdivision of vascular plants into the lineages found 120 Mya, a time preceding the explosive radiation of the eudicots. We quantified the representation of the 120 Mya lineages in different forest types associated with dramatically different soils, but sharing the same climatic conditions. The forest types included primary and secondary lowland rain forest, flooded and nutrient‐impoverished inland forests, and mangroves. Niche breadth and position, estimated from the soil types that a lineage occupied, were used to predict global diversity and occupancy patterns, after accounting for relatedness to the dominant eudicots. Results Despite marked differences in soil characteristics among the forest types, three eudicot lineages (Malvidae, Fabidae, Asteridae) were consistently dominant over the other 28 lineages present. A broad, intermediate soil niche, relatedness to eudicots, and the interaction between these factors were found to be strong predictors of global diversity and occupancy. Main conclusions We show that vegetation plot data from one of the world's most diverse regions (in terms of plant species richness and ancient lineage representation) can be used to successfully predict lineage diversity and occupancy on a global scale. However, because lineage dominance likely depends on the interaction between soil niche and above‐ground factors, including above‐ground niche features should improve the accuracy of predicting global distribution and diversity—particularly when explaining eudicot dominance.

Southeast Asia as One of World’s Primary Sources of Biotic Recolonization Following Anthropocene Extinctions

“…Southeast Asia also has one of world's most complete inventories of ancient plant lineages (Procheş et al, 2019), but the global mapping of more recent, mainly angiosperm, lineages is far from complete. There is also no information on how cosmopolitan plant lineages are represented there or elsewhere, which could help build an understanding of future plant community dynamics (Harrison et al, 2020), especially in the context of a changing climate.…”

“…Possibly even more importantly, the same region -South China and North Indochina -is also topping the charts when looking at the distribution of lineages sister to cosmopolitan lineages, possibly indicative of origination in this region (Figure 2). Broad geographic range also has the potential of being indicative of specific traits, such as dispersal, fecundity, and niche breadth (Laube et al, 2013;Procheş et al, 2019). This needs to be weighed against the age of lineages -even in the case of species, but more so with multi-specific lineages, as even less competitive lineages may be able to attain cosmopolitan status if given enough time.…”

Does biogeography need species?

“…Macroecological Compare lineages of the same age to see Compare lineages with similar application how traits affect their survival, distribution, distribution to understand how traits diversity (Procheş et al, 2019). affect the period of time necessary to achieve that distribution breadth (Procheş and Ramdhani, 2013).…”

“…space in a manner that is of regional or global relevance. problems) if cross-scale analyses are envisaged (Procheş et al, 2019). Zooming in to a finer phylogenetic scale, withinspecies lineages have been studied in a variety of ways, and are already contributing a lot to biogeography.…”

Plant Functional Niches in Forests Across Four Climatic Zones: Exploring the Periodic Table of Niches Based on Plant Functional Traits

“…Hutchinson proposed that the niche is a mapping of a space, with many axes that correspond to all possible environmental requirements of the species (e.g., temperature and nutrient supplies) (Hutchinson, 1957). Thus, numerous niche studies rely on environmental parameters related to species survival (Atwater et al, 2017;Procheş et al, 2019;Valdez et al, 2019). However, in natural communities, obtaining sufficient environmental niche axes for many species is hindered by practical constraints.…”