Patterns and drivers of plant functional group dominance across the Western Hemisphere: a macroecological re‐assessment based on a massive botanical dataset |
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Authors: | Kristine Engemann Brody Sandel Brian J. Enquist Peter Møller Jørgensen Nathan Kraft Aaron Marcuse‐Kubitza Brian McGill Naia Morueta‐Holme Robert K. Peet Cyrille Violle Susan Wiser Jens‐Christian Svenning |
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Affiliation: | 1. Section for Ecoinformatics & Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark;2. Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tuscon, AZ, USA;3. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO, USA;4. Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA;5. National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Santa Barbara, CA, USA;6. School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA;7. Integrative Biology, University of California – Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA;8. Department of Biology CB#3280, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA;9. CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS – Université de Montpellier – Université Paul‐Valéry Montpellier – EPHE ‐1919 route de Mende, Montpellier, CEDEX 5, France;10. Landcare Research, Lincoln, New Zealand |
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Abstract: | Plant functional group dominance has been linked to climate, topography and anthropogenic factors. Here, we assess existing theory linking functional group dominance patterns to their drivers by quantifying the spatial distribution of plant functional groups at a 100‐km grid scale. We use a standardized plant species occurrence dataset of unprecedented size covering the entire New World. Functional group distributions were estimated from 3 648 533 standardized occurrence records for a total of 83 854 vascular plant species, extracted from the Botanical Information and Ecology Network (BIEN) database. Seven plant functional groups were considered, describing major differences in structure and function: epiphytes; climbers; ferns; herbs; shrubs; coniferous trees; and angiosperm trees. Two measures of dominance (relative number of occurrences and relative species richness) were analysed against a range of hypothesized predictors. The functional groups showed distinct geographical patterns of dominance across the New World. Temperature seasonality and annual precipitation were most frequently selected, supporting existing hypotheses for the geographical dominance of each functional group. Human influence and topography were secondarily important. Our results support the prediction that future climate change and anthropogenic pressures could shift geographical patterns in dominance of plant functional groups, with probable consequences for ecosystem functioning. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2016, 180 , 141–160. |
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Keywords: | Anthropocene biodiversity biogeography boosted regression trees climate change disturbance macroecology model averaging plant functional groups vegetation modelling |
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