Topography drives tree–habitat association and functional and phylogenetic structure in the northernmost tropical dry forest of the Americas

Editorial: Seasonally dry tropical forests: new insights for their knowledge and conservation

“…In SDTF, seasonality represents the main driver for many biological and ecosystem processes. Thus, water availability, largely mediated by temperature, precipitation, topography, and soil characteristics, is considered one of the main factors influencing niche partitioning and spatial organization of plant SDTF communities (Pennington et al, 2000;González-M et al, 2021;Prieto-Torres et al, 2021b;Quisehuatl-Medina et al, 2023). Understanding how species diversity varies through different micro-and macroenvironmental conditions and how species respond in functional and phylogenetical terms is currently a growing topic (Méndez-Toribio et al, 2017).…”

“…Understanding how species diversity varies through different micro-and macroenvironmental conditions and how species respond in functional and phylogenetical terms is currently a growing topic (Méndez-Toribio et al, 2017). For instance, variations in climatic conditions occurring at landscape scales can define the presence or absence of some species depending on their eco-physiological strategy to avoid or tolerate drought (González-M et al, 2021;Quisehuatl-Medina et al, 2023). Thus, considering that under climate change scenarios the marked dry season of the SDTF may become stronger or more widespread in the near future, SDTF may be facing changes in their vegetation structure and in their biodiversity in general (Souza e Silva et al, 2019).…”