Climate and soil attributes determine plant species turnover in global drylands.

ABSTRACT:

Aim

Geographic, climatic, and soil factors are major drivers of plant beta diversity, but their importance for dryland plant communities is poorly known. This study aims to: i) characterize patterns of beta diversity in global drylands, ii) detect common environmental drivers of beta diversity, and iii) test for thresholds in environmental conditions driving potential shifts in plant species composition.

Location

224 sites in diverse dryland plant communities from 22 geographical regions in six continents.

Methods

Beta diversity was quantified with four complementary measures: the percentage of singletons (species occurring at only one site), Whittake's beta diversity (β(W)), a directional beta diversity metric based on the correlation in species occurrences among spa

SUBMITTER: Ulrich W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4407967 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature