1. Species richness influences the spatial distribution of trees in European forests
- Author
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Andrea Coppi, Helge Bruelheide, Michael Scherer-Lorenzen, Raquel Benavides, Federico Selvi, Cristina C. Bastias, Bogdan Jaroszewicz, Daniel A. Truchado, Olivier Bouriaud, Teresa E. Gimeno, Fernando Valladares, Leena Finér, Marcelino de la Cruz, European Commission, Comunidad de Madrid, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España), and Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España)
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,plant-plant interactions ,intraspecific competition ,spatial point pattern, intraspecific competition, plant-plant interactions, stand structure, functional diversity, mixed forests, FunDivEurope ,Spatial distribution ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Intraspecific competition ,stand structure ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Ecology ,010604 marine biology & hydrobiology ,mixed forests ,intraspecifc competition ,Plant community ,Interspecific competition ,plant plant interactions ,15. Life on land ,functional diversity ,Phylogenetic diversity ,Geography ,Common spatial pattern ,Plant–plant interactions ,Species richness ,FunDivEurope ,Global biodiversity ,spatial point pattern - Abstract
The functioning of plant communities is strongly influenced by the number of species in the community and their spatial arrangement. This is because plants interact with their nearest neighbors and this interaction is expected to be stronger when the interacting individuals are ecologically similar in terms of resource use. Recent evidence shows that species richness alters the balance of intra- versus interspecific competition, but the effect of species richness, and phylogenetic and functional diversity on the spatial pattern of the plant communities remain less studied. Even far, how forest stand structure derived from past management practices can influence the relationship between species richness and spatial pattern is still unknown. Here, we evaluate the spatial distribution of woody individuals (DBH >7.5 cm) in 209 forest stands (i.e. plots) with an increasing level of species richness (from 1 up to 10 species) in six forest types along a latitudinal gradient in Europe. We used completely mapped plots to investigate the spatial pattern in each forest stand with point pattern techniques. We fitted linear models to analyze the effect of species richness (positively correlated with phylogenetic diversity) and functional diversity on tree spatial arrangements. We also controled this relationship by forest type and stand structure as a proxy of the management legacy. Our results showed a generalized positive effect of species richness and functional diversity on the degree of spatial clustering of trees, and on the spatial independence of tree sizes regardless of the forest type. Moreover, current tree spatial arrangements were still conditioned by its history of management; however its effect was independent of the number of species in the community. Our study showed that species richness and functional diversity are relevant attributes of forests influencing the spatial pattern of plant communities, and consequently forest functioning., CCB is beneficiary of a FPU grant funded by the Spanish Government (AP2010-5600). This research was supported by the FunDivEUROPE project, receiving funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement no.265171, the Spanish-funded project REMEDINAL TE-CM S2018/EMT-4338 and COMEDIAS FEDER/Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades – Agencia Estatal de Investigación/_Proyecto CGL2017-83170-R. RB was funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Intra-European fellowship (grant agreement no. 302445).
- Published
- 2020