From soaking wet to bone dry: predicting plant community composition along a steep hydrological gradient

摘要

QuestionWhy do plants grow where they grow? Prediction of species' occurrence and abundance in relation to the environment is a core aim of ecology, as is understanding the link between environmental stressors and adaptive traits. Community assembly may be viewed as a sequence of filters, sorting species according to their functional traits. We ask if the strength of filtering changes along a strong hydrological gradient? Can we predict species relative abundance using few, but biologically relevant traits? And are strongly filtered traits better predictors of community assembly?