Ontogenetic shifts in habitat-association of tree species in a neotropical wetland
Aims We evaluated whether habitat association is consistent between two tree life history stages, young and adult, and whether spatial gradients explain species composition variation. Methods We investigated habitat association of tree assemblages using multivariate regression tree analysis (MRT). H...
| Veröffentlicht in: | Plant and Soil. - Springer Science + Business Media. - 404(2016), 1/2, Seite 219-236 |
|---|---|
| 1. Verfasser: | |
| Weitere Verfasser: | , , |
| Format: | Online-Aufsatz |
| Sprache: | English |
| Veröffentlicht: |
2016
|
| Zugriff auf das übergeordnete Werk: | Plant and Soil |
| Schlagworte: | Biological sciences Applied sciences Physical sciences |
| Zusammenfassung: | Aims We evaluated whether habitat association is consistent between two tree life history stages, young and adult, and whether spatial gradients explain species composition variation. Methods We investigated habitat association of tree assemblages using multivariate regression tree analysis (MRT). Habitat preference was assayed using indicator species analysis. We addressed the contribution of pure environment (i.e. habitat), spatially structured environment and pure space on species composition variation using variation partitioning by partial redundancy analysis (pRDA). Principal coordinates of neighbor matrices (PCNM) were used to produce spatial regressors. Results Habitat association changed during plant ontogeny. Flooding depth explained differences in species composition at young tree stages. Distribution pattern of adult trees was explained by spatial variation in soil fertility. Pure space explained a higher fraction of community variability of young trees (16 %) than habitat (5 %). In contrast, adult trees were structured mostly by habitat (10 %). Conclusions Niche expansion was observed along tree ontogeny, with adult trees occupying a wider range of flooding conditions. The higher effect of pure space on young tree distribution highlights the importance of distance-dependent processes (e.g. dispersal) on the variation in community composition. The large unexplained component resulted from variation partitioning indicates that stochastic environmental events (e.g. climate histories) might contribute to explaining tree assemblage dynamics in the Pantanal system. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 15735036 |