Climatic correlates of phylogenetic relatedness of woody angiosperms in forest communities along a tropical elevational gradient in South America

doi:10.1093/jpe/rtx006

Abstract

Abstract: Aims This study assesses the relationship between phylogenetic relatedness of angiosperm tree species and climatic variables in local forests distributed along a tropical elevational gradient in South America. In particular, this paper addresses two questions: Is phylogenetic relatedness of plant species in communities related to temperature variables more strongly than to water variables for tropical elevational gradients? Is phylogenetic relatedness of plant species in communities driven by extreme climatic conditions (e.g. minimum temperature (MT) and water deficit) more strongly than by climatic seasonal variability (e.g. temperature seasonality and precipitation seasonality)?
Methods I used a set of 34 angiosperm woody plant assemblages along an elevational gradient in the Andes within less than 5 degrees of the equator. Phylogenetic relatedness was quantified as net relatedness index (NRI) and nearest taxon index (NTI) and was related to major climatic variables. Correlation analysis and structure equation modeling approach were used to assess the relationships between phylogenetic relatedness and climatic variables.
Important findings Phylogenetic relatedness of angiosperm woody species in the local forest communities is more strongly associated with temperature-related variables than with water-related variables, is positively correlated with mean annual temperature (MAT) and MT, and is related with extreme cold temperature more strongly than with seasonal temperature variability. NTI was related with elevation, MAT and MT more strongly than was NRI. Niche convergence, rather than niche conservatism, has played a primary role in driving community assembly in local forests along the tropical elevational gradient examined. Negative correlations of phylogenetic relatedness with elevation and higher correlations of phylogenetic relatedness with elevation and temperature for NTI than for NRI indicate that evolution of cold tolerance at high elevations in tropical regions primarily occurred at recent (terminal) phylogenetic nodes widely distributed among major clades.

Key words: angiosperm woody plants, community assembly, environmental filtering, niche conservatism, niche convergence, phylogenetic structure, tropical South America

摘要：
Aims This study assesses the relationship between phylogenetic relatedness of angiosperm tree species and climatic variables in local forests distributed along a tropical elevational gradient in South America. In particular, this paper addresses two questions: Is phylogenetic relatedness of plant species in communities related to temperature variables more strongly than to water variables for tropical elevational gradients? Is phylogenetic relatedness of plant species in communities driven by extreme climatic conditions (e.g. minimum temperature (MT) and water deficit) more strongly than by climatic seasonal variability (e.g. temperature seasonality and precipitation seasonality)?
Methods I used a set of 34 angiosperm woody plant assemblages along an elevational gradient in the Andes within less than 5 degrees of the equator. Phylogenetic relatedness was quantified as net relatedness index (NRI) and nearest taxon index (NTI) and was related to major climatic variables. Correlation analysis and structure equation modeling approach were used to assess the relationships between phylogenetic relatedness and climatic variables.
Important findings Phylogenetic relatedness of angiosperm woody species in the local forest communities is more strongly associated with temperature-related variables than with water-related variables, is positively correlated with mean annual temperature (MAT) and MT, and is related with extreme cold temperature more strongly than with seasonal temperature variability. NTI was related with elevation, MAT and MT more strongly than was NRI. Niche convergence, rather than niche conservatism, has played a primary role in driving community assembly in local forests along the tropical elevational gradient examined. Negative correlations of phylogenetic relatedness with elevation and higher correlations of phylogenetic relatedness with elevation and temperature for NTI than for NRI indicate that evolution of cold tolerance at high elevations in tropical regions primarily occurred at recent (terminal) phylogenetic nodes widely distributed among major clades.

Hong Qian. Climatic correlates of phylogenetic relatedness of woody angiosperms in forest communities along a tropical elevational gradient in South America[J]. J Plant Ecol, 2018, 11(3): 394-400.

