Climate and forest loss interactively restructure trait composition across a human-modified landscape.

ABSTRACT: Traits determine species response to climate conditions and the match between phenotypes and climate mediates spatial variation in species composition. These trait-climate linkages can be disrupted in human-modified landscapes. Human land use creates forest fragments where dispersal limitation or edge effects exclude species that may otherwise suit a given macroclimate. Furthermore, stressful macroclimate can limit viable trait combinations such that only a subset of values of any given trait occurs with respect to another trait, resulting in stronger trait covariance. Because forest loss can compound climatic stress, trait covariance from benign to harsher climates is expected to be stronger in fragments compared to contiguous forests. In a wet tropical forest landscape in the Western Gha

SUBMITTER: Krishnadas M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9618670 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature