Trait-Based Community Assembly along an Elevational Gradient in Subalpine Forests: Quantifying the Roles of Environmental Factors in Inter- and Intraspecific Variability
Luo, Ya-Huang1,2,3,4; Liu, Jie2; Tan, Shao-Lin2,4; Cadotte, Marc William5,6; Wang, Yue-Hua1; Xu, Kun7; Li, De-Zhu2,3; Gao, Lian-Ming2
2016-05-18
Source PublicationPLOS ONE
Volume11Issue:5
AbstractUnderstanding how communities respond to environmental variation is a central goal in ecology. Plant communities respond to environmental gradients via intraspecific and/or interspecific variation in plant functional traits. However, the relative contribution of these two responses to environmental factors remains poorly tested. We measured six functional traits (height, leaf thickness, specific leaf area (SLA), leaf carbon concentration (LCC), leaf nitrogen concentration (LNC) and leaf phosphorus concentration (LPC)) for 55 tree species occurring at five elevations across a 1200 m elevational gradient of subalpine forests in Yulong Mountain, Southwest China. We examined the relative contribution of interspecific and intraspecific traits variability based on community weighted mean trait values and functional diversity, and tested how different components of trait variation respond to different environmental axes (climate and soil variables). Species turnover explained the largest amount of variation in leaf morphological traits (leaf thickness and SLA) across the elevational gradient. However, intraspecific variability explained a large amount of variation (49.3%-76.3%) in three other traits (height, LNC and LPC) despite high levels of species turnover. The detection of limiting similarity in community assembly was improved when accounting for both intraspecific and interspecific variability. Different components of trait variation respond to different environmental axes, especially soil water content and climatic variables. Our results indicate that intraspecific variation is critical for understanding community assembly and evaluating community response to environmental change.
DOI10.1371/journal.pone.0155749
Indexed BySCI
Language英语
WOS IDWOS:000376286100088
Citation statistics
Document Type期刊论文
Identifierhttp://ir.kib.ac.cn/handle/151853/26258
Collection中国科学院东亚植物多样性与生物地理学重点实验室
Affiliation1.Yunnan Univ, Sch Life Sci, Kunming, Peoples R China
2.Chinese Acad Sci, Kunming Inst Bot, Key Lab Plant Divers & Biogeog East Asia, Kunming, Peoples R China
3.Chinese Acad Sci, Kunming Inst Bot, Germplasm Bank Wild Species Southwest China, Kunming, Peoples R China
4.Univ Chinese Acad Sci, Beijing, Peoples R China
5.Univ Toronto, Univ Toronto Scarborough & Ecol & Evolutionary Bi, Biol Sci, Toronto, ON, Canada
6.Sun Yat Sen Univ, Key Lab Biodivers Dynam & Conservat Guangdong, State Key Lab Biocontrol, Higher Educ Inst,Coll Ecol & Evolut, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, Peoples R China
7.Chinese Acad Sci, Kunming Inst Bot, Lijiang Forest Ecosyst Res Stn, Lijiang, Peoples R China
Recommended Citation
GB/T 7714
Luo, Ya-Huang,Liu, Jie,Tan, Shao-Lin,et al. Trait-Based Community Assembly along an Elevational Gradient in Subalpine Forests: Quantifying the Roles of Environmental Factors in Inter- and Intraspecific Variability[J]. PLOS ONE,2016,11(5).
APA Luo, Ya-Huang.,Liu, Jie.,Tan, Shao-Lin.,Cadotte, Marc William.,Wang, Yue-Hua.,...&Gao, Lian-Ming.(2016).Trait-Based Community Assembly along an Elevational Gradient in Subalpine Forests: Quantifying the Roles of Environmental Factors in Inter- and Intraspecific Variability.PLOS ONE,11(5).
MLA Luo, Ya-Huang,et al."Trait-Based Community Assembly along an Elevational Gradient in Subalpine Forests: Quantifying the Roles of Environmental Factors in Inter- and Intraspecific Variability".PLOS ONE 11.5(2016).
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