Community assembly along a soil depth gradient: contrasting patterns of plant trait convergence and divergence in a Mediterranean rangeland

• Published in: The Journal of ecology Vol. 100; no. 6; pp. 1422 - 1433
• Main Authors: Bernard-Verdier, Maud, Navas, Marie-Laure, Vellend, Mark, Violle, Cyrille, Fayolle, Adeline, Garnier, Eric
• Format: Journal Article Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Blackwell Publishing 01.11.2012; Blackwell; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Abundance; Agriculture & agronomie; Agriculture & agronomy; Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Assembly; Availability; Biological and medical sciences; Biologie végétale (sciences végétales, sylviculture, mycologie...); Coexistence; Communities; Community ecology; Convergence; Determinants of plant community diversity and structure; Divergence; Dry matter; Dry matter content; Ecological competition; ecological differentiation; Environmental conditions; Environmental factors; Environmental filtering; Environmental gradient; Environmental sciences & ecology; Filtration; Flowers & plants; Functional community structure; Functional convergence; Functional divergence; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Gradients; Grassland soils; Grasslands; Habitats; Human ecology; leaf dry matter content; Life sciences; Niches; Null model; Phytobiology (plant sciences, forestry, mycology...); Plant communities; Plant traits; Plants; Rangeland soils; Rangelands; Resource availability; Sciences de l’environnement & écologie; Sciences du vivant; seed weight; Soil; Soil depth; Soil ecology; Soil resource gradient; Soils; Species; Synecology; Trait-environment relationships; variance; Vegetation; MED; Community structure; Plant community; trait―environment relationships; Diversity; functional community structure; functional divergence; Depth; Convergence; Soil resources; Hypothesis test; Soils; functional convergence; null model; Statistical model; Rangeland; environmental filtering; Environment; determinants of plant community diversity and structure; Community; plant traits; soil resource gradient

1. Understanding how environmental factors drive plant community assembly remains a major challenge in community ecology. The strength of different assembly processes along environmental gradients, such as environmental filtering and functional niche differentiation, can be quantified by analysing t...