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journal article May 16, 2017

Constraints on trait combinations explain climatic drivers of biodiversity: the importance of trait covariance in community assembly

John M. Dwyer ORCID Daniel C. Laughlin ORCID
Ecology Letters Vol. 20 No. 7 pp. 872-882 · Wiley
View at Publisher Save 10.1111/ele.12781
Abstract
AbstractTrade‐offs maintain diversity and structure communities along environmental gradients. Theory indicates that if covariance among functional traits sets a limit on the number of viable trait combinations in a given environment, then communities with strong multidimensional trait constraints should exhibit low species diversity. We tested this prediction in winter annual plant assemblages along an aridity gradient using multilevel structural equation modelling. Univariate and multivariate functional diversity measures were poorly explained by aridity, and were surprisingly poor predictors of community richness. By contrast, the covariance between maximum height and seed mass strengthened along the aridity gradient, and was strongly associated with richness declines. Community richness had a positive effect on local neighbourhood richness, indicating that climate effects on trait covariance indirectly influence diversity at local scales. We present clear empirical evidence that declines in species richness along gradients of environmental stress can be due to increasing constraints on multidimensional phenotypes.
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iScience
Metrics
99
Citations
78
References
Details
Published
May 16, 2017
Vol/Issue
20(7)
Pages
872-882
License
View
Authors
J
John M. Dwyer

School of Biological Sciences The University of Queensland St Lucia Brisbane QLD 4072 Australia; Ecosciences Precinct CSIRO Land and Water Dutton Park Brisbane QLD 4102 Australia

D
Daniel C. Laughlin

Environmental Research Institute and School of Science University of Waikato Hamilton 3240 New Zealand; Department of Botany University of Wyoming 1000 East University Dr. Laramie WY 82071 USA

Funding
Australian Research Council Award: DP1094413
Cite This Article
John M. Dwyer, Daniel C. Laughlin (2017). Constraints on trait combinations explain climatic drivers of biodiversity: the importance of trait covariance in community assembly. Ecology Letters, 20(7), 872-882. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12781
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