A new approach to an old problem: how to categorize the habit of ferns and lycophytes.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Substrate preferences are often treated as species traits and are used to distinguish different habits, i.e. an epiphytic, lithophytic or terrestrial habit. Such a categorization, however, ignores substantial intraspecific variation. An approach that takes biological variability within a species into account is needed.

Methods

We focused on four large genera of ferns and lycophytes and found relevant information in >500 sources, such as online databases, checklists, floras and species descriptions. Translating textual information into a quantitative index, we quantified the propensity to grow on either substrate as a continuous trait for 1475 species.

Key results

Only a minority of species exhibited strict substrate fidelity, but a majority of them

SUBMITTER: Zotz G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10666995 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature