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Functional Traits and Niche-based tree community assembly in an Amazonian Forest

Functional Traits and Niche-based tree community assembly in an Amazonian Forest. Kraft et al. 2008. Co-existence Theories. 1) Niche Differentiation. Soil 1. Soil 2. Co-existence Theories. 1) Niche Differentiation. Soil 1. Soil 2. Co-existence Theories.

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Functional Traits and Niche-based tree community assembly in an Amazonian Forest

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  1. Functional Traits and Niche-based tree community assembly in an Amazonian Forest Kraft et al. 2008

  2. Co-existence Theories 1) Niche Differentiation Soil 1 Soil 2

  3. Co-existence Theories 1) Niche Differentiation Soil 1 Soil 2

  4. Co-existence Theories 1) Niche Differentiation (anti-theory) • Environmental filtering Regional Species Pool Local Community

  5. Co-existence Theories 1) Niche Differentiation (anti-theory) • Environmental filtering Soil 1 Soil 2

  6. Co-existence Theories 2) Neutral Theory • Random events (dispersal / stochastic events)

  7. Predictions • Niche Differentiation -> all the plants in the sample rainforest have unique trait sets • Neutral theory -> all the plant traits in the sample area have the same set of traits

  8. Trait Choices?

  9. Trait Choices?

  10. Key Traits Productivity - Leaf traits • SLA – Specific leaf area • Nitrogen - fixation • Size - dimensions

  11. Key Traits • Fitness – seed mass

  12. Key Traits Plant strategies – Life form • Wood Density – growth vs strength/pathogen resistance • Maximum dbh – light capture and avoidance of browsing

  13. Experiment • Location – Yasuni Forest, Ecuador • Area – 25 ha plot with > 150,000 mapped trees • Measure – six key plants traits • Statistics – compare neutral theory (no differences) to observed plant traits.

  14. Results • Analyses found strong evidence for niche-based processes. • Mean traits values varied significantly compared to null model.

  15. Random effects • Adults in each quadrat exhibited stronger non-random patterns than saplings.

  16. Trait Differentiation What encourages niche differentiation: • Direct competition • Density-dependent process

  17. Conclusions • Using a functional trait approach, we have found evidence for niche-based processes having a stabilizing effect on biodiversity. • Supports a niche-based view of tropical forest dynamics in which subtle but pervasive habitat specialization/differentiation contribute to species coexistence. • Niche differentiation among species contributes to maintenance of diversity in one of the worlds most diverse tropical forests.

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