Role of environmental filtering and functional traits for species coexistence in a harsh tropical montane ecosystem

Tameirão, Lucas Barbosa Souza; Caminha-Paiva, Dario; Negreiros, Daniel; Veloso, Maria das Dores Magalhães; Berbara, Ricardo Luís Louro; Dias, Luiz Eduardo; Pierce, Simon; Fernandes, Geraldo Wilson

doi:10.1093/biolinnean/blaa181

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…As expected by theoretical assumptions (e.g., Grime, 1977;Porembski, 2007) and confirmed by empirical surveys (e.g., Senna, 1993;de Paula et al, 2015;Aximoff et al, 2016;Tameirão et al, 2021), species that grow on rock habitats can better cope with environmental stress than with disturbance events (please see Box 1). For example, the lithophytes Trilepis lhotzkiana Nees ex Arn.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

Approaching inselberg biodiversity conservation through plant growth and dispersal strategies

Bondi,

Patreze,

Louro

et al. 2023

J of Sytematics Evolution

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Climate change is promoting global declines in plant diversity, which are expected to be more critical in islands or island‐like ecosystems due to environmental constraints and isolation. The species' vulnerability to climate change (VUL) depends on their ability to cope with changes or mitigate them. Therefore, we investigate the influence of growth and dispersal strategies of species from the Sugarloaf Rock Complex, Brazil, an island‐like ecosystem, on their niche breadth (NB), long‐dispersal (LD) capacity, and geographical range (GR). Besides, we evaluate the potential use of these strategies as indicators of species' VUL. We found that rock specialists exhibit narrower NB, lower LD capacity, and a more restricted GR when compared to other species. We also found that 63% of rock specialists are found in conservation red‐lists and they are more vulnerable to climate change than woody plants. Conversely, self‐dispersed plants are expected to be less vulnerable to climate change when compared to species with other dispersal mechanisms. Species vulnerable to climate change are 14 times more likely to be included in conservation red lists, and it might indicate that the species' VUL might also describe the species' vulnerability to other anthropogenic threats. Still, we suggest conservation attention on some species that are expected to be vulnerable to climate change but were not yet included in conservation red lists. We advocate for more efforts to ensure the conservation aspects of different functional groups in which inselbergs might not only offer isolation but also a refuge opportunity.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

Approaching inselberg biodiversity conservation through plant growth and dispersal strategies

Bondi,

Patreze,

Louro

et al. 2023

J of Sytematics Evolution

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“…These results were in agreement with other studies on rupicolous vegetation in environments with similar conditions such as granitic inselbergs (de Paula et al, 2015), ironstone grassland (Tameirão et al, 2021), and quartzitic rupestrian grassland (Negreiros et al, 2014). However, when compared to rupestrian grasslands (Negreiros et al, 2014;Tameirão et al, 2021), inselberg vegetation presents a greater variety of coexisting strategies. Only one species (S. convoluta) exhibiting a ruderality strategy, with the signature of 100% R-strategy.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Although the strategies vary between the C-and S-corner of the triangle, the functional characteristics of the species were conservative resource-use syndrome with low SLA and high LDMC values (Negreiros et al, 2014;Díaz et al, 2016;Reich et al, 2014). These results were in agreement with other studies on rupicolous vegetation in environments with similar conditions such as granitic inselbergs (de Paula et al, 2015), ironstone grassland (Tameirão et al, 2021), and quartzitic rupestrian grassland (Negreiros et al, 2014). However, when compared to rupestrian grasslands (Negreiros et al, 2014;Tameirão et al, 2021), inselberg vegetation presents a greater variety of coexisting strategies.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Diversity patterns, ecological niche models and biogeographic isolation in Neotropical inselbergs

