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Geographical shifts in the successional dynamics of inland dune shrub communities

Species' environmental requirements and large‐scale spatial and evolutionary processes determine the structure and composition of local communities. However, ecological interactions also have major effects on community assembly at landscape and local scales. We evaluate whether two xerophytic s...

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Autores principales: Chozas, Sergio, Chefaoui, Rosa M., Correia, Otília, Santos, Ana M. C., Hortal, Joaquín
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9935296/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36818530
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9828
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author Chozas, Sergio
Chefaoui, Rosa M.
Correia, Otília
Santos, Ana M. C.
Hortal, Joaquín
author_facet Chozas, Sergio
Chefaoui, Rosa M.
Correia, Otília
Santos, Ana M. C.
Hortal, Joaquín
author_sort Chozas, Sergio
collection PubMed
description Species' environmental requirements and large‐scale spatial and evolutionary processes determine the structure and composition of local communities. However, ecological interactions also have major effects on community assembly at landscape and local scales. We evaluate whether two xerophytic shrub communities occurring in SW Portugal follow constrained ecological assembly dynamics throughout large geographical extents, or their composition is rather driven by species’ individualistic responses to environmental and macroecological constraints. Inland dune xerophytic shrub communities were characterized in 95 plots. Then, we described the main gradients of vegetation composition and assessed the relevance of biotic interactions. We also characterized the habitat suitability of the dominant species, Stauracanthus genistoides, and Ulex australis, to map the potential distribution of the xerophytic shrub communities. Finally, we examined the relationships between the vegetation gradients and a broad set of explanatory variables to identify the relative importance of each factor driving changes in community composition. We found that xerophytic shrubs follow uniform successional patterns throughout the whole geographical area studied, but each community responds differently to the main environmental gradients in each region. Soil organic matter is the main determinant of community variations in the northern region, Setúbal Peninsula, whereas aridity is so in the South/South‐Western region. In contrast, in the central region, Comporta, the variation between S. genistoides and U. australis communities is explained mainly by aridity and temperature seasonality, followed by the individualistic responses of the dominant species and soil organic matter. Overall, these results indicate that, the relative importance of the main factors causing community‐level responses varies according to regional processes and the suitability of the environmental conditions for the dominant species in these communities. These responses are also determined by intrinsic community mechanisms that result in a high degree of similarity in the gradient‐driven community stages in different regions.
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spelling pubmed-99352962023-02-18 Geographical shifts in the successional dynamics of inland dune shrub communities Chozas, Sergio Chefaoui, Rosa M. Correia, Otília Santos, Ana M. C. Hortal, Joaquín Ecol Evol Research Articles Species' environmental requirements and large‐scale spatial and evolutionary processes determine the structure and composition of local communities. However, ecological interactions also have major effects on community assembly at landscape and local scales. We evaluate whether two xerophytic shrub communities occurring in SW Portugal follow constrained ecological assembly dynamics throughout large geographical extents, or their composition is rather driven by species’ individualistic responses to environmental and macroecological constraints. Inland dune xerophytic shrub communities were characterized in 95 plots. Then, we described the main gradients of vegetation composition and assessed the relevance of biotic interactions. We also characterized the habitat suitability of the dominant species, Stauracanthus genistoides, and Ulex australis, to map the potential distribution of the xerophytic shrub communities. Finally, we examined the relationships between the vegetation gradients and a broad set of explanatory variables to identify the relative importance of each factor driving changes in community composition. We found that xerophytic shrubs follow uniform successional patterns throughout the whole geographical area studied, but each community responds differently to the main environmental gradients in each region. Soil organic matter is the main determinant of community variations in the northern region, Setúbal Peninsula, whereas aridity is so in the South/South‐Western region. In contrast, in the central region, Comporta, the variation between S. genistoides and U. australis communities is explained mainly by aridity and temperature seasonality, followed by the individualistic responses of the dominant species and soil organic matter. Overall, these results indicate that, the relative importance of the main factors causing community‐level responses varies according to regional processes and the suitability of the environmental conditions for the dominant species in these communities. These responses are also determined by intrinsic community mechanisms that result in a high degree of similarity in the gradient‐driven community stages in different regions. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2023-02-16 /pmc/articles/PMC9935296/ /pubmed/36818530 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9828 Text en © 2023 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Articles
Chozas, Sergio
Chefaoui, Rosa M.
Correia, Otília
Santos, Ana M. C.
Hortal, Joaquín
Geographical shifts in the successional dynamics of inland dune shrub communities
title Geographical shifts in the successional dynamics of inland dune shrub communities
title_full Geographical shifts in the successional dynamics of inland dune shrub communities
title_fullStr Geographical shifts in the successional dynamics of inland dune shrub communities
title_full_unstemmed Geographical shifts in the successional dynamics of inland dune shrub communities
title_short Geographical shifts in the successional dynamics of inland dune shrub communities
title_sort geographical shifts in the successional dynamics of inland dune shrub communities
topic Research Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9935296/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36818530
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9828
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