The Causes of Variation in Tree Seedling Traits: The Roles of Environmental Selection Versus Chance

Marks, Christian O.

doi:10.1111/j.1742-4658.2007.00021.x

Cited by 57 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 99 publications

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“…, Fajardo and Siefert ). A further consequence of this is that alternative arrangements of traits might be good solutions for a given environment (Marks and Lechowicz , Marks ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, if few fundamental trade‐offs operate consistently across species (e.g., biophysical constraints to achieve a given physiological function), then trait variance at the level of individuals and populations (across ecological scales) should be consistent across species. However, alternative explanations propose that co‐occurring species might achieve functional equivalence through different combination of traits resulting in different patterns of variance structure across species (Marks and Lechowicz , Marks ). In this case, traits will be connected through complex networks of trade‐offs that do not necessary result in the same (obligate) trait combinations across species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Does trait variation within broadly distributed species mirror patterns across species? A case study in Puerto Rico

Umaña

Swenson

2019

Ecology

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Although populations are phenotypically diverse, the majority of trait-based studies have focused on examining differences among species. The justification for this broadly applied approach is based on the assumption that differences among species are always greater than within species. This is likely true for local communities, but species are often broadly distributed across a wide range of environments and patterns of intraspecific variation might surpass differences among species. Therefore, an appropriate interpretation of the functional diversity requires an assessment of patterns of trait variation across different ecological scales. In this study, we examine and characterize patterns of leaf trait variation for species that are broadly distributed along an elevational gradient. We focus on seven leaf traits that represent a main axis of functional differentiation in plants reflecting the balance between photosynthetic efficiency, display, and stomatal conductance. We evaluated patterns of trait variance across ecological scales (elevation, species, populations, and individuals) and examined trait covariance at both within species and across species levels, along the elevation gradient. Our results show three key patterns: (1) intraspecific leaf trait variation for broadly distributed species is comparable to the interspecific trait variation, (2) the trait variance structure is highly variable across species, and (3) trait coordination between pairs of leaf traits is evident across species along the gradient, but not always within species. Combined, our results show that trait coordination and covariance are highly idiosyncratic across broadly distributed and co-occurring species, indicating that species may achieve similar functional roles even when exhibiting different phenotypes. This result challenges the traditional paradigm of functional ecology that assumes single trait values as optimal solutions for environments. In conclusion, patterns of trait variation both across and within species should be considered in future studies that assess trade-offs among traits over environmental gradients.

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“…, Fajardo and Siefert ). A further consequence of this is that alternative arrangements of traits might be good solutions for a given environment (Marks and Lechowicz , Marks ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does trait variation within broadly distributed species mirror patterns across species? A case study in Puerto Rico

Umaña

Swenson

2019

Ecology

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“…Thus, these different arrays of traits characterize alternative functional designs (i.e. multiple phenotypes) that may lead to similar responses to a given ecological factor (Marks & Lechowicz ; Marks ; Rosado & de Mattos ; Pivovaroff et al . ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the relative importance of CSR ecological strategies and integrative traits to explain species dominance at local scales

Rosado

Mattos

2017

Functional Ecology

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Summary Identifying ecological strategies based on functional traits has been one of the main focuses of studies on plant community assembly. Recently, an important and timely tool, ‘StrateFy’, has been proposed for detecting plant strategies across the globe according to the CSR scheme. The CSR scheme is undeniably efficient across scales, and distinct CSR strategies among species have been proposed to explain differing degrees of dominance among species. However, in a previous study we showed that dominance ranking of woody species in a resource‐poor habitat (coastal sandy plain) was not explained by morphological traits commonly measured in functional approaches (such as those used to estimate CSR strategies), but by integrative traits (i.e. traits that are the result of different combinations of functional traits) more related to plant performance. Here, we used CSR analysis and StrateFy on a dataset collected on a coastal sandy plain to test the hypothesis that the dominance ranking would be compatible with the CSR strategies; that is, that dominant species would show a greater proportion of the stress‐tolerance strategy (S%) than subordinate species. Contrary to our hypothesis, all species exhibited an S/CS strategy, and the most dominant species had neither similar values nor the highest S%. The inability of CSR analysis (as applied using StrateFy) to predict dominance ranking suggests that it can explain relative dominance when different strategies co‐occur, but not in cases where dominant and subordinate plants share the same strategy. We argue that the relative importance of CSR and integrative traits for describing dominance ranking may depend on how CSR strategies are filtered in each environment. In environments where only a narrow range of strategy classes are viable, integrative traits may be more important for explaining variation in degrees of dominance. Thus, the ability of a given species to achieve dominance may depend on integrative traits resulting from multiple trait arrays, not necessarily captured by the specific leaf area, leaf dry mass content and leaf area measurements that are used to calculate the relative proportions of strategies in StrateFy. A http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12894/suppinfo is available for this article.

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“…For many, convergence derives from frequent and independent adaptations and thereby points to the importance of ecological factors during evolution (Sinclair et al 2003;Langerhans & DeWitt 2004;Zhang 2006;Marks 2007). In this view, convergent evolution indicates the limits of potential evolutionary pathways, such that different evolutionary trajectories resulted in similar solutions to the same ecological problem.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, Morris (2003) used convergent evolution as evidence for directed evolution resulting in similar endpoints, although this teleological view has been criticized (Lenski 2003). Convergent evolution may also be a product of chance, as there can be more than one optimum for a trait (Gould & Lewontin 1979;Doolittle 1981;Gould 1989;Zhang & Kumar 1997;Marks 2007). An ecological challenge could have been solved in a similar way by two or more species through chance alone.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple convergent evolution of arboreal life in oribatid mites indicates the primacy of ecology

et al. 2009

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Frequent convergent evolution in phylogenetically unrelated taxa points to the importance of ecological factors during evolution, whereas convergent evolution in closely related taxa indicates the importance of favourable pre-existing characters (pre-adaptations). We investigated the transitions to arboreal life in oribatid mites (Oribatida, Acari), a group of mostly soil-living arthropods. We evaluated which general force-ecological factors, historical constraints or chance-was dominant in the evolution of arboreal life in oribatid mites. A phylogenetic study of 51 oribatid mite species and four outgroup taxa, using the ribosomal 18S rDNA region, indicates that arboreal life evolved at least 15 times independently. Arboreal oribatid mite species are not randomly distributed in the phylogenetic tree, but are concentrated among strongly sclerotized, sexual and evolutionary younger taxa. They convergently evolved a capitate sensillus, an anemoreceptor that either precludes overstimulation in the exposed bark habitat or functions as a gravity receptor. Sexual reproduction and strong sclerotization were important pre-adaptations for colonizing the bark of trees that facilitated the exploitation of living resources (e.g. lichens) and served as predator defence, respectively. Overall, our results indicate that ecological factors are most important for the observed pattern of convergent evolution of arboreal life in oribatid mites, supporting an adaptationist view of evolution.

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The Causes of Variation in Tree Seedling Traits: The Roles of Environmental Selection Versus Chance

Cited by 57 publications

References 99 publications

Does trait variation within broadly distributed species mirror patterns across species? A case study in Puerto Rico

Does trait variation within broadly distributed species mirror patterns across species? A case study in Puerto Rico

On the relative importance of CSR ecological strategies and integrative traits to explain species dominance at local scales

Multiple convergent evolution of arboreal life in oribatid mites indicates the primacy of ecology

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