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Species versus genotypic diversity of a nitrogen-fixing plant functional group in a metacommunity

  • Original Article
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Population Ecology

Abstract

Exploring species and genetic diversity interactions provides new opportunities for furthering our understanding of the ecology and evolution of population and community dynamics, and for predicting responses of ecosystems to environmental change. Theory predicts that species diversity within communities and genetic diversity within populations will covary positively, because either species and genetic diversity interact synergistically or they respond in parallel fashion to common habitat conditions. We tested the hypothesis of positive covariation between species and genotypic diversity in a metacommunity of the species-rich southwest Australian flora. We hypothesised that the connection between genotypic diversity and species diversity is strong within functional groups, but weak or non-existent if the species considered extend beyond the functional group. We show that allelic richness of Daviesia triflora, an ant-dispersed pea, covaries positively with the species richness of six co-occurring nitrogen-fixing legume species. No pattern can be detected between allelic richness of D. triflora and species richness of ant-dispersed species when four non-legumes are added. We also show that genetic diversity of D. triflora is not governed by the same environmental factors that determine the presence of a group of large-shrub/small-tree species in the same metacommunity. This study shows that species and genetic diversity covariation are more likely to be confined to within, rather than between, plant functional groups.

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Acknowledgments

This is contribution CEDD30-2008 of the Centre for Ecosystem Diversity and Dynamics, Curtin University. We thank the Australian Research Council for funds (DP0556767) and Alex Devine for field assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Ecosystem Diversity and Dynamics, Department of Environmental and Aquatic Sciences, Curtin University, PO Box U1987, Perth, WA, 6845, Australia

    Tianhua He & Byron B. Lamont

  2. Kings Park and Botanic Garden, Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority, West Perth, WA, 6005, Australia

    Tianhua He

Authors
  1. Tianhua He
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  2. Byron B. Lamont
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tianhua He.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 3 as follows:

Table 3 Traits and rankings for 16 species recorded in the metacommunity
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He, T., Lamont, B.B. Species versus genotypic diversity of a nitrogen-fixing plant functional group in a metacommunity. Popul Ecol 52, 337–345 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-009-0184-y

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