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Forest Ecosystems 2018, 5(4): 25 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40663-018-0144-0
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Functional trait and community phylogenetic analyses reveal environmental filtering as the major determinant of assembly of tropical forest tree communities in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot in India

Show Author's Information K.Nagaraju Shivaprakash1,2,3( ),  B. R. Ramesh4,  Ramanan Umashaanker5,  Selvadurai Dayanandan1,2
Centre for Structural and Functional Genomics, Biology Department, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke West, Montreal, QC H4B1R6, Canada
Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Sciences, 1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Montreal, QC H3A1B1, Canada
Suri Sehgal Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Royal Enclave, Sriramapura, Jakkur Post, Bangalore, Karnataka 560 064, India
French Institute of Pondicherry, 11 Saint Louis Street, P.O. Box 33, Pondicherry 605 001, India
Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India
Keywords:
Human disturbance, Functional traits, Phylogenetic turnover, Deciduous, Evergreen, Niche-based processes
Cite this article:
Shivaprakash K, Ramesh BR, Umashaanker R, et al. Functional trait and community phylogenetic analyses reveal environmental filtering as the major determinant of assembly of tropical forest tree communities in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot in India. Forest Ecosystems, 2018, 5(4): 25. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40663-018-0144-0
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Abstract Full text About this article
Background

Improved understanding of the processes shaping the assembly of tropical tree communities is crucial for gaining insights into the evolution of forest communities and biological diversity. The climate is thought to be the first order determinant of abundance and distribution patterns of tree species with contrasting traits such as evergreen and deciduous leaf phenology. However, the relative role of neutral, and niche-based processes in the evolution of these patterns remain poorly understood.

Methods

Here, we perform an integrated analysis of the data on tree species abundance, functional traits and community phylogeny from a network of 96 forest plots, each 1 ha in size, distributed along a broad environmental gradient in the central Western Ghats, India. Then, we determine the relative importance of various process in assembly and structuring of tropical forest communities with evergreen and deciduous leaf phenology.

Results

The deciduous leaf phenological trait has repeatedly evolved among multiple distantly related lineages. Tree communities in dry deciduous forests were phylogenetically clustered and showed a low range and variance of functional traits related to light harvesting, reproduction, and growth suggesting niche-based processes such as environmental filtering play a vital role in the assembly of tree communities in these forests. The external factors such as human-mediated disturbance also significantly, but to a lesser extent, influences the species and phylogenetic turnover.

Conclusions

These findings revealed that the environmental filtering plays a significant role in assembly of tree communities in the biologically diverse tropical forests in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot.


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Abstract
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About this article

Functional trait and community phylogenetic analyses reveal environmental filtering as the major determinant of assembly of tropical forest tree communities in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot in India

Show Author's information K.Nagaraju Shivaprakash1,2,3( ), B. R. Ramesh4, Ramanan Umashaanker5, Selvadurai Dayanandan1,2
Centre for Structural and Functional Genomics, Biology Department, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke West, Montreal, QC H4B1R6, Canada
Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Sciences, 1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Montreal, QC H3A1B1, Canada
Suri Sehgal Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Royal Enclave, Sriramapura, Jakkur Post, Bangalore, Karnataka 560 064, India
French Institute of Pondicherry, 11 Saint Louis Street, P.O. Box 33, Pondicherry 605 001, India
Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India

Abstract

Background

Improved understanding of the processes shaping the assembly of tropical tree communities is crucial for gaining insights into the evolution of forest communities and biological diversity. The climate is thought to be the first order determinant of abundance and distribution patterns of tree species with contrasting traits such as evergreen and deciduous leaf phenology. However, the relative role of neutral, and niche-based processes in the evolution of these patterns remain poorly understood.

Methods

Here, we perform an integrated analysis of the data on tree species abundance, functional traits and community phylogeny from a network of 96 forest plots, each 1 ha in size, distributed along a broad environmental gradient in the central Western Ghats, India. Then, we determine the relative importance of various process in assembly and structuring of tropical forest communities with evergreen and deciduous leaf phenology.

Results

The deciduous leaf phenological trait has repeatedly evolved among multiple distantly related lineages. Tree communities in dry deciduous forests were phylogenetically clustered and showed a low range and variance of functional traits related to light harvesting, reproduction, and growth suggesting niche-based processes such as environmental filtering play a vital role in the assembly of tree communities in these forests. The external factors such as human-mediated disturbance also significantly, but to a lesser extent, influences the species and phylogenetic turnover.

Conclusions

These findings revealed that the environmental filtering plays a significant role in assembly of tree communities in the biologically diverse tropical forests in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot.

Keywords: Human disturbance, Functional traits, Phylogenetic turnover, Deciduous, Evergreen, Niche-based processes

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Publication history
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Publication history

Received: 23 August 2017
Accepted: 04 June 2018
Published: 25 June 2018
Issue date: December 2018

Copyright

© The Author(s) 2018.

Acknowledgements

We greatly acknowledge the Sandeep Sen, PhD student from ATREE, Bangalore for his help in collating the molecular data and formatting the article. Authors thank the Karnataka Forest Department for permission to undertake the fieldwork in the central Western Ghats, India. Comments by two anonymous reviewers helped us improve our paper.

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