Community phylogenetics at the biogeographical scale: cold tolerance, niche conservatism and the structure of North American forests.

ABSTRACT: AimThe fossil record has led to a historical explanation for forest diversity gradients within the cool parts of the Northern Hemisphere, founded on a limited ability of woody angiosperm clades to adapt to mid-Tertiary cooling. We tested four predictions of how this should be manifested in the phylogenetic structure of 91,340 communities: (1) forests to the north should comprise species from younger clades (families) than forests to the south; (2) average cold tolerance at a local site should be associated with the mean family age (MFA) of species; (3) minimum temperature should account for MFA better than alternative environmental variables; and (4) traits associated with survival in cold climates should evolve under a niche conservatism constraint. LocationThe contiguous Un

SUBMITTER: Hawkins BA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3920643 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature