Regional gradients in intraspecific seed mass variation are associated with species biotic attributes and niche breadth.

ABSTRACT: Quantifying intraspecific trait variation (ITV) is crucial for understanding species local adaptation and regional distribution. Intraspecific seed mass variation (ITVsm) is expected to vary with environmental gradients or co-vary with related biotic attributes, but these relationships are not well known in a multispecies space. We performed interspecific and phylogenetic analyses to evaluate the relative power of three species biotic attributes and four niche breadth traits in explaining ITVsm variation for 434 eastern Qinghai-Tibetan species. We showed a positive relationship between species' ITVsm and their niche breadth in the light, moisture and disturbance dimensions, supporting the idea that high ITV allows species to match their traits to different habitat conditions and thus to di

SUBMITTER: Kang X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9128389 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature