Functional assembly of tropical montane tree islands in the Atlantic Forest is shaped by stress tolerance, bamboo presence, and facilitation.

ABSTRACT:

Aims

Amidst the Campos de Altitude (Highland Grasslands) in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, woody communities grow either clustered in tree islands or interspersed within the herbaceous matrix. The functional ecology, diversity, and biotic processes shaping these plant communities are largely unstudied. We characterized the functional assembly and diversity of these tropical montane woody communities and investigated how they fit within Grime's CSR (C-competitor, S-stress-tolerant, R-ruderal) scheme, what functional trade-offs they exhibit, and how traits and functional diversity vary in response to bamboo presence/absence.

Methods

To characterize the functional composition of the community, we sampled five leaf traits and wood density along transects covering the wood

SUBMITTER: Christmann T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8328411 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature