Intra‐specific relatedness, spatial clustering and reduced demographic performance in tropical rainforest trees

Shao, Xiao-Na; Brown, Calum; Worthy, Samantha J.; Liu, Lu; Cao, Min; Li, Qiao-Ming; Lin, Luxiang; Swenson, Nathan G.

doi:10.1111/ele.13086

Cited by 20 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…The higher local effect of stem abundance on species richness in tropical than in temperate forests may also be amplified by significantly higher conspecific negative density dependence in the tropics (Shao et al . ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Direct and indirect effects of climate on richness drive the latitudinal diversity gradient in forest trees

et al. 2018

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Climate is widely recognised as an important determinant of the latitudinal diversity gradient. However, most existing studies make no distinction between direct and indirect effects of climate, which substantially hinders our understanding of how climate constrains biodiversity globally. Using data from 35 large forest plots, we test hypothesised relationships amongst climate, topography, forest structural attributes (stem abundance, tree size variation and stand basal area) and tree species richness to better understand drivers of latitudinal tree diversity patterns. Climate influences tree richness both directly, with more species in warm, moist, aseasonal climates and indirectly, with more species at higher stem abundance. These results imply direct limitation of species diversity by climatic stress and more rapid (co-)evolution and narrower niche partitioning in warm climates. They also support the idea that increased numbers of individuals associated with high primary productivity are partitioned to support a greater number of species. LetterClimate and the latitudinal tree diversity gradient 247 Figure 4 The effects of forest structural attributes on tree diversity derived from the within-forest plot structural equation modelling analyses. Panels a, b and c at the scale of 20 m 9 20 m, and panels d, e and f at the scale of 50 m 9 50 m. The effect of stem abundance on tree species richness showed a significant latitudinal trend at the scale of 20 m 9 20 m (panel b; P < 0.01, R 2 = 0.27). Standardised path coefficients AE 1 SE are shown; SE's are smaller than the size of the symbol for some forest plots. Colours indicate increasing absolute latitude from pink to turquoise.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Direct and indirect effects of climate on richness drive the latitudinal diversity gradient in forest trees

et al. 2018

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“…In addition to influencing species diversity, soil microbes that specialize within species could also help maintain genetic diversity in plant populations by favoring the recruitment of more distantly related seedlings near established plants. A recent observational study showed that seedlings near close relatives have reduced performance (29). Other studies show that the seedlings that establish near conspecific adults are not necessarily offspring, but instead represent a diversity of genotypes (30,31).…”

Section: Fraction Of Pathogens That Are Genotype-specificmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence of within-species specialization by soil microbes and the implications for plant community diversity

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et al. 2019

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Microbes are thought to maintain diversity in plant communities by specializing on particular species, but it is not known whether microbes that specialize within species (i.e., on genotypes) affect diversity or dynamics in plant communities. Here we show that soil microbes can specialize at the within-population level in a wild plant species, and that such specialization could promote species diversity and seed dispersal in plant communities. In a shadehouse experiment in Panama, we found that seedlings of the native tree species, Virola surinamensis (Myristicaceae), had reduced performance in the soil microbial community of their maternal tree compared with in the soil microbial community of a nonmaternal tree from the same population. Performance differences were unrelated to soil nutrients or to colonization by mycorrhizal fungi, suggesting that highly specialized pathogens were the mechanism reducing seedling performance in maternal soils. We then constructed a simulation model to explore the ecological and evolutionary consequences of genotype-specific pathogens in multispecies plant communities. Model results indicated that genotype-specific pathogens promote plant species coexistence-albeit less strongly than species-specific pathogens-and are most effective at maintaining species richness when genetic diversity is relatively low. Simulations also revealed that genotype-specific pathogens select for increased seed dispersal relative to species-specific pathogens, potentially helping to create seed dispersal landscapes that allow pathogens to more effectively promote diversity. Combined, our results reveal that soil microbes can specialize within wild plant populations, affecting seedling performance near conspecific adults and influencing plant community dynamics on ecological and evolutionary time scales. plant-soil feedback | Janzen-Connell hypothesis | species coexistence | community simulation | seed dispersal

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“…The uses of genotype information in plant ecology are broad including its uses in understanding the abundance, composition and diversity of herbivores and arthropod species (Crutsinger et al 2006), plant performance and coexistence (Crutsinger et al 2008;Shao et al 2018), and ecosystem services (Hersch-Green et al 2011;Zytynska et al 2011). One key aspect of genotypic data is potentially having the proportion of genetic variation which can be linked to functional trait variation and responses to the environment (Albert et al 2011).…”

Section: Genotyping and Genomicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional perspectives on tropical tree demography and forest dynamics

Worthy

Swenson

2019

Ecol Process

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Disentangling the processes that drive population, community and whole forest structure and dynamics is a challenge. It becomes a grand challenge in the tropics where there are a large number of species, small population sizes, less research infrastructure, and a relatively smaller number of researchers compared to the temperate zone. Tackling this grand challenge, we argue, requires detailed knowledge of the functioning of individuals and species. To this end, researchers frequently employ plant functional traits to study tree populations and communities. Here, we review this approach by first providing a basic background regarding the major trait axes generally of interest. We then discuss how these axes may be or have been applied from ecosystem to community and population studies. In doing so, we highlight where the functional trait research program has failed in tropical tree ecology and where it can be improved or strengthened. Finally, we provide a perspective regarding how functional trait and emerging 'omics approaches can be integrated to address large questions facing the field. Our intention throughout is to provide an entryway into this literature for an early career researcher rather than a comprehensive review of all possible studies that have taken place in tropical forests.

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Intra‐specific relatedness, spatial clustering and reduced demographic performance in tropical rainforest trees

Cited by 20 publications

References 37 publications

Direct and indirect effects of climate on richness drive the latitudinal diversity gradient in forest trees

Direct and indirect effects of climate on richness drive the latitudinal diversity gradient in forest trees

Evidence of within-species specialization by soil microbes and the implications for plant community diversity

Functional perspectives on tropical tree demography and forest dynamics

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