[1]	Wenqi Luo, Oscar J Valverde-Barrantes, Monique Weemstra, James F Cahill Jr, Zi Wang, Dong He, Yongfa Chen, Chengjin Chu, Youshi Wang. Leaf and root traits are partially coordinated but they show contrasting multi-trait-based community trait dispersion patterns in a subtropical forest [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2024, 17(1): 0-rtad045.
[2]	Shan Rao, Xin-Yu Miao, Shu-Ya Fan, Yu-Hao Zhao, Chi Xu, Shao-Peng Li. Seven-decade forest succession reveals how species colonization and extinction drive long-term community structure dynamics [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2023, 16(5): 0-.
[3]	Ling-Feng Mao, Yu-Ran Dong, Bing-Bing Xing, You-Hua Chen, Jacqueline Dennett, Christopher Bater, John J. Stadt, Scott E. Nielsen. Maximum canopy height is associated with community phylogenetic structure in boreal forests [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2023, 16(4): 0-rtac104.
[4]	Hua-Feng Wang, Xiaoting Xu, Xia-Lan Cheng, Yunpeng Liu, Ao Luo, Tong Lyu, Wen-Long Wang, Mir Muhammad Nizamani, Zhiheng Wang. Spatial patterns and determinants of Moraceae richness in China [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2022, 15(6): 1142-1153.
[5]	Lian Liu, Xiaoting Xu, Lei Zhang, Yaoqi Li, Nawal Shrestha, Danilo M. Neves, Qinggang Wang, Hong Chang, Xiangyan Su, Yunpeng Liu, Jianyong Wu, Dimitar Dimitrov, Zhiheng Wang and Jianquan Liu. Global patterns of species richness of the holarctic alpine herb Saxifraga: the role of temperature and habitat heterogeneity [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2022, 15(2): 237-252.
[6]	Alisson Borges Miranda Santos, Vinicius Andrade Maia, Cléber Rodrigo de Souza, Nathalle Cristine Alencar Fagundes, Fernanda Moreira Gianasi, Aurélio de Jesus Rodrigues Pais, Natália de Aguiar-Campos, Gabriela Gomes Pires, Diego Teixeira Girardelli, Jean Daniel Morel, Mariana Caroline Moreira Morelli, Felipe de Carvalho Araújo and Rubens Manoel dos Santos. Disentangling spatial, environmental and historical effects on tropical forest tree species turnover [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2021, 14(4): 717-729.
[7]	Ran Zhang, Zhaochen Zhang, Kankan Shang, Mingshui Zhao, Jiaxin Kong, Xin Wang, Yuzhuo Wang, Houjuan Song, Oukai Zhang, Xuan Lv and Jian Zhang. A taxonomic and phylogenetic perspective on plant community assembly along an elevational gradient in subtropical forests [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2021, 14(4): 702-716.
[8]	Yong Xu, Jia-Jia Liu, Hai-Ning Li, Juan Liu, Kevin S. Burgess, and Xue-Jun Ge. The effects of evolutionary and environmental variance on estimates of phylogenetic diversity in temperate forest plots [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2021, 14(1): 96-107.
[9]	Jinliang Liu, Yuchen Zhong, Lei Zhong, Boliang Wei, Shilu Zheng, Yuchu Xie, Yi Jin and Mingjian Yu. The asymmetric relationships of the distribution of conspecific saplings and adults in forest fragments [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2020, 13(4): 398-404.
[10]	David S. Pescador, José María Iriondo, Gianalberto Losapio and Adrián Escudero. The assembly of plant-patch networks in Mediterranean alpine grasslands [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2020, 13(3): 273-280.
[11]	Shuai Fang, Marc William Cadotte, Zuoqiang Yuan, Fei Lin, Ji Ye, Zhanqing Hao and Xugao Wang. Intraspecific trait variation improves the detection of deterministic community assembly processes in early successional forests, but not in late successional forests [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2019, 12(4): 593-602.
[12]	Xiaoqin Liu, Xiang Zhang, Lifeng Zhang, Yingnian Li, Liang Zhao, Shixiao Xu, Yubao Gao and Song Gu. Using functional trait diversity to infer community assembly mechanisms: an exclosure experiment as an example [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2019, 12(3): 448-459.
[13]	Mengesha Asefa, Calum Brown, Min Cao, Guocheng Zhang, Xiuqin Ci, Liqing Sha, Jie Li, Luxiang Lin and Jie Yang. Contrasting effects of space and environment on functional and phylogenetic dissimilarity in a tropical forest [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2019, 12(2): 314-326.
[14]	Maria Fabíola Barros, Bruno X. Pinho, Tarciso Leão, Marcelo Tabarelli. Soil attributes structure plant assemblages across an Atlantic forest mosaic [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2018, 11(4): 613-622.
[15]	Yingbo Yang, Jacob Weiner, Gang Wang, Zhengwei Ren. Convergence of community composition during secondary succession on Zokor rodent mounds on the Tibetan Plateau [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2018, 11(3): 453-464.