A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Functional biogeography of herbaceous assemblages along edaphic and climatic gradients in Amazonian forests
Authors: Figueiredo, Fernando O. G.; Moulatlet, Gabriel M.; Zuquim, Gabriela; Emilio, Thaise; Tuomisto, Hanna; Silveira, Marcos; Rodriques, Domingos; Costa, Flávia R.C.
Publisher: FapUNIFESP (SciELO)
Publication year: 2025
Journal: Acta Amazonica
Article number: e55bc24271
Volume: 55
ISSN: 0044-5967
eISSN: 1809-4392
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-4392202402712
Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: Open Access
Publication channel's open availability : Open Access publication channel
Web address : https://www.scielo.br/j/aa/a/ywSmFh3pZ4gXNbgDm7wKw6C/?lang=en
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/508461333
Self-archived copy's licence: CC BY
Self-archived copy's version: Publisher`s PDF
Soil, topography, and climate have been identified as strong drivers of functional composition turnover of plant communities, setting the dominant (“optimal”) community weighted mean (CWM) trait values. These same environmental factors may also affect disturbance regimes (e.g., the effect of soil fertility increasing tree turnover rates) as they create high-luminosity patches within dense canopy forest, promoting trait diversity, i.e. variance of the mean community trait values within and among communities. We analysed the drivers of functional trait turnover within and among 451 Zingiberales’ assemblages across Brazilian Amazonia, based on leaf mass per area (LMA), plant maximum height and seed size of 192 species. We detected functional turnover of the dominant assemblage trait values (given by the CWM) towards lower assemblage mean values of LMA, height and seed size, as soil fertility increased (higher sum of exchangeable bases) and local environments became wetter (bottomlands), in accordance with the expectations of the fast-slow growth trade-off along the whole-plant economic spectrum. Variability in seed size and plant height within assemblages increased towards lower topographic positions and low-nutrient soils, and the variance around dominant height and seed size values among assemblages increased towards bottomlands and regions with more seasonal climate. We conclude that, while soil and topography promote the filtering of a predictable functional composition, climate mostly promoted within and among-assemblage functional variance. Thus, it may be difficult to predict the effects of climate change based solely on the mean functional structure of Amazonian understory communities.
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Funding information in the publication:
We acknowledge the administrative and logistical support of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia (INPA), Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia do INPA, Programa de Pesquisas em Biodiversidade (PPBio), the Long-term Ecological Research Program (PELD), the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments (BDFFP), Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio), and Instituto Brasileiro Meio Ambiente e Recursos Renováveis (IBAMA). We acknowledge the following funding sources: Brazilian Program for Biodiversity Research - (PPBio), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) grant #47890820/2-1 (led by FC); CNPq (fellowship to F.F); CNPq-PPG7 grant (#556988/2005-1), FINEP/Projeto Integrado MCT-EMBRAPA (led by Ana L. K. M. Albernaz); BDFFP (grant to FF); Hidroveg Project - FAPEAM/FAPESP (#1428/2010 led by FC and Javier Tomasella). Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Finance Code 001; Academy of Finland grants #139959 and 273737 to HT; CLAMBIO consortium funded through the BiodivERsA 2019-2020 Joint COFUND Call on “Biodiversity and Climate Change” (Academy of Finland grant #344733 to HT); Independent Research Fund Denmark grant #9040-00136B to Henrik Balslev. This is publication number 883 of the BDFFP technical series.
