Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Zou, Jia‐Yun
• Luo, Ya‐Huang
• Burgess, Kevin S.
• Tan, Shao‐Lin
• Zheng, Wei
• Fu, Chao‐Nan
• Xu, Kun
• Gao, Lian‐Ming

Titel

Joint effect of phylogenetic relatedness and trait selection on the elevational distribution of Rhododendron species

Ist Teil von

• Journal of systematics and evolution : JSE, 2021-11, Vol.59 (6), p.1244-1255

Ort / Verlag

Beijing: Wiley Subscription Services, Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2021

Quelle

Wiley Online Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Congeneric species may coexist at fine spatial scales through niche differentiation, however, the magnitude to which the effects of functional traits and phylogenetic relatedness contribute to their distribution along elevational gradients remains understudied. To test the hypothesis that trait and elevational range overlap can affect local speciesʼ coexistence, we first compared phylogenetic relatedness and trait (including morphological traits and leaf elements) divergence among closely related species of Rhododendron L. on Yulong Mountain, China. We then assessed relationships between the overlap of multiple functional traits and the degree of elevational range overlap among species pairs in a phylogenetic context. We found that phylogeny was a good predictor for most functional traits, where closely related species showed higher trait similarity and occupied different elevational niches at our study site. Species pairs of R. subgen. Hymenanthes (Blume) K. Koch showed low elevational range overlap and some species pairs of R. subgen. Rhododendron showed obvious niche differentiation. Trait divergence is greater for species in R. subgen. Rhododendron, and it plays an important role between species pairs with low elevational range overlap. Trait convergent selection takes place between co‐occurring closely related species that have high elevational range overlap, which share more functional trait space due to environmental filtering or ecological adaptation in more extreme habitats. Our results highlight the importance of evolutionary history and trait selection for species coexistence at fine ecological scales along environmental gradients. In this study, we explore the relationship between trait overlap and elevational range overlap of congeneric species in a phylogenetic context. Our results suggest that the joint effects of phylogenetic relatedness and trait selection contribute to the coexistence of Rhododendron species at fine spatial scales in the subalpine and alpine habitats of Yulong Mountain, China.