Plant trait assembly in species‐rich forests at varying elevations in the northwest andes of Colombia

Angélica Ochoa‐beltrán; Johanna Andrea Martínez‐villa; Peter G. Kennedy; Beatriz Salgado‐negret; Alvaro Duque

doi:10.3390/land10101057

Plant trait assembly in species‐rich forests at varying elevations in the northwest andes of Colombia

Angélica Ochoa‐beltrán, Johanna Andrea Martínez‐villa, Peter G. Kennedy, Beatriz Salgado‐negret, Alvaro Duque

Plant and Microbial Biology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Andean forests are home to a strikingly high diversity of plants, making it difficult to understand the main drivers of species assembly. Trait‐based approaches, however, help overcome some challenges associated with high taxonomic complexity, providing insights into the main drivers of species coexistence. Here, we evaluated the roles of climate, soil fertility, and symbiotic root associations on shaping the assembly of six plant functional traits (leaf area, specific leaf area, dry leaf matter content, leaf thickness, leaf toughness, and wood density) along an elevational gradient in the species‐rich northwestern Andean forests of Colombia. The two main axes of the correspondence RLQ analysis explained 95.75% of the variability. The first axis was associated with the leaf economic spectrum, while the second axis with the tradeoff between growth and survival. Furthermore, the fourth corner method showed that both regional (climatic variables) and local factors (soil fertility, symbiotic root associations, and light distribution) played a key role in determining plant trait assembly. In summary, our study emphasizes the importance of considering both individual size and local factors to better understand drivers of plant trait assembly along environmental gradients.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	1057
Journal	Land
Volume	10
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/land10101057
State	Published - Oct 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgments: We thank the Dirección de Investigaciones de la Universidad Nacional de Co‐ lombia Sede Medellín (DIME) and Johanna Martinez Villa for financing and facilitating the estab‐ lishment of monitoring plots. We also thank the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Re‐ search Institute for funding the trait measurement.

Funding Information:
Funding: Functional characterization was funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Re‐ sources Research Institute and Université du Québec à Montréal.

Funding Information:
Functional characterization was funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute and Universit? du Qu?bec ? Montr?al.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

Andean forests
Environmental drivers
Fourth corner
Functional traits
Mycorrhizas
RLQ

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10.3390/land10101057

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title = "Plant trait assembly in species‐rich forests at varying elevations in the northwest andes of Colombia",

abstract = "Andean forests are home to a strikingly high diversity of plants, making it difficult to understand the main drivers of species assembly. Trait‐based approaches, however, help overcome some challenges associated with high taxonomic complexity, providing insights into the main drivers of species coexistence. Here, we evaluated the roles of climate, soil fertility, and symbiotic root associations on shaping the assembly of six plant functional traits (leaf area, specific leaf area, dry leaf matter content, leaf thickness, leaf toughness, and wood density) along an elevational gradient in the species‐rich northwestern Andean forests of Colombia. The two main axes of the correspondence RLQ analysis explained 95.75% of the variability. The first axis was associated with the leaf economic spectrum, while the second axis with the tradeoff between growth and survival. Furthermore, the fourth corner method showed that both regional (climatic variables) and local factors (soil fertility, symbiotic root associations, and light distribution) played a key role in determining plant trait assembly. In summary, our study emphasizes the importance of considering both individual size and local factors to better understand drivers of plant trait assembly along environmental gradients.",

keywords = "Andean forests, Environmental drivers, Fourth corner, Functional traits, Mycorrhizas, RLQ",

author = "Ang{\'e}lica Ochoa‐beltr{\'a}n and Mart{\'i}nez‐villa, {Johanna Andrea} and Kennedy, {Peter G.} and Beatriz Salgado‐negret and Alvaro Duque",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgments: We thank the Direcci{\'o}n de Investigaciones de la Universidad Nacional de Co‐ lombia Sede Medell{\'i}n (DIME) and Johanna Martinez Villa for financing and facilitating the estab‐ lishment of monitoring plots. We also thank the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Re‐ search Institute for funding the trait measurement. Funding Information: Funding: Functional characterization was funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Re‐ sources Research Institute and Universit{\'e} du Qu{\'e}bec {\`a} Montr{\'e}al. Funding Information: Functional characterization was funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute and Universit? du Qu?bec ? Montr?al. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.",

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AU - Martínez‐villa, Johanna Andrea

AU - Kennedy, Peter G.

AU - Salgado‐negret, Beatriz

AU - Duque, Alvaro

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgments: We thank the Dirección de Investigaciones de la Universidad Nacional de Co‐ lombia Sede Medellín (DIME) and Johanna Martinez Villa for financing and facilitating the estab‐ lishment of monitoring plots. We also thank the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Re‐ search Institute for funding the trait measurement. Funding Information: Funding: Functional characterization was funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Re‐ sources Research Institute and Université du Québec à Montréal. Funding Information: Functional characterization was funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute and Universit? du Qu?bec ? Montr?al. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

PY - 2021/10

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N2 - Andean forests are home to a strikingly high diversity of plants, making it difficult to understand the main drivers of species assembly. Trait‐based approaches, however, help overcome some challenges associated with high taxonomic complexity, providing insights into the main drivers of species coexistence. Here, we evaluated the roles of climate, soil fertility, and symbiotic root associations on shaping the assembly of six plant functional traits (leaf area, specific leaf area, dry leaf matter content, leaf thickness, leaf toughness, and wood density) along an elevational gradient in the species‐rich northwestern Andean forests of Colombia. The two main axes of the correspondence RLQ analysis explained 95.75% of the variability. The first axis was associated with the leaf economic spectrum, while the second axis with the tradeoff between growth and survival. Furthermore, the fourth corner method showed that both regional (climatic variables) and local factors (soil fertility, symbiotic root associations, and light distribution) played a key role in determining plant trait assembly. In summary, our study emphasizes the importance of considering both individual size and local factors to better understand drivers of plant trait assembly along environmental gradients.

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Plant trait assembly in species‐rich forests at varying elevations in the northwest andes of Colombia

Abstract

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