10.5061/DRYAD.772H7
Stark, Jordan
Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
University of Arizona
Lehman, Rebecca
Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
University of Arizona
Crawford, Lake
Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
Enquist, Brian J.
Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
Santa Fe Institute
University of Arizona
Blonder, Benjamin
Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
University of Oxford
Data from: Does environmental heterogeneity drive functional trait
variation? A test in montane and alpine meadows
Dryad
dataset
2017
National Science Foundation
https://ror.org/021nxhr62
EF-1065844
2017-05-05T14:37:18Z
2017-05-05T14:37:18Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.04311
12841885 bytes
1
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
While community-weighted means of plant traits have been linked to mean
environmental conditions at large scales, the drivers of trait variation
within communities are not well understood. Local environmental
heterogeneity (such as microclimate variability), in addition to mean
environmental conditions, may decrease the strength of environmental
filtering and explain why communities support different amounts of trait
variation. Here, we assess two hypotheses: first, that more heterogeneous
local environments and second, that less extreme environments, should
support a broader range of plant strategies and thus higher trait
variation. We quantified drivers of trait variation across a range of
environmental conditions and spatial scales ranging from sub-meter to tens
of kilometers in montane and alpine plant communities. We found that,
within communities, both environmental heterogeneity and environmental
means are drivers of trait variation. However, the importance of each
environmental factor varied depending on the trait. Our results indicate
that larger-scale trait-climate linkages that hold across communities also
apply at small spatial scales, suggesting that microclimate variation
within communities is a key driver of community functional diversity.
Microclimatic variation provides a potential mechanism for helping to
maintaining diversity in local communities and also suggests that
small-scale environmental heterogeneity should be measured as a better
predictor of functional diversity.
Leaf trait dataLeaf wet weight (g), dry weight (g) and area (square cm)
used to calculate leaf traits.Supplemental Data 1_traits.csvPlant height
and species informationSupplemental Data 2_height_sp.csvSoil moisure
valuesSupplemental Data 3_moisture.csvTemperature dataHalf-hour resolution
temperature data (degrees C) collected by iButtonsSupplemental Data
4_temperature.csv
Gunnison County Colorado
Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory