Disentangling environmental and spatial effects on phylogenetic structure of angiosperm tree communities in China.

ABSTRACT: Niche-based and neutrality-based theories are two major classes of theories explaining the assembly mechanisms of local communities. Both theories have been frequently used to explain species diversity and composition in local communities but their relative importance remains unclear. Here, we analyzed 57 assemblages of angiosperm trees in 0.1-ha forest plots across China to examine the effects of environmental heterogeneity (relevant to niche-based processes) and spatial contingency (relevant to neutrality-based processes) on phylogenetic structure of angiosperm tree assemblages distributed across a wide range of environment and space. Phylogenetic structure was quantified with six phylogenetic metrics (i.e., phylogenetic diversity, mean pairwise distance, mean nearest taxon distance, and

SUBMITTER: Qian H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5514081 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature