Journal
SCIENCE
Volume 322, Issue 5901, Pages 580-582Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/science.1160662
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Funding
- Center for Tropical Forest Science
- University of California, Berkeley
- Department of Integrative Biology
- NSF [DEB-614525, DEB-614055, DEB-614659]
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It is debated whether species-level differences in ecological strategy, which play a key role in much of coexistence theory, are important in structuring highly diverse communities. We examined the co-occurrence patterns of over 1100 tree species in a 25-hectare Amazonian forest plot in relation to field-measured functional traits. Using a null model approach, we show that co-occurring trees are often less ecologically similar than a niche-free (neutral) model predicts. Furthermore, we find evidence for processes that simultaneously drive convergence and divergence in key aspects of plant strategy, suggesting that at least two distinct niche-based processes are occurring. Our results show that strategy differentiation among species contributes to the maintenance of diversity in one of the most diverse tropical forests in the world.
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