Abstract
Environmental gradients are known to drive changes in mean trait values, but changes in the trait integration strength across local communities are less well understood, particularly with regard to possible links with species richness variation. Here, we tested if climate, soil, and topography gradients drive species richness indirectly via constraints on trait integration in the Atlantic Forest of South America. We evaluated seven traits (from leaf, wood, seed, and plant size) of 1456 species occurring across 84 local communities. Generalized least square models and a path model were applied to test direct and indirect relationships. Correlations were higher between leaf traits (average r = 0.28) and lower when other traits were included (average r = 0.16). In line with this result, species richness was related to a multivariate index of interspecific trait integration (ITI) computed for leaf traits, but not to the ITI for all the seven traits. Abiotic gradients influenced species richness both directly and indirectly through the leaf trait integration. A total of 33% and 26% of the variation in species richness and ITI, respectively, were explained by the models, with climatic conditions showing higher contribution than topographic and edaphic factors. These results support a significant but reduced environmental selection role behind the trait-based community assembly and may suggest that other processes are involved in the constrain of trait integration at larger spatial scales. In addition, different directional trends in trait–trait relationships across local communities suggest that global trait relationships may not necessarily hold at local contexts.
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The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Funding
This work was supported by the Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro through a post-doctoral scholarship for JLAS [EDITAL ProPPG 003/2019] and by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico through Grants for APV [nº 302330/2019-4].
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JLAS, AFS, and APV conceived the ideas, the methodology, and wrote the manuscript; JS compiled and analyzed functional trait data. All authors contributed critically to the drafts and gave final approval for publication.
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Silva, J.L.A., Souza, A.F. & Vitória, A.P. Leaf trait integration mediates species richness variation in a species-rich neotropical forest domain. Plant Ecol 222, 1183–1195 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-021-01169-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-021-01169-7