RT Journal Article
T1 Uncovering multiscale effects of aridity and biotic interactions on the functional structure of Mediterranean shrublands
A1 Gross, Nicolas
A1 Börger, Luca
A1 Soriano‐Morales, Sara
A1 Le Bagousse‐Pinguet, Yoann
A1 Quero, José
A1 García‐Gómez, Miguel
A1 Valencia Gómez, Enrique
A1 Maestre, Fernando
A2 Schwinning, Susan
AB 1. Habitat filtering (<HF, trait convergence) and niche differentiation (ND, trait divergence) are known to impact upon plant community structure. Both processes integrate individual responses to the abiotic environment and biotic interactions. Thus, it is difficult to clearly identify the underlying abiotic and biotic factors that ultimately impact community structure by looking at community‐level patterns of trait divergence or convergence alone.2. We used a functional trait‐based and multiscale approach to assess how biotic interactions and aridity determine the functional structure of semi‐arid shrublands sampled along a large aridity gradient in Spain. At the regional scale, we investigated functional differences among species (axes of specialization) to identify important traits for community assembly. At the community scale, we evaluated the relative impact of HF and ND on community structure using a null model approach. Finally, at the plant neighbourhood scale, we evaluated the impact of biotic interactions on community structure by investigating the spatial patterns of trait aggregation.3. The shrub species surveyed can be separated along four axes of specialization based on their above‐ground architecture and leaf morphology. Our community scale analysis suggested that the functional structure of semi‐arid communities was clearly non‐random, HF and ND acting independently on different traits to determine community structure along the aridity gradient. At the plant neighbourhood scale, the spatial distribution of species was also clearly not random, suggesting that competition and facilitation impacted on the observed changes in the functional diversity of shrubland communities along the aridity gradient.4. Synthesis: Our results demonstrated that HF and ND acted simultaneously on independent traits to jointly determine community structure. Most importantly, our multiscale approach suggested that competition and facilitation interplayed with aridity to determine this structure. Competition appeared to be constant along the aridity gradient and explained the high functional diversity observed in semi‐arid shrublands. Facilitation affected subordinate and rare species and, thus, may act to enhance the biodiversity of these ecosystems. Finally, the framework employed in our study allows moving forward from the examination of patterns to the development of mechanistic trait‐based approaches to study plant community assembly.
PB Wiley
SN 0022-0477
YR 2013
FD 2013
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/94902
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/94902
LA eng
NO Gross, Nicolas, et al. «Uncovering Multiscale Effects of Aridity and Biotic Interactions on the Functional Structure of Mediterranean Shrublands». Journal of Ecology, editado por Susan Schwinning, vol. 101, n.o 3, mayo de 2013, pp. 637-49. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12063.
NO AcknowledgementsWe thank K. Spellman, S. Schwinning and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on a previous version of the manuscript and the Spanish ‘Guardia Civil’ for their technical assistance during the field work. This research was funded by the European Research Council under the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC Grant agreement no. 242658 (BIOCOM) awarded to FTM. JLQ acknowledges support from the BIOCOM project. FTM acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministerio de Educación (‘Salvador de Madariaga program’, PR2010-0230) during the writing of the manuscript.
NO Ministerio de Educación (España)
NO European Commission
DS Docta Complutense
RD 10 abr 2025