Pinto¹

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The inselbergs ecosystem constitutes isolated rocky granite or gneiss outcrops, as terrestrial habitats islands, that emerge abruptly from their surrounding ecosystems, such as savannah and forests. They are characterized by extreme edaphic and microclimatic conditions, such as the scarcity of water and nutrients in the soil, few alternatives for fixing roots, seeds, and propagules, in addition to excessive exposure to wind, light, and abrupt daily thermal variation. Typically, old, climatically buffered, infertile landscapes (OCBILs) as inselbergs are hypothesized to be rich in species and endemics, low dispersability, and high clonality in many plants, as well as reduced extinction, marked palaeoendemism, small isolated populations, and adaptations to low-fertility soils. The combination of all these attributes has been a challenge for the understanding of patterns of taxonomic, ecological, climate, and biogeographical, restoration and conservation biology studies. Despite its importance in biodiversity, inselbergs are one of the more neglected and threatened ecosystems, which raises the urgency for conservation priority plans due to the current fast global climate and land-use change scenario. Thus, this study aims to understand the ecological process related to taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity of species at inselberg ecosystems, as well as evaluate the effects of climate change by ecological niche models and estimate the effects of geographic isolation on the phylogenetic diversity of plants through landscape connectivity models, to generate studies that can understand the rupicolous ecosystems associated with Brazilian Neotropical inselbergs and thus contribute to the maintenance and conservation of these ecosystems. Our results indicating differences in plant community structure and diversity among local and regional scale reveal higher taxonomic and functional β-diversity driven by higher taxonomic and functional turnover component, exhibits highly stress-tolerant and conservative functional strategies (CSR) showing the effect of environment on functional traits, extreme loss of suitable area, where all scenarios showed range contraction that can achieve losses up to 86.7% in the next 50 years and greater isolation between the northeastern and southeastern inselbergs core areas reflecting the joint-effect of isolation by resistance and environmental filtering. This pattern can create more isolated communities, composed by less phylogenetic diversity of closer species and functionally adapted to environmental conditions (impoverished soils andbuffered climate), supporting the OCBIL theory. Therefore, the ecological process that shapes the community assembly is linked to the scale effect, the pattern of taxonomic and functional β-diversity could result from a strong niche filtering process, while environmental-trait approach, functional strategies, and habitat suitability are drives by environmental filtering. On a landscape scale, the effect of biogeographical isolation is added to environmental filtering in inselberg ecosystems. We highlighting that the conservation strategies should be directed towards the protection of endemic and/or threatened species and the creation of protected areas with a focus on protecting mainly isolated inselbergs, as well as groups from each of the core areas. Finally, the implementation of mitigating actions through effective restoration strategies that minimize the effect of isolation between the central areas, and that take into account the maintenance of different phylogenetic lineages and the evident specializations of species for microhabitats of inselbergs. Keywords: Rock outcrop. Beta diversity. Functional traits. Landscape resistance. Connectivity. Biodiversity conservation. Atlantic Forest. Caatinga

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“…Functional aspects of campo rupestre plant communities have been receiving increasing attention, given the importance of understanding ecosystem functioning (see Caminha‐Paiva et al., 2021; Fernandes et al., 2020; Negreiros et al., 2014; Tameirão et al., 2021). Here, for the first time, we develop a multi‐life‐history‐trait approach to generate a plant functional type (PFT) system comprising campo rupestre plant species, in order to better understand how these communities are functionally structured (i.e., PFT composition and abundance).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Edaphic conditions affect plant life‐history trait syndromes in a tropical ancient biodiverse ecosystem

Gomes,

Renton,

Riviera

et al. 2023

Austral Ecology

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A functional approach to understand natural plant communities helps elucidate the dynamics of environmental filters and community assembly. Species classification into functional groups allows the translation of ecological complexity into simplified and applicable knowledge. Here, we developed a plant functional type (PFT) system to investigate whether functional structure (PFT composition and abundance) of plant communities varies between substrate types and plant physiognomies in an old climatically buffered infertile landscape (OCBIL), namely Brazilian campo rupestre. We sampled the herbaceous and shrubby vegetation and collected soil variables in four different plant physiognomies growing in quartzitic and ferruginous substrates. We classified the sampled species according to life‐history traits related to species persistence, reproduction, and biological interactions. Functional dissimilarity among plant physiognomies and the two substrate types and the role of soil factors affecting the dissimilarities were assessed. Pollination and seed dispersal syndromes, mycorrhizal association, and reproductive phenology were the main traits defining the PFTs. We found distinct functional structure between plant communities of different substrates and physiognomies, with a marked influence of chemical and physical soil factors. Also, we defined main PFTs profiles for each physiognomy, identifying core PFTs with basic combinations of traits, common to all or almost all physiognomies. The functional perspective proposed by this study provides applicable knowledge to the restoration and conservation of campo rupestre ecosystem, reinforcing the importance of habitat heterogeneity for maintaining its functioning.

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Role of environmental filtering and functional traits for species coexistence in a harsh tropical montane ecosystem

Cited by 10 publications

References 71 publications

Approaching inselberg biodiversity conservation through plant growth and dispersal strategies

Approaching inselberg biodiversity conservation through plant growth and dispersal strategies

Diversity patterns, ecological niche models and biogeographic isolation in Neotropical inselbergs

Edaphic conditions affect plant life‐history trait syndromes in a tropical ancient biodiverse ecosystem

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