Environmental gradients and the evolution of successional habitat specialization: A test case with 14 Neotropical forest sites

S G Letcher; J R Lasky; Robin L Chazdon; N Norden; S J Wright; J A Meave; E A Pérez-García; R Muñoz; E Romero-Pérez; A Andrade; J L Andrade; P Balvanera; J M Becknell; T V Bentos; R Bhaskar; F Bongers; V Boukili; P H S Brancalion; R G César; Deborah A Clarke; David B Clark; Dylan Craven; Alexander Defrancesco; Juan M Dupuy; Bryan Finegan; Eugenio Gonzalez-Jimenez; Jefferson S Hall; Kyle E Harms; Jose Luis Hernandez-Stefanoni; Peter Hietz; Deborah Kennard; Timothy J Killeen; Susan G Laurance; Edwin E Lebrija-Trejos; Madelon Lohbeck; Miguel Martinez-Ramos; Paulo E S Massoca; Rita C G Mesquita; Francisco Mora; Robert Muscarella; Horacio Paz; Fernando Pineda-Garcia; Jennifer S Powers; Ruperto Quesada-Monge; Ricardo R Rodrigues; Manette E Sandor; Lucia Sanaphre-Villanueva; Elisabeth Schuller; Nathan G Swenson; Alejandra Tauro; Maria Uriarte; Michiel van Breugel; Orlando Vargas-Ramirez; Ricard A G Viani; Amanda L Wendt; G Bruce Williamson

doi:10.1111/1365-2745.12435

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Environmental gradients and the evolution of successional habitat specialization: A test case with 14 Neotropical forest sites

Journal article

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Environmental gradients and the evolution of successional habitat specialization: A test case with 14 Neotropical forest sites

S G Letcher, J R Lasky, Robin L Chazdon, N Norden, S J Wright, J A Meave, E A Pérez-García, R Muñoz, E Romero-Pérez, A Andrade, …

Journal of Ecology, Vol.103(5), pp.1276-1290

2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12435

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Abstract

determinants of plant community diversity and structure

functional traits

life-historyevolution

phylogeny

pioneer species

precipitation gradient

tropical dry forest

tropical wet forest

Successional gradients are ubiquitous in nature, yet few studies have systematically examined the evolutionary origins of taxa that specialize at different successional stages. Here we quantify successional habitat specialization in Neotropical forest trees and evaluate its evolutionary lability along a precipitation gradient. Theoretically, successional habitat specialization should be more evolutionarily conserved in wet forests than in dry forests due to more extreme microenvironmental differentiation between early and late-successional stages in wet forest. We applied a robust multinomial classification model to samples of primary and secondary forest trees from 14 Neotropical lowland forest sites spanning a precipitation gradient from 788 to 4000 mm annual rainfall, identifying species that are old-growth specialists and secondary forest specialists in each site. We constructed phylogenies for the classified taxa at each site and for the entire set of classified taxa and tested whether successional habitat specialization is phylogenetically conserved. We further investigated differences in the functional traits of species specializing in secondary vs. old-growth forest along the precipitation gradient, expecting different trait associations with secondary forest specialists in wet vs. dry forests since water availability is more limiting in dry forests and light availability more limiting in wet forests. Successional habitat specialization is non-randomly distributed in the angiosperm phylogeny, with a tendency towards phylogenetic conservatism overall and a trend towards stronger conservatism in wet forests than in dry forests. However, the specialists come from all the major branches of the angiosperm phylogeny, and very few functional traits showed any consistent relationships with successional habitat specialization in either wet or dry forests. Synthesis. The niche conservatism evident in the habitat specialization of Neotropical trees suggests a role for radiation into different successional habitats in the evolution of species-rich genera, though the diversity of functional traits that lead to success in different successional habitats complicates analyses at the community scale. Examining the distribution of particular lineages with respect to successional gradients may provide more insight into the role of successional habitat specialization in the evolution of species-rich taxa. © 2015 British Ecological Society.

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Title: Environmental gradients and the evolution of successional habitat specialization: A test case with 14 Neotropical forest sites
Authors: S G Letcher (Author) - Purchase College, United States
J R Lasky (Author) - Columbia University, United States
Robin L Chazdon (Author) - University of Connecticut, United States
N Norden (Author) - Fundacion Cedrela, Columbia
S J Wright (Author) - Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, United States
J A Meave (Author) - Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico
E A Pérez-García (Author) - Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico
R Muñoz (Author) - Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico
E Romero-Pérez (Author) - Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico
A Andrade (Author) - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Brazil
J L Andrade (Author) - Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, Mexico
P Balvanera (Author) - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Unidad Morelia, Mexico
J M Becknell (Author) - University of Alabama, United States
T V Bentos (Author) - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Brazil
R Bhaskar (Author) - Brown University, United States
F Bongers (Author) - Wageningen University, Netherlands
V Boukili (Author) - University of Connecticut, United States
P H S Brancalion (Author) - University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
R G César (Author) - University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
Deborah A Clarke (Author) - University of Missouri, United States
David B Clark (Author) - University of Missouri, United States
Dylan Craven (Author) - German Centre for Biodiversity Research, Germany
Alexander Defrancesco (Author) - University of Connecticut, United States
Juan M Dupuy (Author) - Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, Mexico
Bryan Finegan (Author) - Centro Agronómico Tropical para Investigación y Enseñanza, Costa Rica
Eugenio Gonzalez-Jimenez (Author) - Texas A and M University, Costa Rica
Jefferson S Hall (Author) - Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, United States
Kyle E Harms (Author) - Louisiana State University, United States
Jose Luis Hernandez-Stefanoni (Author) - Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, Mexico
Peter Hietz (Author) - University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Austria
Deborah Kennard (Author) - Colorado Mesa University, United States
Timothy J Killeen (Author) - Museo de Historia Natural Noel Kempff Mercado, Bolivia
Susan G Laurance (Author) - James Cook University
Edwin E Lebrija-Trejos (Author) - Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico
Madelon Lohbeck (Author) - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Unidad Morelia, Mexico
Miguel Martinez-Ramos (Author) - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Unidad Morelia, Mexico
Paulo E S Massoca (Author) - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Brazil
Rita C G Mesquita (Author) - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Brazil
Francisco Mora (Author) - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Unidad Morelia, Mexico
Robert Muscarella (Author) - Columbia University, United States
Horacio Paz (Author) - Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, Mexico
Fernando Pineda-Garcia (Author) - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico
Jennifer S Powers (Author) - University of Minnesota, United States
Ruperto Quesada-Monge (Author) - Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, Costa Rica
Ricardo R Rodrigues (Author) - University of São Paulo, Brazil
Manette E Sandor (Author) - University of Connecticut, United States
Lucia Sanaphre-Villanueva (Author) - Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, Mexico
Elisabeth Schuller (Author) - University of Connecticut, United States
Nathan G Swenson (Author) - Michigan State University, United States
Alejandra Tauro (Author) - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Unidad Morelia, Mexico
Maria Uriarte (Author) - Columbia University, United States
Michiel van Breugel (Author) - Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, United States
Orlando Vargas-Ramirez (Author) - La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica
Ricard A G Viani (Author) - Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico
Amanda L Wendt (Author) - University of Connecticut, United States
G Bruce Williamson (Author) - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Brazil
Publication details: Journal of Ecology, Vol.103(5), pp.1276-1290
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.12435
ISSN: 0022-0477
Organisation Unit: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Tropical Forests & People Research Centre; Forest Research Institute
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99450589802621
Output Type: Journal article

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