The effect of environmental and phylogenetic drivers on community assembly in an alpine meadow community

Abstract

To predict the consequences of environmental change on plant communities at local scales, one needs to understand the regional drivers structuring these communities. Here, we used a formal analytical framework incorporating functional traits and evolutionary histories to understand the importance of environmental filtering and species interactions in the assembly of alpine plant communities. The study was conducted in the Tibetan Plateau using field plots experiencing changes in land use (fertilization and grazing). We observed evidence for both trait-based convergence (associated with plant height and tissue nitrogen) and divergence (associated with specific leaf area) within alpine plant communities, suggesting that environmental filtering and limiting similarity are acting simultaneously during assembly processes. Although we did not observe evidence of phylogenetic niche conservatism in relation to intensified land use, we did observe support for the phylogenetic structure of plant communities influencing community-weighted mean trait values, suggesting that evolutionary constraints represent a significant driver of community assembly in this system. Therefore, evolutionary and ecological processes may have independent effects on alpine plant communities facing land use intensification. © 2012 by the Ecological Society of America.