Hydro-Edaphic Gradient and Phylogenetic History Explain the Landscape Distribution of a Highly Diverse Clade of Lianas in the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

Plant distribution patterns may indicate habitat specialization either by closely related species with conserved traits or by phylogenetically distant species with converging traits. Lianas represent a large proportion of the overall tropical species diversity and abundance. Despite their importance, little is known about the relationship between habitat specialization and the phylogenetic structure of lianas, especially at the landscape scale where forest disturbances and hydro-edaphic gradients are crucial. To explore this knowledge gap, we used one of the most diverse lineages of Neotropical lianas to test whether (i) landscape environmental gradients explain liana species diversity and composition, (ii) habitat specialization is phylogenetically conserved along ecological gradients, and (iii) closely related liana species have more similar distribution patterns. We hypothesized that hydro-edaphic and forest disturbance gradients determine the compartmentalization of a subset of closely related species in different portions of the ecological gradients. To test our hypothesis, we examined the distribution of the tribe Bignonieae on 34 1-ha permanent plots systematically distributed over a 42 km2 forested landscape area in Central Amazon. We used proxies for the hydro-edaphic, forest disturbance, and soil nutrient gradients. Liana diversity increased along the hydro-edaphic gradient (i.e., toward dry plateaus), but slightly decreased along the forest disturbance gradient. Further, we found evidence of habitat specialization along the hydro-edaphic gradient on plateaus with deeper water tables, where liana assemblages are subsets of closely related species, exhibiting phylogenetic clustering. The opposite pattern was found on valleys, where liana assemblages were phylogenetically overdispersed. Our results support the role of phylogenetic niche conservatism on plateaus and a stronger environmental filter within the hydrologically dynamic valleys, associated with a functional convergence of more distantly related species. The selection of more distantly related species on hydrologically dynamic areas is a general pattern among trees, palms and now lianas. We conclude that ecological filters and phylogenetic history have played fundamental roles in structuring liana assemblages unevenly at the landscape scale. Fine-scale hydrology determines several aspects of plant community organization, whose mechanisms need to be experimentally investigated in the Amazon basin.