Shaping beta diversity in arid landscape through native plant species contributions: synergy of climate, soil, and species traits.

ABSTRACT: Understanding how species traits, climate aridity, and soil resources interact to influence beta diversity is critical for predicting changes in plant community composition. This study aims to investigate how these interactions shape species contributions to spatial turnover and beta diversity, focusing on the unique dryland ecosystems of the Saint Katherine Protectorate (SKP) in Egypt. To address this, we analyzed data from 84 vegetation plots, considering the direct and indirect effects of climatic aridity, soil resources, and species traits (e.g., plant height, leaf production, specific leaf area), as well as the relative abundance of C3 plants and phylogenetic diversity on species contribution to beta diversity (SCBDeff). Using Generalized Linear Models (GLMs) and Structural Equation M

SUBMITTER: El-Barougy RF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11950964 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature