Phylogenetic community structure in Minnesota oak savanna is influenced by spatial extent and environmental variation

Willis, Charles G.; Halina, Marta; Lehman, Clarence; Reich, Peter B.; Keen, Adrienne; McCarthy, Shawn; Cavender‐Bares, Jeannine

doi:10.1111/j.1600-0587.2009.05975.x

Cited by 127 publications

(155 citation statements)

References 83 publications

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“…These results are consistent with those found in Serengeti plant communities and fern communities in Costa Rica, where there is greater phylogenetic clustering in stressful habitats (Anderson et al 2011, Kluge andKessler 2011). However, environmental gradients do not always lead to changes in phylogenetic community structure (Bryant et al 2008), especially in cases when community assembly is strongly dominated by one assembly process (Willis et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Habitat specialization and the role of trait lability in structuring diverse willow (genusSalix) communities

Savage

Cavender‐Bares

2012

Ecology

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Abstract. The co-occurrence of closely related species is challenging to explain because biotic filters are expected to limit the ecological similarity of species within communities. To investigate the mechanisms important in facilitating species' co-occurrence in diverse willow and poplar communities, we examined functional diversity and community phylogenetic structure along a hydrologic gradient. We focused on traits related to drought tolerance, leaf hydraulics, and recruitment, and examined species' phylogenetic relatedness and trait lability using a molecular phylogeny. Within habitats, species exhibited phenotypic clustering, and across the landscape, species distributions were correlated with their functional traits in a manner consistent with environmental filtering. With increasing water availability, communities changed from being phylogenetically even to being phylogenetically clustered. We suggest that this shift results from environmental filtering acting on conserved traits in wet habitats and labile traits in dry habitats. Taken together, these results suggest that environmental filtering is important to community assembly along the entire hydrologic gradient within this system. Although many of the traits important to habitat specialization in upland habitats are phylogenetically labile, species' habitat affinity is phylogenetically conserved overall, indicating that niche conservatism can occur as an emergent property despite trait lability. This study demonstrates the complementary nature of trait and community phylogenetic analyses and how these methods can be used to better understand the processes involved in community assembly along environmental gradients.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Habitat specialization and the role of trait lability in structuring diverse willow (genusSalix) communities

Savage

Cavender‐Bares

2012

Ecology

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“…the sampled site (Table 2, Table 3 in Appendix 1). Association patterns between phylogenetic clades and some types of habitats are not new in the literature (Swenson et al 2006, Willis et al 2010, Duarte 2011, Kooyman et al 2011, but in this study we observed that the clade-habitat relationships were recurrent across different vegetation types, regardless of the phylogenetic pool size used to evaluate that association. Basal clades (Magnolianae) were associated with forest areas, while clades of more recent diversification (Rosanae and Asteranae) tended to represent the forefront of forest expansion processes over grasslands in different phytogeographic regions in Southern Brazil (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Recurrent patterns of phylogenetic habitat filtering in woody plant communities across phytogeographically distinct grassland-forest ecotones

et al. 2015

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Abstract:The phylogenetic relationship among species may influence the mechanisms controlling local community assembly in ecological time. We analyzed the degree of recurrence of phylogenetic structure patterns in woody plant communities distributed along grassland-forest ecotones, across different vegetation types in southern Brazil, and the effect of phylogenetic pool size used to assess such patterns. Species frequency in quadrats distributed along grassland-forest ecotones was surveyed in different phytogeographic regions, where forests tend to expand over grasslands. We used principal coordinates of phylogenetic structure (PCPS) to evaluate the structure within vegetation quadrats divided into three habitat categories: grassland, forest edge and forest interior. Furthermore, phylogenetic structure measures were computed using different phylogenetic pool sizes. Our analyses showed consistent patterns in relation to habitat categories and to different phylogenetic pool sizes. Basal clades of angiosperms were associated with forest areas, while late-divergence clades were associated with grasslands. These results suggest that grasslands act as phylogenetic habitat filters to forest woody species, independently of species composition at each site and the phylogenetic pool. Rosanae and Asteranae act as vanguards of forest expansion over grasslands, while Magnolianae species tend to be restricted to forest. Our results shed light on the organization of ecological systems, providing evidence of recurrent phylogenetic structure patterns in ecotone plant communities at regional scale. Nomenclature:The International Plant Names Index.Abbreviations: PCPS -Principal Coordinates of Phylogenetic Structure.

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“…These results also emphasize that phylogenetic patterns are scale dependent (CavenderBares et al 2006, Willis et al 2010. At our large scale (yards vs. Cedar Creek), the drop in phylogenetic diversity with urbanization was clear; on the small scale (yards along the urban to exurban gradient), there was no clear trend.…”

Section: Phylogenetic Diversity Of Spontaneous Yard Florasmentioning

confidence: 55%

Phylogenetic and functional characteristics of household yard floras and their changes along an urbanization gradient

Knapp

Dinsmore

Fissore

et al. 2012

Ecology

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Abstract. Urban areas are among the most heavily managed landscapes in the world, yet they harbor a remarkable richness of species. Private yards are common habitats in urban areas and are places where cultivated species manage to escape cultivation and become part of the spontaneous species pool. Yards are novel ecosystems where community assembly is driven by both natural and anthropogenic processes. Phylogenetic diversity and functional traits are increasingly recognized as critical to understanding processes of community assembly. Recent evidence indicates that urban areas may select more closely related plant species from the pool of regionally occurring species than do nonurban areas, and that exotic species are phylogenetically clustered within communities. We tested whether phylogenetic diversity and functional trait composition in privately managed yards change along a gradient of housing density in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolis, Minnesota, USA, in accordance with these predictions. We also identified characteristics of the spontaneous yard flora by comparing its phylogenetic diversity and functional composition with the ''natural-areas'' species pool represented by the flora of nearby Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve. Along the urbanization gradient, yards had more species per hectare in densely built regions than in lower-density regions, but phylogenetic diversity and functional composition did not change with housing density. In contrast, in comparison to species in natural areas, yard species were more closely related to each other and functionally distinct: They were more often short-lived, self-compatible, and had higher specific leaf area than species of Cedar Creek. The high number of exotic yard species increased the yard flora's phylogenetic relatedness in comparison to species of Cedar Creek, causing a degree of phylogenetic homogenization within yards. The urban environment and homeowners' preferences select for trait attributes and phylogenetic lineages that can colonize and persist in yards. As yard species disperse beyond household boundaries, their functional attributes will affect ecosystem processes in urban environments and beyond, such as accelerating decomposition rates. Limited phylogenetic diversity may reduce the potential of ecosystems to respond to environmental changes. As cities continue to expand globally, understanding the impacts of yard management for biodiversity and ecosystem services becomes increasingly important.

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Phylogenetic community structure in Minnesota oak savanna is influenced by spatial extent and environmental variation

Cited by 127 publications

References 83 publications

Habitat specialization and the role of trait lability in structuring diverse willow (genusSalix) communities

Habitat specialization and the role of trait lability in structuring diverse willow (genusSalix) communities

Recurrent patterns of phylogenetic habitat filtering in woody plant communities across phytogeographically distinct grassland-forest ecotones

Phylogenetic and functional characteristics of household yard floras and their changes along an urbanization gradient

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